Brandon Store

At work they were doing a contest for a kamado (still dont know which brand, it had our company logo on it so im sure it was outsourced from one of the kamado companies) I won it and cooked on it for 2 years 3 nights a week on average. It was a little small 16 inch cooking diameter but it was a great starter for me to learn about these. This past year when KJ series 3 got released my wife let me pull the trigger on a big joe and I gave my other kamado to my brother. And i hope he eventually gets either a KJ, BGE, vision etc and passes that kamado off to someone els.

It is very cool but since it is heavily electronic based i would wonder how long it would last. I do like technology but the way its integrated in this i’d wonder if it would be hard to replace the electronics when it fails. If the ikamand on a kamado joe failed, you could easily replace it. And the ikamand isnt a necessity for the grill to function, while the electronics on this appear to be the only way to use it.

Ok interesting. I may just try lighting in multiple locations. I was thinkin the ikamand would help by constantly blowing on the fire to keep the heat on the upswing. When ive cooked pizza with just a stone it was easier to get to 600+ cause you could close the lid and keep both vents fully open and just wait. But because the dojoe is partially always open (which i like) to maintain 600 the fire really needs to be ragging. I love the design of the dojoe how the hot air goes over the pizza and out the front, im just trying to think of ways to make it even better. The pizzas that come out at 650 are unbelievably good. I just want more of it. Since when i do get to 650, maybe 2 pies get cooked at it before it starts going down. (I make a lot of pizza on pizza night.)

Thanks, i may try this then and report back results later

Not to beat a dead horse and if it cant be or shouldnt be done, i wont. But with the ikamand, do you need the probes inside the kamado for it to work? In this situation could I set it for the fan to always blow and leave the probes out completely and go off dome temp?

Darn. Thanks for the reply John

Would an iKamand help to get the grill to 600-650 faster with a dojoe and maintain it longer? My next accessory is either the soapstone or the ikamand. Depending how this answer goes will dictate which i get first lol

If there was a problem im sure its resolved now. Ive been using it almost exclusively for a month now and love it.

I have a kamado joe 3 and with the bottom vent fully open and the slider on the top vent moved all the way to right itll settle at 375-400. If i need to go higher, The top vent can be pushed to the side making it fully open and it climbs until I put the vent back in place. Check if your brand has that ability. Im pretty sure every manufacturer does

If your wanting to bake at a higher temp, fully open the top vent and bottom vent. If your grilling then just take em out

The cast iron grate is on my wishlist, (right after i get a soapstone and ikamand first) the cast iron grate will help with bold steak house grill marks since the grates are a little wider then the standard grates. You can still get a nice sear on the standard grate so thats why the cast iron is on my list a little farther down. I also have the dojoe which i absolutely love. I would get a cooler, you dont need to get a crazy yeti or k2cooler (unless you really want to go for it) but a cheap coleman would do the trick. Instant read thermometer is a must so its good you have that already. A coal chimney is probly fine. But you’ll find that it works just as easy to put one fire starter in the center if your charcoal in the fire box. 10-15min lid open, then shut, adjust vents for what temp you want and let it preheat. Most important, have fun. Might sound like a “duh” kind of thing to say but I really mean it. Not every cook is gonna be perfect. Especially if your trying a new recipe or technique for the first time. Dont let it stress you out. Acknowledge what you may have done wrong and remember for next time. Kamado cooking for me is a de-stressor at the end of the day. It needs to stay fun. When I come home from work, I put a fire starter in the center, light it, get changed and even if its Monday, its officially the weekend to me for atleast a few hours. Light it up, slow it down

Looks great!

Being spoiled from Kamados ability to conserve fuel well is where the disappointment comes in. I still love it and will use it and certainly not trying to paint the picture to other users to not get it. Im just saying using a cheaper charcoal may be the smarter way to go for this accessory. Especially if im just doing 2 pizzas. Now if its my kid’s birthday party and im gonna crank out 10 or more pies, probly use a full bag of kamado joe xl to insure success.

The only thing that bums me out about the dojoe is the inability it shut it down. Yesterday i tried something new. I used the cheapest charcoal I could find, kingsford briquettes 36lbs for 20 bucks. Most of my kamado cooks I use Kamado Joe lump. But for pizza cooking charcoal is purely a heat source and nothing more. So if you cant save the lump, i decided use the cheapest lump possible and not feel bad about it burning out after.

ran at 550