Search the Community

Well as if I don't have enough projects. I PU this Imperial #5 Kamado. Owner had a cool background story of how it made it's to the U.S. via Philippines back in the day. He said it only had 1 5" crack in the body but have found many more. Please chime in with recommendations to assist in this project. Wish me luck and wisdom. Worse case it will become a work of art for my Bonsai garden.

According to the naked whiz i have a modern style medium Imperial Kamado. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/oldmanuals/showik91.htm?I6 The firebox and fire-ring are cracked but i can fix that. I need a new band and hinge and vent door. I have looked every where and even called and wrote to the Kamado King. I have not heard back from them yet. The band and hinge did not appear on their site. Does anyone know if i can use a Kamado Joe or BGE hinge and door? Or do you know where to get the parts? Thanks! Sparkie

Hi all, I am new to the site, but have loved reading over the last few days. I have owned a Kinuura Yaki #5 for about 3 years now, and it has lived at my FIL's house. Since this is the case, I am still a kamado novice! Finally I was able to bring it home after a long road trip! I know this specific kamado was purchased out of a Pachinko Palace in Sacramento many years ago. I am now the second owner of it. All things considered, this piece is in fantastic condition everything is together and in great working condition. As I was packing the kamado for the move, I noticed the firebox is starting to crack. I have seen tons of restorations on this page and know this fix is feasible. What I don't know is if this would be a good point to take the firebox out of the kamado fully and risk more damage (it seems to be cemented in place around the upper rim where the ring sits?), just to leave it be completely and see if it continues to crack, or just try to do a patch job on it while in the kamado. What are your thoughts?

All, I am new to the site and messed up the location of my post by initially putting it in the introductions section. Below is the link to that post. I am looking for ideas on small cracks forming in the firebox of my New Old Kinuura Yaki #5 Kamado. Photo of kamado for fun

Hello there! I'm new to the world of Kamado cooking and to this forum, so I'm looking forward to some dialogue. So I recently found a Big Joe for sale on fb marketplace for the irresistible price of $100! The main body is in not terrible shape, but it's missing quite a few items, and will need some cleaning/repair. I'm hoping the combined expertise hear can help me get this thing in good working order for the least amount of extra $ possible, and more importantly without damaging the integrity of the grill. Condition Report: The ceramic body itself is in good shape with no major cracks or chips. There are a few issues that need to be addressed however: The upper part of the interior has some green staining. I assume this is from algae/moss since I live in the PNW. Any tips on how to gently clean this, or should I just do a burnout when I get the rest set up? The felt gaskets are in pretty bad shape and will need to be replaced (tips on cleaning and removing gunk would be welcome too). The wire mesh gasket is mostly intact but has come loose. Does anyone know of an adhesive that would be safe to use to re-attach it? I'm not sure what to call this, but the hole that helps align the hinge on the back side of the band has been worn quite a bit. Making the hole about 1 1/2" long and the ceramic a bit crumbly there (see pic). Does anyone know of any substance I could safely patch this with, and how best to reattach the bands? Missing parts: At that low of a price I wasn't too concerned about replacing a few parts, but after price checking I found I need approx $400-$450 in replacement parts. I can get most of these from BBQ Guys, but I figured I would reach out to the community here and see if people had recommendations for third party replacements, custom ideas, or (fingers crossed) extra parts that they need to get rid of. Here is a list of what I need: Firebox Deflector Grill Grates Flex cooking rack (is this necessary or is there another way to grill/smoke without it?) Replacement Gasket kit Missing the upper half of the cart, not sure if I will try and purchase that, or make a custom table I will be focusing on grilling and smoking with this grill, so I don't really need some of the specialty items. I know this is a lot of information/questions, so don't feel like you have to address everything, but if you have some advice on any of the subjects, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks and happy grilling!

Not sure if this is the right place but I've been working on fixing up a Kamado that was has been passed down through my family for years. I love cooking with it but it needed some TLC. Not done yet but I'm really happy with how it's turned out so far and I wanted to share. Here are the before and after pics (sorry, before pic isn't that great): I tried to match the orange that remained around the edges of the top/bottom: Let me know what you think! Any recommendations would be great. Looking to eventually replace/fix up the hinges and draft door. They're fully functional but a little beat up.

Hello Again ~ After much searching, reading, and scrounging around here and other sites in the BBQ / Kamado Web World, I boldly went where I had feared to go for close to 10 years. The precious Kamado that I inherited from my parents - and fought with a sibling to get - received a long overdue touch up. I realize how fortunate I am to have this amazing Imperial Kamado #3. - perfect in all ways except the external finish and no gaskets - yet. After a good cleaning, I used high temp engine paints to create a finish that is inspired by what I think it looked like when my parents purchased it from the Pachinko Palace way back when. I did take photos along the way. I dabble in the art world, and really like to DIY, so this was a really fun project. These are the before and after photos. (I posted the before when I joined a while back.)

As a s follow-up to my first Grill dome restoration (see http://www.kamadoguru.com/topic/10848-grill-dome-rebuild-project/?p=118416), I'm planning a second Grill Dome restoration later this year. One consideration will be to re-glaze instead of a re-paint. Unlike other Kamado's that use a glazed surface, Grill Dome's have a heat resistant paint surface. The challenge will be to locate a local potter equipped with a kiln large enough to fit the GD. If it proves successful, I may also choose to repaint my original rebuilt GD (see picture below) as it has since chipped again due to some issues with the refinishing process. Just curious - for those of you who own glazed Kamados (i.e. Vision, BGE, KJoe), have you ever experienced any issues with the finish?

Hello! Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I have an Imperial Kamado that has been passed down through my family. I'm in the process of painting and replacing some parts on it. I do not have a chimney cap for it... I've been using aluminum foil and a brick (pretty fancy, right?) during cooks to restrict flow. I really like the look/functionality of the Smokeware SS cap but I can't find any information that would help me to determine if it would fit my Kamado. I've tried their phone number multiple times but can't get a callback. So I guess my question boils down to this: Has anyone used the Smokeware SS with an Imperial Kamado? does it fit? Did you get the BGE or Kamado Joe version? was the adapter they sell necessary? If not, can someone help me with the dimensions for BGE med/lg/xl chimney caps? What are the height and diameter? Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

Hello! My neighbor gave me this smoker a few days ago. He said that an old veteran gave it to him. Allegedly the veteran bought it in Japan in the 60's or 70's and had it imported back to the U.S. when he returned. I'm not sure if this is a Kamado or not. I would like to begin restoring it as a project. I already own a WSM so I'm not in a hurry to get it fixed rapidly. Would someone please help me identify this smoker and give me any tips on my restoration?! Thanks! Issues: All metal components are very rusted. The sliding vent door is so rusted it won't slide anymore and needs to be replaced. The casters are locked in place due to rust and need to be removed and replaced. Both firebox pieces are cracked and in two or three pieces each. The base has a few small cracks but is still in one piece. Action items: 1. Glue firebox pieces back together. After doing some research it looks like I can put the firebox pieces together using JB weld. I am concerned about this possibly releasing toxins during smoke jobs but that would be a concern for me with anything I use to glue the pieces back together. 2. Grind all metal components down to bare metal to remove rust. Prime and paint with high temp black paint. I've already started grinding down the metal tube base with a wire brush on a drill and it is not removing all rust. I will have to figure out a better way to remove more rust. Might investigate chemicals to help. 3. Patch base cracks down with either fireplace cement or high temp cement with fiberglass such as was done here: 4. Remove casters by drilling out seized and rusted screw. Replace with new casters. JB Weld them in place if the threads are ruined during removal of old casters. 5. Remove sliding air intake. I've already done this and it looks like it is way too rusted in place to fix. Do they sell these somewhere? Otherwise I was considering filling in the rectangular void in the clay base and drilling holes to add two or three WSM style rotating circular vents with three holes each. This would be fairly simple since all it would take would be a drill and some large drill bits and the vents should be fairly cheap. Not sure how many would be ideal for the perfect air intake ratio. 6. Paint clay base with high temp Chevy orange paint. I might patch up some chunks that are missing near the bottom of the base so it looks better once it is painted. Purely cosmetic.

Hello Everyone, I have had an alert up in CL for months now looking for a kamado grill. I finally picked one up yesterday, but it need some TLC and some replacement parts. I was hoping some one on the forums would have some clue on who made this unit. It seems to be a medium size from what I have read. The inner diameter at the lid is 16.5 inches, and the depth is also 16.5 inches. If I had to guess its a No. 3 Imperial Kamado. The fire box is completely cracked into 8 pieces and will need to be replace. The fire ring is probably not the original and looks too big. It does not sit down on the fire box but instead rested against the walls of the egg holding it "suspended" above the fire box. My first goal is to replace the fire box and fire ring and start cooking. Eventually I will probably do a full restoration. Any help of advice would be greatly appreciated!