YkRick Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Looking to add a new cooking surface to my KJ Classic II - Trying to decide between the cast iron grill / griddle or the half moon soapstone. Really interested in it for some higher heat searing smash burgers etc, but also for some flaky delicate stuff like fish k-bobs etc. My sense is that soapstone might be a little less maintenance but I'm wondering if it does a better job of spanning the gambit that I am looking for in a solid cooking surface - or will the CI option give me more range. Thoughts from people who use both is very welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbov Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Two things, from someone who has the soapstone on his Christmas list. Cast iron is a metal, so it has far better heat conduction than any stone, but only half the heat capacity. When you put meat on a screaming hot CI griddle, it cools off. Energy moves into the meat from the surrounding area, reducing surface temperature. The second side won't sear as well unless you flip it onto an unused area that's still hot. Mass matters. The more massive cooking surface will remain hotter, longer. KJ's CI griddle is 8.8 lb., vs. 10.5 lb. for soapstone. Big Joe griddle is 14.66 lb., soapstone 19.8 lb. Add the heat capacity advantage of stone to this mass advantage and you get 2.4x and 2.7x more energy stored in soapstone than CI. The soapstone will take a lot longer to get hot, and it will retain that heat far longer. It won't get as screaming hot as CI under direct fire, so it should give a more gentle sear. It will also never rust. At 3x the price... but I have CI griddles I can use on a wire grate, and these details fascinate the steak-lover in me. Have fun, Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenn3 Posted August 18, 2018 Share Posted August 18, 2018 I am a huge cast iron cookware fan, own dozens of pieces both new and old. That being said cast iron use on a high temperature grill is indeed very high maintenance. Call it a labor of love I suppose..but with care it will last generations. Soapstone may be perhaps better suited to this application, although I can say how long of service life it will provide, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YkRick Posted August 20, 2018 Author Share Posted August 20, 2018 Thanks Guys - perhaps I should just by both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Wagon Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 9 hours ago, YkRick said: Thanks Guys - perhaps I should just by both Good idea!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acr Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 I've had the cast iron griddle for a few years. I recently added the KJ soapstone to my collection. I tend to use the cast iron it in the low position and the high heat burns the seasoning off the bottom. I'm not one to re-season after every use so the bottom of the cast iron griddle is always rusting. My hope was that the soapstone would be more durable. I have only used the soapstone once so far. I was incredibly impressed by the quality of the sear. It seared noticeably better than the cast iron. More golden brown areas and less black/burnt areas than I typically get on cast iron. The steak also made a squeaking noise when it landed on the soapstone unlike anything I have experienced with the cast iron. However I am not so sure about the durability. It obviously won't rust but the stone is much softer than I expected. After only once use there is a slight grove where it contacts the divide and conquer rack. At this point can only be seen with a close inspection. It does not even rise to the level of being an aesthetic issue. But if the grove continues to grow with each use, it may end up wearing out much faster than the cast iron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KismetKamado Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 I highly recommend the soapstone - as acr noted, I got a sear unlike anything else with the soapstone. I will say that my soapstone is cracked and I am monitoring it closely. It has not separated, but I am being very careful with it and using it on a grate now for additional support. KJ took care of me just fine on warranty (less than a year old) and sent a new one my way. At this point I'm just experimenting to see what happens and waiting for a complete failure. I still love it.... and even if it were to separate and I wasn't in the warranty period, I could still easily use it on the grate. I will add that it is soft and I do have some nicks and grooves as well . I have paid attention to keep the same surface up for cooking to prevent having that side marred. Golf Griller 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf Griller Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 10 hours ago, KismetKamado said: I highly recommend the soapstone - as acr noted, I got a sear unlike anything else with the soapstone. I will say that my soapstone is cracked and I am monitoring it closely. It has not separated, but I am being very careful with it and using it on a grate now for additional support. KJ took care of me just fine on warranty (less than a year old) and sent a new one my way. At this point I'm just experimenting to see what happens and waiting for a complete failure. I still love it.... and even if it were to separate and I wasn't in the warranty period, I could still easily use it on the grate. I will add that it is soft and I do have some nicks and grooves as well . I have paid attention to keep the same surface up for cooking to prevent having that side marred. I'm thinking of getting a soapstone. Just not sure how much I would use it. I do have the cast iron griddle, which I don't use much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charcoal Addict Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 If you enjoy cooking on pink salt blocks the soap stone can reproduce salt block cooking by sprinkling pink salt on soapstone for the cook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddyjbbq Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 I have the soapstone and the griddle & I HIGHLY recommend that you don't buy either of them. Instead, have a look at the grill grates griddle. It takes no time to heat up, extremely light weight and cleans up with the wipe off a sponge. Costs about $25 Dub 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 2 hours ago, Freddyj said: I have the soapstone and the griddle & I HIGHLY recommend that you don't buy either of them. Instead, have a look at the grill grates griddle. It takes no time to heat up, extremely light weight and cleans up with the wipe off a sponge. Costs about $25 I had no idea they made these. https://www.grillgrate.com/the-griddle/ Thanks for the tip !!! I've been running a set of GrillGrates on my BigJoe for years now. Excellent product. Recently discovered that I can use two of them on my 22" Weber kettle. I'll often run them upside down for smash burgers. monkeybee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickYYC Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 I have had my BigJoe for about 3 weeks. Last week I got the CI, I have used it once and so far & I love it! I made seared ahi tuna... Can't wait to do Smash Burgers... Dub 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patti Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 Kamado Joe needs to tell people that the soapstone needs to be supported on the grill grate. Supporting a heavy piece of stone on 3 points is not a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charcoal Addict Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 6 hours ago, Patti said: Kamado Joe needs to tell people that the soapstone needs to be supported on the grill grate. Supporting a heavy piece of stone on 3 points is not a good idea. You should be using the X-Bracket to support the soapstone when it’s in place. JaxxQ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbillyben Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 1 hour ago, Charcoal Addict said: You should be using the X-Bracket to support the soapstone when it’s in place. Where does it say this? I’m not sure how that would all fit together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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