Not heating past 150 degrees C - 2020 Costsco UK 24" Louisiana Kamado Grill

[ianfld 0]

Hi everyone, 

 

I only purchased my Louisiana Kamado Grill from Costsco UK 2 months ago and am now having problems getting it to head beyond 150 degrees Celsius. 

 

I have just come across this forum today and there is so much great info here! All very good stuff but I didnt see anyone having the same difficulty I am having. 

 

I have checked the gasket and there does not appear to be any obvious leaks so I am struggling to understand what the issue is. 

 

I opened all the vents fully and ran my hand around the seal between the lid and base and couldnt feel any head escaping.

 

If anyone has had any similar issue it would be great to hear if you managed t fix this, like others are saying its a difficult piece of kit to return! 

 

 

 

[Ben S 8,480]

Welcome. Stop by and introduce yourself. 

[BURGER MEISTER 445]

Probably not enough fuel.  

[Golf Griller 790]

I agree with @BURGER MEISTER. How much fuel are you putting in the firebox? I fill the firebox up, and still have charcoal left the next time I use my grill. Also, how much time are you giving the grill to heat up?

[HokieOC 21]

Yeah assuming enough fuel, without knowing more I'd say the giving it enough time sounds like the culprit.

 

I say this from experience as when I first got my KJ I didn't give it nearly enough time after lighting it with the top open to get heated.  It also took me several months to realize I could fully open the top vent, which allowed the 600F+ temps.....but start with lighting it and letting it sit open for awhile to make sure you have a good burn going.

[jgump 0]

Use big chunks of lump to get air flow.   Light and keep the lid open with both vents open for 15 minutes, close the lid and you will be hot in 20 minutes.

[andiamhappy 22]

I came from Akorn to Louisiana Grill, so can relate to this. I replicated my high temp cook from Akorn and couldn't get there fast enough. Like others said, you will need to add more fuel and don't start closing the vents until few degrees past the required temp.

 

If your charcoal / wood have a mixture of small and large pieces, the small will burnout faster than the large. This would mean if you wait too long, then your fuel has significantly reduced. I noticed this to be the case with Royal Oak. I found a charcoal chimney / fire-starter to be extremely useful to avoid such burnouts. 

 

In the Akorn I noticed the air entering is quickly super heated because of the metal compartments, whereas in the ceramic the flow is cooler but the quality of radiant heat is very good.

[Rick in Ontario 133]

Both my buddy and I had a similar issue with a particular brand of charcoal a couple of years ago.

 

Was very glad when I finally ran out of that stuff.