Anyone heard or own a Kamado Joe?

[bobaftt]

Again how much for the BGE?

 

[bbq-slut]

View attachment 30715

By the way I am not sure how everyone else on here did their comparative analysis?

This is how I have done mine for the last 4 months!

Those Red KJ sure look nice. I hate to admit it but they do look nicer then the BGE. I'm not a big fan of the Green used on the BGE. The Kj almost look like a carbon copy of the BGE. I have never seen a KJ up close but in the picture it looks as though the top of the KJ has more space. If the quality is there they could be a serious contender.

I don't own a BGE I used one extensively and they are fantastic. I have also done a bunch of BBQ demos using A BGE as well as a Traeger>(arrgg) for a local BBQ/outdoor living store. As far as I'm concerned for everyday family cooking and BBQ the BGE simply can't be beat. If you BBQ as much as I do and you are using something like a WSM, UDS or Texas style offset The fuel savings in one year alone would pay for a BGE. My Kamado will run at 225-250 for over 24 hours on 1/8 of a bag of RO lump. My Barbecues Galore offset smoker would easily go through two+ bags.

I own over a dozen BBQ's everything from stick burners to electrics. I have used them all and My favorite thus far really is my 40 year old Kamado.

I'm really interested in the KJ, Are they actually ceramic or is it made of refractory material. I had been thinking about buying a new Ceramic BBQ but I have my sons college to think about, so it might have to wait a while. If I was going to buy one today I might lean more towards the BGE simply because of their excellent reputation. Although the KJ looks really nice and would be worth considering. Now if KJ wanted to send me a sample I wouldn't mind doing a review :wink:

 

[HoDeDo]

Nice pics butts!! -- so my question is, it does not look like yours had the same discoloration occur on it that the one I used did.... did the glue around your stainless airvent turn white when you burnt it the first time? Curious as to whether you cleaned off the excess, or if they fixed that issue.

 

[swamprb]

I swear those KJ's look photoshopped!

 

[Rick's Tropical Delight]

Nice website... looks to be same size as large BGE...says MSRP is $799

website doesn't say what the the Country of Origin is..

i've read on other forums it's made in china. not sure if that's just the ceramics or everything or even if it's true at all. country of origin seems to be a deciding factor for a lot of people on this site...

competition in the ceramic market is a good thing. however, for all the other manufacturers and users to continually compare their cookers to big green eggs should tell you something.

i'd like to see a kamado joe in person, but there are no ohio dealers...

i'm wondering how well the stand rolls on a rough surface? looks to be kind of bendy in the legs since there are no supports between the bottom of the legs. also, a bigger firebox area for more charcoal isn't really a good selling point because what needs to be smoked for over 30 hours? stainless hardware is a good thing, however, for me, it doesn't matter because i store my eggs inside. what is the gasket made of? any gasket issues with the kamado joe?

anyway, good luck to kamado joe in the ever increasing market of ceramic cookers.

i'd like to cook on one, please have kamado joe send me one for testing. :biggrin:

 

[Smokin Butts]

I have not noticed any glue turning white around the airvent at the bottom, nor have either of mine had any discoloration on them. I guess they fixed these problems. By the way it took me about an hour to download these pictures on this site and I am in no way capable of photoshopping in a picture. Thanks

 

[bbq-slut]

"bigger firebox area for more charcoal isn't really a good selling point because what needs to be smoked for over 30 hours"

I have to agree.

My 40 year old Kamado will run for over 24 hours at 225-250 on an 1/8 of a bag of RO lump and thats if I just haphazardly pour the lump in after placing a few big chunks on the bottom.

I would hate to think how long I could get it to run if I actually carefully put the lump in like a jigsaw puzzle and took it ALL the way to the top of the fire ring.

What it really needs is more ash space and a built in port for a BBQ Guru and probes.

A Kamado style cooker with a BBQ Guru is just about as good as it gets. At that point its a plug and play no brainier operation. Which is fine for me because my days of tending a fire all night and then tending a hangover the next day are long over.

 

[rolf]

Amazing that this is one of the hardest hitting topics on the forum today?!? Go ceramic, whichever brand, be it 40 year old Kamado, kamado jane or BGE! Woot! Group hug.

 

[Smokin Butts]

Amazing that this is one of the hardest hitting topics on the forum today?!? Go ceramic, whichever brand, be it 40 year old Kamado, kamado jane or BGE! Woot! Group hug.

Man you have hit the nail on the head. I think that they are all great and it is really hard to tell them apart.

 

[Rick's Tropical Delight]

perhaps if someone would post 300 threads of cooking on a kamado joe like i have cooking on big green eggs, they could convince people to buy kamado joes... try it, it's fun!

note: i have no affiliation with big green egg or dizzy pig. people keep asking me though, and i'd be willing to work for either of those companies. 8)

i'm available and willing and able just send me a kamado joe for testing.
same goes for primo and grill dome. :biggrin: *hug* :biggrin:

 

[gtsum]

apparently the laws of physics cease to exist in this Joe cooker?!?!?!

 

[HoDeDo]

That is cool. I raised that as an issue when we got to cook on them to the rep. Looks like he took that back to them! rock on!

 

[GreasePig]

i'd like to cook on one, please have kamado joe send me one for testing. :biggrin:

If they had been smart they would have sent you one and had you do all the photos for the darn brochure! :icon_cool

 

[thillin]

Getting rid of the eggs?

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/hsh/1357869598.html

 

[Rick's Tropical Delight]

If they had been smart they would have sent you one and had you do all the photos for the darn brochure! :icon_cool

i'm available! :biggrin:

 

[swamprb]

Would you sell your Eggs if you had free Kamado Joes?

 

[Rick's Tropical Delight]

Would you sell your Eggs if you had free Kamado Joes?

nope. i'd keep em all. *pack rat mod*

 

[Smokin Butts]

Sold the Eggs! I still have one tucked away in NC but so far I am very happy with the KJ's. I hope they continue to give us the success that they have so far. Ceramic is the only way to go.

 

[BBQ Tank]

Kamado Joe Customer Service Experience

While researching the Kamado Joe, I was unable to find much information or any decent reviews online, but I did come across this thread as it was near the top of my google search for the Kamado Joe. Since I ended up purchasing one, I thought I'd share my experience so far in case anyone else happens to be searching for the same info that I was looking for.

For the record, I have no affiliation with Kamado Joe or any other company, but I've enjoyed outdoor cooking for many years and have always wanted a kamado style cooker. I live in Colorado Springs, and was looking primarily at the green egg which is readily available here at our local Ace Hardware stores. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to compare the green egg and Kamado Joe side by side, and ultimately went with the Kamado Joe. The two main deciding factors for me were simply the looks of the Kamado Joe and the price. Ultimately it was about $150 cheaper for the same setup (shelves and stand). I definitely preferred the color (redish orange), and the quality of the shelves, stand, and rack with hinged door were also selling features for me. Although the ceramics on the Kamado Joe are a bit thicker, I doubt this makes any difference whatsoever and was really a non-issue in my decision. Also the thermometer is much nicer looking on the KJ, but again I really didn't consider this to be much of a factor since this is basically a throwaway wear item anyway. My only real hesitation with the Kamado Joe was the lack of a proven track record and unknown level of customer service, but I figured I'd take the risk.

Well after only one weekend of use and some great results, I had my fire box crack in half. Although I had done enough research to realize that this was probably inevitable, I was immediately concerned as I was hoping to avoid dealing with any customer service issues this early in my KJ experience. So I call the customer service number, on Sunday no less, expecting to hear a recording of business hours, and to my absolute shock and surprise, a human actually answered the phone. I briefly explained my problem, and the voice on the other end said he'd have a new fire box sent out first thing Monday morning. Sure enough, Wednesday evening I had a brand new firebox sitting on my porch when I got home from work. As I found out after my phone call (via a follow up e-mail), the man I spoke with on the phone was none other than Bobby Brennan, the owner of Kamado Joe. Turns out he had sent the office staff home early on the previous Friday due to the snow in Atlanta and had forwarded the customer service line to his personal cell phone (which is why I got an answer on Sunday). Bottom line: My experience with KJ so far has been awesome, and while I can't predict whether Kamado Joe will survive in this ecomomy and competitive market place, I can only hope that with this type of comittment and customer service they will succeed!

 

[Big Green Horn]

Kamado Joe is one of the newest additions to the ceramic world. My brother and cookteam partner had the pleasure to cook on one of these gems last weekend. He was so impressed with the quality that was put in the construction of this smoker. He said that the ceramic is a little bit thicker but the big improvement was that there is more room in the bottom for coal and all of the metal is powder coated. We are in the process of changing over our green egg cook team to Kamado Joe's. These things rock. By the way I now have 2 largwe green eggs for sale.

Smoking Butts - You still have those BGE's for sale? Im in Atlanta and can come up this weekend...Let me know what you're asking, condition etc.