Broke in the Big Joe

[rdstoll]

Well took the plunge on the Kamado Joe Big Joe that Costco had on sale in my area last week. Funny how a quick run to buy detergent for the wife ends up with me buying a new cooker. But whatever... :crazy:

Did three cooks on it this past weekend. Didn't get action shots on the whole thing but did some Tri-tip & veggies (asparagus & brussel sprouts) on Friday, some ribs on Saturday and then did a brisket cook overnight Saturday for lunch on Sunday.

Didn't have too many issues figuring out how to manage temps on this thing but the one issue I had was with my ribs. I was cooking at 275-300* dome temp with the heat deflector in and the bottoms of my ribs ended up charred by the end of the cook. I didn't wrap or anything. I was surprised that the bottoms would have gotten burnt like that even with the heat deflector in. Any thoughts or advice are welcomed.

So for the brisket I elevated two aluminum drip pans off the heat deflector and that seemed to take care of the problem. Injected with Butcher's injection, rubbed down with BPS Cash Cow. Smoked at ~240* from 10:00pm through 5:30am - temped at 165* IT at 5:30am, put in foil pan and covered. Back on pit until 7:30am when it was probing nicely. Put in Cambro for a few hours to rest and then lunchtime!

I loved how well this thing a) keeps temps extremely steady; b) conserves fuel. Great pit to add to the arsenal!

Thanks for looking.

 

[Biloxidman]

I find my dome temp to be 40-50 degrees higher than grate temp. I usually try to keep dome temp around 250-260 when doing ribs, but I always wrap in order to add red wine for some flavor. Still, I go 2 hours bare and never have any burnt bottoms. With baby backs, I find 2 hours bare, 1 wrapped and 1/2 hour for sauce is perfect.

Welcome to the forum. You'll find a wealth of knowledge here. Enjoy!

 

[Biloxidman]

On my Big Joe, by the way.

 

[rdstoll]

I find my dome temp to be 40-50 degrees higher than grate temp. I usually try to keep dome temp around 250-260 when doing ribs, but I always wrap in order to add red wine for some flavor. Still, I go 2 hours bare and never have any burnt bottoms. With baby backs, I find 2 hours bare, 1 wrapped and 1/2 hour for sauce is perfect.

Welcome to the forum. You'll find a wealth of knowledge here. Enjoy!

Thanks - that temp difference between grate and dome was something someone else suggested to me, which is why I put the grate probe in for the brisket. Since I was going "low n slow" on that one (about 240*) the temp between the grate and the dome were nearly identical. Must be more of an issue the higher up you go in temp.

 

[Fwismoker]

Congrats, looking good!

 

[LYU370]

Did ya get your deflector exchanged?

 

[Ham14]

Looks good

 

[rdstoll]

Did ya get your deflector exchanged?

Kamado Joe is sending me a replacement. Guy at Costco didn't have an extra available.

 

[tnfan47]

You could put pieces of AF at the bottom ends of the ribs to prevent it being burned. With these type of grills, the heat is higher on the outside of the grates because of the deflector. Anything placed outside of where the deflector is, it has a potential of getting contact with higher heat.

 

[LYU370]

Kamado Joe is sending me a replacement. Guy at Costco didn't have an extra available.

He should have had the one they F'ed up putting on my truck. Oh well, at least you're getting a replacement.