Flame Boss 400 w/Kamado Joe is a game changer

[GatorAGR]

My buddy gifted me his Flame Boss 400 so I installed it and set it up today for the first time. Put two racks of Baby backs on the Kamado Joe set at 250F for a trial run before I do a brisket later this week. I've always been nervous with the KJ for overnight cooks because of it's tendency to flare or run out of lump and die out. So far the results are amazing and what's more impressive is that it is confirming the thermometer on the KJ dome is dead on, which I've always questioned. I was thinking of getting rid of the KJ and replacing it with a pellet smoker, but I may stick with if after all. This is a game changer.

 

[lowcountrygamecock]

I love the Flame Boss for 300 degree and up cooks but I've had trouble holding 250. It always runs hotter for me. I've tried getting it to lit and plugging up the flame boss once it's going and I've tried starting it with the flame boss and a target tep of 250 and both methods overshot. Once it settles in it will hum that that temp perfectly but I've struggled with lower temps. Any suggestions?

 

[GatorAGR]

I love the Flame Boss for 300 degree and up cooks but I've had trouble holding 250. It always runs hotter for me. I've tried getting it to lit and plugging up the flame boss once it's going and I've tried starting it with the flame boss and a target tep of 250 and both methods overshot. Once it settles in it will hum that that temp perfectly but I've struggled with lower temps. Any suggestions?

Not sure I have any good advice since this is my first run. I lit the KJ and got it up to 200F (on the KJ dome thermometer) then fired up the Flame Boss. It immediately read 270F which had me questioning the KJ thermometer, but it turns out the grate temp and the dome temp hadn't settled in. I just let it go and it came back down and settled in at 250F within 20 min or so and hasn't moved since. A couple of things I would say...Get the Kamado well saturated with heat before installing the Flame Boss. It's best to wait a while before adding the heat deflectors. I like to wait until the outside of the dome is warm to the touch. That tells me the heat inside has started to saturate. If you don't do this, you will get wild temp swings and be chasing it forever. The second is as mentioned above. Don't make the Flame Boss do the heavy lifting. Get the Kamado within 25 degrees or so of your target before installing the fan.