Why so little action in the Kamado sub forum?

[TH-n-PA]

Is it that there isn’t much to discuss?
They aren’t that popular here?
Most owners are illiterate?

I was planning to get one next but noticed not much discussion.

 

[Sven Svensson]

I think folks cook on them but those cooks get posted under beef and pork. I do see them mentioned.

 

[gmc2003]

Is it that there isn’t much to discuss?
They aren’t that popular here?
Most owners are illiterate?

I was planning to get one next but noticed not much discussion.

My vote is for illiterate. Just kidding LOL.

Chris

 

[JeffShoaf]

I think most Kamado brands have dedicated forums where owners hang out.

 

[talox]

I just got mine last Christmas and still learning temperature control , not sure which thermometer to trust the signal at the grill level or the Joes Dome thermometer.

I have 2 hams smoking in it as I type this (posted in the Pork forum as Sven stated).

 

[brick pig]

I just got mine last Christmas and still learning temperature control , not sure which thermometer to trust the signal at the grill level or the Joes Dome thermometer.

When I first got my (original) Big Joe in 2016, I was coming off a Weber Kettle and a cheap stick burner. For the first few weeks I absolutely could not figure out how to handle the temps on the Joe. Mostly because, given my past experience, I couldn't stop fiddling with the adjustments. Trouble was, kamados don't really require much, if any, fiddling.

I would very humbly offer two pieces of advice:
a) Take a Saturday and spend the whole day learning your temp settings. Don't try to cook anything; just burn fuel and find your settings for low, medium, hot, and REALLY hot. Start with whatever you consider to be your lowest preferred "low and slow" temp. Get that dialed in and stabilized. This might be the toughest step in the process. Start with very small vent openings, make very small adjustments, and wait at least 15 or 20 minutes between adjustments. Once you stabilize at the temp you want, take a picture of the vent openings and the thermometer reading, so next time you want to hit that temp you'll have a visual reference for more-or-less where you need to set your vents. Then open up your vents --gradually-- to your next highest preferred cooking temp, and repeat the process. This is a slow, relatively boring exercise, but I found it to be well worth the time. Note that when you're actually cooking something, you will have to make tiny tweaks to these settings depending on the temperature and size of the food you add to the chamber, but you will know exactly where to start.
b) Pick one thermometer to cook by, and stick with it. This is the most important thing I've learned since I got my Joe. I would go even further and say, choose to cook by the dome thermometer. If you're looking at the dome thermometer along with a grate-level thermometer, you will always be vacillating between which one you should be paying attention to at any given time. Sometimes they will agree, sometimes they will be wildly different, and sometimes they will agree and be wildly different throughout the same cook. Just make sure the dome thermo is calibrated, and use it exclusively.

 

[Colin1230]

Good advice right there. Thanks brick pig .

 

[rileybowler]

When I first got my (original) Big Joe in 2016, I was coming off a Weber Kettle and a cheap stick burner. For the first few weeks I absolutely could not figure out how to handle the temps on the Joe. Mostly because, given my past experience, I couldn't stop fiddling with the adjustments. Trouble was, kamados don't really require much, if any, fiddling.

I would very humbly offer two pieces of advice:
a) Take a Saturday and spend the whole day learning your temp settings. Don't try to cook anything; just burn fuel and find your settings for low, medium, hot, and REALLY hot. Start with whatever you consider to be your lowest preferred "low and slow" temp. Get that dialed in and stabilized. This might be the toughest step in the process. Start with very small vent openings, make very small adjustments, and wait at least 15 or 20 minutes between adjustments. Once you stabilize at the temp you want, take a picture of the vent openings and the thermometer reading, so next time you want to hit that temp you'll have a visual reference for more-or-less where you need to set your vents. Then open up your vents --gradually-- to your next highest preferred cooking temp, and repeat the process. This is a slow, relatively boring exercise, but I found it to be well worth the time. Note that when you're actually cooking something, you will have to make tiny tweaks to these settings depending on the temperature and size of the food you add to the chamber, but you will know exactly where to start.
b) Pick one thermometer to cook by, and stick with it. This is the most important thing I've learned since I got my Joe. I would go even further and say, choose to cook by the dome thermometer. If you're looking at the dome thermometer along with a grate-level thermometer, you will always be vacillating between which one you should be paying attention to at any given time. Sometimes they will agree, sometimes they will be wildly different, and sometimes they will agree and be wildly different throughout the same cook. Just make sure the dome thermo is calibrated, and use it exclusively.

This is great advice and generally speaking you cannot go wrong learning something slowly