Welcome!

**jfmorris** · February 8, 2024, 02:43 PM

MsTwiggy I think you've answered some questions now that help me give you better advice. I understand that the basket HAS to be there due to the design. I have no issue whatsoever with that - it's just slightly different than some other designs. No problemo.

First, for indirect, my advice is if SMOKING, *ALWAYS* use the ceramic deflector, and *ALWAYS* fill the basket completely to the top with lump - do not bother with that divider or the metal deflector. This will be a more traditional smoking setup for any kamado. Reserve the half basket divider and metal deflector for when doing direct/indirect GRILLING. I.e. for creating a 2 zone setup. Like a reverse sear for example.

Second, don't worry about wasting charcoal if you do fill that basket up without the divider. Shut the grill down when done with your butt, ribs, brisket, etc. Come back the next day after it's cooled down, and use those handy dandy handles on that basket to lift it out and shake the ashes out, along with any tiny unusable burned charcoal. And leave the rest of the lump in the basket for the next time you grill. Top it off with more, or dump from the basket into something else if you need to change the arrangement for using the divider. I keep a galvanized steel bucket by my grills and use it for charcoal loading/unloading/cleanup procedures.

The nice thing with lump is that you CAN relight it without issue. I usually don't clean ashes out of the bottom of my kamado until I've gone through a bag of lump, and that usually takes 3-4 cooks. I just keep raking the ashes into the bottom, then pour more out of the bag into the bowl. Same thing applies here, except you are using a basket.

SNS sells a custom basket for my kamado, but I've been too cheap to pay over $100 for a basket. It would sure make ash cleanup easier though.

THIRD and last before I get back to work. Don't bother with water in a drip pan, or generating steam. A kamodo is such an EFFICIENT and low air-flow environment when smoking that it is already super moist. I have a drip pan I put on top of my ceramic diffuser sometimes, but it's just to catch grease, and actually to increase the effective size of my diffuser. I don't put water in it. I will think most on the Pit with a kamado will agree with me on not using water pans.

**MsTwiggy** · February 12, 2024, 04:36 PM

I did a long low and slow cook to test this out and loaded my basket all the way with Blues Hog. I used a single tumbleweed and from the second I lit my tumbleweed to the moment the fire died was less than 12 hours. Fire in the hole at 2:30 PM and pit ran until 1 AM. This is only 10.5 hours. I had accidentally turned the wifi on my smoke off and didn’t start my chart until 3 PM but everything else is shown including the trailing limb of the cool down. Temps are pretty steady and so I don’t think I have a leak. Either my charcoal is old or something else is afoot. Any suggestions are appreciated. I have a brisket I have been wet aging and want to cook next week and this ain’t going to cut it for that cook. Incidentally the wibs turned out really wonderful. 🔥🔥🐿️

Attached Files

**Jim White** · February 12, 2024, 05:03 PM

How deep is that charcoal basket? Do the instructions caution against filling with lump to higher than the top of the main part of the basket? I'd contemplate filling to close to the top of the handles on the basket. I think you'd probably still get pretty good air circulation and you could load in much more fuel. That basket sits low enough that it's a fairly narrow diameter so I think one answer is just going to be more fuel to heat up such a large beast.

[Note for comparison: accessories on the LSG Adjustable allow for a basket of lump that's over a foot deep.]

**jfmorris** · February 13, 2024, 09:06 AM

MsTwiggy I think your issue is the size of the basket.

I probably can dump just over half bag of lump - let's call it 10-12 pounds - into my SNS kamado, and I get 18-24 hours out of that if smoking at 225, and STILL have unburned coals. If smoking at 250 or 275, it will still get at least 18 hours on a load. So if you only got 5 pounds in that basket, and got 10 hours, that is about right, and actually pretty efficient as you are getting 2 hours of run time per pound of charcoal.

As BIG as that kamado is, if that basket only holds 5 to 6 pounds of lump, I feel that it is dramatically undersized for doing any long smokes without refueling, compared to just about every other kamado out there. I sure hate to hear this knowing how much money you invested. I know they probably don't have any form of money back guarantee, but I would be pissed in your position and raise a stink about it.

From what you told us about the guy you talked to, hearing how he doesn't even use the deflector, but uses a piece of foil, I am not convinced he is a smoker as much as he is a griller, if you follow me. And he is trying to sell his fancy coconut charcoal. Maybe that charcoal will give you the burn times you need, but you shouldn't have to resort to that.

Do you mind telling us the dimensions on that basket? Their website doesn't give them. But I do note that they sell an extra basket saying "Many users like to use KK's CoConut shell charcoal for low and slow cooking but use lump charcoal for grilling. Having a second basket makes changing fuel types quick and easy.". Which implies that they EXPECT you to use THEIR charcoal for low and slow cooking.

**jfmorris** · February 13, 2024, 09:25 AM

WOW!

I just found the Komodo Kamado forum, and read THIS post from Dennis Linkletter:

Heat Deflectors in the KK?

https://komodokamadoforum.com/topic/10026-heat-deflectors-in-the-kk/

Yes, all Komodo Kamado grills used to come standard with heat deflectors.. I've learned it's easier to give people what they want than to educate them. I supply them because people coming from the glazed-pot Kamado world think they're very important. Glazed pot Kamados are basically uninsulated a...

Yes, all Komodo Kamado grills used to come standard with heat deflectors..

I've learned it's easier to give people what they want than to educate them. I supply them because people coming from the glazed-pot Kamado world think they're very important. Glazed pot Kamados are basically uninsulated and when the ambient temperature changes/drops their temperature can crash. Having a heat deflector reflecting heat back into the firebox gives these grills thermal mass/ a heat sink to help stabilize temps during these ambient temperature swings. Their deflector and firebox are the only components that are not exposed to the changing ambient temps. The thin glazed pot walls are unable to hold and give off heat the way a big thick cement hot face that is also insulated can.

Because KK's are so well insulated, this is not a factor. The heat deflector requires you to burn more fuel, creating more airflow, more evaporation, and less retained moisture in your meat. I suggest preheating the grill empty and then putting foil on the lower grate, the size, and the area you want to be indirect. You only need the foil to be large enough to block the infrared radiation coming directly off the coals from hitting your meat. Put your drip pan on top of the foil, install the main grill, and put your meat above the area with the foil. Put the upper grill on top of that and more meat. You're off to the races. The foil is much higher above the charcoal than where the heat deflectors sit and will not trap/reflect as much heat back into the firebox.

That being said, I have not used the heat deflector in one of my grills for probably 10 years. Your results will be better using foil to create an indirect area.
You will burn less fuel, create less airflow, less evaporation, and will have more retained moisture in your meat..

I think he totally misrepresents and misunderstands the entire world of kamados, insulting all others (thin walled glazed pots???), and misunderstanding what the purpose of the deflector is. The deflector is there to create an indirect cooking zone. And a piece of foil or even a metal drip pan will not do the best job at blocking radiant heat. The deflector is NOT there to "reflect heat back into the firebox". It's there to cause the heat to rise around the perimeter of the cooker in a convection manner, like an oven, versus having the radiant (IR) heat of the coals also involved in cooking the meat, for low and slow cooking. Or for high temp baking.

I challenge ANYONE to fire up a kamado of any sort to 700 degrees to bake pizza with just a piece of foil or a metal drip pan as a deflector too!

**Smoker_Boy** · February 13, 2024, 09:41 AM

^ He left out:
"And we don't want to spend the money making a heat deflector for you."

EDIT: The longer the statement by somebody corporate, the deeper the BS.

**MsTwiggy** · February 13, 2024, 12:56 PM

Update: my charcoal order through Amazon was cancelled as the package “exploded” in transit. It was returned to the vendor during shipment and I never saw it. I have been refunded and am holding out on ordering the fancy charcoal until I figure out if I can add enough lump to get through an 18-24 hour cook. I will provide basket dimensions above as soon as I have a chance to get outside to measure. I have posted on the KK forum and will report back with what other owners are reporting on how much charcoal they pour in. Pequod and CeramicChef are both over there although they are not active posters. 🔥🔥🐿️

**Mosca** · February 13, 2024, 01:40 PM

I’m 100% confident this is a charcoal problem, not a kamado problem.

Think about it. The charcoal doesn’t care if it’s inside a KK, a BGE, or anything else; it might as well be a similarly sized and shaped sealed brick box with airflow regulators. The only variables are the amount of fuel and the amount of air. As far as heat soaking goes, that drops out of the equation once the amount of heat soak on the KK equals what it would be for a similar sized BGE; in the BGE, it gets radiated outward instead of continuing to soak the shell like it does in the KK. The rate of burn is purely a function of the fuel and air. That particular load of charcoal is going to perform the exact same way in whatever sealed vessel you put it in. The TEMPERATURE of the fire will vary based on the amount radiated through the vessel walls, but the burn rate will be the same.

If you hook up a fan and feedback loop to keep the temperature stable, then the burn rate will vary based on how much heat is lost through the walls; the fuel will burn faster in a Weber Kettle than it will in a BGE or a KK. But we’re kind of using all kamados in general as a base to measure from. A KK will retain more heat than a BGE, so the radiant heat from the shell won’t be a factor, even when maintaining a constant temperature.

I eyeball stuff, and I’ve had my BGE for close to 15 years now. If I’m doing a 5-6 hour rib cook, I know about how much fuel it will need, in my head, by looking and dumping and listening as it pours out. Same with a 15 hour brisket. On those longer cooks, I use more coal. That sounds stupid, but it isn’t. A KK is going to be more efficient than a BGE, but not by an order of magnitude!

Mosca says: that isn’t enough charcoal to last 24 hours. It looks like about enough for 10.5 hours.

**MsTwiggy** · February 13, 2024, 03:31 PM

jfmorris Mosca the charcoal basket diameter is 12 inches at the bottom and 15 inches at the top with a height of 5.5 inches. This achieves a volume of 1.83 cubic feet more or less. The question is how does that compare to your Kamado? 🔥🔥🐿️

Attached Files

**Mosca** · February 13, 2024, 03:46 PM

MsTwiggy unfortunately I can’t measure it right now…

**MsTwiggy** · February 13, 2024, 03:47 PM

Here is the deflector. The pizza stone is bigger and has the tape on it. If I was going to cook with the pizza stone why would I use the deflector? 🔥🔥🐿️

Attached Files

**STEbbq** · February 13, 2024, 04:31 PM

Maybe I am just blind, but why can’t we just overfill the basket and let the extra charcoal sit directly on the KK walls? I get that we won’t want to fill the thing to the brim because that would impede airflow and temps but surely, there is room to overfill and still have the deflector fit snugly?

**Mosca** · February 13, 2024, 04:31 PM

MsTwiggy I griddle out the back door, yes! But even that is on hold right now….

I’ll measure out a load first chance I get.

Satisfaction with KK and KK Inc. is as close to 100% as any company on the planet. I am completely certain there is an answer that will work.

**jfmorris** · February 14, 2024, 08:55 AM

MsTwiggy you asked how big my charcoal "basket" is. While they offer a basket, I have not bought the one from SNS Grills yet - I may one of these days. So I am just burning in the "fire box" I think they call it.

I found a picture from when I first got the kamado (January 2021) and lit a tiny pile of lump just to heat it up. I didn't know what I was doing, and don't think I ever reached 300 degrees even. But this lets you see the shape of the firebox. Basically tapers down, and there is a cast iron grate in the bottom that a little lump is sitting on here.

Here's a picture TODAY with some left over charcoal down in there. Notice there is no pristine white ceramic visible anymore....

My bowl is 19 inches across at the top, and 10 inches down in the flat area at the bottom, best I can tell after raking the coals around and shoving the tape down there. And it is 6 inches deep. For most cooking, I fill it flush with the top, before adding the upper charcoal grate, which doubles as a lower cooking grate. You can see that in this picture, down below the main grate. I will sometimes toss steaks down there to sear, before moving them up to the main or elevated grate to finish.

Here is why I was telling you you need the deflector in place for pizza. Ignore the fact that my pizza "stone" is actually a Lodge cast iron pizza pan (I broke a stone and replaced it with this). You don't want the flames from high heat indirect hitting the stone your pizza is on! I build my pizzas on parchment paper, slide that onto the "stone", close the lid, and about 1-2 minutes later open it up and pull the paper out from under the pizza.

For high heat indirect like this, I just go by the dome thermometer for the cooker temp...

**MsTwiggy** · February 14, 2024, 06:37 PM

My email to KK for support

”Hello, this is a stupid question but i am wondering if i can add charcoal to the kamado resulting in fill above the line of the firebox? I have included a picture of my charcoal basket from my last cook. The red line is the ledge that the grate sits on and what I assumed was the fill line. The thin orange line is the top of the firebox, can I fill to here? The heavy orange line is just below the plate, can i fill to there? Is there any limitation on where I should stop? Asking because i got 11 hours of burn time from the Amount shown in the photo and wondering if I can add more to go longer.
Thank you!!“
🔥🔥🐿️

Dennis responds
”Heylo Miranda,
What temp were you running at to get only 11 hours? If you were at low and slow temps like 235º I'm guessing the lump you had was not very dense. The volume of BTU's charcoal creates is determined my weight not volume. This is why hardwood lump charcoal is popular.. You are getting more weight in the basket. At higher temps you are going to bur thru charcoal.. The insulation does not really come into effect much when grilling hot. All grills are going to burn the same volume of charcoal at 500º. The same basket volume with my dense coconut shell charcoal will be 5 hours at 235ºf.”

His response doesn’t make sense to me. Is he saying 5.6 pounds of cocochar would burn for 5 hours or a full basket of cocochar would burn for 5 hours? I told him i got 11 hours from my lump
so that cocochar isn’t looking very good 🤔
🔥🔥🐿️

Attached Files

Welcome!

Announcement

KK Dennis Linkletter is actually a charcoal salesman

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Announcement