Kamado Questions

[seabterry]

My wife and I agreed to get the Akorn as our starter kamado before we move up to a BGE or KJ. So naturally, I dove right in. I have the ThermoPro thermometers and I always have one sitting in the grill on the probe holder up off the grate. Here are the two issues I am running into. I have a torch and I have the Weber Lighter cubes. I have tried both. I noticed that when the fire got going one of the pieces of wax never even burned down all the way so the right side of the grill was hot and the other side wasn’t. The torch with MAP gas also seems hit and miss. I never know when the lump is actually lit. Sometimes I hold it on there trying to make sure it is lit and then walk away and come back and it isn’t hot enough.

The second problem is the temp. When I wanted to get to the grill to 250 and hold it, the gauge on the hold said I was holding 250 exactly, but the probe told me I. Was constantly rising and it wasn’t stopping, as in over 300. My grill history has taught me to never trust the gauge in the dome for temp, but it seems like every video I watch with a kamado, they are only referencing the gauge when they talk about where their temp is. Is the probe from the ThermoPro useless on there or should I not be trusting the Akorn gauge?

So so excited to be here. We are big grill people, but we just receive a quarter cow and are about to become huge grill people.

[Huskee]

Welcome! What I can tell you is only trust your probe where the meat is going to sit. Don't trust any other dial gauge. They're reference points at best.

[MBMorgan]

+10 yup!!!!!!!!!!

[seabterry]

Welcome! What I can tell you is only trust your probe where the meat is going to sit. Don't trust any other dial gauge. They're reference points at best.

Hey, look who it is! I was going to make your sauce this weekend!

[Huskee]

I hope you enjoy it!

[Skip]

seabterry make the sauce. You won't be sorry!

[fttank]

I've had good success with the weber cubes. Depending on how hot of a fire you want, depends how many cubes you want to use. I generally would use one to two for a low and slow in the middle of the pile. Make sure your lower vent is all the way open and leave the lid open too. Once you get the coals light, close the lid and start to tamp down your vents as you approach your goal temp.

[Attjack]

The built in thermometer on my Primo XL tends to be super close to my DigiQ. As far as lighting goes I went from torch to Weber cubes. I bury one in the charcoal and once lit holding the temp is all about airflow.

[bbq_joe]

Hey there seabterry welcome to the forum, and congrats on the Kamado. I operate a Vision Professional S Model, and have owned it for nearly a month, and have about 45 hours of smoke time right now with it.

I also have one one of the thermopro dual probe thermometers. Here’s my experience with them.....

when I used my grill for the very first time I ran off of the dome temp, I was able to get it at 300 no issue and it held there. Second cook, I added a grate probe and my temperature fluctuated the entire time,
causing me to tinker with my vent the entire cook. For some reason it really bothered me. My temp went from 250 to 300 and down to 220. Watching the temperature change nearly every couple of minutes. There are a lot of variable when it comes to the grate temperature. Some people only use the grate temp, while others use the dome.

Ive since stopped using a grate probe, it causes me to worry to damn much. But I’ll tell you what I was told, pick one or the other and go by it. Neither one is wrong, but pick only one and learn to cook from one or the other.

I use a JJ George Torch for my lighting. I hold it 2-3 inches away from the coal for 40 seconds; leave the lid open for about 5 minutes and you’ll see the smoke rising, add your deflector (if smoking), your grates, close your lid, open the vents all the way, wait for about 50 degrees from your target temp, and have fun.

I hope that this has been somewhat helpful.

[smokin fool]

I had the same problem with my Keg until a member here asked me how much charcoal I was using.
Too much fuel and there will be almost nothing you can do to keep your temps in a range so I've cut the amount of fuel probably in half with fantastic results.
fttank above also mentioned dampening when you get close to your temp, once you get these too hot knocking them back down is darn near impossible.
I use Zip Firestarter cubes, usually 3 and split them in half with as shot of starting fluid....ka-boom.
Use the Weber iGrill 3 too

[RonB]

Welcome to The Pit.

[FireMan]

Ditto on the gauges as far as usin em. Trust them as far as "the oven is on", then work with your probes. You will find as you spend more time around here, you will start to pick nuances that will help & myths that are just that, myths. The starter quandary, well I extinguished one a couple of weeks ago cuz I starved it from air, the vent thing. You’ll get a handle on it. I normally use a chimney & paper. I don’t have a kamado, sorta. That’s a story for another time. Welcome, eat good and have fun!

[Butchman]

Kamados can be tricky and there is definitely a learning curve. Like the post above said, maybe too much charcoal, or maybe starting cook too soon before the coals are ready. Best thing to do is practice practice and get to know your new cooker.

[Thunder77]

Welcome to the Pit!

I too own an Akorn, and though it has its little quirks, it is a great grill, and I love it. My personal experience has been that my dome gauge is consistently 60 degrees cooler than my grate temps, across a wide range of temperatures, as measured by my Thermoworks Smoke. YMMV of course.
Some things I have learned:
1) Fill the firebox. It isn't how much fuel you have in there, it's how much you light at once, and how you control airflow that controls your temps.
2) Build your fire. Don't just dump charcoal in the firebox. Smaller pieces of lump can clog your grates reducing airflow. Start with larger pieces on the bottom.
3) For low 'n slow I light one small fire in the center of my lump pile. For 350, I light two small fires in the firebox. For super hot, 450 and above, for pizza and such I light 3 small fires in the lump pile. When you light the fire, have your bottom vent all the way open.
4) As has been previously stated, start closing vents down at least 50-75 degrees before your target temp. Let your Akorn creep up on your target temp.
5) Start a medium hot fire, and throw some smoking wood on it. Close up the Akorn, and see where you have any smoke leaking out of the grill. You can adjust the lid,or use gasket material to stop those air leaks. If you can't control the air leaks, you will have a tough time with temperature regulation. I installed a gasket on the lip of my ash pan.
6) If you don't have the Smoking Stone, (heat deflector) I would get one pronto. The thermal mass of the stone helps with temp control.
7) You can cook at higher temperatures in a kamado, due to the low airflow and humid environment. If I hit 260-270 going low n slow, I don't worry about it.
8) Cover your Akorn. Since it's metal, water is your enemy. Water in the bottom can rust out the ash pan. (Ask me how I know. )
8) MOST IMPORTANT: Have fun! Sit back with an adult beverage or three, and learn your Akorn. It will reward you with great low n slow, awesome chicken and turkey, and superb bread and pizza.

Again, Welcome to the Pit!

[scottranda]

YES. Great advice

[Spinaker]

#8 is the Most important! 100%

[Spinaker]

I personally don't like using the cubes, I find that I have more control over the fire using a torch. I use a TS8000 torch. It burns very hot and intense. I let it sit in one spot in the lump for about a minute, then I will let the lump take, with the lid open. I will move the torch around the spot a little bit to make sure the fire has taken. You should look for a solid glow in the lump, where your torch was sitting. There should be a little ash on the outside of the glow. (If that makes sense)

Also, what lump you are using does make a big difference. I stay away from BGE brand, Royal Oak and Cowboy. I shoot more for FOGO and B&B because it works, it burns clean, it has large pieces and it is fully carbonized.

As for the gauge, I will trust the gauge on my BGE, but that is because it is a Tel-Tru and they are high quality and much more accurate. That being said, go with what your digital probe says. That will be more accurate than what your cheap dial from Akron says. Placing the digital probe at grate level is more indicative of what the temp is at the grate, where the food is actually sitting. The built in thermo is reading the dome temp, accurate or not.

Also, to help fight rising temps in your kamado, make sure that your rig is sealing correctly. Kamados run on very little airflow, so if your Akron is leaking at the seams, it will cause the temp to spike and make control much more difficult. Consider replacing the gasket with a lava lock gasket. I have found that they work the best, in my experience.

Give this article a review. (Taming the Savage Kamado) There is a ton of great information on temp control and how to achieve it with relative ease. This was a game changer for me anyway.

I think when you up grade to the BGE of the KJ you will also find it much easier. I know I did when I upgraded from my Steel Broil King Keg.

(Make sure to check out this thread too, on accessories for the Kamado, many of these will help you run your rig too)

[seabterry]

You guys have been great! For anyone wondering I am lucky enough to be able to locally buy Jealous Devil so that is what I’m using. From reading above it seems I’m not holding the torch on the lump long enough. There seems to be a lot of personal preference about the amount of lump. I’ve heard fill it up and I’ve heard about people using too much. It hasn’t stopped me from cooking. In two days, I cooked steaks (reverse sear), burgers, brats, Italian Sausage, hot dogs, and brat burgers.

[LA Pork Butt]

When it comes to charcoal I fill the fire box, but the important thing is to always fill it to the same level every time. That will assure that you have the same distance from the fire every time. I use a map torch when I’m in a hurry lighting the charcoal for about 30 seconds. When I’m not in a hurry I use lighter squares. I bury them edgewise in the charcoal from left to right in the center of the charcoal and light two top edges.

[Troutman]

I'm not a kamado guy but welcome to the the Pit from the Republic of Texallance !!! Glad to have you here !!

[Spinaker]

You guys have been great! For anyone wondering I am lucky enough to be able to locally buy Jealous Devil so that is what I’m using. From reading above it seems I’m not holding the torch on the lump long enough. There seems to be a lot of personal preference about the amount of lump. I’ve heard fill it up and I’ve heard about people using too much. It hasn’t stopped me from cooking. In two days, I cooked steaks (reverse sear), burgers, brats, Italian Sausage, hot dogs, and brat burgers.

You really can't over fill it, what you can do is over light the lump. Which is why the torch works so great. It is much easier to get a small hot fire. You want to make sure you have enough fuel for those long cooks. So filler' up! I fill my fire bowl all the way up, every time I cook. Then when the cook is done, shake out the ash and throw the Kick Ash basket back in the firebowl. You will never use the whole firebowl unless you are going low and slow for 24 hours or more. (In my BGE anyway) For quick cooks, simply choke it down at the end of the cook, shake out the basket before your next cook and you are good to go. You can add more lump to fill it back up if you want and go again. It is that easy.

[Thunder77]

My thoughts exactly