Kamado Joe Jr. Charcoal Grill

Ive owned a large Big Green Egg for over 20 years. The quality is excellent and I love grilling/smoking on it. But cooking for me and my wife the large egg is sometimes overkill. Firing it up for a couple steaks or pork chops seems extreme. Id been looking at the Mini Max but couldnt justify the price. I started looking at the Joe Jr, its the same size as the Mini Max, at a more budget friendly price. It was delivered to my home packaged very well! I unpacked it and set it up on my deck. The quality is every bit as good at BGE it also includes standard the heat deflector, ash tool and grill gripper which are options on the BGE. I fired it up and did a reverse sear on a Tri Tip roast. It held 250° easily for the smoking period. I removed the roast, took out the deflector, opened the top and bottom vents fully. The temp quickly rose to over 600° for searing. The Tri tip turned out perfectly! Im very pleased with this grill/smoker and would recommend it to anyone!

I've been learning to smoke using a 22 inch Weber charcoal grill and it's been pretty good so far. Obviously, it's an art, not a science and it takes great patience and dedication to get the temperature just right. Considering that it's winter here in Ohio, that's been quite a challenge. I've been dying to get a Kamado Joe for over a year but I just couldn't pull the trigger. Until now that is. I wanted the bigger model, but didn't want to spend $750-$1,200. So, I bought the little guy and started using it this weekend. It's small and not good for a big family or for massive cookouts. But, it's just me and I'm willing to give it a shot to see if this is the route for me. So far, I love it!!!! I cooked a ribeye on it the other night and used the deflector plate to get a reverse sear. Then, when the temperature was close to 115°, I pulled the deflector plate and went naked on the open flame. That was really interesting because it got really hot really fast!!!! The temperature outside was about 35° and the kamado held steady temperature of 275° without any problems and with no effort on my part. I decided I wanted to smoke ribs Saturday and it was cold, rainy and we got some snow. That did not impact the cook one bit. I was able to light the kamadao Joe jr, let the fire burn with the lid open for about 10 minutes and then, I got the temp to about 185° and it held there for 3 hours. Shoot. I took a nap and came back to check the most after 3 hours. The temperature never budged and the ribs turned out great!!!! Clearly, I'm still getting used to this one and I have a lot to learn about temperature control and different cooking methods. So far, I'm pleased with the quality and convenience as well as the ease of use. Worth the extra money if you are looking to upgrade from standard charcoal grills to a bad mamajama.