Everything I Wish I Knew on Day One
Looking to make better BBQ on your Kamado? Download my free “12 Mistakes Kamado Grill Owners Make” guide.
Introduction
Fire, Lump, Smoke and Vents: Your Kamado Crash Course
What's up BBQ fans! Today on the patio we're talking kamado grills, and I'm sharing everything I wish I knew on day one. Almost every new owner has a few rough cooks that first month: the temp runs away, the fire dies, or the food tastes like an ashtray. Let's help you skip that.
I'm on my Komodo Kamado 38, but this applies to any kamado. Kamado Joe, Big Green Egg, they all work the same way.
Safety First: Burp It
When the grill is really hot, crack the lid an inch and let a little air in before you open it. Throw it open and the fire gets a rush of oxygen, and you get a flash of heat right in the face.
Direct or Indirect?
A deflector plate sits between the fire and the grate so heat and smoke circulate around the meat. That's your low and slow setup for ribs, brisket, pulled pork, even bread. In six years I've never used mine on the Komodo Kamado, because the 38 is a big oval and I can build the fire in a quarter of the firebox. A round Kamado Joe or Big Green Egg doesn't have that room, so you need the plate.
Try some direct cooks too: ribs over a lower fire, a whole chicken, beef ribs. All that fat dripping into the lump adds a tremendous amount of flavor.
Fuel: Use Good Lump
Lump only, never briquettes. It burns hotter and longer.
Never use lighter fluid. The ceramic is porous, and closing the dome traps those chemicals inside.
Don't cheap out. Fogo Super Premium (the gold bag, my go-to) is about $55 versus about $25 for budget lump, but you'll burn two cheap bags to do the same cooking.
Cheap lump has more small pieces, burns unevenly and has no staying power. You'll hit 600°F for pizza, launch one pie, and watch the temp fade before the second. Use some good quality lump. Don't be a chump.
Brands I like: Fogo Super Premium for low and slow and the black bag for grilling, Jealous Devil, and Bear Mountain lump. Royal Oak is decent. If you stay in the upper half on price, you'll be happier.
Smoking Wood
Chunks, not chips. Chips are useless on a kamado.
About 10% wood to lump. Go to 15% for more smoke, 5% for less.
Ignore the wood-and-meat charts on the bag. That's marketing BS.
Fruit woods like apple, cherry and pecan are lighter, oak and hickory are heavier, and mesquite is the heaviest. Cherry turns meat dark red, so I mix it in rather than smoke a whole cook on it. I use a lot of oak, and hickory on pork and poultry. I had Bear Mountain Hickory, Bear Mountain Mesquite and Bear Mountain Apple chunks out for this one.
Building the Fire
Pro tip: put two or three chunks at the bottom and the lump on top. As the wood smolders, its smoke passes through the hot lump and cleans up. You can also add a chunk on top later. It'll run white "dirty" smoke for about 10 minutes, then settle into thin blue smoke. A few minutes of white smoke is fine. A whole cook of it tastes horrendous.
Use a full basket for brisket or pork butt and about half for ribs. Fill it level, not heaping, so air flows. Early on, more is better: when you shut down, the leftover lump is ready for next time.
Three Ways to Light It
Starter cubes, like Kamado Joe fire starters or Weber cubes: one for 225°F, two for 275°F, three in a triangle for 400°F and up.
Fire starters in a cage, buried in the lump.
A GrillGun (use code: RUMANDCOOK to save 10%), the game-changer.
With cubes or a cage, keep the dome and bottom vent open for at least 10 minutes. Closing up too early is the most common mistake.
I held off on the GrillGun for years because I didn't want to deal with propane. It's basically a flamethrower. About 45 seconds sets me up for 225°F, or a minute to a minute 15 for grilling. I close the dome right away and I'm grilling in about 15 minutes instead of 30, so now I actually use my kamado on weeknights.
Vents: More Air, More Heat
That's the whole rule. Here's how to use it:
Set the bottom vent and leave it alone. On my Komodo Kamado, a pinky finger's width covers about 200 to 325°F, and two fingers gets around 350°F.
Control the temperature with the top vent. On my grill, a quarter turn is roughly 25°F.
Never adjust top and bottom at the same time, or you'll chase temps all cook.
Make tiny changes (a couple of millimeters) and wait 5 to 10 minutes. Ideally 10.
If top vent changes stop doing much around 300 to 350°F, you've run out of bottom airflow. Open the bottom a bit, wait, then trim the top.
Don't Blow By Your Temp
On camera, I aimed for 250°F and blew past it to 310°F. The grill wasn't heat soaked yet, so I shut the top vent, went back to my settings and didn't panic. It was back at 250°F in 3 minutes and 10 seconds, and after about 10 minutes of baby tweaks it was locked in.
The rule: catch it within about 50°F of target. Heat soak a kamado at 400°F when you wanted 250°F and, trust me, you'll be waiting an hour. Stay close and start closing the vents as the needle approaches your target.
Shutting It Down
Close all the vents. Once the temp drops 75 to 100°F, the fire is out and your lump is saved. Then crack the lid (on the Komodo Kamado, move the hinge from the lock spot to the rest spot) and leave a vent open, or you'll get mold and mildew.
Final Thoughts
Use your burn-in to learn your grill. Set the bottom vent, note what each top setting does, and keep a log on your phone. Do that and within 10 to 20 cooks the headaches will be gone. The one tip that matters most: make one small change, then wait.
Thanks For Watching
Whether you’re a seasoned pitmaster or a novice, these tips will enhance your cooking skills and leave your family and friends raving about your delicious, smoky creations. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more step-by-step videos, and let’s together become the barbecue heroes we were meant to be!
*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. You will pay the same price, but I will earn a small percentage, which will help support the channel.
