# Char-griller Kamado Kooker 16619



## fins6969 (Feb 22, 2012)

Has anybody tried this unit out yet for low temp smoking? I just purchased one and have one done grilling on it. Seems like its not holding a low temp 225-220, it wants to go up to 325-350 no matter how I adjust the vents. But I need a more accurate reading, I my only going by the outside temp Gage.


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## bama bbq (Feb 22, 2012)

Looks like a BGE to me.  It should go low and slow for you.  Anything on their website offering tips for adjustments to slow it down?


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## ecto1 (Feb 22, 2012)

I would bet you are adding too many lit coals to it.  I would start by only using a couple of lit coals and see how it goes.  That design should be super efficient with coals look up the minion  method and you should be fine.


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## fins6969 (Feb 22, 2012)

Their website doesn't have much because its a fairly new unit. I'll try less coals and see if that does the trick. I guess I could add a water bowl and see if that helps also. Thanks for the help!


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## grinch (Mar 20, 2012)

I use this kamado all the time and I I cook at low temps. What I do is use a charcoal chimminey and only let a few coals light then dump it out in the cooker. Then close the lid and open all the dampers. I let the temp go 25degrees above what I want because the meat will drop the temp. When the temp reaches what you want then I almost close the bottom damper and leave the top on about 1 to 1 1/2 and it holds themp temp for me every time.


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## flanntastic (Apr 12, 2012)

i am going to buy one of these, did you buy the smoker insert?


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## grinch (Apr 13, 2012)

yes i did but they didnt have the smoker plate yet  they said they will start shipping them the beginning of next week.i have been using a pizza stone from bed and bath that came with a rack and i set the rack upside down on the to pieces that stick out under the cooking grill.if you buy one buy the newest one that has the black top damper not the one with the stainless damper because that one is air tight. if you bought it already just call char-griller and tell the it leaks and you want the cast aluminum one with the o-ring it under warranty so they should send it to you no charge. just cooked a stuffed pork roast rapped in bacon.. i use 100% lump coal it works the best.

enjoy


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## grinch (Apr 13, 2012)

:yahoo:


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## mccaf (Apr 24, 2012)

no post


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## mccaf (Apr 24, 2012)

Grinch said:


> I use this kamado all the time and I I cook at low temps. What I do is use a charcoal chimminey and only let a few coals light then dump it out in the cooker. Then close the lid and open all the dampers. I let the temp go 25degrees above what I want because the meat will drop the temp. When the temp reaches what you want then I almost close the bottom damper and leave the top on about 1 to 1 1/2 and it holds themp temp for me every time.


Hey, newbie here and I had a question. I ran into the same issue. I will try the minion method this weekend but my question is should I use the lump charcoal or some briquettes like Stubbs'?

I hear that the lump charcoal seems to burn hotter where-as the briquettes do not.


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## grinch (Apr 25, 2012)

I like the lump coal it burn nice with less ash and it's Easyer to cuntrol.i used to use brickets but since I started using lump I will never use the brickets again. That's just my opinion


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## mccaf (Apr 26, 2012)

Grinch said:


> I like the lump coal it burn nice with less ash and it's Easyer to cuntrol.i used to use brickets but since I started using lump I will never use the brickets again. That's just my opinion


Thanks G! one more for "Lump"


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## flanntastic (Apr 26, 2012)

i read somewhere that larger pieces of lump don't burn as hot as a bunch of small pieces


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## grinch (May 9, 2012)

Anyone have a good recipe for a leg of lamb or a lamb roast


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## grinch (May 15, 2012)

The Akorn smoking plate from char- griller arrived today also used the partyq from the bbq guru and put it right into use and made an oven stuffer came out excellent. Sorry only have an after picture.


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## mccaf (May 21, 2012)

How to convert the Kamado Kooker to a water smoker. I got tired of waiting around for Char-Grillers to come up with one so I made my own.  You can buy a 17" charcoal grate from Home Depot, and set on the secondary shelf but the water pan is too tall for the cast iron Grill to set perfectly where it needs to be. And the meat would be directly over the water pan awith no room for air to circulate around it. 

Basically cost me ~$20. I bought a 13" x 4" water pan from an off- brand company on Amazon (the same one as in the Brinkman dome smoker), Drilled 4 holes, headed to Home Depot for some chain and some threaded eye bolts.  The pictures tell the rest. I ended up only needing 5 chain-links as you can see in the first pic, I didn't know what I was thinking. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





1. The hardware: Trimed each down to 4 links and only used 4. 







2. Fits perfect. About 3" over the briquettes/lump charcoal







3. Although not needed the ceramic stone can be used and leaves about 1.5" for the water vapor to escape and permeate.

There is also room in case additional fuel/hardwood chunks need to be added. 

Commercial bakers use water vapor in ovens to make 'Crusty Breads' like baguettes and french bread. Can't wait to try

this. I would set my pizza stone on top of the grill.  







5. Sorry for the crappy iPhone pictures
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	











6. First water smoke was a 9 LB rubbed turkey breast (3.5-4 Hours) and some planked Sockeye (40 minutes)

Came out wonderful. 

The wires are from my Thermo Works 







Hope this helps.* CHAR GRILLER ARE YOU LISTENING?*


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## grinch (May 21, 2012)

It's working


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## rtbbq2 (May 21, 2012)

I have the same unit. I light only 1/2 of a chimney at most and put the lit lump coals in the middle of the coals wood chunks mix where I made a hole. I put the smoking stone grates and drip pan on immediately and closer up. I close the bottom vent entirely and put the top vent on 1-1/12. She will come up to 225° fast and stay there. If you start out with too much coals it will blast right by the target of 225°. You may need to open the bottom vent a little and top vent more to regulate the temp. Once I get mine at an even temp, it usually stays at least an hour or more before another vent tweek is needed. Once I get it back up to temp if it goes lower then 225°, I completely close the bottom vent again.

Works great....RTBBQ


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## grinch (May 21, 2012)

I had picked up the partyq form BBQ guru and I set it for the temp
I want and open the top damper just alitte and once it stabilizes that's it I cooked a porkbut for 18 hours @ 250 works like a charm


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## rtbbq2 (May 21, 2012)

Super. I took me awhile to get the temp controlled but now it works like a dream...glad you getting it figured out. It about 1/3 the cost of the BGE and works every bit as good. My neighbor has an BGE and we smoke on it at the cabin....


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## grinch (May 21, 2012)

Yea I never really had a problem with it. My neighbor has the BGE as well.  I love my kamado char griller made some tweaks the changed the top damper to a cast aluminum with a gasket and the I took off the bottom vent and sealed it with high temp silicone now mine it air tight


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## ssk878ct (May 21, 2012)

I've had mine for about a month and a half and use is pretty much every day.  Great value.  I have no trouble controlling the temp whether 225 or 375 or 650. It just takes a little experimentation. This thing rocks.  I have three smokers now and this is my favorite.


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## grinch (May 22, 2012)

Yea I got mine about a year now and I love cooking on it . Getting ready to make jalapeño poppers .this was a great investment. Made ribs the other day at 250 for about 51/2 hour they were excellent. Doing a roast beef tonight.alsoade many pizzas . the first kamado with the stainless damper leaked through the sides of the damper I controlled it pretty good but the one that came out this year is called the Akorn and the damper is black made of cast aluminum and don't leak I ordered the new damper from them this way I can use the partyq from the BBQ guru for with I cook low and slow like in the winter.


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## flanntastic (May 28, 2012)

i have a mes40 that i no longer will use, this Kamado is the greatest,

i put it together Friday night, smoked chicken legs saturday, boneless turkey breast sat night, and a pork butt today(no pics of that though)


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## flanntastic (May 28, 2012)

oh and so far i cooked for 18 hours on just a few lbs of charcoal


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## rtbbq2 (May 28, 2012)

I have the same unit only in Red. Very easy to control the heat and the lum coal lasts forever on a full load. I got 15 hours on this smoke and still had coals when the butts were done. Cheers Chargriller....


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## grinch (May 29, 2012)

Yes I love this Kamado myself I cook a Porkbutt for 16 hours then took it off and opened the dampers to raise the temp and then cook chicken breats and I still have coal left. lump coal is the best. For the Porkbutt I used the partyq from BBqguru.com to control the temp put the butt on at 10Pm Sunday and and went to bef took it off at 2 Pm Monday I didn't have to mess with the dampers at all. That pork was the best pulled pork I ever made this kamado is the best.


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## flanntastic (May 29, 2012)

did you buy the diffuser stone?


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## grinch (May 29, 2012)

Yes it works very well and it's durable


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## rtbbq2 (May 29, 2012)

Yes, I finally bought a smoking stone when Chargriller started shipping them in April. I used an Oneida pizza stone bought at Bed Bath and Beyond to use during the interim. It worked pretty good too...


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## sfbc (Jun 6, 2012)

Been using my Akorn for 2 months now. 

Load my Minion full, light it, and pour it on unlit briqs down in the pan depending on whatever I'm doing .....if a big brisket or big butt, the lit Minion goes over about twice that many unlit briqs.  If I'm doing ribs or chicken, I use about 1 chimney of lit briqs poured over about the same amount of unlit briqs.

Then I close it down for about a half hour while I go inside and get the meat ready.  I leave the bottom vent open about 3/4 inch.  The top vent is open about 1/4 inch. By the time I get the meat ready the smoking chamber will stabilize at about 250 degrees.  

,

The Akorn thermometer that measures the temp of the smoking chamber reads 50 degrees below registered temps on my Akorn. Be alert to this as it can really affect your smoke project.

I hang a digital thermometer through the top vent down into the smoking chamber to get the correct temps.  Have a remote digital for the meat on the rack. 

If you  want to keep your temps at 225 degrees, you should be prepared to stay fairly close to your smoker. I find myself tweaking it more than I'd wish.  However, after using it about a dozen times so far, my experience is helping me understand the peculiarities of my Akorn and helping me learn to stabilize the temperature.  As we all know, the lower the smoking temps, the more affected it is by ambient temperatures and wind.

This is one fine smoker.  Thank you Lowe's


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## flanntastic (Jun 6, 2012)

mine inches up a degree every 10 minutes, when i got slow and low,  so i do have to tend to it some


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## mccaf (Jun 6, 2012)

I am going to silicone seal mine to prevent oxygen leaks.

This guy figured it out also:


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## rtbbq2 (Jun 6, 2012)

When I smoke at 225°, I use 1/2 chimney and put it in the center of the coals. Immediately close the bottom almost all the way and the top vent on 1 to 1-1/2. The temp slowly increases to target and will stay there for 16 plus hours on a 3/4 load of lump...


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## mccaf (Jun 7, 2012)

RTBBQ2 said:


> When I smoke at 225°, I use 1/2 chimney and put it in the center of the coals. Immediately close the bottom almost all the way and the top vent on 1 to 1-1/2. The temp slowly increases to target and will stay there for 16 plus hours on a 3/4 load of lump...


When you say 3/4 of a load of lump, how much is that really? enough to cover the bottom? and what is the consistency of the lump?

Thanks


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## rtbbq2 (Jun 13, 2012)

I fill the bottom of the smoker pretty full. I would say about two three pound coffee cans full or 3/4 of a plastic pail full. I use a mixed consistency small med and lge pcs.


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## cwild1 (Jul 2, 2012)

I just bought The smoking stone for my chargriller kamado kooker. How do I use it? How do I add wood chips as it cooks?


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## southernsausage (Jul 2, 2012)

How much do these cookers cost? Are they ceramic like BGE's.??


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## flanntastic (Jul 2, 2012)

these are steel, they run $299 normally


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## flanntastic (Jul 2, 2012)

the smoking stone is just a diffuser, add your charcoal and wood chunks, then set the smoking stone in place and put your meat over it.  the Smoking stone keeps direct heat off the bottom of your meat, allowing indirect cooking


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## dmclalin (Jun 5, 2013)

Mccaf said:


> Hey, newbie here and I had a question. I ran into the same issue. I will try the minion method this weekend but my question is should I use the lump charcoal or some briquettes like Stubbs'?
> 
> I hear that the lump charcoal seems to burn hotter where-as the briquettes do not.


I have a new CG  Kamado Kooker too and I couldn't get the temp down without smothering it. Either 400° or 98°. I used all wood charcoal and used some Stubbs. I used a charcoal chimney and since it was direct heat, I think I used to much charcoal. After searing (burned) I removed the ribs and finished in the oven.  I ordered a diffuser stone and am trying to figure out how to insert a water pan. I also tried Bone Sucking sauce and it came out a little salty - but probably because I had temp control problems. How long do you let the coals burn down before you start grilling.

Dan


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## dmclalin (Jun 5, 2013)

Mccaf said:


> Hey, newbie here and I had a question. I ran into the same issue. I will try the minion method this weekend but my question is should I use the lump charcoal or some briquettes like Stubbs'?
> 
> I hear that the lump charcoal seems to burn hotter where-as the briquettes do not.


I have a new CG  Kamado Kooker too and I couldn't get the temp down without smothering it. Either 400° or 98°. I used all wood charcoal and used some Stubbs. I used a charcoal chimney and since it was direct heat, I think I used to much charcoal. After searing (burned) I removed the ribs and finished in the oven.  I ordered a diffuser stone and am trying to figure out how to insert a water pan. I also tried Bone Sucking sauce and it came out a little salty - but probably because I had temp control problems.

Dan


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## dmclalin (Jun 5, 2013)

This is a great tutorial and the pics are just perfect. I plan on using these ideas if it is ok with you.

Dan


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## ski-freak (Aug 2, 2013)

I picked up my 2013 model 96619 Char-Griller Kamado Akorn Grill at BJ's for $280 last month. It has a 19.5" round cast iron cooking grate and triple wall STEEL insulated shell. It came with a very thick ceramic interior smoking baffle for indirect-heat smoking and a nice fitted cover. So it has 300 square inches of primary cooking area not counting the additional 143 square inch (13.5" diameter) warming/upper grill. About the only things I needed to add were a round charcoal basket, and a 10 - 13 inch diameter water/drippings pan to place on top of the ceramic smoking baffle. The new model seems like they improved some of the seals. During assembly I noticed that the oven-door style seal around the lower edge of the upper hood, and the oven-door seal around the lower edge of the fire bowl (where the removable ash bowl goes on), were not compressing very much when I latched them down. I simply unscrewed the latch hooks and secured them tightly in a vise and then tapped with a hammer on the the hooked end and slightly bent it further over around 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch more. When I reinstalled the latch hooks and latched down the latch hooks the the seals were much more nicely compressed by the slightly bent-over latch hooks.

The first couple of smokes were great with amazing control as it's quite tightly sealed with precise draft controls that make a huge impact, and it's a STEEL body and NOT Ceramic so it's not fragile if it accidentally gets bumped or knocked over (and very repairable even if damaged), and it won't crack over time like sometimes happens with Ceramic. I noticed that you need to build up heat to only slightly more than the temperature you want, and then close up the air intake almost all the way, and also close down the exhaust partially (and not always leave the exhaust wide open like I'm used to). It was interesting to me that there was such a wide range of opening on the air intake (several inches of movement) but I was either using it all the way open to get my fire going, and then almost all the way closed (maybe 1/8 inch open) while cooking.

If you shut down the air intake and the exhaust all the way the fire will go out, and unburned lump and charred chunks will be left over for the next fire! This proves it is tightly sealed. I am using a charcoal basket which I can shake the burned ash out of to re-use the leftover fuel. 

I did grill/sear on it a couple of times too, and still you end up building heat while the intake is wide open, and then when the temp reaches slightly above the desired temp you need to shut the intake way down to like 1 or even less on a scale of 1 - 5. Again the intake draft control has a lot of movement range - but seems you don't ever use the mid-range settings of the movement at all. However, I found that while grilling/searing there was never a need to use other than wide open on the exhaust stack. BTW, the 2013 model 96619 exhaust stack has no markings on it but looks otherwise the same as pictures I've seen of the older calibrated exhaust stack model(s).

I also have a pretty large side-burner (OK Joe - 20" X 40" cooking chamber and 20" X 20" firebox with searing/grilling grate) that's single wall STEEL, and works great for smoking/grilling in moderate weather - but does burn a lot of fuel which is really only a concern when I'm only cooking a small quantity of food. It is a very flexible rig and allows continuous fuel feeding during long smokes with no rearrangement like a Kamado would, and even allows simultaneous searing/grilling on the cooking grate in the firebox side. A Kamado like the Akorn can do anything, but it can only do one thing at a time. I bought the Akorn  to have a smaller secondary rig that's unaffected by cold weather (well insulated) and is smaller sized for the times when I'm only cooking smaller quantities of food to conserve my fuel/effort. The Akorn's fuel efficiency is very high and the outside surface only gets warm (you can put your hand on it, but not keep your hand on it very long). You can indefinitely hold your hand 18 inches above the exhaust. Because of these characteristics I am experimenting with using my Akorn in a sheltered area under a roof overhang for cooking in the rain - with a fan behind me blowing the smoke out from under the roof. This is new to me as I'm used to always being out in the rain...


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## djpaul76 (Jul 21, 2014)

When I try to watch this video, it says its private.  Anyone else have that problem?


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## rtbbq2 (Jul 22, 2014)

dmclalin said:


> I have a new CG  Kamado Kooker too and I couldn't get the temp down without smothering it. Either 400° or 98°. I used all wood charcoal and used some Stubbs. I used a charcoal chimney and since it was direct heat, I think I used to much charcoal. After searing (burned) I removed the ribs and finished in the oven.  I ordered a diffuser stone and am trying to figure out how to insert a water pan. I also tried Bone Sucking sauce and it came out a little salty - but probably because I had temp control problems. How long do you let the coals burn down before you start grilling.
> 
> Dan


Dan, I have had my Kamado Kooker for some years now. You should start with a 1/4 of a chimney of lump coal at most. Keep the vents open to only 2 at the top and almost closed at the bottom. You will get the low temperature you are looking for. A diffuser stone is a must so good that you ordered one. There is no need to use a water pan. Other than my ECB unit, I never use a water pan....RTB


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## dmclalin (Jul 22, 2014)

Thanks. That post was quite awhile ago when I was first starting. I have accomplished controlling the temps.


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## donnie crawford (Jan 3, 2015)

Hi fellow smokers! Seriously considering purchasing one of these. For the price you can't beat it. How many racks of ribs can you smoke at one time? Has anybody smoked a brisket? If so how many pounds? Thanks!


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## retfr8flyr (Jan 3, 2015)

You can get about 3 racks on the grill if they are not real long. If you buy a rib rack you can get 6 or 7 racks at a time. I have cooked many briskets on mine, anywhere from 5# flats to 14# packers and they always come out great. i use a BBQ Guru CyberQ WiFi temp controller with mine and it is a fantastic little tool. If I want to add moisture to the cook I have an Akorn smoking stone and I use an aluminum disposable pan, filled with whatever liquid I want to use, sitting on top of the stone. I will also use a pan with just a little water in it to catch the drippings on a cook.


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## donnie crawford (Jan 3, 2015)

Thanks retfr8flyr!  With the rib rack are those 6-7 whole slabs?


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## retfr8flyr (Jan 3, 2015)

I only cook either baby back or St. Louis style, so I can't answer for sure but I would think, with the rib rack, you could get at least 6 full slabs if you kind of leaned the last one against the rack. There is plenty of room in the lid for the full slabs standing up in the rack.


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