Control the temperature

The top vent and the draft door

The draft door lets air in and the top vent lets it out. The 2024 manual gives the rules; the 2020 and 2021 manuals add how to use the cap and the disc.

1. Open the draft door further for more air and more heat.
2. For big changes, and while you are still well short of your target, swing the cap aside on its screw. The older manuals: keep the top vent fully open until you are 10 °C (50 °F) away.
3. For fine control, swing the cap back over and turn the disc (the "daisy wheel") to open or close its holes.
4. Wait 10 to 15 minutes after each change.
5. Creep up on the target: ceramic holds heat, so an overshoot is hard to bring down.
6. To lower the temperature, close the vents a little.

The vent has no marks, and Kamado Joe gives no table of settings. For smoking, the older manuals say open the draft door "only about 2 inches", close the top vent and open the daisy wheel. The Joe Jr.'s draft door window is only about 7.6 cm wide, so 5 cm is most of it; our reading is to start narrower.

Temperatures for each kind of cook

Kamado Joe's cooking ranges, as printed in its Classic manual (2022 edition); the Joe Jr. pages give 107 to 398 °C (225 to 750 °F) overall.

• Smoking: 105 to 135 °C (225 to 275 °F).
• Roasting: 150 to 230 °C (300 to 450 °F).
• Grilling: 205 to 315 °C (400 to 600 °F). The older Joe Jr. manuals: close the top vent halfway to hold it.
• Searing: 260 to 400 °C (500 to 750 °F).
• Baking: 150 to 400 °C (300 to 750 °F).

Never go above 398 °C (750 °F), the manual's ceiling, and never load more than 1.36 kg (3 lb) of charcoal.