7 Top tips to get that kamado grill hot.

Thermo camera image after fully heated

At nearly every demonstration that I conduct, someone asks one of the following:

How do I get my Kamado Joe hotter?

How do I get my Big Green Egg hotter?

How do I get my (fill in the blank) hotter?

I recently had a similar problem in a brand-new Kamado Joe grill.  No matter what I did with the top and bottom vents, the grill would not get into my prime pizza cooking range.  I figured out that the deflectors were at the lowest setting and there was only a very small gap around the edge for ventilation. That airflow limitation will keep your grill from heating up to its potential. Here are a couple of tips to help you get any kamado up to 600F, 700F or 900F:

1) Use a grate in the bottom. I recommend the Kick Ash Basket (I bought mine - and have no financial tie with KAB). Wire grates allow small chunks of charcoal to drop through rather than block the little air holes of the standard fire plate. The original Kamado Joe fire plate is particularly troublesome because it has tiny holes that are easily blocked.

2) Be careful with how the heat deflector is placed in the grill. The BGE platesetter allows better airflow when it is not down in the lower setting notches. The KJ deflectors are round and can restrict the airflow when in the lowest setting too.  I found that if you put the KJ deflectors up high in the Divide and Conquer system or overlap the half-moon stones by an inch in the middle, you will get more airflow around the outside edges.

3) Ensure that all of the parts of your setup are cleaned out and allow plenty of airflow.  The BGE XL pizza stone is too large relative to the grill circumference and impedes the airflow around the edges. (I recommend the Large stone even in an XL BGE) Another suspect is the Kamado Joe ash shovel in the bottom. I remove it to cook pizza so that it does not hamper airflow.

4) Charcoal. I am charcoal brand agnostic and have had success with almost all brands I have tried. I do make sure that the bags stay dry.  Also, make sure that the little pieces don't create a solid mat that keeps the air from flowing into the center of your charcoal. This is going to sound weird to many of you, but big chunk charcoal does not get as hot as charcoal with regular 3-4” chunks.  See this blog for all the details.

5) Reusing charcoal. Fresh charcoal will start easier and cook hotter. Some re-used charcoal mixed in will work, but keep it below 20%. If possible put big chunks in the bottom.

6) A big fire is hotter than a small one. Start the fire in a couple of spots and get it roaring to at least 600F before closing the chimney and using the Pizza-Porta vents.  High temperature means high fuel consumption so go ahead and top up that fire box. The ceramics take time to soak in heat.  

7) Make sure that your fire gets started with the lid up. Once established, close the lid and open the top and bottom vents fully to create a rocket-stove effect. The air escaping through the chimney accelerates the air entering through the vent. When the dome is propped open, you will not get this super hot kamado grill effect.

Bonus tip: Time - It takes time for charcoal to become fully engulfed. And the ceramic soaks in heat at a slow pace. Give the fire plenty of time to heat the deflectors, the walls, and the dome of the oven. Put all the parts in the grill while it is heating up. The temperature will continue to climb once the ceramic is hot. An infrared thermometer is very helpful to assess the stone and wall temperatures.

I hope this is helpful because pizza really likes a hot oven.  The dough rises more rapidly and the dough interior is not overdone.

Pizza should be seared like a steak, not baked like a butt. 

Cortlandt

Click here for our FAQ page for other pizza-cooking details

Original Kick Ash Basket After about a thousand pizzas

RCL Double rack with overlapped KJ deflectors

Fill'er up

Hope this was helpful. This is part of our series on the Kamado Grill Pizza Setup

Cooking with flames