Question About The KJ Heat Deflector...

[GrillNewbie]

Hello, fellow grillers....
I'm a proud new owner of a KJ and have a question. The KJ heat deflector, when in the low position for indirect cooking, sure sits close to the sides of the fire ring. I have less than 1/2"~7/16ths all the way around. I was watching some of the KJ videos and it looked like the deflector had more room than mine. In the vid it looked like there was almost 3/4~1" of space between the deflector and fire ring all the way around. I went to the local BBQ place and looked at a BGE and their "place setter". Theirs allows all kinds of room for air flow. Is mine correct ?

Thanks, Steve

[GrillNewbie]

I've been watching KJ's videos and trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong... I can't achieve low temperatures without snuffing out the charcoal.. Dammit...

This is 2:06 into one of their videos and I have the same grill. My heat deflector is close to the edges of the fire ring and the one in the video has all kinds of room. I'm wondering if I got a different size or older version heat deflector or something... Big difference from my pic and the one in the vid..


If you guys tell me it's fine, great.

[Ross]

Not to point out the obvious, but two things: You are sure the guy sold you a large KJ, not medium (I don't think they make a medium, so dumb question. 2. Are you sure it's set up right? It looks to me from the pic I see`That the plate setter is not seated into the little L track of the legs of the stainless steel holder. Does the ceramic actually fit into that little L channel, you know the one I'm talking about, you can see it in the sample pic from KJ that you posted. Good luck on that, check out Naked Whiz's site on cooking with the heat deflector in place on a KJ:

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/productreviews ... ssic3.html

...also, one other thing, doesn't the guy at Ace have a KJ set up in his store? if your were to take your diffuser stand and stone in there and place it on the floor room model, see if it fits the same?

[waldo]

Look at the video still of the KJ setup. The bracket for the diffuser rests in small indents on the edge of the firebowl. Does yours have these indents? I don't see them in the picture, but that may be just the picture quality.

Next, KJ sells a pizza stone that looks identical to the heat diffuser. I don't know if they are the same size, but the pizza stone is marked with letters identifying it as such. Did you by any chance receive a pizza stone instead of a heat diffuser?

http://www.kamadojoe.com/pizza_stone.html

http://www.kamadojoe.com/heat_deflector_classicjoe.html

[GrillNewbie]

Hey guys... I talked to KJ customer service the other morning. While the girl on the phone didn't really know what I was talking about, she did mention that they have a guy that regularly replies to questions on FaceBook. Not a big fan of FB, but I logged in and posted a pic of my diffuser. I guess it's just like everybody elses and perfectly normal and that way by design.

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. I'll keep trying.

[GrillNewbie]

Ross, thank you again for a helpful post. I read through that thread and will try some of the techniques mentioned.

If at first you don't succed, try, try again.

[Ross]

You're welcome. It does take some time, a bit of a learning curve. You are right, though, it does look like your plate setter had less of a gap than the one in the KJ pic. I guess these kamados are, to a certain extent, made by hand, I would imagine that the fire boxes are hand kilned on some type of kilning device. As with all hand made items, dimensions will vary a little bit form one cooker to the next. That is the only explanation I can think of....

[matt]

Yup, I'd say I have less gap than you do. I tried to center mine as best as I could for this shot.


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[Ross]

Gap looks darn near the same to me, I would say you do not have a larger gap than Steve's. So, Steve, this would indicate that the dimensions of your firebox and your plate setter are about average, (grill newbie).


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[GrillNewbie]

Thanks, Matt ! I would say that your gap is quite a bit wider than mine. Now, that being said, I just don't know if it makes a real difference. I'm still struggling with low temps. Still, it could just be user error.

Could you do me one more favor on this subject ? Measure the inside width of the firebox, at it's widest point. Then, measure your deflector at it's widest point.

The I.D. of my firebox is 15 & 9/16" or 39.5cm (if I did that right, lol).

The O.D. of the deflector is 15" or 38.1cm (if I did that right, lol).

That leaves 9/16" or 1.4cm total or 7mm on each side for a gap.

Am I way off on this pursuit ? Does it matter ? Should I just have a beer ?

[matt]

have a beer. While I agree that your gap looks smaller to me, I doubt it makes any difference.

I'll measure when I get a chance, but it won't be for a couple of days...

[GrillNewbie]

Having a beer... Don't worry about it.

I'm a technician and can't understand the differences in a "standard" model is all.

If I were an engineer..I wouldn't be able to sleep. Lol...

[Proteus]

I do believe I have read that Kamado cooking is an art not a science.........Regards N.

[hrmbbq]

I have gap about the same size on mine and have no issues!

[captndan]

Not to get scientific I found a perforated pizza pan atWM. It' pretty heavy duty and fits the Kamado perfectly. Seven bucks and change.