Going to be getting a BGE or Kamado Joe grill/smoker etc.

Besides a cover, stand what do you guys who use these recommend as must have accessories out of the box? I know there are a few of you here.

Thanks much,
Chris

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cslinger,

The two main "must haves" that come to mind:

An ash scraper tool, for cleaning the ash out of the bottom, through the bottom vent hole. That'll need to be done every few cooks.

A propane charcoal starter torch, electric charcoal starter coil, or other method to light lump charcoal in the bottom of your egg. DO NOT use charcoal briquettes or lighter fluid.

Seriously consider the Vision Grill.

Remember you're cooking to temp not time.

Royal Oak lump is good and readily available. I also like B&B. Only use lump charcoal. No starter fluid.

I use a chimney with Weber starter cubes. I have the BBQ dragon chimney and fan.

You'll need a deflector stone.

Thermometer is important. There are companies that make WiFi versions that also use a small bower fan to regulate temps.

Kick ash basket

The Joetisserie is nice. Works on vision grill btw.

I stand read thermometer bus also good. I have a Thermopop and love it.

Lots o people here like the starter torch but I like the electric coil. But I do set a timer for 6 min. as it can be easy to forget about while doing food prep. and then it starts to deform as the fire takes.

When I bought my BGE, it did not come w/ the "plate setter". It's a must if you want to do anything but grill directly.

A Thermapen from Thermoworks.com .

BBQ Guru controller, adapter, and fan. Extremely easy to use and very accurate (i.e. plus/minus 5 deg).

Ceramic deflector for indirect

I also have 2 Kingsford Charcoal containers . 1 for lump and 1 for smoking wood. Keep the partial bags charcoal and wood out of the weather and since the kamodos seal off so well more often than not you only need a partial bag of charcoal when filling because there is good leftover charcoal in the firebox.

Steel ash bin w/ lid. Doesn't have to be fancy. Also, handy for 4th of July as I was the only 1 in the cul-d-sac with a metal bucket to put sparklers that were still hot.

A temp controller is helpful
Smobot controller

And additional/adjustable rack set up
Ceramic Grill Store

I have the Kamado Joe.

It comes with everything you need to run right out of the box, where the BGE requires multiple "options" to be satisfactory.

You want a Kamado Joe Classic II or better. It comes with everything the BGE should have become or came with. I'm with Mars Attack on this.......Better adjustable lid vent, ash catcher (BGE has none), better hinge system and gasket, MUCH better shelve system. The divide and conquer system is awesome, comes with 2 different levels to put your cooking grates on, 2 halfmoon ceramic pieces so you can cook indirect on half or all of it. They also come with the ash tool and rack picker up tool. That being said, it doesn't say your location but if Costco has their Kamado Joe event in your area they give you a free cover, lighter sticks, and about 20% cheaper and so is the coal at the event.

https://www.costco.com/kamado-joe-schedule.html

That being said, something to easily light it.....I prefer a hand held torch and light 2 areas for about 20 seconds each. Others prefer a looflighter.

Natural coal, I really like the B+B oak......

Thermapen.......instant read thermometer.....other than that....not too much else.....I haven't felt a need for a temperature controller.....I keep the bottom vent wide open of fairly close to it most times, sometimes restrict it a lot more on low temp cooks.....and restrict the top vent (top vent seems to have a lot more effect on temp......for just grilling.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
Thermapen.......instant read thermometer

Definitely. Can't believe I forgot that. A quality instant-read digital thermometer is certainly a must-have.

Cook to internal temp, not to time or external appearance.

Using a thermometer is the #1 thing I recommend to folks who want to improve their grilling, especially those who are wowed by my grilling and complain that their own stuff comes out dry.

Thermapen and something like a Maverick two probe thermometer. One to read meat temp and one to read grid temperature. Makes low and slows much easier.

I’m going to suggest fire starter squares as better option. After using chimney and other options, these are 100% predictable and cheap. Three of the in some lump and ready to go in 15 minutes.

Link

I would also recommend a small dedicated shop vac instead of an ash rake. Way less messy, faster and more thorough. Just poke it in the front hole.

Thermapen is a good recommendation.

Nobody has mentioned the plate setter insert, but you’ll need that for indirect cooks which the BGE excels at!

Down the road cast grates are a nice upgrade and improve crust on steaks and burgers.

I start mine with a chimney and a cheap Harbor Freight heat gun.

I remove the plastic end off the heat gun and it lights the charcoal in less then a minute. You then wave it around under the charcoal to get it all going good before pouring it into the smoker.

I then add unlit charcoal over the top of that and it will run for the whole time to smoke a butt.

The Joe comes with the indirect plate and second tier rack as a part of the package.

MAP torch for lighting.

Grill basket to hold lump charcoal.

BBQ Guru, Kick Ash Basket and Ash Pan make cleanout as easy as it can be,Thermapen is a no brainer, and I like the fire starting cubes usually cut in half.

Thanks all. This is perfect info. Always a wealth here.

Enjoy your BGE. I’ve got two.

Can you pre-burn wood, and put it in one of those, or will it only work with lump? I’m debating about building a masonry smoker, and it might be cheaper/faster to get one of the eggs.

MAP torch for sure. I light 3 spots and then close the lid, this is by far the fastest way I have found to light the egg.

Thermapen, lots of lump charcoal and lots of meat!

I do mostly low n slow on the BGE so I find ThermoWorks' smoke to be a higher purchase priority than ThermaPen (I own both and recommend both, but recommend purchasing Smoke first if you need to stagger purchases). I'm of the school that "if you're looking you ain't cooking" so I like the probe and remote receiver (it's thermonuclear hot in Texas most of the year, and it was Eskimo cold most of the year when I lived in Alaska and Canada) so you don't have to waste heat opening the lid to use Thermapen.

The smoke didn't exist when I bought my BGE so I bought a Maverick. The Smoke transmits further, the probes are more accurate, the unit is measuring temperature more often, the probes are thinner (base probe plus there is an ultrathin optional probe) so works on thinner and more delicate meats (e.g. salmon fillets), and more importantly the probes are more durable (i.e. total ownership cost will be less since not replacing probes as often).