Hi all, forum newb here with a new old Kamodo. Needing some ID Help

Hi all, Im a newb here, but not a total newb to que. Ive been cooking on a 1st run Bubba Keg for the last 8 or so years as an old friend worked for htem and was involved in their production/design and hooked me up with one. Being steel, and outside and ~8 years old its days are looking numbered...

A friend had an old kamodo style cooker under the lean-to behind his shed. I gave him $75 for it and brought it home Saturday... which leads to my main question...

What exactly do I have here?

Ive done some googling and looks like an old Imperial Kamodo, but IDK for sure and it looks like there are a lot of folks around here who really know their stuff so figured Id post some pics and see if anyone has any info they can or would like to share... I believe its a pretty old Clay pot, not ceramic but not sure how to tell specifically... It needs for sure a gasket and lower damper, and probably some kinda upper damper to regulate flow. Lower fire box is broken in two with a break that wraps around its circumfrance (split into a lower half and upper half) and IDK if its even something worth fixing. It looks to have hardly been used. theres not much soot at all.

Here are some pictures... Thanks in advance for any info or replies!

If theres anything else that will help in identifying it or useful pictures lemme know and i can snap em real quick.

hurricanedavid said:

Looks like an old version Big Green Egg. Google it in images and you'll see what I mean.

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even with the japanese (or is it chinese) stamp on the lid as in the 1st picture?

(its pretty hard to see)
And im not sure if this thing was black or green initially. its pretty ugly!

thanks!

EdF said:

Question is - is it usable? Looks it.

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with a new gasket, some cleanup and a new lower and upper damper, it will be perfectly usable.

But... im not sure if its clay or ceramic and up to taking higher temperatures or not. guess thats my first and most important question...

and do I need to do anything with the broken firebox or replace or just stack the 2 pieces together the way they fit and rock out???

LYU370 said:

Possibly a Richard Johnson Kamado from the 60's? I hear he ripped off a lot of people over the years.

http://potlach.org/2005/03/kamado/

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wouldnt be shocked to learn its that old.

It supposedly was given to my friend by his old boss who was older and passed away a year or two ago so i doubt the true origins of it will ever be known...

Sure does look a lot like that one but it looks a lot like a lot of stuff ive seen in the last day or two on the googles!

Thanks!

any tricks for identifying this as certain as being ceramic or clay or other markings to look for?

Also, any pointers for the best deal on a BGE lower draft door or a suitable upper damper would be appreciated!

Thanks!

offshore_SoLA said:

I'd fully burn a couple small loads of lump through it first... Get a feel for its capabilities and burn out whatever funk accumulated inside that thing. kamodos can hold mold. Don't make big plans and buy a pile of goodies to torch before you're sure it'll do what u want.

Looks pretty sweet though.

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thanks for the suggestion. good idea!

swamprb said:

I'm no expert, but I play one on the interwebs and your first stop on trying to determine what you have is the Naked Whiz site which someone else pointed out.
The Pachinko Palace Manuals will give you the info on the Pot size and #, but first off I can tell you that it is the Traditional Style Kamado.

I've documented a few of my restorations here, so just do a search and they should provide as much info you need to get them up and cooking again.

Personally, as much as I love them and enjoyed restoring them, they really will never come close to matching the performance of my BGE's.

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Thank you. When I brought this thing home the wife said 'what did you get that for, i was gonna get you a BGE for our birthday' :doh: And some of your restorations that i happened upon in the googles were one of the main factors that lead to me registering and posting this here...

anyways, i did a test fire in it yesterday all seemed to go well and I'll clean this up, paint it, repair the hinge and bands, replace the damper and gasket, maybe try to fix up the firebox and have something fun to tinker with for a while. maybe hang onto it maybe sell it, idk... If I have < $100, or $120 into this i cant be all that disappointed