no smoke in my big joe

[Jsmiller5245]

I just got a KJ big joe a few days ago. I've been doing test runs and I've
noticed I don't get slot of smoke out of the top. I'm used to running on a stick burner (old country brazos), and I don't expect it to smoke like that. But I don't see any smoke when the temp gets around 250.. running temps of 250-300, with Apple wood chunks

 

[Ron_L]

That's what you want to see. That means that the fire is burning cleanly

 

[pjtexas1]

Ron is right. You shouldn't see a lot of smoke even on your stick burner except when you add a stick.

 

[Jsmiller5245]

Thanks. I've brand new to the kamado joe, but I'm super excited to learn all it can do.. Gonna try a pork butt this weekend to start it off

 

[BGWolf]

You're going to have a great time with your new Kamado Joe. They burn very efficiently, very little airflow needed to maintain temps. Have fun this weekend & don't hesitate to ping us if you have questions or concerns.

 

[mcdeadstein]

Coming from a stick burner you may find the smoke ring on the kamado to be underwhelming or non-existent sometimes if using lump charcoal. Thats just the product of not burning much fuel. Now that is just cosmetic but it is definitely something i noticed with my KJ. Beyond that the plus side is you'll use so little fuel it is astonishing. I've cooked a brisket for 16 hours and shut it down. Came back the next stay knocked off the ashes and had plenty of charcoal left for a high-ish heat grilling session. I now have both a Lang 48 and a KJ and i really like that combo of offset and kamado.

Also just a tip but the best method to light my KJ ive found is a cheap harbor freight heat gun. That thing gets the lump fired up within minutes.