Kamado Joe KJ23RHCI-A Classic Joe III Charcoal Grill

Kamado grill is a charcoal-fueled and all-in-one grill package, oven, and smoker. This special appliance is growing in popularity by the day, especially among BBQ enthusiasts. For that reason, the number of Kamado grills is increasing in the market.

There are many great Kamado grills but one of them tops the list – Kamado Joe Classic III. We have reviewed this grill. Let’s get to know why it is currently a standout unit compared to other contemporary Kamado grills.

This circular grill comes with a built-in thermometer that helps in monitoring your cooking temperatures to allow guess-free cooking.

This grill’s grate has a diameter of 18 inches. That allows you to fit nearly anything on the grill such as multiple pork butts or a large packer.

This grill is constructed using quality heat-resistant ceramic. The material is very effective in retaining heat for long periods, which gives you the convenience of doing low and slow cooking at low temperatures (up to 225-degree F). Additionally, the material is strong enough to support temperatures of up to 700-degree F.

The grill also includes two metal shelves on the side that you can easily fold away.

The Kamado Joe Class 3 is equipped with a fiberglass mesh gasket that enables the lock shutting of the dome with a stainless steel latch. That way, all the heat, moisture, and smoke are sealed in to enhance efficient cooking.

The hinge system in this unit gets rid of the hassle experienced when opening or closing the dome. Additionally, it ensures that the dome doesn’t slam shut.

The Kamado Joe Class 3 is equipped with a SloRoller System to promote even airflow and circulation throughout the unit when cooking at a temperature below 500F.

The three-tier divide & conquer system features both ceramic and stainless steel grates inserts. The system lets you be in full control of the distance between the coals and your proteins. It also gives you the ability to cook both indirect and direct simultaneously. What’s more, this system provides you with up to 580 sq. inches of grilling area.

This grill comes with a galvanized cart that has 4 lockable wheels which makes it easier for you to move the grill easily regard, nevertheless it’s heavyweight.

– It’s true you’ll be giving up some convenience when you switch from has to a charcoal-fueled grill. However, you’ll enjoy cooks that have a rich smoky flavor which will boost the quality of your food coming out of the Kamado grill.

Besides, BBQ isn’t only defined by convenience; it’s also about making wonderful food that unit family and friends to enjoy and create beautiful memories.

– This Kamado is great when it comes to maintaining steady temperatures over long periods. The unit is also nearly unaffected by outside ambient temperature, including winter temperatures.

As you might already know, one secret to great barbeque is consistent temperature control. It’s incredibly simple to achieve this temperature with this kind of grill because it has a thick ceramic construction.

– This is another thing many people love about Kamado’s grill. It can hold the temperature for all these hours without the need to refill the charcoal. Comparing the Kamado’s with the traditional charcoal grills, you may discover that you will need to refill the charcoal after every few hours to maintain constant temperatures.

– The Kamado Joe Classic 3 is very user-friendly in comparison with the conventional stick burner smoker but it delivers a similar flavor profile. With this unit, you’ll just light your charcoal and a full basket of it should be enough to maintain a temperature of 200 to 200 degrees F for at least 15 hours.

Once you have the vents dialed in, everything becomes easier. You can disappear and just check in on your food every two hours to see if everything is going on well. You don’t have to perform complicated fire management such as it’s the case with a stick burner. Additionally, you won’t need to constantly refill your charcoal every now and then like traditional charcoal grills.

– Kamado Joe Company appears to be very concentrated on continued innovation to improve their product. Honestly, there’s no one perfect grill. However, the Kamado Joe comes with some improvements that make it stand out from its competitors such as the Green Egg.

– The vent on the Kamado Joe’s top is constructed of die-cast aluminum, which is rust-resistant. Comparing this with another grill like the Green Egg that has its top vent constructed using cast iron it’s a great plus for Kamados. That means increased convenience because you won’t be forced to remove the die-cast aluminum vent from the Kamado’s after your grilling and keep it dry so that it doesn’t rust.

– The unit comes with a built-in ash collector at its bottom to make it easy for ash disposal after cooks. That’s a better system compared to what’s available in other similar grills that make disposing of ash to be quite a task.

– It is worth mentioning that the Kamado Joe Classic 3 is quite affordable compared to its competitors like the Green Egg. At the time we were writing this post, the price of the kamados was lower than that of the Green Egg by about $200.

– The Kamado Joe Classic 3 can take up to 15 minutes before warming up to temperature. Also, the charcoal ignition process and getting the grill to the right temperature takes too long in comparison with a gas grill.

However, once you get used to managing the extra warming uptime, you can easily change the manner in which you prepare dinner by firing up your grill first and then preparing your food. Certainly, by the time you’re done preparing your food, the grill will be up to temperature and ready for the cooks.

– It might take you some time when changing between temperatures on the Kamado Joe Classic 3. For instance, if you’re performing reverse-seared steaks, once you’re through with the indirect part of the cooking where your grill is at 225 degrees F, you’ll discover that it often takes around 5 minutes to get the charcoal hot to finish the steaks completely with a sear.

– The Kamado Joe comes with 510 sq. inches of grilling space provided by the 3 tiers of Divide & Conquer System. So, if you want to throw a party and invite a larger number of people, which might need you to do more than one brisket, then the Kamado Joe Classic 3 may be a good option. In this case, you may want to go for the Big Joe.

Kamado Joe comes with a full set of accessories that enhances its functionality beyond that of other Kamados in the market. As the popularity of the Kamado Joe Classic 3 increase, so does the supply of accessories increases. The accessories are meant to improve or upgrade the grill’s performance. The following are some of them, which we believe that you’ll find suitable for your needs:

These are convenient cast iron inserts that fit well into the ‘Three Tier Divider & Conquer System’. They allow you to get a deeper sear. They also come in handy when you want to do pancakes or bacon.

JoeTisserie is an amazing grill insert that fits between the bottom of the grill and the dome. It’s used to convert the Kamado to a Rotisserie spit. It’s a great accessory if you’re planning to roast a chicken or grill a prime rib.

With this accessory, you’ll be able to bring that self-basting, amazing rotisserie flavor right on your grill. It’s a durable kit made from cast aluminum and comes with a unique shape that lets the dome lid seal perfectly around your rotisserie unit.

That locks in the heat and moisture, allowing the cooks to self-baste on your rotisserie spit. Additionally, there’s a wide range of attachments like trays and baskets, which fit on the JoeTisserie. The JoeTisserie is versatile and comes at an affordable price.

Having a 120 volts motor, the JoeTisserie is able to cook as much as 50lbs of meat at once, which is also a lot of prime rib or chicken. With such huge power, the JoeTisserie is not only effective but also quiet. What’s more, it’s easy to assemble and even user-friendly. It’s, generally, a great grill rotisserie kit that you can’t miss to have.

You’ll require plugging the JoeTisserie into a power outlet to run the unit. So, keep this in mind and ensure you have easy access to that.

The DoJoe is a grilling insert that basically converts the Kamado Joe Classic 3 to a pizza oven. Like the JoeTisserie, DoJoe fits between the bottom of the grill and dome, creating a small vent that lets you slide your pizzas into a stone with a pizza peel.

So, if you’ve always wanted to cook your own pizza at home in your yard, then the DoJoe is the latest Kamado’s innovations that will turn your Kamado Joe into the best pizza oven. Whether you’re a beginner to Kamado grill or an experienced person, this accessory is simple to install and use.

It’s able to hold temperatures that range from 400 to 700 degrees consistently over a long time. The DoJoe gives you the best experience when it comes to pizza cooking.

The DoJoe comes with a unique wedge shape that helps you in monitoring your pizza throughout the cooking. Also, the ceramic pizza stone helps you to get a crispy, finger-licking crust that’s cooked evenly over the Heat Deflectors of your Kamado Joe.

There is a wide range of accessories available for Kamado Joe’s DoJoe, including wooden peel and pizza cutter. If pizza is one of your family’s favorite, then you’ll need to purchase the Kamado Joe’s DoJoe and enjoy making incredible pies.

iKamand transform your Kamado into something similar to charcoal fueled over that you can remotely control through Wi-Fi. This accessory fits the base vent of your grill and with Kamado Joe’s smartphone app, you’ll be able to track the internal temperature of your meats and change your grill’s temperature from anywhere via Wi-Fi or cellphone connection.

The iKamand has fans that ensure there’s sufficient airflow within the grill to maintain the desired temperature. This tool is top-notch digital innovation that enables you to ‘set and forget it’ when monitoring the temp control right from your phone via the iKamand application.

The revolutionary gadget helps you to control the smoke, heat, and target temp with just a tap of a button. It’s also very easy to install, simple to read LED lighting system for monitoring via Wi-Fi connection.

It comes at a reasonable price and it’s highly recommended for its ability to allow you to monitor your cooks on the go! If you’re a lover of tech, this device is a must-have. With it, you’ll be able to monitor up to 4 different aspects at the same time through the app. That will give you quick access to the food and pit temp from anywhere.

What’s more, this accessory provides you with access to a selection of recipes from the Kamado Joe’s chef, tutorial video as well as another barbeque related content. The iKamand application inspires not only experts but experts alike to try something special with their Kamado Joe Classic 3.

So, if you’d like to enjoy the convenience of cooking using pellet grills where you simply set the temp and walk away for other businesses, then the iKamand is what you need.

Available on some Big Joe, Pro Joe, and Classic models, the SloRoller is a unique, hyperbolic smoke section. It’s a revolutionary feature added to the Kamado Joe Classic 3 that converts the grill into the best smoker that imparts an amazing smoky flavor to your cooks.

The accessory work by circulation the smoke and heat in rolling waves throughout the grill to keep your food engulfed in clouds of smoky flavor. This accessory is designed to enable low and slow cooks below 500 degrees. It produces up to 20x more smoke in circulation and lessens hot spots. What’s more, airflow is increased to allow a cleaner burn and more temp accuracy within the grill.

Like other Kamado Joe’s accessories we’ve reviewed here, the SloRoller is a great innovation that has happened to Kamado Joe grills. Generally, the smoke chamber significantly enhances the smoky flavor of food. SloRoller is one of the most desirable accessories in Kamado Joe grills.

If your charcoal gets lit quickly, then it means you can also quickly begin cooking. The Electric Starter comes with a 3 loop design that conveniently reaches more coals in Kamado style grills. It has 600 watts of power that makes charcoal lighting quick, easy, and usually takes less than 5 minutes.

There are many electric starters and other fast-lighting techniques for charcoal grills out there and you can easily find the best Kamado Joe electric starter.

The Big Green Egg is a great Kamado style grill but it’s not anywhere close to Kamado Joe 3 in terms of features and innovations. It may have been the number one Kamado in the market for a long time but, unfortunately, the Kamado Joe 3 is now taking the lead. However, if you must, the Big Green Egg is an amazing Kamado and it has everything necessary to give you a nice grill.

Let’s have a brief comparison of the Kamado Joe Classic 3 against the Big Green Egg and see if you can learn something to help you make a better buying decision.

In case you didn’t know, the Big Green Egg can easily be modernized to utilize several of Kamado Joe’s innovations. For instance, you can utilize the ‘Flexible Coking System’ in a Big Green Egg and then utilize the Kamado Joe’s cooking inserts.

You can also put a DoJoe or JoeTisserie in your Big Green Egg and you’ll likely be in a position to put the SloRoller insert in a Big Green Egg eventually as well. The Big Green Egg is a wonderful Kamado grill too. So, with that in mind, should you buy a Big Green Egg instead?

As mentioned, you can’t really go wrong with a Big Green Egg. However, we’ve already agreed that the Kamado Joe Classic 3 has got way too many features and advanced innovations compared to the Big Green Egg.

So, why don’t you go for the Kamado Joe? Honestly, there are lots of innovations specifically engineered for use in a Kamado Joe. Therefore, the KJ Classic 3 is the better deal to make the most out of all these nice accessories (Listed above).

And, in case you happen to purchase the Harvard Science technology that redesigned the Kamado Joe 3’s ceramic housing so that you can make the most out of the SloRoller smoke chamber, then it’s okay to say that you’ll be purchasing a Kamado Joe classic 3 yourself.

So, to conclude this Kamado Joe Classic 3 vs. the Big Green Egg, there’s so much to enjoy when you go for the Kamado Joe classic 3. Therefore, don’t think too much – just go for it!

If you’re considering an upgrade from an old unit of a quality product you already adore to a brand-new unit, then that can be a tough decision to make. For instance, if you want to move from the Big Green Egg Large or Kamado Joe Classic 1 to the Kamado Joe Class 2, then you may realize that this could be a tough call.

That’s because the Big Green Egg and Kamado Joe 1 have been great Kamados. Thus, unless you wanted to get the safest of the Kamado Joe 2’s air-lift hinge or you wanted a new firebox, then you may have had a difficult time looking for a good reason to support your need for an upgrade if your existing unit (either the Big Green Egg or Kamado Joe 1) was working just fine.

However, in this situation, upgrading can be a good decision. The Kamado Joe Classic 3 is irresistible. Also, the new design for the SloRoller is an outstanding innovation and makes an upgrade quite justifiable if you’re looking for another grill.

If you utilize your Kamado for low and slow barbeque cooking, then you’re going to benefit a great deal from the Kamado Joe Classic 3, specially engineered for the SloRoller Smoke Chamber. If money isn’t a problem for you for now and you want to get the best Kamado available out there, then go for the Kamado Joe Classic 3!