Kamado Joe Big Joe Konnected Review: Best Grill Ever???

The kitchen and back porch of my home are collectively known as The Village Idiot Pub and Grill, and I’m the head chef. It’s a role I love, and my wife, kids, and guests appreciate the effort that goes into crafting a great meal. For cooking outside, I usually bounce back and forth between my pellet grill and traditional Kamado grill, but Kamado Joe’s Big Joe Konnected Joe (that’s a lot of Joe!) has been the only one keeping the home fires burning the last few weeks.

This model has some features that could solve some of my biggest pain points. I’ll share what I’ve learned from cooking on it and help you decide if it’s a grilling investment you should make.

Setting the Table

Even though both of my primary grills promise they can do more than half a dozen cooking methods, it doesn’t mean they’re great at everything.

The Kamado grill can reach temperatures up to 700° F, making for some amazing direct heat searing. Thanks to the ceramic construction, it also holds incredibly stable temperatures.

While it can get down to low ‘n slow temps, it’s a bit of a process to dial in an exact temperature. Plus, my Kamado is “only” the large size, so even though I can fit a lot of burgers and brats or enough pork butts to feed a crowd, it’s a bit tougher to get multiple racks of ribs or a whole packer brisket on there.

On the other hand, my pellet smoker does outstanding low-temp BBQ and has generous space for it. Since it uses hardwood pellets for fuel, I always get great flavor and impressive smoke rings.

But it tops out at 500° F, and I’ve had several instances where fire started inside the barrel at the max temperature, so I usually won’t cook any higher than 450° F on it. The computer does a nice job of managing the temperature, but it can swing several degrees either way. On less expensive pellet grills, I’ve had temperature swings of ±10° F.

The point is, I use each grill to do what it’s best at and avoid where they’re weaker. The problem is that it takes two grills.

Kamado Joe Big Joe Konnected: The Best of Both Worlds

With the Kamado Joe Big Joe Konnected, I really can do everything well. It features a 24-inch diameter, 450 sq in cooking surface that’s much more generous than the 18-inch diameter of my other grill. It might not sound like 6 inches of diameter is that big of a deal, but it makes all the difference when I’m cooking full racks of ribs or brisket.

When it comes to the temperature, I can get the high 700° F I love for searing and dial it in to a level of precision and stability I’ve never seen at lower temperatures. Whether I’m cooking burgers at 400° F or smoking at 225° F, the Digital Kontrol Board finds your temp, and it doesn’t budge.

During my testing, I cooked at 225° F for a little more than six hours, and there was not a single degree of swing either way except when I opened the lid to stir the burnt ends, wrap the ribs, and add the chicken. Even when I did, the computer steadily brought the temperature back up and then held it firmly. That’s the beauty of ceramic stability and computer precision.

A Couple of Caveats

Unlike pellet grills, you have a little more work to do at the beginning of your cook when you use the Digital Kontrol Board. You’ll fully close the lower vent, fully open the upper vent, start the grill, and set your target temperature. As the grill starts climbing toward its target, the display will tell you exactly how far to close the upper vent. Once that’s set, it’s hands-off from there.

Since you use lump charcoal for fuel, you don’t get an automatic hardwood-smoked flavor when you’re cooking at low temps like you do on a pellet grill. It’s easy to solve, though. Just throw a few of your favorite wood chunks in among the charcoal, and they’ll roll that smoke flavor in.

More Kamado Joe Big Joe Konnected Advantages

Automatic Fire Starting

Even starting the Big Joe Konnected is simple thanks to its Automatic Fire Starter that lights your charcoal from the bottom. Just click the AFS button, and the element will heat for 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 130° F. It’s as easy and automatic as starting a pellet grill.

There’s an App for That

One massive advantage Kamado Joe has over other grills in this class is its app controls and cook monitoring. Inside, you can quickly see the current temperature, adjust the target internal temperature, set a timer, set a target probe temperature, browse recipes, and more.

An advanced graphing feature (which is also visible on the Digital Kontrol Board screen) tracks the cooking time, internal temp, and probe temp(s), making it easy to monitor your cook. Those graphs are saved as well, so you can look back at previous cooks to help you dial in the best timing for future ones.

A quick tangent here—I love that Kamado Joe packed three probe ports on the Big Joe Konnected. I enjoy the convenience of the wireless probes I use, but they can have trouble getting a signal out through the thick ceramic of a Kamado grill. Having multiple wired probe ports and app connectivity is a huge advantage, especially when you’re cooking multiple kinds of meat at one time.

Off-Grid Cooking

But what if you like the manual Kamado grill cooking experience? No problem! You’re welcome to use fire starters and manually adjust the airflow vents to your heart’s content.

Pro Tip: Never use lighter fluid in a Kamado grill. It can soak into the ceramic and change the flavor of your food. Use grill starters or an automatic starter instead.

The ability to use the grill manually is incredibly important to me. I’ve been in the path of six hurricanes and I don’t remember how many tropical storms, so I’m always thinking about how to manage during an extended power outage. With a pellet grill, you have to have a power source, and the onboard computer might not like the dirty power coming from your generator.

With Kamado Joe, I can simply use the grill manually and not stress about how I’m going to cook. Its size, stability, and temperature range mean I can literally cook anything I normally would in the oven, on a grill, or on a smoker. Plus, a single bag of Kamado Joe’s Big Block XL Lump Charcoal gives me several days worth of fuel.

Off-Grid Plus Modern Convenience

It’s possible to be both off-grid and enjoy computer-controlled precision, though. Using an inverter generator or lithium portable power supply, you can still use AFS and the Digital Kontrol Board. I ran both using a 1000-series portable power supply during my testing, and the Big Joe Konnected worked flawlessly.

Since the AFS heating element draws quite a bit of power (generating heat always does), the best bet is to use fire starters to get the grill going and then let the computer manage the temperature. It only controls the airflow and uses a crazy-low amount of power while it’s running—just a few watts. The estimate on my power supply was more than 90 hours of operation. I’d get less than 15 hours powering my pellet grill.

Unbeatable Value

Kamado Joe packs the Big Joe Konnected with everything you need to get started grilling and smoking for $2999.99. In addition to the grill, you get…

• Stainless steel cooking grates
• Two ceramic heat deflectors
• Aluminum folding side shelves
• Meat probe
• Grill gripper
• Ash tool
• Heavy-duty powder-coated steel grill cart

With other Kamado grills, you’d get the cooking grates, the gripper, and the ash tool, but have to pay for everything else separately. It adds up quickly.

One quick note—I love that Kamado Joe included a heavy-duty rolling cart for a couple of reasons beyond basic value. The wheels are high-quality, roll easily, and have detents for the locking ones to slip into. They make moving your grill between its storage and cooking locations much easier and ensure it won’t roll away. There’s also storage space underneath, so I don’t have to think about where I’m going to store the heat deflectors when I’m not using them.

You can expand your capabilities even more. Check out Kamado Joe’s accessory page for inspiration.

Even More Advantages

• Advanced Multi-Panel Firebox: Allows the ceramic panels to expand when heated and reduces the risk of breakage.
• Divide and Conquer Cooking System: Allows for full direct heat, full indirect heat, half and half, and multi-level cooking.
• Fiberglass Mesh Gasket: Locks in smoke and moisture while allowing probe wires an exit.
• Ash Collection Tray: Contains most of the ash, making cleaning out the base much faster and easier.
• Air Lift Hinge: Makes raising and lowering the lid easy, holds it open, and helps ensure it doesn’t slam closed.
• Integrated Lifting Handles: Help you lift the grill onto the cart and roll it into position.

Should You Buy the Kamado Joe Big Joe Konnected?

There’s no question that this grill is an investment. When you’re ready to step up to the premium class of grills, you want to know you’re getting a quality product and that it’s right for the way you cook.

From my experience, the Big Joe Konnected bridges the gap between traditional Kamado grills and pellet grills. With its automatic fire starting, precise temperature stability, legit high-temp cooking, app support, and generous size, it’s more capable of performing many cooking methods well while ensuring a high level of convenience. Plus, it comes with so much of what you need to get cooking right away, that it’s an excellent value.

Is there anyone who shouldn’t buy it? Sure. Not everyone has the grill budget or space for this model, and one of Kamado Joe’s other sizes might be a better fit. Maybe you don’t want the extra tech features, and a traditional style Kamado Joe works better for you. Or perhaps you want the smoke flavor without having to manually add wood chunks, and you might be happier with a pellet grill.

However, if you’re looking for one grill that can combine the best cooking features of both Kamado grills and pellet grills that really can do all things well, the Kamado Joe Big Joe Konnected is it.