Kamado Joe ceramic grill sale, Junior 299, Classic1 649, BigJoe1 999 $1049

Walmart has a couple of the Kamado Joe family of ceramic grills on Holiday Sale.

Joe Jr is $299, free shipping - this matches the best price historically for the Junior.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kamado.../199978441

Classic1 is $649, free shipping (not showing free shipping when I use the redirect link below, might try searching it direct on Walmart's site) - I believe the best price historically was 589 or so.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kamado.../126810886

Big Joe 1 is $999, $49 freight shipping - I think this matches the best price for the Big Joe.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kamado.../155481523

They also carry the Kettle Joe and Classic2 with free shipping, but normal price.

The series 2 gets an upgraded air hinge that makes the dome much easier to lift, but also requires a front latch to keep shut, and that latch is cheap and poorly made. Series 2 also gets a different top vent, the Kontrol Tower, which has a ton of issues with the paint flaking off onto food as well as having black gunk drip off it and run down the outside of the grill. You'll find a lot of people recommend the Smokeware replacement top vent to those with Kontrol Tower issues. There is also a series3, which has a lower fire insert designed for more even smoke circulation, and a deeper grate area allowing for 3 layers of grates (series1 and series2 only allow 2 layers of grates). However, series3 in all cases costs over double the series1, and I don't see the value. In every case I would recommend a series1 + Junior over a series2. Simply more flexible and capable for less total cost.

I much prefer the series 1 'daisy wheel' top vent over the Kontrol Tower. The one downside to the daisy wheel is rain can get in during storage; to address this, I just invert a metal bowl over it to store it. During cooking it's typically a non-issue, as the thermal updraft keeps rain from falling in easily.


Why Kamado? The kamado style grills are notable for their flexibility. They smoke, grill, and sear, giving very stable temp control over a huge range of temperatures. They go hot enough for pizza at 800F, yet can smoke at 200F all night. Think of them as a ceramic smoking oven. There is some learning curve, and they are never going to be as brainless as a gas grill.

Why Kamado Joe over another brand? A lot of included items like the Divide and Conquer cooking grates, large variety of accessory support (Joetisserie, a lot of different cooking surfaces), and the biggie is lifetime warranty to original purchaser. The Kamado Joe brand was sold to Masterbuilt a few years back; customer service took a dive, not helped by Covid, but service has largely improved this year.

Which size to get? If you cook for two, get the Junior. I've given a couple away as gifts now, and it's my most frequently used size. As long as the food fits, it can do anything the big ones can. It's hands-down the winner for grilling steaks, it can sear hotter, faster, and using less fuel, than the larger Joes.

If you cook for 4, get the Classic or Big Joe. I'm of the opinion that no one has ever wished they had a smaller grill, but everyone has run out of space before.

If you cook for more, get the Big Joe. I personally pair a Big Joe with a Junior and think it's the perfect combo, the Big can do the big low slow cooks or the smoking part of a reverse sear, and then use the Junior to do the sear.


If you are curious, there are a lot of videos on Youtube about these grills, there are also a couple excellent kamado groups on Facebook.