Wayfair[wayfair.com] offers its Rewards Members: Kamado Joe Joe Jr 13.5" Portable Charcoal Grill (Red) for $499 - $249.01 = $249.99. Shipping is free.
Note: You must first purchase the Rewards Membership for $29 to see the discounted price for this item.
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The Kamado Joe Joe Jr is a compact ceramic charcoal grill that stands out for a solid build, strong heat retention, and versatile everyday cooking. It handles steaks especially well, and it can also do brisket flats, smoked chicken, burgers, and small meals for two to four. The tradeoff is size and weight, since it is hard to move and not truly portable, and it takes time and fuel to come up to temperature. It is a sturdy little kamado if you want steady heat more than grab-and-go convenience.
Backyard cooks making small meals for two to four people, because it holds steady heat and reaches steak temperatures quickly after warming up.
Shoppers expecting a compact, easy-to-lift kamado, because it is heavy enough to need two people for lifting and can be awkward to move around the yard.
It takes longer to heat than a gas grill, but that is normal for a ceramic kamado. Using lump charcoal helps it reach fast, high, controllable heat, and one workflow gets it to steak temperature in about 5 minutes after opening the vents.
It works well for everyday cooks, steaks, burgers, smoked chicken, and brisket flats, and it can handle meals for about 2-4 people. It is strongest for high-heat grilling and heat retention, but it is too small for some indirect or low-temp cooks.
It is portable in the sense that it is a small kamado, but at 77 lb it is not practical to carry to picnics or move around easily. A cart or two people may be needed, and it is better suited to backyard use than true grab-and-go transport.
It is limited for indirect heat or low-temp cooking because of its small cooking area. It is better suited to high-temp steaks and smaller everyday meals than larger slow-cook setups.
It can use more fuel than an Acorn Jr, with one comparison putting it at about 2x the time and 2x the fuel. Proper lump charcoal use and the grill's heat retention can keep fuel use reasonable for daily cooking.
I had this, wanted to love it, its a beautiful grill, too bad its not portable and it takes a long time to heat up. And its really small. If you want a portable kamado style grill, the Acorn Jr is the way to go. Took my Joe Jr. back and have been loving the Acorn Jr.
I have one and this a great deal. Love the Joe Junior - it's a charcoal grill - it's gonna take a little time to heat up but not any longer than any other charcoal grill. I also have a KJ classic and still use the junior for everyday cooks. Considering getting another one for a gift.
Contrary to a couple others here, I really like my Joe Jr. It is not portable, but it is a fantastic little grill - the entire grill does not need to heat up in order to cook over it. I routinely roast a few potatoes, plus veggies in a Lodge 2qt cast iron dutch oven for an hour or two, then pull those, open the vents, and within 5 minutes have a screaming hot grill to throw steaks on. Meal for 2-4 in 13" of space. Disclaimer, I have not used an Acorn, but I doubt it feels as solid as this. I also have a Primo XL that does not get used as much since getting the Jr, plus opening the Primo when its at steak temperature is kinda scary.
I had this, wanted to love it, its a beautiful grill, too bad its not portable and it takes a long time to heat up. And its really small. If you want a portable kamado style grill, the Acorn Jr is the way to go. Took my Joe Jr. back and have been loving the Acorn Jr.
Re it takes a long time to heat up - Do you not use lump charcoal, if not thats what you need to using for fast and high but controllable heat.
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I had this, wanted to love it, its a beautiful grill, too bad its not portable and it takes a long time to heat up. And its really small. If you want a portable kamado style grill, the Acorn Jr is the way to go. Took my Joe Jr. back and have been loving the Acorn Jr.
Love my Acorn jr., especially after I replace that rusty grate with stainless.
. Disclaimer, I have not used an Acorn, but I doubt it feels as solid as this.
The Joe feels way more solid than the Acorn. But the Acorn isn't anywhere as flimsy as a weber kettle (which I also love). But that's the problem, this isn't portable, its seriously a back breaker for most people, you will want two people to lift it unless you regularly do heavy work/strength training. The other issue is it takes 2x as long, and 2x the fuel as the Acorn Jr. And the Acorn JR is significantly bigger. The Joe will probably be around for your children's children. The Acorn, maybe last 10 years if stored out of the weather.
Are you saying you replaced the cast iron grate that comes standard in the Acorn Jr?
To my knowledge cast iron has certain merits over stainless
I replaced mine with a generic SS wire grate from amazon as well. Cast iron is a lot of work, especially if you do a lot of high heat cooks, you will be re-seasoning it very often. Also cast iron (rust) loves to trap grill brush strands and release them right into your food...
How do you consider this portable when it weighs 77 lbs?
I know that all ceramic kamado bbqs are heavy. I own a Classic Joe. There is no way for me to carry this "portable" joe jr around to picnics and such. I know that I'm clumsy so I will drop it on the floor, shattering in many pieces.
I had this, wanted to love it, its a beautiful grill, too bad its not portable and it takes a long time to heat up. And its really small. If you want a portable kamado style grill, the Acorn Jr is the way to go. Took my Joe Jr. back and have been loving the Acorn Jr.
If you want quality material, good isolation and not temperature fluctuation you have to wait to heat up, it is the trade and it is worth it. If all you want is to be ready in 5 minutes buy a gas grill or a cheap kamado and then you will complain about temp not been steady. I own the Jr and a $5k Kamado Komodo 23" with all the premium accessories. My Jr is used more, heats up faster and it is a perfect size for our needs. The Komodo is used for bigger things or gatherings and it is perfect
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Yes, and gas prices show be like 3 years ago. I paid my Jr $200 4 years ago....Keep dreaming but if you get it at $200 now it would be great. In the meantime let's be honest, for $50 you will wait wait wait wait and miss the fun. In 2026 how much do you pay lets say for a regular nice Weber gas grill???? $250 for a Joe Jr it is too much..... 😢
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Community Reviews
The Kamado Joe Joe Jr is a compact ceramic charcoal grill that stands out for a solid build, strong heat retention, and versatile everyday cooking. It handles steaks especially well, and it can also do brisket flats, smoked chicken, burgers, and small meals for two to four. The tradeoff is size and weight, since it is hard to move and not truly portable, and it takes time and fuel to come up to temperature. It is a sturdy little kamado if you want steady heat more than grab-and-go convenience.
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AI-generated summary based on comments from the community. Updated ago
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Are you saying you replaced the cast iron grate that comes standard in the Acorn Jr?
To my knowledge cast iron has certain merits over stainless
To my knowledge cast iron has certain merits over stainless
I know that all ceramic kamado bbqs are heavy. I own a Classic Joe. There is no way for me to carry this "portable" joe jr around to picnics and such. I know that I'm clumsy so I will drop it on the floor, shattering in many pieces.
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