We have loved using our Classic II. The taste of the food has been fabulous and we are enjoying the process. No complaints other than the heat deflector plate melted to the side tray when we took it off. We didn't see anywhere that said not to put it on the side tray.
No spritzing, no injection, no fighting to maintain temps, no moisture pans, no wrapping, no adding more fuel, no adding more smoke, & no tricks (hacks) needed. 25 years of cooking smoked meats. The 1st cook everyone (17 ppl) said it was the best I've done and asked what did I do different. Maintained 250 for 10 hrs in 45 degree outdoor temp. Feels like I'm cheating because no work required after the meat prep and temp setting. Game Charger!
Just got our Classic II, and we LOVE it so far. It has changed the way we think about meals. It’s no longer what’s for dinner; now, it’s What can we cook on the Kamado Joe!
Purchased two weeks ago and had read/watched several reviews beforehand. The Joe lived up to all the reviews as it is easy to use, versatile, and easy to clean. The food comes out evenly cooked moist and flavorful.
This is my second Kamado style grill, after 13 years my first one went to Kamado heaven. I've had the classic 4 months now and have only 1 issue . The heat deflectors can be tricky to put in place when the coals are going, the ring that holds it should have a smaller diameter. This thing rocks! I'm very happy with it!
Grill is great. I got the grill with the intent to smoke a lot. So far I've had mixed results but I'm improving! I sprung for the big joe, which after smoking a couple turkeys and briscuts, was the correct decision
I bought the Kamado Joe Classic II to replace the ceramic grill which I have been using for 15 plus years because over the years the KJ company has taken useful steps to improve their product while the manufacturer of the other grill seems to have no desire to improve their product. In its present configuration the KJ has a significantly superior hinge mechanism which allows the maximum access to the interior of the grill while one is cooking. Also the gasket for the grill is a major superior feature of the KJ. I had to replace the gasket on my other grill at least four times and it was a major annoyance. Also the design and construction of the fire box of the KJ seems to be such that the box will not crack and should perform and last indefinitely. I had to replace the firebox in my other grill three times and was trying, unsuccessfully, to obtain another replcement. In general the KJ seems to be better built: the ceramic is thicker, it retains the temperature better, and it seems to use less charcoal.
The only problem and reason that I did not give a 5 star rating is because of the design of the heat deflector plates. With both of the deflectors in place for an indirect heat long smoking (such as ribs or pork shoulder) the access to the charcoal is totally blocked so there is no way to add additional smoking wood chunks to the charcoal. While other people may not do this, when I'm doing a long smoke I always add wood to keep the smoke going. Also, there is a meal that I like to do on the grill which involves indirect heat cooking of a split chicken followed by a direct heat cooking of vegetables in an iron skillet in the grill, however, there is no way to remove the deflector plates for the follow-up direct heat cooking of the vegetables.
Other than those two issues I am supremely happy with the KJ and cooking on it is a joy.