My new Kamado Joe is going back...

plumbfir01

@henapple‌ may mean the mini max.?!?
Btw Meghan was her name
They are now trying to modify a screen to fit. We shall see. The imperfections are a moot point with the warranty, just more of a QC issue IMO

henapple

Just going by what she said. She didn't have one. I'm sure I'll buy a bge when I do. I'm a loyalist.

Deckhand

BYS1981 said:

I personally use KJ lump and their lump occasionally sparks. LOL what a ridiculous answer they gave, their lump is good lump though. Comparable to WGWW.

Wicked Good makes KJ lump

Lit

I went with the KJ because the small I had was old and not under warranty and I wanted to replace it. If the mini max was out I would have probably went with it but the KJ is 15 pounds lighter than the BGE small and will hold more charcoal than the mini max which makes it the best of both worlds in my opinion. Also it comes with the plate setter and stand with handles to transport and I got it for $359 out the door with free shipping. I love my big green eggs but the KJ has always been one of the few I have actually considered owning also. Once my KJ shows up and I sell my vision mini I will have 2 eggs for out front hosting and 1 egg and 1 KJ for out back hosting and I will be set probably.

jimreed777

Lit said:

I went with the KJ because the small I had was old and not under warranty and I wanted to replace it. If the mini max was out I would have probably went with it but the KJ is 15 pounds lighter than the BGE small and will hold more charcoal than the mini max which makes it the best of both worlds in my opinion. Also it comes with the plate setter and stand with handles to transport and I got it for $359 out the door with free shipping. I love my big green eggs but the KJ has always been one of the few I have actually considered owning also. Once my KJ shows up and I sell my vision mini I will have 2 eggs for out front hosting and 1 egg and 1 KJ for out back hosting and I will be set probably.

this

jimreed777

I REALLY like BGE. I loved my medium and I love my large. I wanted a second portable egg. Mini is too small (for what I needed...don't break out the videos Mickey.  )  Small too large. Were the Mini-Max already on the market...I would have seriously debated going that route...however... 

Jr. was available to be at my house in 3 days...Mini-Max has no release date in sight

Jr. is lighter then Mini-Max (15+ pounds is nothing to sneeze at)

Jr. has same grid size

Jr. holds more charcoal

Jr. includes indirect setup ($50 for mini-max plate-setter?)

Jr. Includes stand ($50 for mini-max stand)

Jr. $400 and available now...mini-max $500+++ and available unknown

Anyway...I have nothing bad to say about BGE, but I am not blindly loyal to the point that I would wait 6-8 months to pay $200 or more for a nearly identical grill.

caliking

Just curious, but how do folks know that the KJ Jr. holds more charcoal than the MiniMax? They seem to be similarly sized form my first impression.

@plumbfir01 - you paid good money for it, and if you're not happy with the defects (big or small) that you did not cause, then you should return it IMO. KJ offered a refund. I would take it. No sense in keeping a cooker that you're dissatisfied with from the get-go.

Eggcelsior

Deckhand said:

BYS1981 said:

I personally use KJ lump and their lump occasionally sparks. LOL what a ridiculous answer they gave, their lump is good lump though. Comparable to WGWW.

Wicked Good makes KJ lump

No, they don't. It may have come from the same area previously, though. WGWW comes from Brazil. SA KJ lump comes from Argentina. This is the lie I was told by KJ when I called them. 

henapple

15 lbs isn't a big deal. I want the medium for transportation. .112 lbs - the guts. I can sling that around fairly easy.

Gogogordy

Just like any other product, none of them are perfect. Every manufactured product has it's weaknesses and idiosyncrasies. BGE too. Every manufacturer of similar products chooses to interpret their creation differently than their competitors do. I havent seen a KJ Jr in person, but since I own BGE AND Visions brand grills I can tell you what I think are strengths and weaknessses of both, but at the end of the day they both work...quite well and produce tasty food at my skilled hands. Neither is falling apart, and yes Ive had warranty interraction with both manufacturers to a speedy and satisfactory resolution. I know this is a "Big Green Egg" centric forum, but since we spend much time talking about other related and non-related topics from sous vide to outdoor kitchens, I cant help but chuckle at those who seriously consider one brand of kamado cooker heads and shoulders "better" than the others. Really? How so? They all break occasionally, they all require gaskets, and they all produce damn fine eats. Some people prefer to spend "X" for theirs, while some some prefer "X +" but that doesnt make "X+" better, just more expensive. No brand snobbery here, I love em all, and its all about the food at my place, not the brand name it came off of.

Lit

@henapple the medium isn't that portable. Its not the weight as much as the akwardness. I can carry my 55 pound powerblock dumbbells down the street and back but moving my medium when I had it even empty was much harder. More than 50' I wouldn't want to carry it.

SmokeyPitt

BuckeyeBob said:

I'm sure I missed another thread on this topic but why the rush to go KJ versus the Egg? Is it cost based or features or both? In my view. I made the decision to buy the Egg when I bought my Large and it has been the best decision I could have ever made. If and when I decide to buy another ceramic, I won't be shopping around. I will stick with the Egg where I know what I am getting and how to use it. With their performance, customer service, lifetime warranty and accessory choices, I personally would see no need to go anywhere else.

Just my .02

I think peeps just really like the design of the Joe Jr. It has the grid size of the small, but is shorter and more portable and comes with a stand you can carry it in. The BGE mini max that was announced looks very similar but it won't be out for a few months.

Lit

I am "working" from home Thursday when it's supposed to arrive and I have Friday off. Still trying to decide what I want to cook. I have never seen one in person can't wait for it to get here. I hope the small woo works in it thats the only thing I kept from my BGE small.

FearlessTheEggNoob

I'm liking mine. Should be a great compliment to the Big Joe for smaller cooks or sides.

Lit

Woohoo! Got mine today and did burgers. Really like it. Now I have something to cook on at the new house while we are working there. Crazy how it comes with a stand, stone for indirect, and the grate raiser to cook raised direct. I saved my woo from my small and didn't realize I wouldn't need it.

minniemoh

@Lit - I stopped into a local KJ retailer last week and took a look at one. Seemed like a nice cooker. It's on my wish list for tailgating and other portable excursions. Let us know how it cooks. 

Also, I thought it was going to come with some sort of charcoal basket for those tailgate type cooks but the one I saw didn't have it.

plumbfir01

after the owner sending me a "fix" that I had to modify myself, I have decided to keep it and if it cracks or has issue, we will see how well warranty works

Lit

@minniemoh‌ I really like the KJ. Did 2 racks of ribs on it yesterday in 2 separate cooks and it burned all day on one load of lump. The grate raiser is not the best its a pain to deal with if the grate is hot. Its a triangle and has 3 prongs that fit into the grate and they have to line up. That's my only complain so far. It started raining yesterday during my cook so I picked up the egg and moved it under the over hang mid cook. Didnt need to move it but its nice to be able to.

SmokeyPitt

plumbfir01 said:

after the owner sending me a "fix" that I had to modify myself, I have decided to keep it and if it cracks or has issue, we will see how well warranty works

Just curious- what was the fix?

plumbfir01

They sent an old big joe metal door with holes in it. I have to cut it down this week and it it but it should work. I'll do photos when it's done ... Again, the fact that I have to do this myself and they could have done it at factory is ****. Even Thegardengates.com sent a screen they made out of thin aluminum and drilled holes and cut to fit... They just wanted to help

SunDeviledEgg

plumbfir01 said:

They sent an old big joe metal door with holes in it. I have to cut it down this week and it it but it should work. I'll do photos when it's done ... Again, the fact that I have to do this myself and they could have done it at factory is ****. Even Thegardengates.com sent a screen they made out of thin aluminum and drilled holes and cut to fit... They just wanted to help

It doesn't come with a screen door standard, correct?  But they sent you one at no cost that you had to do a little work on and you don't think that's fair?  

SmokyBear

I bought a KJ Classic to complement my BGE Mini, and had some similar experiences - the "out of the box" unpacking was not good, as they shipped a different heat deflector than shown on the website (basically a pizza stone instead of 2 half moon deflectors) which arrived broken, and there were parts missing.  (They showed an X-Rack on the website that wasn't in the box..and when I called, they said it's a change being made that just isn't out yet - which is BS, since it was shown on the site and shouldn't have been if it wasn't ready to ship yet).

I did talk to one of the owners and Meghan both, and they really do seem to be trying - but it also struck me as odd that they would say "you get X" on the website when there's entire parts not yet ready to ship.

I've been happy overall with the KJ Classic (which does come with a "screen" - really a perforated front on their "ash removal drawer" that's a pretty nice feature the BGE doesn't have), but it burns a TON more lump than I would have expected.  Not sure if that's just a Large v. Mini difference, or if KJ is just more lump hungry than BGE for whatever reason.

Since the KJ is really too big for 90% of what we cook, I'm now regretting it a bit and considering buying a MBGE - but SWMBO would KILL. ME. and doesn't want 3 ceramic cookers on the deck. (Urgh).  So, I just bought an Ash Dragon firebox divider and am going to try that - plus an Adjustable Rig from CGS to try to cut down on the massive lump consumption..maybe then I can just have 2 ceramic cookers - Mini BGE and KJ Classic..

plumbfir01

we came to a resolution today and I am keeping the grill and had the part machined for a new screen. Meghan really did try to help, just seems like they have a learning curve vs other brands...i like the product and hope they continue to progress. 

@SunDeviledEgg

 I dont feel as i should have to do any modifications to keep it safe for my family... just my thoughts, yours may be different.