Hi folks—just came into a free secondhand Big Joe this week. It's a fantastic grill and I'm looking forward to years of great cooking on it.
However, since it came secondhand, with no manuals etc, I'm not quite sure how the setup goes. It came with a grate, with a sort of two-level metal ring, and with the heat deflectors.
Playing around with it today, I'm not sure if this looks right at all. Is the two-level ring for the deflectors, or for another cooking grate? Should the 24" cooking grate rest on top of the metal ring? Etc.
Any help would be appreciated! I've looked at some owner's manuals and they don't seem to reflect the parts I have. Might be some aftermarket going on here.
by FinksRevengeNumber
3 Comments
Here’s a YouTube channel that answers a ton of questions: https://m.youtube.com/@SmokingDadBBQ/featured
Can’t see the images but you basically have two levels of cooking.
– You can cook direct and then you just choose lower or upper tier to place the grates. For example, I like to do direct heat chicken at 350f with the grates at the top level and no deflectors. The grates should be placed on the metal rack, it has notches on the sides to keep the grates in place.
– You can cook indirect, like a low and slow brisket / pork butt / chuck roast / beef cheeks / spare ribs, etc. Then you place the deflectors lower level on the accessory rack (the metal thing with the circular hole. Note it has small holes to fit the notches on the two level rack ) and the grates top level.
That’s the old version of the innards. They have updated the design with the newer Divide and Conquer Rack, which is what you’re probably seeing online. They haven’t used your design in a good while. I haven’t used it myself, but it looks like you can also use it the other way (as if you have it upside down in your pics). I think that would get the grate closer to the lip of the bottom ceramic section.
I also think there used to be an opening part of the grate that might be missing on your grate. But my KJ is more modern and I only remember seeing pics of this older design.