Accessories that matter

Fuel

Essential

Lump charcoal

Supermarket briquettes give smoke and ash; a kamado is built for large lumps that burn for hours. Marabu is the classic choice — hard wood, little ash, and what is left over gets reused next time.

Fuel

Essential

Firelighters

Wood-wool lighters rather than fluid or chemical cubes. Lighter fluid is something you taste for the first hour, and in a kamado that flavour sits in the ceramic where it does not come out again.

Indirect cooking

Essential

Heat deflector 45 cm

Without a deflector the meat sits straight over the fire and a kamado is an expensive grill. The deflector turns it into an oven, which is what low and slow rests on. Check whether your complete set already came with one.

Measuring

Recommended

Meat thermometer

The gauge in the lid measures the air at the top of the dome, not the meat and not the grate. For anything taking more than an hour, core temperature is the only number that counts.

Protection

Recommended

Cover 13–15 inch

Ceramic copes with frost, but the hardware and hinges do not cope with months of rain. At this size a cover is the cheapest maintenance there is.

Protection

Recommended

Cover 15–21 inch

The size that fits almost every medium and large, including most models with side shelves. To be safe, measure the width across the shelves rather than the diameter of the ceramic.

Protection

Recommended

Cover 21–25 inch

For the XL sizes, which rarely fit under anything and therefore stand outside all year. Roomy enough to fall over a stand with side shelves.

Maintenance

Recommended

Ash tool

Ash in the base blocks the bottom vent, and a kamado that gets no air holds no temperature. A hook that reaches the back of the firebox is the difference between two minutes of work and half a teardown.

Maintenance

Can wait

Gasket felt

The felt between dome and base wears, and a kamado drawing air past the lid can no longer be held at a low setting. This is the part that comes due after a few years, and it is replaceable without tools.

Baking

Can wait

Pizza stone (Kamado Joe)

A kamado reaches the temperature that cooks a pizza in three minutes without effort; what is missing is a stone that bakes the base along with it. This one is cut to the Classic size.

Fuel

Can wait

Charcoal basket (Grill Guru)

A basket keeps the charcoal together and lets the ash fall through, which reduces emptying afterwards to a single movement. It is also the easiest way to run on a half load.