Kamado Joe Classic II

Is the Kamado Joe Classic II worth buying?

The Kamado Joe Classic II is worth buying if you want the whole package in one order: £1,316.34 buys the 18-inch ceramic grill, the cast iron cart on locking wheels, the ceramic heat deflectors, the ash tool and the slide-out ash drawer, and 924 owners rate it 4.6. It is the finished version of the 18-inch dome rather than the biggest one, so the money goes on fittings and build, not on extra grid.

Two details earn that money for the right cook. The Control Tower vent holds its air setting while the dome opens and closes, which is what keeps a six-hour smoke steady, and the ash drawer slides out so you never lift the firebox out of the shell to clean up. If neither of those matters in your garden, the same 18-inch ceramic dome costs £764.15 as the Classic I.

How much cooking area does the Kamado Joe Classic II give you?

The grid measures 1,031 cm², and the price divides out to £127.68 per 100 cm²: £1,316.34 across 1,031 cm² is about £1.28 for every square centimetre. That is the number to sit with before ordering, because it is a small grid carrying a large price.

In use, 1,031 cm² is a little over a tenth of a square metre of cooking surface, split by the 2-tier Divide & Conquer system into half-moon halves that sit on two levels. You can sear over the coals on one half while the other finishes slower, which is what makes a single 18-inch dome behave like two smaller cookers. The vent then takes the fire from 225°F for a low smoke up to 750°F for a steak sear, a range wide enough that the same basket of lumpwood covers both ends of a cook.

What comes with the Kamado Joe Classic II?

The grill, the cast iron cart with locking wheels, the ceramic heat deflectors and the ash tool arrive together, and there is nothing to assemble: it stands ready to light, so setting it up is a question of where it lands rather than which bolt goes where. The footprint is 45.7 cm deep by 46 cm wide and it stands 91.4 cm tall, which fits a patio corner but not a small balcony shared with a table.

The parts you touch every cook are the ones that decide how pleasant it is. The Control Tower top vent is powder-coated cast aluminium and rain resistant, so a shower does not shift your setting, the lid handle is plastic, and the ash drawer slides out for a thirty-second dump between sessions. The body is ceramic in Blaze Red with a powder-coated finish, and that ceramic shell is what holds the heat and the smoke in.

Where does the Kamado Joe Classic II fall short?

Weight and rate are the two hard limits. It weighs 105 kg with the cart, so it stays on the patio it is built on, and £127.68 per 100 cm² is a steeper rate than the Classic I at £47.38, the Joe Jr at £35.49 or the Joe Jr Essentials Pack at £54.90. The lid handle is also plastic, where the Classic I uses bamboo and the Joe Jr uses stainless steel.

Nothing here adjusts itself. The Control Tower holds a setting, but you still move the bottom vent by hand and then wait for a heavy ceramic body to respond, which is a ten-minute conversation rather than a dial. For a household that grills for two on a weeknight, this is a lot of grill to bring up to heat.

Is the Kamado Joe Classic II better than the Classic I?

The Classic I is the same 18-inch ceramic dome with 1,613 cm² of grid, which is 582 cm² more cooking area, for £764.15, or £552.19 less. Choose the Classic II when the slide-out ash drawer and the Control Tower vent are the things you will use every week; choose the Classic I when the extra half metre of grid and the smaller bill matter more than either fitting.

Against the Char-Griller AKORN Jr the trade flips: £169.99 buys 1,000 cm², which is 31 cm² less grid than the Classic II for £1,146.35 less money, at 16.2 kg against 105 kg. That one suits the cook who shifts the grill around and wants kamado airflow without ceramic money, while the Classic II suits the cook who parks it once and wants the finish, the cart and the drawer.