Kamado Joe Joe Jr Essentials Pack

Is the Kamado Joe Joe Jr Essentials Pack worth buying?

The Kamado Joe Joe Jr Essentials Pack earns a yes at £549 if you want a 34 cm ceramic grill that arrives with its own cart, folding side shelves, tool hooks, a bottom storage shelf and a cover, and 13 owners rate it 5.0. You get 1,000 cm² (0.1 m²) of grid inside a thick-walled ceramic shell, so nothing sits on the ground and nothing else needs ordering.

It is the wrong buy for anyone who already has a stand or a table for a Joe Jr, because the same 34 cm grill with a cast-iron stand and no cart costs £209.01 less. It is also the wrong buy for a household of five or more, since 1,000 cm² on one rack fills two plates at a time, not five.

What does 1,000 cm² of cooking area mean in practice?

Divide the price by the grid and this pack lands at £54.90 per 100 cm²: £549 split across ten blocks of 100 cm². That is more than three times the £17.00 per 100 cm² of the £169.99 Char-Griller AKORN Jr, and the difference buys ceramic and a trolley rather than extra room for food.

The 0.1 m² grid sits in the compact band of kamado cooking. A slow roast and a hot sear both come off the same load of lumpwood because the ceramic walls hold heat for hours, but the single rack rules out a two-level cook, which is the trade you make for a footprint of 50 cm by 35 cm.

What comes in the box and how does it fit a garden?

The pack holds the Joe Jr grill, its cart, folding side shelves, tool hooks, a bottom storage shelf and a protective Kamado Joe cover. The cooking grate is stainless steel and hinged, so you can add charcoal mid-cook without lifting the whole grid, and a cast-iron air vent in the lid sets the airflow.

Once built it takes a footprint of 50 cm wide and 35 cm deep and stands 150 cm tall, which fits a balcony or a narrow patio. It weighs 46.6 kg, so pick the spot before you start, and note that a ceramic heat deflector for indirect cooking is not part of the pack.

Where does the Kamado Joe Joe Jr Essentials Pack fall short?

Only 13 buyers have rated it so far, a thin pool for a grill at this price, so the 5.0 average rests on a narrow base. The 46.6 kg weight also stretches the word portable: it rolls around a patio as one unit, but it is not going in a car boot for a weekend trip.

The single rack is the harder limit. There is no second level to run a deflector under one half and a sear over the other, and 1,000 cm² is smaller than every other Kamado Joe ceramic here apart from the Joe Jr's own 958 cm² grid.

How does it compare with the Joe Jr and the Kamado Bono Minimo?

The plain Kamado Joe Joe Jr costs £339.99 and carries the same 34 cm ceramic body with 958 cm² of grid, 34.3 kg and a cast-iron stand instead of a cart. That is £209.01 less for 42 cm² less cooking area, and it is the better buy for anyone who leaves the grill in one spot and has a table beside it.

The Kamado Bono Minimo costs £399, gives 1,257 cm² and saves £150, but it arrives without a cart, side shelves or a cover. Buy the Minimo when cooking area matters more than the trolley, and the Essentials Pack when you want the Joe Jr, its shelves and its cover in one delivery.