Kamado Joe Big Joe III vs Kamado Joe Big Joe II

Kamado Joe

Kamado Joe Big Joe III

~$3,299

4.8★ (629)

Kamado Joe

~$2,300

Quick take: The Kamado Joe Big Joe II costs $999 less; the Kamado Joe Big Joe III offers more cooking space (864 vs 450 sq in).

✓The 24-inch grate swallows a full packer brisket or multiple rib racks flat with room to spare - the capacity headroom the 18-inch Classic never has
✓The 3-tier Divide & Conquer system creates up to 864 sq in across levels, letting you run different foods at different heights and temperatures in one cook
✓The SloRoller insert genuinely evens out heat and smoke circulation at low temps, producing more consistent bark than a plain deflector setup
✓Thick ceramic walls sip charcoal - a single load can run 12+ hour overnight cooks and the moisture retention keeps long smokes from drying out
✓The Air Lift hinge reduces the massive dome's effective weight by about 96%, so opening it is genuinely one-finger easy despite the size
✓The Kontrol Tower top vent holds its setting when you open the lid and gives repeatable temp control from 225°F smoking to 750°F searing
✓Stainless charcoal basket, half-moon grates, heat deflectors, ash tool, and the locking-wheel cart are all included - the accessory bundle costs real money elsewhere
✓Lifetime warranty on the ceramic body plus 5 years on metal parts is about the strongest coverage in the category

✗At over 400 lbs assembled it effectively lives wherever you first place it, and delivery/assembly realistically takes two or three people
✗The $3,000+ price is deep into premium territory - a Classic III plus a second cheap grill costs less than one Big Joe
✗The bigger firebox burns noticeably more charcoal than the Classic for small weeknight cooks, so it's inefficient as a one-steak grill
✗Ceramic can crack from thermal shock or a dropped deflector plate, and while the warranty covers defects, replacement logistics for huge parts are slow
✗A big ceramic mass takes a long time to come down in temperature, so overshooting your target early in a cook is punishing
✗The included aluminum side shelves feel light-duty compared to the rest of the build
✗Accessories like the JoeTisserie Big Joe size and extra half-moon grates are expensive, and Big Joe sizes cost more than Classic equivalents
✗There is no built-in temperature electronics at this price - WiFi fan control means buying an iKamand or third-party controller separately

✓450 sq in is 80% more grate than the Classic Joe II for roughly $800 more
✓The 24-inch grid takes two full packer briskets side by side without diagonal loading
✓Kontrol Tower vent and Air Lift hinge carried over from Series II — the hinge matters far more on a dome this heavy
✓407 lbs of ceramic holds an overnight low-and-slow with very little fire management
✓$1,000 less than the Big Joe III while keeping the same body, grid and warranty

✗407 lbs needs a solid pad and is a genuine two-or-three-person job to position
✗Two-tier Divide & Conquer only; the third tier that makes the big grid fully usable is a Series III feature
✗58 inches wide with shelves out, which is more patio than many buyers expect
✗Heating this much ceramic burns a lot of lump for a small cook, so it is wasteful as an everyday grill