I had the same issue on mine for a minute but all I did was just adjust the clasps / clamps. they have a little wiggle room and you can get that 1/8" by loosening the screws and sliding them toward the tightest position. I did it on two and it worked.
I am absolutely amazed! I saw this video and added gaskets to the ash tray and body for the lid. It’s amazing how well I can control the temperature now. Slow cooking is fun now and predictable! Thanks ever so much!
I have three Akorns for over 3 years. Biggest thing that will make these at 300 degrees or more is lighting too much charcoal at once. I also only crack the vents open to a 2 ish to let heat get close, then close them to where they are barely open. This might help if the gasket improvement starts not to solve your issue.
Holding up a Slo-Roller is what we call a Big Market Tease. Nicely done. As a long time viewer who has used your principles on his Akorn, I really appreciate these videos.
I did this for my Akorn!!! I've waited to write about my experience until I have had a couple of cooks on it since installing the gasket. But OMFG! This is the solution for all the things I did not like about the Akorn! It is a far more stable komado now! Very little variation, quicker to gett to the right temp. This addition was well worth the small investment.
I have cooked on Akorns for almost 10 years and you only need to barely crack the top and bottom vents. A fingers width on the bottom will usually take you too high, you need to barely see the opening. The same applies to the top. I would usually only open the top to where you could slip a probe in the bottom circle of the top vent opening. At most I would usually have an 1/8th in slit at the top. This would keep me at 225 to 260 for hours depending on my desired temp. I am in Connecticut and would get about 7 years before my Akorns rotted out. I do have a small roof over them but you have to keep the ash pan empty on them, very acidic. I have now gone to the Auto Kamados, they are awesome.
I was wondering how people liked the Auto Akorns. Based off of multiple reviews I see people have had lots of issues with the controller failing on them...
Oh James so happy you have brought an Akorn into the fold. I have one that I was gifted (was only used once, individual didn't have the patience to smoke meat) to me by a friend and I have been having temp issues. I bought a TipTopTemp and that seems to have helped but it is a pain to clean. Would love to be able to get to the point where I can reliably dial in settings and know what to expect.
Thank you , James ! I'm definitely going to do this on my Akorn Jr. Still new in the box , might as well get it right the first time . I started with a cheap little Kamado from China , then bought a Char Broil Akorn Jr ; Wow ! I'm moving up with the big boys ! 😁👍 Then I was looking around and found a lightly used , Primo Round Kamado grill with the rolling stand and I am in Kamado heaven now ! 😇 I'm on a fixed income so I need to be careful with all my expenses . So I have fabricated some or most of my accessories . Your videos are a great way to learn how to use these Grills and make some of the most delicious , Proteins ever . I know it's not a Kamado Joe but , what fun is it if everyone has the same thing . I didn't get my Kamado delivered to my back yard . I had to go pick it up and put it in my van . Wow ! These are heavy grills . Putting it back on the stand was another story , no one around to help . Took a little bit of sweating and lifting and I got it in place . When I rolled it across the parking lot everyone came out and ; Hey man ! What is that ? Never seen one of those . I seasoned it and made all the spider webs and spiders homeless and now I'm ready to grill . Thank you for all the information and great videos and taking the time to make them . Eat More Vegans - Carnivore BBQ is a great guy too ! It's always fun cooking with friends .
There is also another fix for cheap to get even better temp control. Unscrew the 2 bottom vent screws and remove it and take hi-temp silicone and put some around the vent and reinstall and let dry. This will further help with temp control. I've had mine for a couple years and did this and add the gasket for top and bottom.
I had to do the same. I cooked the gasket behind the bottom vent when I forgot to check on my Akorn after I opened the vents to burn off some stuck on food.
I never found a reason to add gasketing material to the areas handled by fiberglass mesh, which is maybe the best feature of the Akorn. I did however gain a lot of control after burning out the O-ring seal around the top cap twice and just sealing it with RTV out of frustration. Went from being able to hold around 260F consistently to being able to hold 200F with no temp controller.
Thank you! I had the same issue with my Akorn - it just wouldn’t stay below 300 even with the vent nearly closed. It I did the gasket on the ash pan and dome, now it will hold 225 easy.
I also realized right off the bat that air leaks are a problem. Lid adjustment & gasket of this type did most of it. I also discovered an air leak at the edge of the lower vent track. I had to seal with high temp RTV. Also, my lid thermometer reads 50 degrees lower than actual temp at the grate as measured by my Maverick temp probe. Love the Akorn! For the price can't be beat.
Thanks! I've got the Walmart Expert Grill clone of the Acorn and yet, leaking air at the seal on the damper as well as the gasket ring. Can barely crack the top damper and it's sometimes too much.
I really appreciate all of your videos. I recently purchased an Akorn and not to mention I live in Alaska buy after watching your videos I now use my Akorn all year and with this said I also purchased an Akorn Jr. Thanks for the videos and sharing you knowledge and experience.
You can add a chunk or 2 bottom base. I find a good way to get better smoke flavor of you don’t have allot of meat too smoke is too use indirect kinds like the way you would do it on a Weber kettle. I put my charcoal and wood chunks on one side kinda like the slow n sear and just put a fire starter on one side and let it go. And then put your meat on the opposite side of the grates for low and slow. Better smoke flavor.
I’d pay Chargriller an extra 20 bucks I’d they would just build this into the design. I know you’ve gotten a lot of comments saying they haven’t had any problems, but this fix DEFINITELY helped my temp control. Thank you.
This really works! I used one-inch gasket, which was easy to apply. Before installing the gasket I could see smoke coming out at various places between the body and lid/ash pan. Now there is no smoke at all, and I can easily hold temperatures of 250F for as long as there's fuel to burn.
Thank you for this mod. I finally installed the gaskets for my Akorn and I noticed with my first cook post hack that I could hold my temps much easier!
Great fix to make it work. I must not be a "Pro" because I just use a box knife to open my bags of charcoal.. Thanks for the tip on looking for the straight string as I might give it a try next time.
Thanks *so* much for this video. I've had an Akorn Jr for a year or so, and while I *really* like it, I've had the same temperature control issues. I'm gonna give my little smoker the same treatment. Also, I reckon I'm ready to upgrade to the full-size Akorn now. Your videos are the reason I picked up a kamado in the first place. I'm glad you're trying out the Akorn series, and look forward to the tips and tricks you have in store.
I have the Auto kamado, and I have a lot of problems with the temperature running away on me, I usually use a huge water pan to act as a heat sink to keep the temperature under control, I'm going to give this mod a try.
One thing I’ve learned about the auto kamado is turn the fan off auto before you open the lid. If you leave it on auto and open the lid the fan kicks in to bring the temp back up, but it stokes the coals too much and causes the temp to run away by 50 degrees or so. So shut the fan off auto when you open it. Close the grill back up, then as the temp comes back to you desired temp, then put the fan back to auto.
Thanks for doing these experiments to show us ways to improve our Akrons. I hope you pulled the trigger on the auto kamado while it was on sale at Walmart for $224. I'd love to see some of your improvements and cook comparisons with it!
Yeah that $224 was too hard to pass up. I've had some severe QC issues on the bolt holes for the lid. Comes pretreated with lavalock, but the right ones only barely got screwed in before causing the little metal receptacles on the body to just spin freely. Only got through a couple of hot temp cooks & so far so good, but will keep this video in mind if the lid stops shutting completely.
I did some research on them, because I was set on getting one. Today, I found out the major stores stopped stocking them. People are complaining about the temp sensors and a lot of other things with no way to get parts from the manufacture.
I had this Acorn for 3 years. The best Kamado grill on the market hands down (bar some rust problem, but for the price...) Usual ceramic grills need to be fired up much higher to keep temperature because heavy ceramic absorbs a lot of heat. This Acorn is insulated and made of thin metal - it needs way less fuel to heat up. Just load much less charcoal and be careful starting it - only light up a little and close vents to the #1 or less. And again - use less charcoal. With the load you do and all vents wide open you can probably melt still in it 😂 Advantages of this Acorn - it's lighter, needs less fuel, easier to use, easier to clean, grates are level with the edge, grates has window in the middle, works really great. Disadvantage - it rusts with time. Don't leave it in the open.
Another cool thing about the Akorn is that you can fit a wood chip or pellet smoke maze in that bottom section and can reload them on very long cooks without having to adjust your meat and grates and deflector. Was very convenient smoking Thanksgiving turkeys the last two years to be able to add extra smoke from below. I've also used it with just a small smoke maze in the bottom to do cold smoke to cheese and salmon without any charcoals in the tub. Soon I'm going to connect a flexible chimney vent pipe from the Akorn to my KJ Classic 2 to do a cold smoker that way.
@@SmokingDadBBQ I use the open pellet maze kind and it almost never gets additional ignition. Sometimes a small ember will drop on it and start another section but rarely.
If you have a multi year old Acorn like I do, a wire wheel on a drill is your best friend for cleaning up that surface for the gasket to stick. Wire wheel, multi purpose cleaner, isopropyl alcohol wipe and she will stick for ya.
wow, a little flash back to younger years - "I love it when a plan comes together". I was waiting for you to run and jump into a black van with Mr T and drive off :) Good video!
Love your channel, you've got me addicted to Kamados! I tried using the SloRoller in my Akorn AutoKamado but couldn't get enough smoke flowing through, so even though the cook ran just fine at 300 without any burning there was barely any smoke flavor. Really looking forward to how you run yours!
Great video! Love how you explain things to make it very clear! My question is how did you measure the ring for the gaskets and what size gasket did you use? I’m getting the auto kamado and I’m wondering what size gasket I would need
G'day mate. Another thing to check is that the lid may not be sitting flat. Close it, loosen the screws where the hinge bolts onto the body, wiggle the lid a bit until it sits flat, then tighten. Also, temp control will improve with a bit of grease build up in the top vent to help seal the gap between the body and the vent cap. I've had an almost identical unit (dragon kamado) for about 5 years and with only those two things it holds rock steady temps way down to 100C. Still on original gaskets as well.
I am quite convinced that my Akorn Jr also has air gaps behind the thermometer and the areas where the legs screw into the body. Over the summer, I did some ~350C / 662F cooks (thin steaks, 1-2 minutes per side) and with the lid down and locked, I was certain that there were smoke leaks from those areas in addition to quite a bit billowing out of the larger seam. Perhaps my Winter task, whilst the UK inclement weather limits my uses, is to look at upgrading the main two seals like you're doing there. It's such a shame that almost everything grill-related is ridiculously expensive in the UK compared to the US and Canada. PS: I also use the smoking stone and another pizza stone to do a double-indirect cooking setup like you do with your KJs.
Hi James: Love your videos, can you shoot a video about how you clean the grill grate, the charcoal basket, the firewall ring and all the metal parts...etc. Not sure how other people are doing it for Kamado Joe grills, but the clean up of the grates and cast iron can take up more than 1 hour and 30 minutes...
My Akorn is about 6 years old and still going. I give it maybe 1 more year before it falls apart. (Ash pan rusting). It's stock, no mods and holds temps as good as my Joe. Where did you buy yours as I want to replace it when it falls apart! 😁. One of the best grills for the money, hands down.
Hi @smokingdadbbq - I also own a chargriller Akorn, and have issue keeping low temperature for smoking brisket for exemple. My problem is that if I fill charcoal like you do it ends up temperature exceeding 250deg …if I reduce charcoal qty, smoking can’t last 8+ hours…so I have to open grills and add charcoal…do you think changing gasket and doing two stage deflection can help me ?? Any suggestions?? Thank you
So I have come across an akorn on a home we are cleaning out. It's in rough shape. I'm looking for someone with knowledge on what I need to do ,or explain how this even got this way. There's a film on the inside of the egg or akorn whatever you prefer to call it. Looks like a full that was on the inside that maybe should've been removed ?! I have a pic but I can't post it. Any help would.be appreciated. We want to try to bring it back to life if possible
Drill out the rivets along the lid sealing surface which hold the inner shell to the exterior shell. Then you can pull everything out. Re-rivet back together. I had to repair mine after my friend moved it with the lid open and it fell causing damage to that top flange. Curious why you want to remove the insulation.
I’ve been grilling on a 200 Char-Griller that has the smoke box on the side , been grilling almost everyday for over a year , I want a new grill is this a good investment???? Mine seeps smoke all around 😔
A little outside topic, I have seen a stainless steel Kamado Joe online. It does not appear on the manufacturer's website. Are you at all familiar with it? Is is a discontinued item? Kamado Joe ProJoe Stainless Steel Kamado Grill
I have the acorn auto Kamado will the ash tray on this current model in this video work on the auto Kamado the fan has stopped working on my auto Kamado and there is not a fix for it, so I thought I could change the ashtray to one that has the vents on the ashtray
You do realize that if you wrapped the buckle itself it would tighten the seem without trying to move the clasp up right? I would of tried that on the top and bottom prior to adding gasket material. I would of just tried wrapping it with electrical tape to see if that tightened up the seal. Just my two cents.
i dont remember but in general i start dialing down the vents about 50f before my target temp to slow down how fast it arrives at 300 so i don't overshoot
it only makes sense if you make your own rubs.... for me its paid for itself, but a $20 amazon burr mill, or using the one you have to get the qty you need tastes identical
For future "upgrade" videos only change one thing at a time, test and verify if you fixed it or not then change something else. I bet you didn't need the gasket on the lid because the real leak was the bottom seal. However we will never know because you did both at the same time. Would have been better to add the gasket to the bottom...run a temperature test. If it failed THEN add the lid gasket and retest.
I believe in a previous he showed a before and after with just the high hear gasket (the one on the lid) and it significantly reduced the leaks but did not eliminate it (smoke still came out between base and lid but less). I could be wrong though. Dont remember which vid
If you already bought the gasket and you already can feel that the clasps don't have a lot of tension, why not just add it since it takes 2 extra minutes .
Interesting! What I am wondering is if this is just a cash grab or if it actually works. Too much editing and not enough proof that this makes that big of a difference.
not sure how to make it more clear... there are several loops which will knot if you pull it right away so you need to back the string out until you reach the loops closest to the bag where the string goes straight instead of knotting through the middle of the loop. facing the back of the bag, most brands the short side is on your left. remove 1-3 loops based on your bag / brand and pull the string
You have way too many freaking links.. which one is for the actual Akorn gasket??? I only see 3 gaskets on the website, that are grill specific...and not for the Akorn.
I had the same issue on mine for a minute but all I did was just adjust the clasps / clamps. they have a little wiggle room and you can get that 1/8" by loosening the screws and sliding them toward the tightest position. I did it on two and it worked.
great tip
I was wondering about that or drill new holes on the clasp.
I recently did exactly this, with the same gasket from the same company, top and ash bowl. Wonderful! My temps hold rock steady. Thank you so much!
Glad it helped
I am absolutely amazed! I saw this video and added gaskets to the ash tray and body for the lid. It’s amazing how well I can control the temperature now. Slow cooking is fun now and predictable! Thanks ever so much!
glad it helped!
I have three Akorns for over 3 years. Biggest thing that will make these at 300 degrees or more is lighting too much charcoal at once. I also only crack the vents open to a 2 ish to let heat get close, then close them to where they are barely open. This might help if the gasket improvement starts not to solve your issue.
Holding up a Slo-Roller is what we call a Big Market Tease. Nicely done. As a long time viewer who has used your principles on his Akorn, I really appreciate these videos.
thanks!
I did this for my Akorn!!! I've waited to write about my experience until I have had a couple of cooks on it since installing the gasket. But OMFG! This is the solution for all the things I did not like about the Akorn! It is a far more stable komado now! Very little variation, quicker to gett to the right temp. This addition was well worth the small investment.
I have cooked on Akorns for almost 10 years and you only need to barely crack the top and bottom vents. A fingers width on the bottom will usually take you too high, you need to barely see the opening. The same applies to the top. I would usually only open the top to where you could slip a probe in the bottom circle of the top vent opening. At most I would usually have an 1/8th in slit at the top. This would keep me at 225 to 260 for hours depending on my desired temp.
I am in Connecticut and would get about 7 years before my Akorns rotted out. I do have a small roof over them but you have to keep the ash pan empty on them, very acidic.
I have now gone to the Auto Kamados, they are awesome.
I was wondering how people liked the Auto Akorns. Based off of multiple reviews I see people have had lots of issues with the controller failing on them...
Oh James so happy you have brought an Akorn into the fold. I have one that I was gifted (was only used once, individual didn't have the patience to smoke meat) to me by a friend and I have been having temp issues. I bought a TipTopTemp and that seems to have helped but it is a pain to clean. Would love to be able to get to the point where I can reliably dial in settings and know what to expect.
Glad you listened to one of my mods, I even put felt gasket on the top vent (from the inside)
Thank you , James ! I'm definitely going to do this on my Akorn Jr. Still new in the box , might as well get it right the first time . I started with a cheap little Kamado from China , then bought a Char Broil Akorn Jr ; Wow ! I'm moving up with the big boys ! 😁👍 Then I was looking around and found a lightly used , Primo Round Kamado grill with the rolling stand and I am in Kamado heaven now ! 😇 I'm on a fixed income so I need to be careful with all my expenses . So I have fabricated some or most of my accessories . Your videos are a great way to learn how to use these Grills and make some of the most delicious , Proteins ever . I know it's not a Kamado Joe but , what fun is it if everyone has the same thing . I didn't get my Kamado delivered to my back yard . I had to go pick it up and put it in my van . Wow ! These are heavy grills . Putting it back on the stand was another story , no one around to help . Took a little bit of sweating and lifting and I got it in place . When I rolled it across the parking lot everyone came out and ; Hey man ! What is that ? Never seen one of those . I seasoned it and made all the spider webs and spiders homeless and now I'm ready to grill . Thank you for all the information and great videos and taking the time to make them . Eat More Vegans - Carnivore BBQ is a great guy too ! It's always fun cooking with friends .
Thanks for giving the little Akorn some love. For the price, they are darn hard to beat! Love my Akorn.
Hi James, what it should be the size of the gasket? I can see that in the website there a few different sizes, thanks
There is also another fix for cheap to get even better temp control. Unscrew the 2 bottom vent screws and remove it and take hi-temp silicone and put some around the vent and reinstall and let dry. This will further help with temp control. I've had mine for a couple years and did this and add the gasket for top and bottom.
I had to do the same. I cooked the gasket behind the bottom vent when I forgot to check on my Akorn after I opened the vents to burn off some stuck on food.
100% This. You could see where the factory silicon was way too small of a bead to stick and only made contact like 10% of the way.
I never found a reason to add gasketing material to the areas handled by fiberglass mesh, which is maybe the best feature of the Akorn. I did however gain a lot of control after burning out the O-ring seal around the top cap twice and just sealing it with RTV out of frustration. Went from being able to hold around 260F consistently to being able to hold 200F with no temp controller.
Thank you! I had the same issue with my Akorn - it just wouldn’t stay below 300 even with the vent nearly closed. It I did the gasket on the ash pan and dome, now it will hold 225 easy.
I also realized right off the bat that air leaks are a problem. Lid adjustment & gasket of this type did most of it. I also discovered an air leak at the edge of the lower vent track. I had to seal with high temp RTV. Also, my lid thermometer reads 50 degrees lower than actual temp at the grate as measured by my Maverick temp probe. Love the Akorn! For the price can't be beat.
Thanks! I've got the Walmart Expert Grill clone of the Acorn and yet, leaking air at the seal on the damper as well as the gasket ring. Can barely crack the top damper and it's sometimes too much.
I really appreciate all of your videos. I recently purchased an Akorn and not to mention I live in Alaska buy after watching your videos I now use my Akorn all year and with this said I also purchased an Akorn Jr. Thanks for the videos and sharing you knowledge and experience.
This is getting to be an interesting series, can't wait to see all the hacks to get better smoke on the meat.
You can add a chunk or 2 bottom base. I find a good way to get better smoke flavor of you don’t have allot of meat too smoke is too use indirect kinds like the way you would do it on a Weber kettle. I put my charcoal and wood chunks on one side kinda like the slow n sear and just put a fire starter on one side and let it go. And then put your meat on the opposite side of the grates for low and slow. Better smoke flavor.
Thanks!
I’d pay Chargriller an extra 20 bucks I’d they would just build this into the design. I know you’ve gotten a lot of comments saying they haven’t had any problems, but this fix DEFINITELY helped my temp control. Thank you.
It’s made a big difference for me too
This really works! I used one-inch gasket, which was easy to apply. Before installing the gasket I could see smoke coming out at various places between the body and lid/ash pan. Now there is no smoke at all, and I can easily hold temperatures of 250F for as long as there's fuel to burn.
glad it helped!
Btw, which smokeware gasket did you use for the Akorn? They have ones for the BGE, Primo and Kamado Joe on their site
Thank you for this mod. I finally installed the gaskets for my Akorn and I noticed with my first cook post hack that I could hold my temps much easier!
Glad I could help
Great fix to make it work. I must not be a "Pro" because I just use a box knife to open my bags of charcoal.. Thanks for the tip on looking for the straight string as I might give it a try next time.
its so satisfying when you get it to pull out perfectly
@@SmokingDadBBQ I let you know!
Thanks *so* much for this video. I've had an Akorn Jr for a year or so, and while I *really* like it, I've had the same temperature control issues. I'm gonna give my little smoker the same treatment. Also, I reckon I'm ready to upgrade to the full-size Akorn now.
Your videos are the reason I picked up a kamado in the first place. I'm glad you're trying out the Akorn series, and look forward to the tips and tricks you have in store.
thanks, good luck!
Great series James. I'm really enjoying it. I wish CharGriller would make a stainless steel grate.
@@michaelgreer5836 Thanks so much!
I have the Auto kamado, and I have a lot of problems with the temperature running away on me, I usually use a huge water pan to act as a heat sink to keep the temperature under control, I'm going to give this mod a try.
One thing I’ve learned about the auto kamado is turn the fan off auto before you open the lid. If you leave it on auto and open the lid the fan kicks in to bring the temp back up, but it stokes the coals too much and causes the temp to run away by 50 degrees or so. So shut the fan off auto when you open it. Close the grill back up, then as the temp comes back to you desired temp, then put the fan back to auto.
@@anxiety762mm ya, you can do that by clicking the power button one, it will pause the fan.
By lighting that much charcoal at once, do you ever overshoot your target temp?
Thanks for doing these experiments to show us ways to improve our Akrons. I hope you pulled the trigger on the auto kamado while it was on sale at Walmart for $224. I'd love to see some of your improvements and cook comparisons with it!
Yeah that $224 was too hard to pass up. I've had some severe QC issues on the bolt holes for the lid. Comes pretreated with lavalock, but the right ones only barely got screwed in before causing the little metal receptacles on the body to just spin freely. Only got through a couple of hot temp cooks & so far so good, but will keep this video in mind if the lid stops shutting completely.
I did some research on them, because I was set on getting one. Today, I found out the major stores stopped stocking them. People are complaining about the temp sensors and a lot of other things with no way to get parts from the manufacture.
@@hiv exactly same issue here.
I had this Acorn for 3 years. The best Kamado grill on the market hands down (bar some rust problem, but for the price...) Usual ceramic grills need to be fired up much higher to keep temperature because heavy ceramic absorbs a lot of heat. This Acorn is insulated and made of thin metal - it needs way less fuel to heat up. Just load much less charcoal and be careful starting it - only light up a little and close vents to the #1 or less. And again - use less charcoal. With the load you do and all vents wide open you can probably melt still in it 😂
Advantages of this Acorn - it's lighter, needs less fuel, easier to use, easier to clean, grates are level with the edge, grates has window in the middle, works really great. Disadvantage - it rusts with time. Don't leave it in the open.
Another cool thing about the Akorn is that you can fit a wood chip or pellet smoke maze in that bottom section and can reload them on very long cooks without having to adjust your meat and grates and deflector. Was very convenient smoking Thanksgiving turkeys the last two years to be able to add extra smoke from below. I've also used it with just a small smoke maze in the bottom to do cold smoke to cheese and salmon without any charcoals in the tub. Soon I'm going to connect a flexible chimney vent pipe from the Akorn to my KJ Classic 2 to do a cold smoker that way.
I will try that. I tossed chips pans pellets in there hoping they would burn but they didn’t combust but an ignited pellet tube should work
@@SmokingDadBBQ I use the open pellet maze kind and it almost never gets additional ignition. Sometimes a small ember will drop on it and start another section but rarely.
If you have a multi year old Acorn like I do, a wire wheel on a drill is your best friend for cleaning up that surface for the gasket to stick. Wire wheel, multi purpose cleaner, isopropyl alcohol wipe and she will stick for ya.
wow, a little flash back to younger years - "I love it when a plan comes together". I was waiting for you to run and jump into a black van with Mr T and drive off :) Good video!
lol
forgot to tell you this, did the same mod on my Kamander. also upgraded the seal arround the vent for this.
Love your channel, you've got me addicted to Kamados! I tried using the SloRoller in my Akorn AutoKamado but couldn't get enough smoke flowing through, so even though the cook ran just fine at 300 without any burning there was barely any smoke flavor. Really looking forward to how you run yours!
i got good results but using a very small amount of charcoal to make it burn better
@@SmokingDadBBQ more wood less charcoal? Or just a smaller fire altogether?
Either way can’t wait for your update so I can get back to smoking!
Can you do a video on how to clean the akorn?
Great video! Love how you explain things to make it very clear! My question is how did you measure the ring for the gaskets and what size gasket did you use? I’m getting the auto kamado and I’m wondering what size gasket I would need
G'day mate. Another thing to check is that the lid may not be sitting flat. Close it, loosen the screws where the hinge bolts onto the body, wiggle the lid a bit until it sits flat, then tighten. Also, temp control will improve with a bit of grease build up in the top vent to help seal the gap between the body and the vent cap. I've had an almost identical unit (dragon kamado) for about 5 years and with only those two things it holds rock steady temps way down to 100C. Still on original gaskets as well.
great tip!
You should check out the Akorn Auto Kamado. Walmart has them on sale for $220.00 I got one in Sept. and love it.
Is there a way to find the akorn kamado grill videos only? Trying to learn about it.
I am quite convinced that my Akorn Jr also has air gaps behind the thermometer and the areas where the legs screw into the body.
Over the summer, I did some ~350C / 662F cooks (thin steaks, 1-2 minutes per side) and with the lid down and locked, I was certain that there were smoke leaks from those areas in addition to quite a bit billowing out of the larger seam.
Perhaps my Winter task, whilst the UK inclement weather limits my uses, is to look at upgrading the main two seals like you're doing there.
It's such a shame that almost everything grill-related is ridiculously expensive in the UK compared to the US and Canada.
PS: I also use the smoking stone and another pizza stone to do a double-indirect cooking setup like you do with your KJs.
i might take a look at the probe and behind the sliding door vent assembly to make sure they are air tight as well to help further seal it up
Hi, also an Akorn JR user so wondering if you made any changes and if it helped
Hi James:
Love your videos, can you shoot a video about how you clean the grill grate, the charcoal basket, the firewall ring and all the metal parts...etc. Not sure how other people are doing it for Kamado Joe grills, but the clean up of the grates and cast iron can take up more than 1 hour and 30 minutes...
My Akorn is about 6 years old and still going. I give it maybe 1 more year before it falls apart. (Ash pan rusting). It's stock, no mods and holds temps as good as my Joe. Where did you buy yours as I want to replace it when it falls apart! 😁. One of the best grills for the money, hands down.
Hi @smokingdadbbq - I also own a chargriller Akorn, and have issue keeping low temperature for smoking brisket for exemple. My problem is that if I fill charcoal like you do it ends up temperature exceeding 250deg …if I reduce charcoal qty, smoking can’t last 8+ hours…so I have to open grills and add charcoal…do you think changing gasket and doing two stage deflection can help me ?? Any suggestions?? Thank you
Do you think there will be any long term effect/ failures from the extra tension being placed on the OEM clasps?
Thanks for the info. I have the same issue. I will give it a try.
Good luck!
So I have come across an akorn on a home we are cleaning out. It's in rough shape. I'm looking for someone with knowledge on what I need to do ,or explain how this even got this way. There's a film on the inside of the egg or akorn whatever you prefer to call it. Looks like a full that was on the inside that maybe should've been removed ?! I have a pic but I can't post it. Any help would.be appreciated. We want to try to bring it back to life if possible
Is there any way to remove the oven grade insulation between the metal top and bottom?
Drill out the rivets along the lid sealing surface which hold the inner shell to the exterior shell. Then you can pull everything out. Re-rivet back together. I had to repair mine after my friend moved it with the lid open and it fell causing damage to that top flange. Curious why you want to remove the insulation.
Oot!
Very nice video. Great tip on the string too!
Thanks 👍
This grill out does them all for the price. I have one does wonders it doesn’t leak air.
Such good value
Great improvement James easy to do.
cheers
Latching the Akorn helps a lot.
I’ve been grilling on a 200 Char-Griller that has the smoke box on the side , been grilling almost everyday for over a year , I want a new grill is this a good investment???? Mine seeps smoke all around 😔
What is the gasket size?
could you please tell me what gasket brand did you use for your Akron Kamado?
i found the top o ring seal very difficult to install on my mini akorn, any tips
A little outside topic, I have seen a stainless steel Kamado Joe online. It does not appear on the manufacturer's website. Are you at all familiar with it? Is is a discontinued item?
Kamado Joe ProJoe Stainless Steel Kamado Grill
I have the acorn auto Kamado will the ash tray on this current model in this video work on the auto Kamado the fan has stopped working on my auto Kamado and there is not a fix for it, so I thought I could change the ashtray to one that has the vents on the ashtray
I have seen other videos where they did just what you are asking. It worked.
throw a tip top temp on it and it'll maintain as low as 225-250 degrees pretty easily
I can’t seem to find the link for the gasket.
I never knew that charcoal bag trick. Always just brute force it. Works for me :P
lol
Am I blind lol. I don't see the gasket material used in the video in the description. Can someone please provide a link?
Looks like that U-shaped clasp wire on the bottom could be bent to shorten it 1/8”. But then, I’m too lazy to replace the gasket 😅
its a cheap made grill, i was looking at 1 at walmart. great mod thanks. i will help for sure..
its definitely not shy of its money saving qualities .... but for 1/7th the price of my big joe it does a good job after some tweaks
sorry - i am not seeing the link to the gasket?
Am I missing someone or did he not link the gasket he used?
Ever compare this grill to the rambler?
no i haven't
And how much does it cost to fix the rusting bottom. Why finish a ceramic bowl with thin metal that’s prone to rust. Bad Designed
What link do I get the gasket from?
You do realize that if you wrapped the buckle itself it would tighten the seem without trying to move the clasp up right? I would of tried that on the top and bottom prior to adding gasket material. I would of just tried wrapping it with electrical tape to see if that tightened up the seal. Just my two cents.
What width was the gasket
Mods were great, but biggest thing I learned was how to actually open the bag of charcoal! I always end up using a knife or scissors!!
hahah cheers
At what temp did you close the vents for it to hold 300f?
i dont remember but in general i start dialing down the vents about 50f before my target temp to slow down how fast it arrives at 300 so i don't overshoot
Was 6:52 an A-Team reference hah!
I can't find the link. Can you link it again please?
Gasket? bit.ly/save10KJgear
199 bucks for the pepper mill grinder?
it only makes sense if you make your own rubs.... for me its paid for itself, but a $20 amazon burr mill, or using the one you have to get the qty you need tastes identical
Upvote for the Akorn content
thanks
I will become a sub but need to see more content from the indirect smoker?
For future "upgrade" videos only change one thing at a time, test and verify if you fixed it or not then change something else. I bet you didn't need the gasket on the lid because the real leak was the bottom seal. However we will never know because you did both at the same time. Would have been better to add the gasket to the bottom...run a temperature test. If it failed THEN add the lid gasket and retest.
I believe in a previous he showed a before and after with just the high hear gasket (the one on the lid) and it significantly reduced the leaks but did not eliminate it (smoke still came out between base and lid but less). I could be wrong though. Dont remember which vid
If you already bought the gasket and you already can feel that the clasps don't have a lot of tension, why not just add it since it takes 2 extra minutes .
great idea, thank you!
so this is a known issue for like7 years or so and the company cant be bothered to fix it?
Interesting! What I am wondering is if this is just a cash grab or if it actually works. Too much editing and not enough proof that this makes that big of a difference.
I'm going to try it as I also noticed the lack of tension on the clasps as well as smoke coming out the seals.
Your explanation on how to pull the string on the bag was absolutely hopeless. I have no better idea of how to do it.
not sure how to make it more clear... there are several loops which will knot if you pull it right away so you need to back the string out until you reach the loops closest to the bag where the string goes straight instead of knotting through the middle of the loop.
facing the back of the bag, most brands the short side is on your left. remove 1-3 loops based on your bag / brand and pull the string
LOL I can buy a weed burner for $20 that works just as good as your $200 grill gun.
Then get that. Fire is fire 🔥
Use less charcoal 😊
I enjoy your cooking videos if you cook on a Kamado grill but I am not interested in all these experiments. So you just lost a subscriber... See ya
Good riddance.
You have way too many freaking links..
which one is for the actual Akorn gasket??? I only see 3 gaskets on the website, that are grill specific...and not for the Akorn.