Kamado Joe Konnected Joe Digital Charcoal Grill and Smoker Review

Kamado Joe has been making grills since 2009, but the Konnected Joe takes things to the next level with Wi-Fi connectivity, a digitally controlled fan, an Automatic Cook Mode, and a one-touch fire starter. It's also easy to use, simple to clean, and built to last. Your only real barrier to mouthwatering charcoal-fired food is its premium $1,699 price. But if you can afford it, the Konnected Joe easily earns our Editors' Choice award for smart grills.

For the uninitiated, kamado grills are significantly different than charcoal ones. They are typically egg-shaped and have ceramic interiors that retain heat well, use fuel efficiently, and cook food evenly. Most, including the Konnected Joe model we rested, burn lumps of wood charcoal and use upper and lower vents to control the burn and the chamber temperature.

At 216 pounds, the Konnected Joe is hefty. It uses the same design as the Big Green Egg, a pioneer in modern kamado grill technology. Perched atop the included cart, the Joe stands 48 inches tall and 22 inches wide. Extend both aluminum shelves and the width expands to 47 inches. If you prefer not to use the cart, you can install the grill as a built-in component of an outdoor kitchen.

You can use regular charcoal briquettes for fuel, but the company recommends lump charcoal because it burns hotter and cleaner, and it ensures better flavor. If you do use briquettes, stay away from lighter fluid, match-lit, and flavored charcoal; the porous ceramic absorbs these flavors and might affect what you’re cooking.

The fit and finish of this grill is impressive. It has a red ceramic-glazed exterior with a dimpled texture similar to that of a golf ball. It sports a durable stainless steel latch that secures the domed lid to the main body and has an adjustable, heavy-duty hinge around the back that makes opening and closing the lid effortless. Even the lid handle feels durable. The cart is made of steel and has four caster wheels (two of which lock) that allow for easier movement.

As for controls, the lid sports a big round temperature gauge and an adjustable vent that you use to control airflow and temperature. The lower half of the grill is black; it houses a control panel (called the Kontrol Board) and an adjustable lower vent. Inside the vent is a removable drawer that makes it easy to discard spent ash. A thick wire mesh fiberglass gasket forms an airtight seal between the lid and the base. On the back are a main power switch and a power connector for the 6-foot power cord.

The Kontrol Board is easy to use. It features a 3.4-inch (diagonal) display, four function buttons, a dial for selecting the temperature, and a power button. Off to the right is a smaller panel that holds three probe jacks and the automatic fire starter (AFS) button that activates the ignition coil at the bottom of the firebox. The Cycle function button lets you toggle between the temperature screen and one that displays a session graph of the current temperature, your target temperature, your total cook time, and the temperature changes over time. Here, you can also view your probe readings. Use the Temp button to set the temperature, the Timer button to start a countdown or count-up, and the Wi-Fi button to pair the grill with your phone.

If you press the power button with the lid closed, you can go straight to the temperature screen and set whatever timers you need (the timers are just for reference and the grill won't shut down or change temperatures when they expire). If you press the start button with the lid open, the screen enters Accessory Mode and shows three choices: DoJoe (which turns the grill into a pizza oven), JoeTisserie (which requires an optional electronic rotisserie accessory), and Griddle Full (which enables you to cook with the full-sized Karbon Steel Griddle insert).

Inside, the circular cooking surface measures 18 inches in diameter (or 250 square inches). The inside of the lid is ceramic, while the firebox is made up of five removable ceramic panels that curve to fit snugly into the base of the grill, all the while leaving ample clearance for charcoal and the heating element that automatically ignites the charcoal. Embedded in the bottom of the base is the Kontrol Fan that helps maintain a constant temperature when the grill is in its automatic mode. In manual mode, you use the top and bottom vents to control the cooking chamber temperature just like with a traditional non-digital kamado grill.

The grill supports temperatures between 225 and 700 degrees Fahrenheit, which means you can use it for low-and-slow preparation, high-heat cooking, and anything in between. It comes with two half-round stainless steel cooking grates, two half-round ceramic heat deflector panels for indirect heat cooking, an ash tool for removing ash from the bottom of the grill, a temperature probe, a grill gripper tool for removing the cooking grates, and a two-tier Divide & Conquer rack that lets you cook foods at different temperatures by placing them closer or farther away from the heat. You also get an accessory rack that supports a pizza stone, a drip tray, a soapstone cooking surface, and a grill extender that adds a third rack to the Divide & Conquer rack.

The Konnected Joe uses the Kamado Joe mobile app (available for Android and iOS). It’s a fairly straightforward app that lets you view and change the current cooking temperature, set timers, and look up recipes. The grill appears on the Devices screen and shows its current status (connected or not connected). Tap the grill to see the current temperature and the time left on an active timer. Below the temperature reading are boxes for setting the cooking temperature and a countdown timer, as well as a graph that depicts your last cooking session. At the very bottom of the screen are temperature readings for all three probes and a button for shutting down the grill remotely.

Tap the gear icon in the upper right corner to access the settings. You don’t get many options here, but you can configure Wi-Fi settings, select a temperature unit (Fahrenheit or Celsius), and update the firmware. At the bottom of the screen are buttons for Devices, Recipes, and Profile. Tap the first option to return to the Devices screen from wherever you are in the app. Use the Recipes button to search Kamado Joe’s impressive database of over 140 entries by food type or cooking style. These recipes are comprehensive and easy to follow, but you can’t upload them to the grill like you can with the Traeger Ironwood 650. Finally, the Profile button lets you change the grill's name, toggle notifications, add another device, and view support documentation.

Preparing the Konnected Joe for first use isn’t difficult, but it is time-consuming and requires an extra set of strong hands (or two). The grill arrived at my house in several boxes secured to a pallet by plastic straps and plastic wrap. Included with the grill were several optional accessories that Kamado Joe sent along for testing including the above-mentioned Joetisserie accessory, two 20-pound bags of Kamado Joe lump charcoal, a grill cover, a box of fire starter sticks, a half-moon soapstone cooking grate, and a half-moon cast iron griddle.

Set aside about an hour to assemble the grill and cart. It comes with a large installation sheet and clearly marked tools and hardware that make it easy to assemble, but lifting the grill onto the cart requires several people. Once you get it up there, secure it using the included bolts and then install the ceramic inserts, the firebox ring, the cooking rack, and the grates. The last steps are to affix the top vent and the side shelves.

To pair the grill with my phone, I downloaded the app, created an account, and tapped Add Device at the top of the main screen. I selected Pellet Joe as my device type and used the onboard control panel to enable Wi-Fi. I added my Wi-Fi details and gave the grill a name to complete the process.

I started with a backyard-barbecue staple, charcoal-grilled hamburgers. I arranged a layer or two of lump coal pieces in the bottom of the grill, closed the lower vent, and used the Kontrol Board to set the temperature to 550 degrees. I followed the Kontrol Board’s instructions to partially open the top vent, pressed the AFS button to ignite the charcoal, and waited around 22 minutes for the grill to come up to temperature. I cooked the burgers over high heat for close to five minutes on each side and they turned out juicy and with a delicious smoky flavor.

Next, I seared a medium-sized salmon fillet. Using the recipe provided in the app, I set the temperature to 500 degrees and added a touch of olive oil to a cast iron skillet. I place the skillet on the grill grates and closed the lid. After 20 minutes, I added the salmon fillet (which I had seasoned with a brown sugar rub) and seared it for one-and-a-half minutes. I flipped the fish and seared it for another one-and-a-half minutes to finish it off. The salmon came out perfectly, with an internal temperature of around 130 degrees and a nice golden sear.

To round out my testing, I used the Joetisserie accessory to cook a rotisserie chicken. The Joetisserie was easy to install; I placed the round metal rotisserie base on top of the grill base and fed the spit and forks through the chicken I had coated with a salt and pepper rub. I added my lump charcoal to the grill and, with the lid open, pressed the Kontrol Board start button. The menu instructed me to choose an accessory, so I selected the Joetisserie and set the temperature to 350 degrees. I closed the lid and used the AFS button to start the fire. I received an alert around 20 minutes later informing me that the grill was up to temperature, so I donned a pair of fire gloves, placed the spit on the rotisserie base, plugged it in, and pressed the rotisserie start button.

Once I was certain that the chicken was properly centered and happily spinning, I closed the lid and set a one-and-a-half-hour timer. I did a spot-check on the bird every 20 minutes or so and when the timer had expired, I opened the lid to find a crispy rotisserie chicken with more than a hint of smokiness. (Here's a pro tip: When you cook a chicken on the Joetisserie, you should use butcher twine to tie up the legs and wings to prevent them from flopping around while the chicken is spinning.)

The cleanup process is easy. Once the grill cooled down, I washed the stainless steel grates in my kitchen sink, along with the rotisserie spit and forks. Then, I used the included ash tool to direct any spent ash to the removable bin. Another perk of kamado cooking is that you can save and reuse any unburned fuel. Just close all of the vents when you shut down the grill and the coals should stop burning.

With a base price of $1,699 and a catalog of pricey accessories, the Konnected Joe Digital Charcoal Grill and Smoker might cost a bit too much for the casual weekend cookout. However, if you take your grilling and smoking seriously, it's worth every penny. It’s incredibly well-built, easy to use, and flexible enough to work as either a smart or traditional kamado grill. Most importantly, it helps you consistently prepare tasty charcoal-fired food, thus making it worthy of our Editors Choice award. If you prefer pellet grilling, check out the Traeger Ironwood 650, which uses small wood pellets for fuel, is just as intuitive, supports automatic recipe programming, and gives food a more distinct wood-fired taste.

Though pricey, the tank-like Kamado Joe Konnected Joe Digital Charcoal Grill and Smoker connects to your phone and makes it simple to cook charcoal-fired foods to perfection.

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