Opinions on Akorn Kamado Kooker?

I've had mine for 6 years and it still works great. The only issue was the thermometer is not that accurate, but I never relied upon it I used my Maverick digitals. While it is not ceramic it holds the heat well and works just as well as my father's BGE. For the price you can't go wrong.

I had one and held a steady temp for 10 hours. Just have to figure out the airflow.

Great starter unit.

For that price, it's a no-brainer. If you can keep it out of the elements, do so. I had one a while back and it lasted about 4 years out in the elements. It is a really good cooker, regardless of the price. Go for it.

i really liked mine


treated it like shite and still got about 6 years out of it


i moved on to a ceramic now, but I used the akorn to learn whether or not I liked the kamado style grills

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The Akorn is a cheaply made.

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which is why it's cheap and OP is considering it

cheaper materials and methods = more wallet friendly

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Croacka

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agreed. I was just giving my .02 cents.

Why have you bought 5 of them?

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TIGERSTORM

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I strongly encourage you to buy the deflector.

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Alright I bought it, it's my bday and I got me a present. And good online resources for figuring it out?

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i bought a cheap pizza stone and a certain diameter weber replacement rack (its a replacement for the 22.5" weber kettle grills) which fits perfectly on the flanges in the grill meant to hold the heat deflector

if you put the smaller rack and then the pizza stone on the rack, it provides you with a heat deflector for 1/3 the price of the akorn heat deflector you can buy (prices may be lower than they were several years ago when i did this)


i also used some high temp sealant on the vents to increase heat/fuel efficiency but they may have gotten better at sealing those in factory

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i also used some high temp sealant on the vents to increase heat/fuel efficiency but they may have gotten better at sealing those in factory

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I just cooked on mine enough to wear those gaps got closed up with grease, creosote, etc. I can hold low temps very easily for long periods of time (12+ hours).

Additional recommendations:

1. Fully load your Akorn full of lump charcoal (don't use briquettes). You can still maintain low temps with a full grill. You just have to start shutting down prior to having all of your lump catching on fire. There's no need to half load, or limit your charcoal to try to control temps.

2. I use cotton balls soaked in rubbing alcohol as my fire starter cubes. Works great.

3. Use wood chunks (not chips), not soaked.

4. Clean out the ash regularly. It can restrict air flow and cause inconsistent temp control if you let ash build up. Much easier to control if you start with it clean every cook.