Lidl Mini-Kamado Questions/Tips

[The Knize]

I just got a Lidl mini-Kamado ceramic grill and I thought I would start here on B&B with some questions, as I usually do with something new to me!

$75 on sale, which seems like an amazing deal given the good reviews it seems to mostly get. Quite compact. I forget whether the inside diameter of the top of the grill or the grate is 10.5 inches, in case that becomes relevant.

Anyway, unlike the very similar, but now higher priced when it is in stock, which it isn't now. Aldi version, the Lidl mini Kamado does not come with a heat deflector. Seems to me a heat deflector is rather crucial to having a lot of flexibility in using a Kamado grill, especially one of this small size. The pre-built to fit ones available on-line seem amazingly high priced for a grill I only paid $75 for. Looking over various DIY approaches it seemed to me the best DIY approach was to get a round piece of mild sheet steel or cast iron, around 8 inches or so in diameter.

Someone came up with the idea of using a round Lodge cast iron "grill press," which looks like it is going to fit pretty well, and otherwise function nicely. Questions:

1. For the on-line DIY version I saw, which was just a You Tube video of this item in place

, with no instructions about how to adapt or install it, the maker had drilled what looked like, say, 1/2 inch holes around the insider rim of the top of the grill press. It is unclear to me what purpose they serve and whether they are desirable to have. I suppose it would be easy enough to drill those holes in cast iron. Anyone have any thoughts?

2. The video seems to show the grill press held in place above the coals by three metal hangers of some sort that drape over the edges of the ceramic charcoal/ashes bowl under the grill. I cannot tell what the guy used or how the are attached. Anyone have any ideas about how to execute this simply and easily? I do not have a welder, for instance. I suppose nuts and screws into the edge of the grill press would do it, but I do not see them in this video. It also strikes me that some sort of standup but thinnish blocks set down into the ceramic bowl might do it, too, but they might be prone to falling over and might take up space one would prefer to have available for charcoal.

Anything else I should be thinking about that I have overlooked? Seems to work pretty well. Gets very hot and holds temperature from what i can tell. All hinges and the like seem strong and well-built. This thing is heavy!

Thanks!

 

[Jut]

I have no idea how to make the adapters. As to the holes that were drilled...my guess is that the lodge press is a tight fit and the holes are to allow circulation?

I have a Kamado Joe, and even when smoking at low temps, you need a small amount of circulation to flow from the bottom vent to the top vent.

 

[brucered]

I made a DIY offset, place holder (hi temp pizza stone) for my Kamado years ago. It's since been upgraded (full Kamado restore last year), but it was an easy DIY project with materials from HD

It lasted for years, never rusted, worked like a charm and was inexpensive. If you expand the pics below, you'll see how I made mine. If I had thougth about it, looking at the pics now, I would have installed screws/stoppers for the pizza stone to sit perfectly centered. I always just eyeballed it.

Mess Hall Acquisitions

Three for the kids, and one for me front & center... Whew! It's warm in here. (So why does it feel more like 68F?)

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[The Knize]

Thanks, Jut and brucered. Very helpful. It is hard to tell from the video, but there is a pretty good gap around the grill press, at least on mine. But, I suppose some holes could not hurt.

I should have figured out that brace system to hold the grill press/heat diffuser myself! Well done!

 

[brucered]

What's funny is, I have that same Lodge press for making burgers.

On my Vision Kamado classic from about 2010, my Amazon Kamado Joe knockoff diffuser plate setup, has a gap of 7/8" from the deflector plates (ceramic) to the inner firebox width of 17". The grill cooking surface is 18".

If you make one yourself, you may have to play around with how right it is to the inner firefox. The reason being, you won't be able to drop a full Weber chimney or two of charcoal in it. So you may need a wider space to allow some heat up.

It was the first thing I did with my kamado as it didn't come with one. It is a MUST for low and slow. Punching holes in the plate seems like a bad idea to me. You want the smoke and heat to wrap around the inside of the kamado and up to the top and kind of come down on the junk of meat, not directly from under it. But that's just my take on it.

Either way, it looks like you got a great deal. I don't need one but I'd grab one at that price. Kamado cooking is fun and they don't require a huge learning curve if you have cooked over charcoal.

 

[The Knize]

I really appreciate the thinking and experience reporting on this brucered! I doubt whether I need the holes, too. Low and slow means what it means!

I had always been interested in playing around with a Kamado and this price seemed just too low tp pass up. Very fun stuff! I like a good tool! And it is nice to have the B&B experise available to me!

 

[Jut]

FWIW, around where I live, the only lump charcoal available in brick and mortar stores is Jealous Devil, Royal Oak, and Cowboy.

I like them in that order. Jealous Devil is great. Royal Oak is pretty good too. Cowboy is absolute rubbish IMHO.

You can go crazy ordering other brands shipped to you if you're willing to pay the high shipping costs.

 

[brucered]

FWIW, around where I live, the only lump charcoal available in brick and mortar stores is Jealous Devil, Royal Oak, and Cowboy.

I like them in that order. Jealous Devil is great. Royal Oak is pretty good too. Cowboy is absolute rubbish IMHO.

You can go crazy ordering other brands shipped to you if you're willing to pay the high shipping costs.

Royal Oak lump for me, it's available for a decent price. I've been using it for years.

When the Kamado Joe Big Block goes on sale (3 for price.of 2), I buy a few bags. It's is considerably better pieces, less dust, but they all work.

I add my own wood chunks from our backyard oak.