I see a lot of questions posted on social media, about what to cook first on the new Kamado. Here I put forward my recommendation that will help you get the most out of your early cooks.

Is there a burn in period?

The first question that often pops up is, “Do I need to burn in my new Kamado”

Well, the short answer is no, there is no need to do any sort of burn-in or seasoning of your new kamado. Other than some good hygiene practices you are good to go straight out of the box.

However, I would strongly recommend setting up your new Kamado for the sole purpose of having a play. Start a fire and play with the air vents. See what interactions you need to achieve a temperature rise, practice trying to slow the fire down and reduce the dome temperature.

Common Kamado Setups

The most common cooking temperatures for smoking / low and slow are 225f,250f,275f practice with the adjustments to settle on these temperatures. Take note (mental notes) of the approximate positions of the vents. I say mental notes as every cook is that little bit different. Things like the ambient temperature and humidity can have an effect on how efficient your fire is.

Get it cranking, head for the steak searing zone, open both the vents and watch the thermometer rise. If you like pizzas keep it wide open and head to the 500f zone. You will be surprised at just how responsive the Kamado is.

Once you have done your “practice” burn I bet you are itching to get some meat on the grill. All too often we have expectations on our first cook and we look immediately for the holy grail of low and slow – the brisket.

If you are leaning towards the brisket check this article out, it may persuade you to start off with something a little different.

The 5 Basic Principles

My suggestions for the first 5 things to cook on your new kamado are based on learning the different principles of cooking on your kamado.

Heat control

Dual zone

Longer cook

Multiple items

Smoke

Pork spare ribs (heat control)

Reverse sear steak (dual zone)

Beef ribs (smoke)

Pulled pork (longer cook time)

Roast lamb and Hasselback potatoes (multiple items)

Now obviously the world is your oyster when it comes what to cook. Literally, anything you can think of can be done on the Kamado, sometimes you may need to adapt the recipe a little but it will be possible. I hope this has given you a little bit of direction and some inspiration for your new kamado.

You Got This!

My first cook was what I had in the fridge, cheap supermarket sausages 🙂

Since then I have been on this amazing learning curve and becoming more and more addicted. Just like a can of Pringles, once you pop you can’t stop.

Here are my links to the recipes that I have tried whilst learning the kamado.

Pork spare ribs (heat control)

Reverse sear steak (dual zone)

Beef ribs (smoke)

Pulled pork (longer cook time)

Roast lamb and Hasselback potatoes (multiple items)

Great Resources

If you want a really good book to learn some of the basic – I highly recommend

Hot Coals: A User’s Guide to Mastering Your Kamado Grill

A very useful and well-written book goes into a great number of details on how to best use your kamado grill.