Kamado Joe calls the Joe Jr its most portable ceramic grill. It is pictured on docks and tailgates in the maker’s own artwork. Then you read the spec sheet, and the grill with its stand weighs 82.5 lbs.
This grill review asks one thing. What does portable mean on the Joe Jr with Cast Iron Stand, model KJ13RH? The short answer: the word fits a car trip with a friend, and little else.
The rest of the grill is a real kamado in a small size. It carries a ceramic body, a cast iron vent, a stainless grate and a deflector. Is that package a travel grill, or a compact patio cooker that sometimes travels?
First Impressions of the Kamado Joe Joe Jr
The box tells you about the weight before anything else does. Ceramic and cast iron arrive together, and nothing about the carton suggests a picnic accessory. Plan for two people at delivery.
Assembly barely deserves the name. The stand is a ring of cast iron with two outboard handles. The ceramic egg drops into it and stays there. The dome thermometer, the top vent and the lower slide vent are already in place.
Up close, the glazed red shell has the dimpled finish of its larger siblings. The black cast iron cap on top is the heaviest single fitting you will touch. It turns by hand to set the airflow.
A first cook should be something small and forgiving. Two chicken halves or a few thick burgers fill the grate nicely.
The dome closes on them and the fire settles fast. There is little air inside to heat. Food comes off with the clean, smoky crust a ceramic cooker is bought for.
Key Features of the Kamado Joe Joe Jr
The parts list is short, and that is the point of a small kamado. Everything that matters to the fire comes in the box. The upgrades that widen what it can do are sold separately.
- Ceramic body: a glazed ceramic shell that Kamado Joe describes as thick-walled and heat resistant. It holds heat and moisture rather than venting them.
- Cast iron top vent: the dial on the dome controls airflow at the exhaust. It is the main tool for setting a low smoke or a hot sear.
- Cast iron stand with side handles: the stand lifts the ceramic off the ground and carries the only handles on the grill. Those handles are what makes moving it possible at all.
- Stainless steel hinged grate: one round grate, 13.5 inches across. It is hinged, so you can lift a section and add charcoal mid-cook.
- Ceramic heat deflector: included in the box, not an upsell. It turns the grill from direct grilling into indirect smoking and roasting.
- Built-in dome thermometer: reads the air under the lid. It is the reference point for every vent adjustment.
- Ash tool: a simple hook for pulling spent ash out through the lower opening.
- Cast-iron: the stand and the top vent are both cast iron. The warranty treats them as metal parts.
- Multiple Vents or Dampers: a top vent and a lower slide vent work as a pair.
Things the Joe Jr does not include are worth naming too. Cart, side shelf and charcoal basket each sit on the accessory page. Each carries its own price.
Kamado Joe rates the Joe Jr from 225 to 750°F. That one span covers both jobs a kamado is bought for. A small ceramic dome reaches searing heat quickly and holds a low smoke without much fuel. Neither job needs constant attention once the vents are set.
What limits the Joe Jr is grate room. A 13.5 inch circle leaves little room for a hot side and a cool side. With the deflector in, everything cooks indirect; with it out, everything cooks direct.
So you choose one mode per cook. A reverse sear means pulling the hot deflector partway through, with gloves on. On a large kamado you would simply slide the meat across.
The small dome does help in one way. It needs only a modest pile of lump to reach either end of its range.
There is also a quiet discrepancy in the published area. The maker lists 150 square inches, while a 13.5 inch circle works out to about 143. Either way, Kamado Joe’s own count of seven burgers is a fair ceiling. A pork butt fits, though a full brisket will not.
Build, handling and durability
Nothing on this grill that carries weight is plastic. The shell is ceramic, the top vent is cast iron and so is the stand. That material list is why the grill is heavy, and why it should last.
The weight is also where the portable claim strains. At 82.5 lbs, every lift moves ceramic and iron together. The handles are fixed to the stand, not the egg.
Two adults can carry it to a car comfortably. One adult alone is risking the ceramic and a back. It travels like a full cooler: two people, a short distance, and a reason.
Kamado Joe’s own figures disagree slightly on size. On the product page, the Joe Jr measures 19.9 by 27.2 inches. Amazon artwork from the same maker rounds those up to 20 and 28. Neither changes how it fits on a balcony.
Running costs, upkeep and value
Our check found the Joe Jr at around $429 on Amazon, against a $499.99 maker list. That is roughly $2.86 for every published square inch. Most of that money buys the ceramic shell.
A steel kettle of similar size costs far less and cooks the same burgers. It will not hold a low smoke on the same small load of lump.
The add-ons change the sum quickly. The grill and cover bundle runs $548.99, which is $49 more than the grill alone. The cover sells separately for $59.99, so the bundle saves a little.
The cart bundle adds $226 over the base grill at list. A charcoal basket is $119.99, and a sear plate is $99.99. Both widen what one small grate can do.
Upkeep is light on paper. Cracked or failed ceramic stays covered while the first owner keeps the grill. Metal and cast iron parts get five years, and the heat deflector gets three.
The gasket and thermometer get two years, and those wear first. Replacement grates carry the maker’s own part numbers. KJ-CG13 is the cooking grate and KJ-MFG13 the fire grate.
Ash comes out with the included hook tool. The maker page lists no ash drawer. Kamado Joe’s comparison artwork on Amazon claims one, along with a counterbalanced hinge. The product page names neither, so we would not buy on either promise.
Possible Kamado Joe Joe Jr Complaints
- It is heavy for something sold as portable. The 82.5 lbs figure covers grill and stand together. The handles sit on the stand, so every move lifts both. A second person, or a cart from Kamado Joe, is the realistic fix.
- One small grate forces one cooking mode. The deflector is either in or out, and the circle is too small to split well. Cooks who want a sear and a smoke at once will feel boxed in. The optional sear plate helps a little at extra cost.
