Kamado Grill Accessories Worth Buying
Kamado grill accessories worth buying, explained by a reviewer who actually lives with the gear. No fluff, no marketing language, just what works and what doesn't.
Kamado Grill Accessories Worth Buying
The marketing says you need a ~$400 temperature controller, a ~$150 cast iron grate, and a drawer full of ceramic doo-dads before your kamado will work right. Is that true? I've been cooking on a Kamado Joe Classic II for six years and a beat-up Akorn for tailgating, and I've bought more accessories than I care to admit. Some of them changed my life. Most of them are gathering dust in a bin next to my workbench. Here's the short list, then the details.
| Product | Price | Why it won | Why it lost |
|---|---|---|---|
 Kick Ash Basket (B079C1SQBF) |
Check price | Turns ash cleanup from a 20-minute vacuum session into a 5-minute tap-out. Fire stays fed, temps stay steady. | None. It's the one thing I'd buy before a new grill. |
| SmokeX Temperature Controller | Check price | Held 225 through a thunderstorm that had my dog hiding under the porch. | The app forgets my phone every few months. Re-pairing takes 10 minutes. |
 Looftlighter (B000WYY65Y) |
Check price | Starts lump in under a minute. No lighter fluid, no chimney, no swearing. | The trigger is stiff for the first month. Then it loosens up. |
 GrillGrates (B07CNGQ58M) |
Check price | Searing surface that actually gets screaming hot and leaves proper grill marks. | They're aluminum, so they don't hold heat like cast iron. And they're not a replacement for a good grate. |
 Nomex Gasket Kit (B00OAG2AV2) |
Check price | The felt gasket on my Classic II peeled off after a year. This fixed it for good. | Installation is fiddly. Clean the surface twice or it won't stick. |
How I test this stuff
I cook two briskets a week, fifty-two weeks a year. I've got a 90-pound lab mix named Biscuit who sleeps on the porch next to the Big Joe during overnight cooks. He's learned to ignore the smell of burning lump. When I test an accessory, I don't run it through a two-week honeymoon. I use it for six months, through a Minnesota winter and a Georgia thunderstorm, and I see if it still works when I'm tired and the temp is dropping.
I don't track prices day to day, so I won't pretend to know next week's Amazon deals. I'll give you what I paid and what I've seen them go for. That's the honest number.
The Kick Ash Basket (B079C1SQBF)
Let's start with the one that's going to save you the most time. The ash basket replaces the factory charcoal grate in the firebox. It's a stainless steel basket with a grid bottom that sits on a stand, so air flows underneath the lump.
The first time I used it, I was skeptical. It's just a basket, I thought. How much difference can it make? Then I did my first cleanup and realized I'd been doing it wrong for years. With the factory grate, ash falls through and packs into the bottom of the firebox. You have to dig it out with a shop vac, which is a mess. With the Kick Ash basket, you lift the whole thing out, tap it a few times, and the ash falls through into the bottom. Five minutes, done.
It also helps with airflow. My fires burn more consistently with the basket because the ash doesn't smother the bottom coals. I've had fewer temperature drops in the middle of an overnight cook since I switched. That's worth the ~$59 alone.
One thing to check: the basket needs to fit your firebox. The one I have fits the Classic II. If you've got an Akorn or a Vision grill, measure your firebox before you buy.
SmokeX Temperature Controller
I was a purist for a long time. I thought temperature controllers were for people who couldn't manage a vent. Then I had a brisket stall at 160 for three hours, and I had to be at my daughter's soccer game. I came home to a brisket that had climbed to 190 and was drying out. That was a ~$90 lesson.
The SmokeX is a fan that mounts to the bottom vent and a probe that goes in the meat. It holds your target temp within five degrees, which is better than I can do by hand on most days. Last summer, a thunderstorm rolled through while I was doing an overnight cook. The SmokeX kept the dome at 225 through the whole thing. Biscuit was hiding under the porch, but the brisket didn't care.
The downside: the app is not great. It forgets my phone every few months, and I have to re-pair it. That takes ten minutes and a bit of cursing. The unit itself has been solid for two years. I've seen it go for ~$149 on sale, which is a steal.
If you're cooking while you're awake and you're good at checking the vents, you don't need this. If you've got a job or a family or a life that takes you away from the grill for hours at a time, it's worth every penny.
The Looftlighter (B000WYY65Y)
I used to start charcoal with a chimney starter. It works, but it takes twenty minutes and it's a pain in the ass. Then a buddy at a competition showed me his Looftlighter. It's a torch that blows superheated air into the lump. You point it at a few pieces of charcoal, and they're glowing red in about sixty seconds.
I've had mine for three years. It's started hundreds of fires. It's survived being dropped on concrete and left out in the rain. The trigger is stiff when you first get it, but it loosens up after a few weeks.
The only real downside is the price. ~$89 for a glorified hair dryer seems like a lot. But I've used it more than almost any other accessory I own. If you cook more than once a month, it pays for itself in convenience.
GrillGrates (B07CNGQ58M)
I don't use GrillGrates for low and slow. I use them for searing. They're flat aluminum bars that sit on top of your regular grate. You flip them over and you've got a solid flat top for smash burgers or plancha cooking.
The thing I like about them: they get screaming hot. I preheat the kamado to 500 or 600, drop the GrillGrates on, and let them soak for ten minutes. Then I put a steak on and get a crust that looks like it came off a flat top in a steakhouse.
The thing I don't like: they're aluminum. They don't hold heat like cast iron. You have to let them heat soak longer than you'd think, or the first steak won't sear properly. And they're not a replacement for a good cast iron grate. I've got a cast iron grate for my Classic II that I use for most things. The GrillGrates are for when I want that specific flat top surface.
If you're cooking smash burgers or you want a plancha surface, they're worth the ~$89. If you're just searing steaks, get a cast iron grate instead.
The Nomex Gasket Kit (B00OAG2AV2)
Here's the thing nobody tells you about kamado ownership: the felt gasket that comes with most grills is going to fail. My Classic II's gasket peeled off after about a year of heavy use. I opened the dome one morning and a strip of felt came with it. That's a ~$20 lesson I learned the hard way. Cover your grill, but even if you do, the felt will eventually go.
Nomex is the fix. It's a fiberglass-like material that handles higher heat and doesn't break down as fast. I replaced my felt gasket with a nomex kit from a dealer, and it's been on for four years without peeling. The installation is fiddly. You have to clean the surface thoroughly, then apply the adhesive strips carefully. Get it wrong and you'll have gaps. I did it in about an hour with a beer and a putty knife.
This is the cheapest fix on this list and probably the most important. A leaking gasket means temp swings, which means ruined meat. If your gasket is peeling, replace it before you spend money on anything else.
What I don't recommend
I've tried a few things that didn't make the list. The ceramic heat deflectors that come with most kamados work fine, but I've cracked two of them from thermal shock. I now use a steel diffuser plate that's held up for three years. The ash tool that comes with the Classic II is a flimsy piece of metal that ain't worth a damn. I use a shop vac for deep cleanings and the Kick Ash basket for regular ones.
I also tried a cheap temperature controller before I bought the SmokeX. It was ~$60 and it held temp like a drunk uncle holding a ladder. It would overshoot by 30 degrees, then choke itself down and undershoot by 20. I sent it back after a week.
The bottom line
Here's the truth: you don't need most of the accessories on the market. The grill itself does the work. But the right few tools make the difference between cooking on a Tuesday and fighting with your grill on a Tuesday. The Kick Ash basket and the nomex gasket are non-negotiables. The SmokeX is worth it if you've got a life that pulls you away from the grill. The Looftlighter is a luxury, but it's a good one.
I've burned more brisket than most people will ever eat, and I've bought more accessories than I'd like to admit. These are the ones that earned their spot in my shop. Everything else is just taking up space.