Smokey joe or jumbo joe

[mattmountz94]

Currently have a 22 kettle but I'm tired of wasting all the charcoal for only cooking for my wife and i or maybe a few chicken breasts for lunches.  Looking at getting either the the small joe or the jumbo.  90% of the time i will be cooking for just my wife and i.  I was leaning more towards the smaller one but then i thought about the jumbo would make a nice size to take camping to offset my weber q.  Any recommendations or which you like better?  My wife will never let me get both so that's not an option.

[MrHoss]

Get the JJ. No question.

You get the lid holder from the bail plus the vent is located on the bottom of the bowl. On a SJ Gold you get the lid holder and bail but the vent is located on the side where the bail holder attaches.....this does not allow your charcoal enough air flow. A SJ Silver has the vent on the bottom but no lid holder making transport not nearly as easy.

The JJ has a larger grill grate and you can purchase a hinged grate for it. No hinged grate on the SJ is available as far as I know.

My JJ makes some bloody good wings. Your distance from the charcoal grate to the cooking grate on the JJ is shorter than on a full size 18. Plus the lid height is shallower too.....making it one hell of a good grill and cooking offset I think it makes damn bloody good wings.

Cooking pretty much anything on a SJ is a pain in the arse.....and cooking hot due to crappy vent location is worse still.

[captjoe06]

I own two Smokey Joe silver's and love them for cooking steaks or chicken when it's just me or me and another but for just a little more the versatility in cooking style you gain with the JJ and handle and lid holder are much better choices .  You can always place your coals on one side of the JJ and still have some space on the other side to sear on one side and then move to the other side offset.  On the Smokey Joe pretty much the whole cooking area is going to be direct grilling.

[MeatAndPotatos]

JJ is awesome. Small portable grill... That actually has as much working space as the low end of their big stand up options.

Always thought the SJ got too much love over the JJ, considering the JJ can be your only grill if your not handling big cook outs. Small and portable but legit 2 zone fire. I used to smoke ribs on mine.

[Josh G]

Go with the Jumbo Joe.   Being able to cook indirect is super helpful.  It will not take up much more room than the Smokey Joe either.

[blksabbath]

Just get both.  No one will think you are weird.

[stellato1976]

JJ all the way..has more uses

[John Middleton]

Hi, Ive used a smokey joe for a year.I bought a jumbo joe for a friend. if your concerned about charcoal usage get the smokey joe for $40.00 great deal. if you dont like it buy the jumbo. for the $$ why not. I use the 22" kettle and the joe. both awesome especially for only two. Good luck have fun.

[mcgolden]

Let me complicate things even more. Have you considered the Go Anywhere. It's closes up and carries very easily. It also works great for indirect with coals off to one side and food on the other.  Just a thought.

[1911Ron]

JJ for the win!

[addicted-to-smoke]

I have a JJ and love it but it doesn't get used much lately because it excels at travel I don't really do. Most of my cooks are at home, where a standard 18 makes more sense. The JJ requires a viable table of some kind too, and a way to hang the tongs. But I love having both since grates can swap. The bottom vent on my JJ continually becomes loose. And the nearly non-removable ash pan (it's a pain to remove IMO) is a joke, which is why many of us use a 8" pie pan on it. And a lever for the bottom vent made from a long bolt bolted to a hole you make in it ...

That said, MrHoss indirectly brings up an interesting argument against the standard 18 when he mentions grilling on the JJ. This may be a bit off topic but it's my impression the standard 18 never quite knows what it wants to be. It's typified as the better machine compared to the JJ due to its deeper bowl size/airflow.

But indirect cooking requires either distance or other strong division from heat and the standard 18 has neither. On a 22 indirect is easy because of how far apart you can separate heat from food. On the JJ, because everything is so close, you're forced to take stronger action by way of firebricks or something more inventive. But on my standard 18, firebricks either just soak up heat OR heat flows over onto the other side. But because a firebrick is much closer to the grate on a JJ the heat stays divided better, in my experience. You'll also see more creative cooks and uses out of a JJ on this site. The little dude is damn inspirational.

[mattmountz94]

Thanks everyone.  Looks like ill be ordering a JJ. 

[tb80]

I agree with the JJ recommendation unless you have any interest in making a mini WSM.  In that case, I would get the smokey joe gold.

[Stu Clary]

Just get both.  No one will think you are weird.

this

[Craig]

Just my .02 but either get an old style JJ (Smokey Joe Platinum) or an 18.5 kettle. That is if a second regular kettle is allowed at your house. The 18.5 is PERFECT for two people not to mention that they do more then they are given credit for.