New year, new grilling goals.
Whether you're a weekend warrior or a seasoned pitmaster, leveling up your grilling game doesn't require fancy gadgets or complicated techniques. These five habits will transform how you cook on your Kamado Joe—and they're easier to adopt than you think.
Let's be real: most of us fall into autopilot mode at the grill. Same temps, same recipes, same results. But 2026 is the year to break out of that routine and build habits that actually make you a better cook.
1. Stop Guessing—Start Temping Everything
The habit: Use a meat thermometer for every cook, not just the "important" ones.
- Here's the thing about experienced grillers: they didn't develop their instincts by winging it. They temped everything religiously until they learned what 135°F feels like versus 145°F. Even after 20 years at the grill, the pros still use thermometers.
- Your Kamado Joe holds heat incredibly well, which is a blessing and a curse. That ceramic construction means temps stay stable, but it also means there's less room for error if you're flying blind. A good leave-in probe thermometer eliminates the guesswork entirely.
- Start here: Get a dual-probe thermometer. One probe tracks your grill temp, the other tracks your meat. No more opening the dome every 15 minutes to check—you're losing heat and extending cook times every time you do that.
2. Master Two-Zone Cooking (And Actually Use It)
The habit: Set up direct and indirect heat zones for every cook, even simple ones.
- Two-zone cooking isn't just for advanced techniques—it's your safety net. By banking your charcoal to one side and using the Divide & Conquer® system to create hot and cool zones, you give yourself options mid-cook.
- Steak getting too much char before it hits temp? Move it to the cool side. Chicken skin not crisping up? Slide it over to direct heat for the last few minutes. Flare-up threatening to turn your burger into charcoal? You've got a safe zone ready.
- The beauty of the Kamado Joe is how easy this setup is. Half-moon cooking grates, adjustable racks, and the SlōRoller® insert all work together to give you complete control over heat zones.
- Start here: Even for quick cooks like burgers or chops, bank your coals to one side. Start everything over indirect heat to bring it up to temp slowly, then finish with a quick sear over the hot zone. You'll get better crust, more even cooking, and way fewer burnt exteriors with raw centers.
3. Let Your Fire Stabilize Before You Cook
The habit: Give your Kamado Joe 15-20 minutes to stabilize at target temp before putting food on.
- This is the mistake that kills more cooks than any other: lighting the charcoal, seeing the dome thermometer hit your target temp, and immediately throwing food on. Your grill isn't actually ready yet.
- Ceramic takes time to heat through. The dome thermometer might read 350°F, but the ceramics are still absorbing heat and the fire is still settling. Put food on too early and you'll watch your temps swing wildly—usually spiking 50-75 degrees higher than you wanted.
- Start here: Light your charcoal, set your vents for your target temp, and then walk away. Check your phone, prep your food, have a beer. When the dome temp has held steady for 10-15 minutes without you touching the vents, NOW you're ready to cook.
4. Keep a Grilling Journal (Yes, Really)
The habit: Take notes on every cook—temps, times, what worked, what didn't.
- This sounds nerdy until you realize it's what separates good grillers from great ones. Your Kamado Joe is incredibly consistent, which means if you nail a recipe once, you can replicate it perfectly—IF you remember what you did.
- A simple note in your phone works fine: "Pork shoulder, 225°F, 14 hours, pulled at 203°F internal, used apple wood, stall hit at hour 8." Next time you do a shoulder, you've got a roadmap instead of starting from scratch.
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Start here: Create a simple template in your notes app:
- What you cooked
- Grill temp
- Wood/charcoal type
- Total cook time
- Target internal temp
- What worked / what you'd change
After 10-15 cooks, you'll have a personal cookbook of techniques that work specifically for YOUR grill, YOUR climate, YOUR preferences.
5. Clean Your Grill When It's Hot (Not Cold)
The habit: Brush your grates right after cooking, while they're still hot.
- Everyone says they'll clean the grill "next time before cooking." Nobody actually does it. Then you're standing there with raw chicken in one hand, trying to scrape off last week's burger remnants with the other hand, and your fire's already burning.
- Hot grates clean in 30 seconds. Cold grates are a 10-minute frustration fest. The Slide-Out Ash Drawer on your Kamado Joe makes ash cleanup a breeze, but you've still got to deal with the grates.
- Start here: Keep your grill brush next to the Kamado Joe, not in the garage. Right after you pull your food off—while you're letting meat rest or plating—give the grates a quick scrub. They're hot, the stuck-on bits release easily, and you're done before your steak is ready to slice.
The next time you cook, you'll open the dome to clean grates and fresh charcoal. No scraping, no soaking, no excuses not to fire it up.
