bbqoldie

well I'm a handy old chap with time on my hands, if someone wants to get rid of their one with broken bolt issue I'll happily send some reasonable funds in exchange, send a courier and get the machine shop tools out....no point in the thing becoming landfill due to this issue

is replacing the bolt with something suitable possible? (or do you have photos of how/where it broke so I can make my mind up?)

boo hoo! I have a crack in my firebox:-( There's a stress relief channel already created in the firebox, and the crack runs from there downwards. I aint even dun a pizza. Once things cool down I'll have to to see how far down it goes. If it isnt all the way (yet), then maybe a drill hole at the lowest point will stop it cracking further. I realise la hacienda/aldi will ship another, and I should probably go that route, but thinking about it, I think "another" will crack also. Wonder if the aftermarket fire basket doodah kick-ash will help solve this issue. In terms of use, 3 slow cooks when new over the course of 2 weekends, followed by mainly normal bbq in the 180c-200c range on the built-in gauge..probably 50 uses in total. thoughts? (edited to add pic..the crack is hairline and mostly invisible when cold, but opens up as pictured in use...usually hidden by some charcoal naturally)

.yeah getting it warm solves the issue of the stickiness and gets it going again, but maybe I'm missing a bit of logic as to do that i need to shut the lid, which makes the fire poorly. And I'm normally trying to get the vent open when I'm starting the fire. A balancing act of holding the lid mostly shut manually to get the vent hot but keep the fire going has worked for me when its been particularly dirty and gummed up. Its a minor gripe, no worries...I'll just plonk it in some hot water and washing up liquid once a month. Still reckon its a very low-maintenance bbq.

mini-3-month update: occasionally when energetically flipping stuff, small bits can fall between the AK and the grill, which then normally wedges between AK and the outside of the fire basket. Which means I gotta take it all apart because #reasons. the top vent can weld itself shut from oily fumes/vapours when it cools down...meaning next time you go to use it, it becomes a bit of a mission to open the vent, so this bit needs more regular cleaning from my side. two, admittedly, very minor gripes. The food coming off this thing is lovely though.

i found this handle badge doodah on ebay for our AK search for "Aldi Kamado Accessories, Aldi Kamado Handle Badge, Plate, Cover, Custom, Mods" sold by mjsgifts for ~£6

i know nobody asked about a vote, but after spending a fair amount of hundred pages going over stuff trying to find which parts are known compatable, I'd also like this topic broken out into its own section if possible. We've come this far....

not sure about premium as such, but i got a bag of this yesterday at b+q, because its the first time i've spotted the elusive "restaurant grade" stuff there https://www.diy.com/departments/restaurant-smokeless-coal-12kg/5060098640071_BQ.prd 12kg @ £15. i'll let you guys know how bad a decision it was when i get to this bag.

i did that for a pulled pork thing...drip tray, but with water in it. I think even an empty drip tray causes no harm, as it stops fat getting onto the deflector plate. I've read of deflector plates cracking on this model and I guess the jury is out on why this happens, but localised hotspots caused by fat that has dripped onto it may not help. If I don't do a drip tray, I cover the deflector plate in tinfoil just to keep it neat.

and chalk one up to another gadget i didnt even know existed,...an ash hoover. thanks!!! they look like just the thing!

i had the chance to empty my AK of some ash this morning and clearly I'm a 100% plank. Besides opening the silver door, using the scraper tool and pulling the stuff out, and totally missing any plastic bag I have placed underneath and getting it all over me, is there another way? Q part 2: and what if I made a nice table for it...all the ones I have seen looks like its going to be an even bigger nightmare to do ash-saturday cleanup...how is ash management taken care of once you built a table around the thing?

i too have the 100% round asda 8£ pizza stone...its a miracle device...the box lists the dimensions as 33cm x 33cm...inside is a round thing and the leaflet they send with has a recipe for a pizza that (from memory of the recipe says) ends up as 40cm x 18cm or something. 🙂 anyway, nice to know it was a mental group buy almost:-)

thanks guys, mind is at ease now.

i seem to recall somewhere in this mega-thread instructions for adjusting the lid to ensure a closed fit but cant find it right now. I made some yummy stuff last night then closed all the vents to snuff out the fire and saw some wispy smoke got out near the rear hinge between top and bottom..not a lot, ,and not a big deal, but something i want to adjust. My overhang between lid and base also isnt so consistent to my ocd habits so would like to try work this out too...thoughts?

no, its even cheaper, non-heat-resistant stuff. Any felt-material/squishy "something" would do I would guess..its just to cushion the kamado against the legs to prevent scratching and stop it moving slightly (mine moves a bit when i lift the lid, but i think as the pads wear/squish this will lessen). Me, personally, in the situation you are in, would take a scissor to a yellow scrubbing sponge and make do with with that solution until replacements arrive. The bits they supply is the equivalent of the hairy side of a piece of velcro. Nothing more.

it...has arrived! woop! via AO.com and in one piece...also not worried about theft anymore..if you can pick it up you can have it. How the heck am I going to get it to where it needs to be in the garden without messing up the grass on the way there is another matter.

how do you know who the courier is in advance? i've got text msg to indicate delivery tomorrow and aldi's site says "my order is being picked" with "delivery tomorrow" but no mention of a courier name,..

it dawned on me that shortly i'd have half-a-grand just sitting in the garden...albeit 80kgs of it. What have you all done to deter/prevent theft, and is this something we can add to home insurance?

forgot: to mention i'm from essex, i do some..."computer stuff". and this is my current equipment:

been doing bbq for years, but never tried smoking before...well, before today when my double flower-pot+bbq beach bucket "almost" kamado produced some pulled pork after 5 hours. I managed to place an order for the aldi variant this a.m. so hoping it gets here in one piece and then can start my journey to smoking.

after almost 3 years of trying to join the queue of owners, order placed this morning.