SJG or JJ?


 
C

ChadVKealey

TVWBB Pro
My son & I finally convinced my wife to go "real" camping (with a tent and all, though I am conceding to allow an air bed) this Summer, so I'm looking to get either a SJG or a JJ. Here are the pertinent facts:

1. There are three of us, myself (who eats way too much, usually), the mrs. (who has much more self-control) and the boy (9 years old this week and prone to occasional binges to fuel the growth spurts).
2. We'll probably just be grilling up burgers, dogs or chicken breasts/tenders. All high-heat stuff.
3. Although, it might be nice to have the option of cooking other stuff on the grill (ie: in a CI skillet; I have a few in the 10-12" range)
4. This would also serve as "overflow" cooking space for home cooks

I've narrowed the choices to the SJG and JJ mainly because of the ability to lock the lid (no worries about it coming apart in the trunk). Given the facts above, which would be the better choice? Also, as I already have two full-size chimneys, I'd rather not buy another "Compact" one and it would be awesome if the chimney fit inside the grill for traveling. I'm thinking that wouldn't happen with the SJG, but I've never seen one in person.

PS: Anyone know if the Cajun Bandit Stacker made for the 18.5" kettles would work on the JJ? Just a thought since that might be another factor in the decision. Granted, by the time I pay for the JJ and the Stacker, I could get a 14.5" WSM...
 
Chad, from my own personal experience-

Had the Smoky Joe last year for camping, it is just the wife and I. However, we like to grill vegetables as well, and found ourselves quickly running out of room on the SJ. This year I sold it to a friend, and purchased the Jumbo Joe, absolutely love it. Nice to have a "safe" area in case the coals get away from you, still plenty of room to cook veggies and the like.

No regrets about the JJ at all, yes it is a touch more cumbersome than the SJ, but not enough to dissuade me from it being my camping grill of choice.

Another difference between the two, I HATED the vent design on the SJ, seemed like it took forever to get up to temperature and then it would quickly die out. Bottom vent design on JJ is much better in my opinion, gets hot quick and stayed hot for a long while. Also, I splurged and picked up an 18" hinged grate for it too - very nice for indirect cooks.

Hope this helps
 
We just went camping with our JJ. This was our first time with our JJ, we usually use the fire pit to grill which I hate because thre is no heat control and limited grill space. We did quick sausages for appetizers while the main dinner was cooking (thin pork belly which needs the fat to crisp up). We did burgers and hot dogs which was a breeze because of the 18" grill space to setup a 2 zone.

I've seen pictures of folks loading most of their stuff inside the JJ, which I sort of did. I had my lighter, tongs (dirty for the charcoal and clean for cooking), spatula and my Ordning charcoal starter (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30131716/#). I brought a whold bag of charcoal, but only used half of the bag. Other families used it to cook steak, porkchops and more hot dogs so I wanted to make sure I had enough fuel.

It was awesome to have more control of my grilling. My JJ will be on my packing list of all my future camping trips.
 
JJ for sure! Check out the "Jumbo Joe is pretty much perfect" post couple of threads down. If you can get a table for it, would be perfect for camping! If you see Nate Frost's posts he rocks it on the JJ!
 
Greg B. said:
JJ for sure! Check out the "Jumbo Joe is pretty much perfect" post couple of threads down. If you can get a table for it, would be perfect for camping! If you see Nate Frost's posts he rocks it on the JJ!
Click to expand...

Yeah, the table's pretty sweet, but I think I'll hold off on that for now. There's actually a NIB JJ on CL right now about 45 minutes from me, but the guy's asking $50 for it, which isn't that great a deal. I don't need it until August, anyway, so I'm waiting to build up enough bonus points on my credit card to cover the purchase from Amazon. I may be in for a bonus in late July, too, so maybe I will go all in and get the table. It looks like the portable kettles actually lock into it, right?
 
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