Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this model Kamado Kooker a couple of weeks ago, and this morning I am cooking my first ribs on it. This is my second Akorn Kamado Kooker. I bought my first one two years ago. Last summer bringing it home from our vacation cottage it toppled out of the back of the truck. It was still usable, but rather banged and dented up. . . the cast iron grill broke in two place. I could still use it, but it was inconvenient to add charcoal, etc. I use the Kamado almost every weekend and occasionally in the week in the summer months so I decided to buy a new one. Several nice design improvements are apparent in this model, compared to my previous one. Old model had wooden boards on the flip up shelves on the side. They cracked and warped in the sun and rain. New model, the flip up shelves are metal Old model had a very very loose top air control vent, that I had to tape up with aluminum tape in order to have fine control of low temp cooking. New model has a greatly improved top vent, with an o-ring and a tight fitting slide. It even has a little notch in the vent, whether intended or not, serves nicely for the external digital thermometer cable to pass into the grill. With no taping of my own. . . just using the cooker as assembled out of the box, I'm cooking ribs with the top vent nearly shut, and the bottom vent cracked about ½ inch. The temperature is holding steady at 232°f. Improved design in the new model gasket between the lid and the body. Improved design of the inner liner, with tabs to help keep it evenly spaced from the outer shell. On my old cooker, I did not notice insulation between the outer shell and inner, but on the new cooker I can see insulation through various seams in the outer body shell and the lid, etc. If my old cooker had not toppled out of the back of my truck, when taking a corner too quickly, I could not have justified buying a new one, but having the new one, I greatly appreciate the thought. . . and their apparent listening to feedback from their customers, given to the improvements in this model over the old one. Too often there is a decline in quality over time, but in this case the reverse seems to be true. This is a great smoker/grill. While you can grill burgers, hotdogs, and brats on this grill, you will be missing it's potential if you don't cook all day ribs, pulled pork. . . whole turkey's, etc. etc. etc. There are lots of websites, and videos devoted to Kamado cooking. . . lots to learn about cooking on this type of grill. I love it!!!