Kamado Joe SloRoller – What Is It and How To Install?
There’s plenty of buzz around the SlōRoller. It’s still one of Kamado Joe’s relatively new inventions that many, probably like yourself, are just learning of for the first time. While it’s been around since 2019, and we’re writing this article two years later, we get asked enough about it that we wanted to help others out there wondering the same: what exactly is the SlōRoller and what does it do?
What Is The SloRoller?
The SlōRoller is a hyperbolic smoking chamber that sits inside your Kamado Joe grill. Did that sound confusing? In simple terms: it deflects and spreads heat evenly and helps distribute smoke when cooking at lower temperatures.
The SlōRoller is good for smoking and cooking foods indirectly. Rather than using ceramic deflector plates, the SlōRoller design helps infuse more smoke flavor into your food while also reducing hot spots across the cooking surface.
How To Install
The SlōRoller works in a similar fashion to your deflector plates. By that we mean rather than using deflector plates or a large ceramic piece like a Big Green Egg, you would use the SlōRoller in it’s place.
You would remove the Divide & Conquer System from the Kamado Joe grill and lower the SlōRoller in place. It will sit on top of the ceramic firebox pieces. Removing the top piece of the SlōRoller you would then fill your grill with the right amount of charcoal and light the charcoal. Once the fire is going well, you can begin to setup for your cook.
You would replace the SlōRoller lid and lower the Divide & Conquer System into the designated grooves on the SlōRoller. This will allow you to set your cooking racks as desired.
Does It Really Make A Difference?
In short, yes. The design of the SlōRoller forces smoke to pass through your food on the way up and out of the grill. This is different than deflector plates where the smoke rolls up and out on the sides of the grill not necessarily passing right through your food on the way out of the grill.
That doesn’t mean you won’t get smoky flavor using deflector plates or your results won’t be good using them. Kamado Joe grills produce great results. the SlōRoller is a tool that adds to the great work these grills do by helping enhance the flavor.
The design also reduces hot spots around the grill which helps foods cook evenly rather than one side running hotter than the other. Hot spots are just a natural thing with grilling in general. Every grill company would love to figure out how to ensure 100% that there are no hot spots inside their grill. The SloRoller is just a tool designed to help get closer to achieving that perfection by ensuring consistency in your cooks when using it.
What To Consider Before Purchasing
If you already own a Kamado Joe I or II model grill, there really isn’t anything to consider before purchasing. Just find the add-on accessory size that correlates to your grill and you’re ready to purchase.
If you have not purchased your Kamado Joe grill yet, here’s something to consider. We outline the five differences in the Kamado Joe II and III grills in this article. In that article we talk about the SlōRoller which comes with the Third Generation models. With the Third Generation grills, you can use the SlōRoller and get two levels of cooking space. If you purchase a Second Generation model and purchase the SlōRoller add-on accessory, you will only have one level of cooking space due to the retrofitted design to help it fit inside these grills.
