Tip Top Temp with adapter on Vision Kamado
Bottom Line: Of all my Kamado gadgets, this one is indispensable, it allows you to turn your Kamado into a smoker with control similar to that of an electric smoker.
Like many Kamado owners, I was lured in to purchasing one by the promise of being able to both cook over lump charcoal while also being able to maintain control of the temperature. I own a [easyazon_link identifier=”B00JM4WCGK” locale=”US” tag=”tiptoptemp-20″ cart=”n”]Vision Kamado[/easyazon_link], which isn’t the most high end Kamado, and found the promise and the reality to be two very different things. I am too impatient to wait around for my grill to come to temp and then experiment with the vents to try to dial in the temperature. Often times I will keep the vents open too long, then the grill gets to hot and it is difficult to lower the temperature. Prior to the Vision I owned an [easyazon_link identifier=”B00GJEPTJS” locale=”US” tag=”tiptoptemp-20″ cart=”n”]Akorn[/easyazon_link] and experienced the same thing and I damn sure experienced it with my [easyazon_link identifier=”B001I8ZTJ0″ locale=”US” tag=”tiptoptemp-20″ cart=”n”]Weber Smokey Mountain[/easyazon_link].
I discovered the [easyazon_link identifier=”B01FOYB27G” locale=”US” tag=”tiptoptemp-20″ cart=”n”]Tip Top Temp[/easyazon_link] (TTT) through the course of reading my favorite BBQ forums, other users raved about it. Originally invented for your standard Weber kettle grill, the [easyazon_link identifier=”B01FOYB27G” locale=”US” tag=”tiptoptemp-20″ cart=”n”]Tip Top Temp[/easyazon_link] (TTT) is a cap that goes over your top vent (or in the case of the Vision, up through the dome), it is constructed with a bimetal coil that controls a valve, creating another vent. The bimetal coil is connected to a knob, used to dial in your temperature setting. Using a chart in the instruction manual, you use ambient temperature and your desired cooking temperature to determine what setting to turn the knob to, this unspools the coil accordingly. As your grill heats up, the heat rising through the top vent reacts with the bimetal coil, which unspools and in turn reduces the aperture of the valve. By doing so, it reduces the airflow to the coals and keeps your fire from growing hotter. When you reach your desired temp, the valve on the TTT is almost completely closed.
When using my TTT, I keep the bottom vent wide open and when the dome thermometer hits the desired temp, it will not move…period. The TTT has given me so much control over my grill, I have the confidence to do overnight cooks with my Kamado, without the aid of expensive blowers. Theoretically you might have issues if the outside temperature were to change a lot, but I have not experienced dramatic enough temperature swings to impact my cook.
The TTT does not fit on every grill, in fact I had to engineer a adapter for mine. But on his website the inventor has links to tutorials on how to construct adapters for a variety of grills. I like mine so much I have purchased several as gifts and bought another one in case my first one breaks. It also gives me one to use on my Akorn, Jr.
PROS:
Inexpensive
Provides amazing control
Simple to use, minimal learning curve
Goes on and off Kamado easily
Can be used on a variety of grills
Great support from the company
CONS:
Not the best build quality
May require you to build an adapter
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