If you want real low-and-slow barbecue from a Char-Griller Akorn Kamado, a heat deflector is the single accessory that makes it possible. It sits between the charcoal and the cooking grate, blocking direct radiant heat so your food cooks by gentle, indirect convection at 225–275°F — and the BBQube stainless heat deflector / drip pan for the Akorn Kamado doubles as a drip catcher that keeps burning fat out of your fire and bitter smoke off your meat.
What does a heat deflector do on an Akorn Kamado?
A kamado's fire burns just inches below the food. Even when your dome thermometer reads 225°F, the underside of a pork butt sitting directly over the coals is being blasted by infrared radiation — the same energy that sears a steak. The result is a scorched bottom and uneven cooking, no matter how carefully you manage the vents.
A heat deflector is a barrier that absorbs and redirects that radiant energy. Once it's in place, heat has to travel around the plate and rise up the sides of the bowl, so the whole cooking grate becomes an indirect zone. That's what turns your Akorn from a hot grill into:
- A smoker — 225–275°F for ribs, pork butt, brisket, and chicken wings.
- An outdoor oven — 350–450°F indirect heat for whole chickens, turkey, meatloaf, and casseroles.
- A pizza and bread oven — 450–550°F with a stone above the deflector (more on that below).
Why choose stainless steel instead of a ceramic stone?
Ceramic diffuser stones work, but stainless steel has real advantages for a steel kamado like the Akorn:
- It can't crack. Drop a ceramic stone on a patio, or shock it with a splash of cold drizzle mid-cook, and you're shopping for a new one. Stainless shrugs off drops, bumps, and thermal shock.
- It heats up fast. Ceramic is a big thermal mass you have to heat before the grill stabilizes. Stainless comes to temperature quickly, so you spend less charcoal and less time getting to 225°F.
- It's a true drip pan. Rendered pork fat lands on the plate instead of the coals, where it would burn and produce acrid, dirty smoke. Cleaner fire, cleaner flavor, easier cleanup.
- It's lighter and easier to handle when you're setting up or tearing down the grill.
One honest note: stainless develops a golden or bluish "heat tint" after a few hot cooks. That's purely cosmetic — it doesn't affect performance or food safety — and most of it scrubs off if it bothers you.
Which Akorn models does the heat deflector fit?
The full-size BBQube deflector is sized for the full-size Char-Griller Akorn Kamado Kooker (models 16620 / E16620) — the triple-wall, 22-gauge insulated steel kamado with the roughly 314-square-inch cast-iron main grate. It rests in the bowl between the charcoal grate and the cooking grate, shielding the entire cooking surface.
Own the little guy? The Akorn Jr. (model E56714) has a much smaller bowl and grate, so it needs its own plate: the stainless heat deflector / drip pan for the Akorn Kamado Jr. The two are not interchangeable — measure twice, order once.
How do you set up an Akorn for low-and-slow with a heat deflector?
Here's the routine that holds 225°F on a full-size Akorn, start to finish:
- 1. Load the bowl. Fill the firebox with lump charcoal up to the tabs. Lump burns cleaner and leaves less ash than briquettes, which matters on a kamado where airflow runs through the coal bed. Nestle 2–3 fist-sized wood chunks into the pile.
- 2. Light a small fire (the minion method). Light about half a chimney of lump, wait until it's ashed over, then pour it right on top of the unlit charcoal in the center. The fire spreads slowly outward instead of all at once.
- 3. Set the deflector and grate. Drop the stainless deflector into place, set the cast-iron grate on top, and close the lid.
- 4. Set the vents small. Crack the bottom damper to its first mark and the top vent to a sliver. Kamados need surprisingly little air at 225°F.
- 5. Let it stabilize. Give the grill 15–20 minutes. Make vent adjustments in small increments and wait 10 minutes between changes — the Akorn's insulated steel body responds slowly but holds steady once it's dialed in.
- 6. Cook. Put the meat on, close the lid, and resist opening it. Plan roughly 1.5–2 hours per pound for a pork butt at 225°F, and expect the internal temperature to stall somewhere around 150–170°F for a while — that's normal evaporation at work, not a broken thermometer. Wrap in foil or butcher paper if you're in a hurry.
Pit tip: light fewer coals than you think you need. It's easy to nudge a small fire up to 225°F and nearly impossible to walk an overshot kamado back down without smothering it.
For a deeper dive into the science of the stall and low-and-slow thermodynamics, AmazingRibs.com is an excellent free resource.
How do you use the deflector as a drip pan?
The flat stainless surface does double duty, and you have two good options:
- Bare plate: Let drippings land right on the steel. They'll sizzle and mostly render off — scrape the plate once it cools.
- Foil pan on top: Set a disposable aluminum pan on the deflector, directly under the meat. Your drippings are contained, cleanup is a 10-second toss, and you can save the juices for sauce or gravy.
Want a water pan? Add 2–3 cups of hot water to that foil pan. The water acts as a heat sink that smooths out temperature swings and keeps the cooking chamber a bit more humid, which many pitmasters like for long brisket and pork butt cooks. Just don't pour water straight onto hot bare steel — the thermal shock can warp metal and the steam can burn you. Lining your drip pan with foil makes the whole setup zero-scrub.
Can you bake and make pizza with a heat deflector?
Absolutely — this is where the deflector earns its keep year-round. Crank the vents, let the Akorn climb to 450–550°F, and set a pizza stone on the grate above the deflector. The plate keeps the bottom of the stone from taking direct flame while the dome radiates heat down like a brick oven. Give the stone 30–40 minutes to fully preheat before the first pie goes on.
If pizza becomes a habit, the stainless pizza ring for the Akorn 22 turns the grill into a front-loading pizza oven — you slide pies in and out through the ring opening without lifting the lid and dumping all your heat. Deflector below, stone in the ring, and you're turning out 90-second-style pizzas in the backyard.
How do you hold 225°F for a 12-hour cook on an Akorn?
Manual vent control absolutely works — that's the craft, and it's worth learning. Keep these principles in mind:
- Start with dry, fresh lump charcoal so airflow through the bed stays consistent.
- Make small vent moves and wait; chasing ±10°F with big adjustments causes the spikes and crashes you're trying to avoid.
- Wind is the enemy of overnight cooks. A gust pushes extra air through the bottom damper and the temperature climbs while you sleep.
- Every lid opening dumps heat and feeds the fire oxygen — keep them short and rare.
If you'd rather sleep through a brisket cook than set alarms for 2 a.m. vent checks, this is exactly the job the BBQube TempMaster Pro was built for. It's a variable-speed fan that mounts to the Akorn's lower vent with the adjustable lower-vent adapter, and it feeds the fire precisely the air it needs to hold your set temperature for hours — while you monitor pit and meat temps from your phone. Paired with the deflector setup above, it genuinely is set-and-forget: load the charcoal, set 225°F, and enjoy your day. You can see how it works at bbqube.us.
FAQ
Do I really need a heat deflector to smoke on an Akorn Kamado?
Technically no — you can bank coals to one side or run a small snake of briquettes and keep meat off to the opposite side. But the grate sits so close to the fire that heat still wraps unevenly around the bowl, and you lose half your cooking area. A deflector is the inexpensive, repeatable way to get true indirect heat across the entire grate.
Can I use the heat deflector as a water pan?
Yes, indirectly. Set a disposable foil pan with 2–3 cups of hot water on top of the deflector, under the meat. The water buffers temperature swings and adds humidity to the cook chamber. Avoid pouring water directly onto hot bare steel — use the pan.
Will the full-size deflector fit the Akorn Jr.?
No. The Akorn Jr. has a smaller bowl and cooking grate, so it needs the dedicated Akorn Kamado Jr. deflector. The full-size plate only fits the full-size Akorn Kamado Kooker (16620 / E16620).
How do I clean a stainless steel heat deflector?
Let it cool, scrape off the cooked-on drippings, then soak it in hot soapy water and scrub with a non-abrasive pad. For stubborn grease or heat tint, a stainless cleanser like Bar Keepers Friend brings back the shine. Discoloration from heat is cosmetic and won't hurt anything if you leave it.
Why does my Akorn's temperature spike when I open the lid?
Oxygen. Lifting the lid feeds the fire a rush of fresh air, and the coals flare up for several minutes afterward — even if the meat was only off for 30 seconds. Keep lid openings brief, do all your spritzing and probing in one motion, and expect a small spike that settles back on its own. If you run a fan controller like the TempMaster Pro, it compensates automatically and pulls the pit back to target without you touching a vent.