Our advice is that the first 3 times before using your kamado, do not fire it higher than 200 degrees, to avoid damage to the ceramic. This requires some patience and control. How do you do that? We are happy to explain it to you!
1st time use:
Fill the charcoal basket/firebox halfway with coal. Do you have a charcoal basket with a partition? Then remove it.
Light the coals at 1 spot in the middle of the coals. Do not light these in several places at once, as this will cause the temperature to rise too quickly. To light the coals, you can use the one minute lighter.
Slowly bring the temperature to 100 to 120 degrees. Tip: use the plate setter too. This ensures that the temperature rises more slowly, and your kamado will take longer to cool down. With this step, open the air slider in your base all the way and open the top cap just a tiny bit.
Has your kamado reached 100 degrees? Then slide the air slider in the base shut again until it is only a quarter open.
Try to maintain this temperature for 2 hours. Is the temperature too low? Then open the air slider a little further. Conversely, if the temperature is rising too fast, close the air slider more.
After 2 hours, you can start using the kamado and open the air slider further so that the temperature rises further to 200 degrees.
2nd time use:
Fill the charcoal basket/firebox three-quarters with coal.
Light the coals at 1 spot in the middle of the coals.
Slowly bring the temperature to 150 degrees. Open the air slider in your base all the way and open the top cap just a tiny bit.
Has your kamado reached 150 degrees? Then slide the air slider in the base shut again until it is only a quarter open.
Try to maintain this temperature for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, you can start using the kamado and open the air slider further so that the temperature rises further to 200 degrees.
3rd time use:
When using your kamado for the 3rd time, follow the same steps as the 2nd time.
Good to know: the temerature inside your kamado can always fuctuate a bit due to factors like wind, the amount of coals you use or the ouside temperature which is different alsmost daily.