Deflectors

A deflector, or plate setter, is the ceramic piece placed between the coals and the grate to block direct heat and turn the kamado into an oven. Without a deflector there is no pizza: the base chars in seconds. It must be the exact size of your kamado and withstand a sustained 350-400 °C under the stone.

Compatibility comes first, because each brand uses its own format. The Big Green Egg Large takes the ConvEGGtor, a single piece with legs. The Kamado Joe Classic uses half-moons: the BBQ Future two-pack or the VANKEY 38 × 19 cm; for the Big Joe, the MixRBBQ set. If your Large kamado is another brand, the Onlyfire GCG-8552 system includes grates, a rack and two deflectors.

Our view, tested on the Big Green Egg in Torrevieja and without paid reviews: leave an air gap between deflector and stone, because if the stone touches the deflector the base burns. A pizza oven needs none of this, since it already heats the stone from below and the dome from above; in a kamado, the deflector does that job. We explain it in depth in direct vs indirect cooking and in how to make pizza in a kamado.