This is my first Kamado style grill. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t like it so I did a lot of researching before deciding. My friend has a BGE so he urged me to get one also. After discovering Kamado Joe I read tons of reviews and watched countless videos comparing KJ & BGE. The things that sold me on KJ were the color (BGE green is atrocious), much better fiberglass gasket vs felt on BGE, the BGE doesn’t come with a stand or any of the extras you get with Kamado Joe, and the Classic Joe II was $200 less than the same size BGE. I ordered my Classic Joe II directly from KamadoJoe.com and they threw in a free bag of big block charcoal and free shipping!! I’ve had it for only a month, but I’ve used it 8 times already. I knew nothing about cooking this way and now I’m turning out great ribs, brisket, steaks and smoked Thank you Kamado Joe for making such an awesome product!!