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Cooked a whole chicken on Smaug tonight. It turned out great, as you would expect food cooked on a Komodo Kamado would. I put together a rub with equal parts McCormick’s poultry seasoning (thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg), oregano, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. I cooked at 375ºF on the main grate with the deflector in place for most of it, and raised the temperature to 400ºF when the breast got to 140ºF. I took the chicken out when the breast was at 155ºF. The skin was crispy, but next time I think I might go to 400-425ºF, just to try to get the skin a little crispier. Oh, and why did I not spatchcock this chicken? I had a discussion with Meathead at Amazing Ribs about their beer can chicken article. That discussion went south pretty quickly, as Meathead seemed to not like my questioning a point in that article. Ultimately, he deleted our conversation. Since Meathead advocates spatchcocking chickens, I cooked this one whole out of spite. It was delicious, even though I didn’t follow their recommendations.

Hi Craig. Never sprayed anything. I've found with the KK there has been no need for me to do so. I've not had anything dry ever. Maybe my palette isn't the most sophisticated but.... I re read my notes and it was off at 197 and rested in foil for 30 minutes indoors. No cooler.

It's important to remember as you open the damper top the escaping hot air creates a vacuum which sucks air through the lower draft door and through the charcoal. The more open the damper top is and more freely the air escapes more vacuum. It’s a combination of how much vacuum and the lower settings that creates the airflow. Always remember the temperature is airflow. You will quickly learn what volumes of air create what temperatures. These settings will be the same for every cook. I'm happy to make up some double dials for 23" grills.. but the size of the hole does not give you a set temp.. it's the combination of the two dampers. Just like a garden hose can have many different volumes travel thru the same diameter hose..

I always have shot for 190º on my flats that I will slice.. In a 225º grill you will still get 5-7º climb after you take it out. I even ice my foil wrapped flats sometimes to stop the cooking. Some others might want to chime in here. The ones I've over shot were a bit too fall apart crumbly tender. What's the consensus here?