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This is the second senior we’ve adopted through Lab Rescue. Kodi crossed the rainbow bridge almost exactly 1 year ago. Took some time to find Buck, but he’s already become my buddy. Follows me everywhere. Here we are, bringing our boy home: His name was “Puck”, but we didn’t like it, so he’s now “Buck”. He’ll never notice the change.

Some roadkill mini-chooks over a pan of harissa’d sweet taters and asparagus. The minis were dry brined and seasoned with Meathead’s Simon and Fargunkle rub. ...and this is our new old dog, Buck. Just because. We adopted him today.

Like "The Man" said, open the vents top/bottom and close the lid. I typically do several full turns on the top and open the half moon on the left knob. Once I get to about 50F below my target temp, then I set the vents for that temperature. You don't want to overshoot, as it's really hard to bring the temperature back down once the KK is heat soaked. No one uses the big ceramic heat deflectors anymore, as noted - just slows down the heatup process. Either aluminum foil on the lower grate or a drip pan works. Be cautious about pulling the lower vent door out, as ashes can get in the door frame making it hard to close the door fully and stop the airflow to snuff out the charcoal. If you want to "turbo" the airflow, pull the Guru plug out instead.

To me, other than just grill surface area (obviously), this ability is the main advantage of the 32 over the 23.

My basket splitter is almost always in place in the 50% position. Why? https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and-smoker-setup-and-firing/how-control-temperature-indirect With this setup I have a direct zone and an indirect zone. I'll often have the half-main grate positioned on the indirect side, and a lower (usually the sear grate) on the direct side. It's the perfect configuration for 90% of what I do. Only time I'll remove the splitter and go full basket is if I need more of a direct zone for some reason...but that's pretty rare. In fact, I have both sides of the splitter filled with charcoal, and just cover the side I don't want to use. One side is full of coco-char for low/slow cooks. The other side is full of regular ol' lump (Fogo or similar).

It is not necessary to leave the lid open. Closing the lid with the vents open will cause a bigger draft pulling air up through the coals. I never leave the lid open for any amount of time @MacKenzie I got you covered - no worries.

I love being on this forum because there is always new stuff to discover. I have the same MAPP torch and blower routine as @Pequod but I never leave the lid open. Instead I wind the top hat to three turns to get the fire going and then wind back to 1/2, 1 or 1 and 1/2 turns depending on the cooking temp that I am trying to achieve. It has never occurred to me to pull out the plate at the bottom. In fact I only ever open the large bottom vent half way when I am starting the fire and it seems to work. I am curious about whether leaving the lid up and/or pulling the bottom plate out will get me to heat and eat quicker but I suspect that inertia will see me sticking to my same old routine.

@tony b, I suppose I got a little excited with the drill. In hindsight, I can understand why fewer holes might be better. The wood turned to coal and not ash, so I guess I didn't screw it up too badly!

A lovely spring day and an opportunity to get together with friends gave me a chance to put Darth through his paces yesterday. Stole an idea off the forum and made myself a nice little cast iron smoke pot. Worked great! Kudos to those who are willing to share their ideas with us noobs! Loaded up with some baby backs and a couple slabs of beef back ribs - both dry brined and rubbed. A little smoked mac and cheese... My first two tier cook - ha ha!

More leftover ribs, although you'd never know it from the taste.

Looking good Mac, make Sandwich for me please lol

Boneless chicken breasts with cumin, coriander, pepper, brown sugar and a little salt. The same rub I used on the pork tenderloin. Tasty and moist, it is going to make a great sandwich.

True, those of us with the smaller KKs can't get this same configuration; but, the 23" can do a decent approximation of it. However, the 23" has a round charcoal basket, so we can do front/back splits and not just left/right. This front/back configuration works great when you are using the rotisserie, as you can put the fire in the back, so the meat as it rotates in and out of the direct heat zone.

Most basic KK rule.. Temperature is Airflow.. Too hot, too much air. Not hot enough, needs more air. You must close and latch the lid to get airflow. As you close the lid, the rising hot air leaves the chimney/damper top creating vacuum. This vacuum forces air thru the charcoal and gets things going much more quickly than other grills because unlike all other charcoal grills there is no path of least resistance. All of the air that leaves the chimney is forced to the charcoal.. there's no gap between the wall of the grill and the firebox or holes in the firebox to let air bypass the charcoal. It's like turning on a blower..

Here's a pic of the two zone in action. Note the half main on the left. Once I got enough char on, I moved the steak to the half main and closed the lid for about 5 minutes. With a reverse sear, you start on the cool side until you get to the right internal temp, then flash it over the coals to sear. This configuration also works for low and slow. I'll keep the temp down in the 250-300 range and put the meat on the half main. No need to reconfigure anything.

I pretty much do as you do and if I'm not mistaken I believe Dennis suggested to close the lid just after lighting the fire as it helps to create the draft.

I light mine and close and seal the lid straight away, obviously open the bottom vent fully (pull it out) and I go about 3-4 turns on the top vent. I find the draft through the KK with the lid sealed helps the fire to get going and spread, just be careful though and keep an eye on it or before you know it you’ll be way too hot. For low n slow, it usually takes my 32 between 10-15 minutes to hit 110c and then I shut the vents down to maintain that temp. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats on the newest member of your family @Pequod. That is a great thing you did, he will be one happy dog.

I've used that rub on chicken before too. I like the way Meathead doesn't include salt in his rubs. Gives you the chance to brine/salt to your taste and then add the rub without having to guess on seasoning. Nice job!

Glad it worked out for you. One question - when you opened it up after the cook, had the wood chunks inside turned to charcoal or was there a bunch of ash? For others that want to do this, it's not necessary to put that many holes in it, nor do they need to be that big. Three small holes (1/8" drill bit) are really all it takes. The idea is to let just enough air inside to support the wood smoldering (producing smoke) without it getting enough air to actually burn. Also, to be complete - the holes go in the bottom and not in the lid to force the smoke produced to exit back into the fire and burn off some of the nasty volatiles to produce cleaner smoke. OK, lecture's over, class dismissed!

THANK YOU for adopting an older dog! They need good homes, too! He looks like a sweetie!

@ FoothillQ, here is some info about this new spice company. I have bought many different spices from them and loved them all. I have found them excellent to deal with and here is the website address. No, I am not connected with then in any other way than I do enjoy their spices. https://www.burlapandbarrel.com Burlap & Barrel sources unique, beautiful spices for professional chefs and home cooks. By partnering directly with artisan farms, we get spices that have never been available in the US before and help improve the livelihoods of our partner farmers.

Ribs and Mac & Cheese what more could anyone want.

Ribs, they're not just for breakfast anymore!

One last shot of those ribs, breakfast.

This probably has never happened to you but it happened me today, I over ate.

This is what sunshine does, it's a whopping 58F and it feels like 80F after the winter, what a day to celebrate. I think I should just sit out in the sunshine by the KK to make sure the temp. hangs around 225F. LOL

And we’re done. Absolutely delicious! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk