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Well, we finally had the time to have the neighbours over for dinner: given the success last time, I thought I’d knock out another Al Pastor. Picked up 4.5kg (10lb) of pork butt on my bike, marinated up and we were good to go. They loved it- and with 10lb of pork we’ve got plenty of leftovers for the week’s meals. @Troble, I’m going to find an excuse to go to San Diego for a conference, and buy you a beer! Remi

There are quite a few of us here who need to buy @Troble a beer!

The lid is not left open as such, it just isn't closed up tight. There are two positions for the lock, one to keep lid tight for cooking and the other to take the pressure of the gasket when the KK is resting.

That looks very professional @David Chang. Let's hope it turns out great!

Hello, I am posting here to introduce myself and show off my new 23 Ultimate. I live in Seattle WA and thus far I have made pork ribs, roti chicken, and a pork butt. The food has been very good!!

Here are some photos to show the position of the lid. The two catches for handle. Lid Tight Position- Lid Relaxed Position- Hope that helps.

@jonji have a feeling that could happen this summer. I started a new job and will be traveling to the Midwest more. I’m kind of targeting a business trip that coincides with the USA Copa America match in KC, but it’s Monday July 1st so will have to see

@MsTwiggy, I missed the post about you leaving the lid open. I only leave the lid open long enough to make sure my starter is burning.

I have a KK23 and a few years ago smoked two pork butts for 23 hours with one basket of lump. It was mostly an experiment to 1) try out the ThermoWorks Billows fan, 2) cook the butts without wrapping, and 3) it was a rainy night / day, we had guests, and I didn't want fuss with the cook. I documented it in the Pork section (23 Hour Pork Butts Using Billows Fan) if you are interested. So, I know a KK23 can run at least 23 hours at 230°F with a single load of charcoal. I don't remember if I used coco or regular lump (when I use regular lump for low-and-slow, I use large pieces - baseball to softball size). I use a wax starter for low-and-slow, placed near the top of the charcoal pile with a just a few pieces of charcoal over the top, and with the dome shut, top and lower vents open. I shut them to the 225° position when the grate temperature is about 175° to let the KK heat sink at the desired temperature. Similar to @tekobo's description above.

Welcome @MsTwiggy. Great name. Wish I had thought of using MsPiggy when I first came on the forum! I live in UK near the sea and it can be pretty damp here. I buy pallet loads of charcoal and cocoshell briquettes and have kept both for years without any issues. The charcoal is in an open cellar with water dripping in (I catch it in a trug so it never hits the paper bags that the charcoal is in) and the briquettes are in boxes in a wooden shed. I have no issues with lighting either and no worries about damp lump. I have exactly the opposite lighting technique to you. I light the fuel at the top, making a small well in the middle to either receive isopropyl alchohol soaked lump or a wax lighter, and I close the lid. I keep both the top vent and the left bottom vent fully open during the initial lighting process but I never bother with the small holes on the right except when trying to maintain a low and slow temp. I am not sure about keeping the lid open for 15 minutes while lighting. My expectation is that the chimney effect created by having the lid shut is actually more efficient for lighting the lump and for building up the heat in your KK. It is worth experimenting with different methods to see what works best for different situations. Soooo much fun cooking over fire. Welcome again. P.S. Good to have reached out to @Pequod. I miss him!

some updates. after 2 weeks of curing (too long, but whatever), i butterflied and rolled it. now it should be another 2 months drying until target weight...

I have gone for 12 hours in a 21" at 225°F using B&B extruded, with almost half the basket left at the end. I was using a Fireboard controller. I made a point of starting just a couple of bits of charcoal (with a Looftlighter) and as the temperature started to come up gradually limited the fan speed to 5%, so the fire never got too big. I have not mastered just setting the vents by hand. The charcoal in the box of Cocochar I received was wrapped in plastic, for what it's worth.

@MsTwiggy hi and welcome. i also light a wax starter from the bottom floor of the kk for low and slow. this is not what most people do to start charcoal but it works for me. i can only speak of the 19TT, but i get very long slow and low burn times on a full basket using lump charcoal.

Flavor. I built storage in a shed that's definitely ambient. California is wet some, mostly dry, and I barbecue more in dry weather. Of course "there must" be a humidity effect, storing charcoal, but you should directly experiment to find out how pronounced this is. My belief is that the effect can be too faint to worry about. You want a load of charcoal for low & slow to burn like a fuse, and the hot fire dries out any residual moisture in the nearby charcoal as it progresses.

Hi @Dono thanks for your kind words. I used Blues Hog hardwood lump for this cook. It was a fresh bag. Appreciate you tagging folks that can speak to this. Adding a photo of the pork butt that was my first cook.