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Well I have learned a lot here thank you so much for sharing with me. Here are some pics of a brisket cook i did this weekend. I used B&B char logs and got a 27 hour burn time. So all of my concerns about being able to pull off a long cook are gone. The density of the charcoal is significant because a full basket of the char logs weighed 16 pounds while a full basket of the Blues Hog weighed not quite 6 pounds. This was easily my best brisket ever, it was only a choice cut and it was phenomenal. I separated the point and flat because going into it I was worried about cook time. Throughout the cook I measured the temp on the main grate and the riser grate and once the Kamado came back to 225 after I put the brisket on they were within 2 degrees of each other for the next 9 hours. However, as the kamado was climbing back to temp there was a big gradient between the upper and main grate. The main grate was at 180 and the upper grate was at 120. Probably because the flat was absorbing most of the heat coming up from the pit. When the grate temps finally converged at 225 (took 90 minutes) both the point and flat were at the exact same temperature 103F. Neat!!!

@MsTwiggy looks fantastic. well done 👌

I forgot to mention that if you go with the billows, be sure to get the optional damper - the billows moves so much air that it'll overshot your target temperature. The damper is under $5 and resolves the issue.

Don’t get too upset @Troble, but in the quest to utilise the leftovers, we had Al Pastor pizza tonight. All the trimmings on my side, but just the meat and cheese for the kids. They loved it. I’m a firm believer that almost everything can be made into a pizza, and even more so into a toasted sandwich (I had an Al Pastor Toastie for lunch!).

Nice looking brisket! Dennis has recommended putting the wood pellets for the cold smoker into the microwave for a bit to help dry them out. I'm guess your idea of putting the wood chunks on the main grate is doing something similar. Good tip, I might give this a try for cooks where I'm not planning on using the smoker pot. You might investigate the Dutch oven smoker pot and see if it's something that you might want to try. Lots of threads here about how to build one, with props to @Syzygies who pioneered the idea. I use mine on almost every cook that goes beyond a couple of hours.

Tucker, on the flip side as an alternative there is Feronite for a primer. Rust is a troubling slow process, it eats away at your prized possessions while at the same time working on your patience. You'll never stop it completely, but only slow it's progression. Tell me about it, you do what you can...here on American roads salt is used to melt ice and snow, recently I just applied Waxoyl to the undercarriage of my truck hoping in the long run I lengthened it's life. On the other hand you could paint it rusty brown, it'll all blend in.

Fantastic cook and taste.👍👍

@Cheesehead_Griller super thanks for the tip on black bag FOGO. I prefer to cook with lump and can get this. I also like to start in a chimney. If i drop lit coals on my basket I can just shut the lid. Pro tip is while the kamado is heat sinking i place my hardwood lumps on the grate and then right before i put my meat on i drop them on the coals. I find they burn cleaner this way. Big thank you to @tekobo and @MacKenzie for the encouragement with the charcoal!!

I tried that Blues Hog lump once, and only once lol I had a similar experience, horrible run time.

I have the best results by using a charcoal chimney to start my lump. I fill the basket 2/3 and top it off with the hot coals from the chimney. Note, I also struggled with finding the right lump. I tried the XL size and I think that was my trouble. I switched to Fogo in the black bag and have never looked back.

Your cooks are looking great @MsTwiggy so you are certainly doing a lot of things right! I wouldn't sweat the charcoal issue, you will find your sweet spot over time. I close my lid straight away after lighting and remember dire warnings of messing up my gasket (or burning my hands) when I first joined the forum and was told not to leave the lid up with a fire going. We don't have access to Dennis' coffee lump or cocochar in the UK. I buy a commercial brand of cocoshell briquettes that has worked very well for me over the years. I smile when you US folk talk about pallet shares. I was once so desperate to try Dennis' fuel that I pestered him until he told me it made no sense unless I wanted to buy a whole container load. That would have been one hell of a "pallet" share! I have learned to be happy with what we have here and may one day find my way to into a US KK owner's house to see how the other half live.

@MsTwiggy I've posted several pics in the Non-KK Cooks thread - here are a few: