Poochie

You're more brave than I am. I could never stick that probe in the right place after I wrapped it. I always push the probe in from the side...where the flat meets the point, then wrap the whole thing...probe and all. But since you're making chili with it, it's not that critical to get the temp perfect.

That smoker looks great, David. I'm glad you guys got It up there without anyone going to the hospital. Now you can start taking photos of your first cook!

I like spareribs and these came out very well. I cooked them at 230 degrees for 5 1/2 hours. Royal Oak lump and cherry smoke wood. I did wrap them this time in butcher paper. Next time I won't just to see if there's a difference in the taste.

I sent you a personal message with the heat deflector info

It's possible you'll have to put the lid on. Otherwise, the brackets for the shelves if you ordered them. If it's a 32" you may have a total of 4 heat deflectors like I got . Two that are rounded and two that are rectangles. Store those for now. Did you get a rotisserie basket? I sent you a copy of the owner's manual.

No real reason except it was the only grate I hadn't used yet. It would have fine on the main grate.

That's on my list of things to try. Yours looks perfect!

Your guy deserved his 60 bucks. It's nice to get a guy like that who doesn't mind helping out.

Tony.. I've never seen those short stubby ones before. But that would be cool too. The instructions on mine said to use a diffuser if you used a gas or electric stove. My heat deflector was my "other clay pot". I was really worried about it cracking but it ended up fine. Tekobo..I cooked for a little while without the lid on to try to get a hint of smoke. I didn't leave if off long enough because there was no smoke flavor. I'll know next time

Tagine. That's that the cooking vessel is called. The recipe has a bunch of ingrediants that I'll post later. The star of the show is pork, but lamb, goat, or chicken is more traditional. You're not supposed to get this thing hotter than 275, but most say 350 tops. The reason for the heat deflector is that you're not supposed to put this thing directly on a stove or oven without something to keep direct heat off the bottom. It can crack if you neglect this. Mine is earthenware, hand painted, and glazed. It's 100% food safe. The meal was very good and we both loved it. I'll fix something with lamb or chicken soon. I bought the tagine from Amazon.

Jacquie, I would think the tips depends on what the delivery guy does/no do. All they're required to do is unload it at the end of your driveway. The guy I had lowered the crate with the lid in first. I told him I'd like it and the other crate in my shop in the backyard. Without a word, he headed that way like it was his job. After that, he got the other crate off the truck (the 900lb one) and headed to the backyard with it. I was moving and laying sheets of of plywood for him to roll the pallet jack on. Once everything was in the shop, I asked him if he would help me get the lid on. He uncrated the lid while I uncrated the body. He lifted the lid with me (192lbs) and we set it on. He stayed until we had it secured with pin and cotter pit...only about 5 extra minutes. Since he was cheerful and helped with no complaints, I gave him $60. He said, "are you serious?? Thank you so much!" He thought it was way too much, but it was worth it to me for what he did. So to sum it up, I'd start with $20 if it's an easy move to where you want it. If they go above and beyond the call of duty like my guy did, I'd give 'em more. Start to finish he stayed about 45 minutes...maybe a little more. I'm sure others with chime in and say they gave $10 and the guy was happy and others gave $100. You never know.

You're right C6Bill, it did stall for hours. I was sleeping at the time so it's OK. I've come to the conclusion that I'd prefer a bone in vs boneless. They cook different, for sure.

I agree. I used the Pit Viper fan. $50 and worth more. I have an old one that's at least 8 years old and it still runs like new. And Tyrus, I ordered the special Olympic Gold grates when I bought mine. They were only $20 more.

About an 8 pound butt that I cooked at 228...yes, I was trying to see how good my new Fireboard 2 Drive would do...and it worked like a charm. The photo of the butt on the grate makes it look like it weighs 2 pounds because the KK is so big. Very tasty too. If you look close you can see that I started a small fire in the extreme left side. After it cools down I'll see how much lump it didn't use!

mustang1988 You know those drumsticks were a winner when you get more than one thumbs up. They sure looked good Troble that's a rare case of healthy and tasing good. It looks yummy anyway.

Of course you're not retired. You're only around 25 years old. Whippersnapper!

I figured it would take a while to used to a 32". The "no worries" is more about me than the KK. Shape is different, lump to bottom and top grate is different, time to get up to temp is different. I know Dennis tries to make these fool proof, but as the old saying goes "make something more foolproof, they'll build a better fool." Anyway, first overnighter tonight. An 8lb Boston butt..first boneless one I've ever cooked. The plan is to cook it around 230-240 so it takes all night to cook. I usually get up between 2 and 3 so I'm sure it'll still be cooking if I put it on around 7 or 8 tonight. Pictures and quick notes tomorrow.

I agree with that. I'll start taking photos from this point on. I was busy "learning the pit" in the cooking process. It's rock steady and I have no worries about it.

I agree with you Tyrus. I've loved this stuff for years. But you'd probably be gun shy too if you're ready to put meat on the pit and you think there's an intruder smoking a cigar at your place. I willing to bet that I would never get another bad bag of this stuff if I lived to be 100.

Yes indeed, that looks delicious!

I've talked a lot of people into using these Char-logs and have sung the praises to the high heavens on here. Today is a sad day for it. For my very first cook I loaded the basket with this stuff and lit it with a Looftlighter. It caught just fine and was working its way to my goal temperature of 300. I go inside for about 10 minutes and come back out and smell something that ain't right. My wife walks into the shop and says "are you smoking a cigar?" Since I've never smoked the answer was no, but the KK was. It smelled like a cross between day old garbage and a stinky cigar...like there's another kind. I ended up picking up the hot as hell basket and setting it in my Kudu. I dumped it all out and started over with Royal Oak lump briquettes...Tony's favorite. It took a while to get the smell out of the shop, but in the end, the KK was smelling good again and the yardbird and pork belly slices came out excellent. So for everyone that bought this stuff because of me...sorry. You may never get a bag this bad, and I'm sure it's a fluke. I've been using this stuff for around 8 years. But I can't trust it now. So 2 bags are going in the trash. One last boring detail. I fired up a chimney of the Char-logs just to isolate it and make sure nothing else was causing the smell. It was 100% the Char-logs. I'll still use B&B regular lump but avoid this stuff like it's got the virus.

Which brings up another problem. I wear hearing aids. Time for an upgrade. C6Bill I hate to say it but I've never shoveled snow. They don't sell snow shovels anywhere in the state. Tyrus Never fear, Dennis will sell you another one if you say please.

You could have helped them more Tony if you wouldn't have been holding a beer.

Thanks johnny. Tony, 26 wind chill is cold in Louisiana...especially in the south. But I froze for a good cause. The KK is now officially "vented" and it'll be ready to cook some kind of animal tomorrow. The new "tool-less" rotisserie cradle is very nice. The whole thing is very impressive. And using it today made me remember something MacKenzie said a few times. Pebbles rule. I know I won't get any lip on that either. I'm really excited about cooking something tomorrow and Sunday. After moving everything and putting the lid on I told the delivery dude that I was feeling it in my back. He must have thought I was a delivery person or an 18 wheeler driver because it sounded like he called me an old trucker. My hearing ain't too good either.

Thanks for the comments. The plan is to break it in today and let it vent. Cooking will start tomorrow. I may start taking crates apart today too if the chill factor gets above 26.