Grant

Thanks Bruce! Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Looking good. I bet the next picture will look even better though!

Congratulations on your new kamado! The front draft door can be removed and then just scrape them into a pan or bucket. It is designed to be a little tight to prevent unwanted airflow into the charcoal basket, so it takes a little bit of wiggling back and forth to remove. I take the simple route and just remove the charcoal basket and suck them out with the shop vac when I’m sure they are cool. Welcome to the forum. Lots of great people here, but you’ll learn quickly that everyone loves pics!

Looks great Mackenzie!

Looks good to me!

I can rationalize a bit with Tony. I have thought of posting some pictures of cooks, and then realized they were far short of the Mackenzie quality we have come to expect!

Looks fabulous Mackenzie! Your cooks are always impressive.

Well, from the pictures, I can certainly understand why!

Very good advice Tony. Cooking inside with charcoal is not a problem, but proper exhaust cfm and return air are a must. Definitely install a carbon monoxide detector.

Wow! Looks great.

Looks phenomenal as always!

Very nice! Enjoy!

I know, I know. I’ll try to do better.

We did another cook this evening. No problem holding temps at all. It was rock solid holding temps and was very easy to adjust. I’ll try the venting process this weekend. Hopefully all goes well.

Not really. I know this sounds crazy, but it just smelled like wet cement inside the grill. Nothing like the smell members mention when doing the initial vent.

I ran it again this evening with the remaining charcoal with much different results. I understand what you mean in regards to the top damper adjustment you and Robert mention. I was able to run consistent temperatures from 225 to 350 with adjustment of just the top damper. It was much easier to control today. I also noticed that the first burn yesterday resulted in a lot of moisture accumulating around the bottom damper on the front and the side as well as the top. It was dripping continuously, but today I didn’t see any. Maybe it had some moisture built up that resulted in a cooling effect as it heated making it harder to control the temperature. Just a guess, but again it was much easier to control today. I still have no idea about the stainless piece pictured above, but I sent an email to Dennis. I’m sure he will let me know soon.

Thanks for the help. It is much appreciated.

Thanks 5698k. So what do you typically set your top and bottom damper when you try to hold a temperature of 250? Can you tell me what the stainless item I pictured above would be for as well?

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to cook on the new KK tonight, but I did load it with charcoal to do a little practice burn. I used the last of a remaining bag of lump I had on hand and filled the basket. It was smaller pieces than I typically like to use, but I had to leave the damper open more than I would have suspected to maintain a target of 250. I opened the top about a quarter of a turn and had to keep the bottom left damper open almost half way. It held temps for 5 hours before I shut it down, but I just felt the bottom damper was open more than it should be to maintain 250. I’ve been cooking on ceramic kamado grills for about six years, but I guess I still need a little practice to figure out temperature control for the KK.

Lol. I know. I told my wife it’s almost too nice to throw dirty charcoal into. Could anyone tell me what this piece is used for?

After much anticipation, the new 32 terra blue arrived yesterday. I had hoped to get several pictures of the uncrating process, but my father in law and the delivery guy were pretty anxious to see the contents as well. Hope to get the first cook going this afternoon.

It appears all the hard work has paid off Dennis. It looks great!

I'm so sorry for your loss. Our prayers go out to your family.

Looks like a perfect combination to me!

Congratulations! She's beautiful.