tony b

Way to go @MacKenzie !!

What a nice birthday dinner! YUM!

Bend test is the way to go!

Welcome to the Obsession! You're off to a great start!! It never gets old, btw!

Nailed it! Plus, the outcome is not as dependent on the time & temperature as we think. That's why we tell new folks DON'T CHASE THE TEMPERATURE! You just get frustrated trying to hit an exact target and in the end, it really doesn't matter that much. As the old saying goes, Close Enough for Government Work!

@remi - sorry for the accident, but glad that you're back in the KK saddle. Nice cook! @5698k - Robert, that steak looks PERFECT!

Nice to see you posting again, @Aussie Ora Lamb looks great!

@Tyrus - that's an old Singer pedal-driven sowing machine stand. My grandmother had one and I liked to "help pedal" on it as a kid.

Welcome to the Obsession! You're gonna love cooking on that BB32! Pics of that all-important 1st cook are a MUST on this site!

😭

I made my KK available to my neighbors when we got hit by the derecho and our power was out for almost a week. Fortunately, I had a couple of full bags of charcoal and several boxes of cocochar, as a back-up. Others in the neighborhood with grills pitched in, too. It was comforting knowing that we all could pitch in and help out anyway that we could.

Our resident genius, aka @DennisLinkletter, could probably make that work!! 😁

Nicely done on that stuffed pork loin!

As @MacKenzie said, I learned that trick a while back from the old POSK forum. Turn the thermometer to where your target temperature is at high Noon. You can quickly see where you are relative to your target, even from a distance. I can just look out the window from the kitchen to check on it. I don't use the clip. Mine doesn't move around on its own for whatever reason.

Looks like it, @MacKenzie. I grow them, and in fact, I grilled 5 as my appetizer for dinner last night. (Yeah, no pics, didn't happen! LOL)

I thought the goal was to cook tasty food? 😁

Nice cook. Cute pooch!

These guys have hit the high points of what you were asking. We tell new folks, fill a cooler with your favorite adult beverage and grab a chair. Fill the charcoal basket and light a small spot. Just crack the top vent off the seat, open the bottom vent a 1/4 turn on the full dial side (temperature is not very dependent on bottom vent - just open to get enough airflow for whatever the top vent is set at.) Sit back and let it settle out, take notes of vent settings. Bump it just a bit and let it settle again. Take notes, open another adult beverage. Continue with this process until the KK gets to about 450F, which will cover you for most of your cooks. You might have to adjust the bottom vent a little once you get over 325F or so. Anything beyond 450F, like a pizza cook, you have an idea about how it responds to the vent settings. As others have said, DON'T CHASE THE TEMPERATURES FIDDLING WITH THE VENTS! You will find absolutely no difference in a cook +/- 50F of your "target" temperature. So don't sweat it if your temperature is off a bit. I used to use Fogo, but as noted, the pieces were very large (didn't burn well) and I got tired of breaking them up for cooks. Plus, it sparks when lighting. I'm in the Jealous Devil fan club now. My "go to" charcoal for most cooks. I use a MAPP torch and a FiAir blower to start my fires. Others have different techniques. No right or wrong. YMMV

Same here. A bag goes a long way!

My first thought is that your charcoal has gotten damp somehow and isn't catching except under direct flame. As C6Bill said, don't chase the temps around. The beauty of the KK is the "set it and forget it" nature of the dampers. Fill the basket, light one spot, set your dampers for the target temp and walk away. Your experience with the 50F degree difference between dome and grate initially is true to form, and as you noted, it balances out as the cook progresses. The basket splitter is typically only used when you want two-zone heat, like doing a slow roast on the cooler side, followed by a reverse sear on the direct heat side. Or, using the rotisserie so the meat rotates in/out of the direct heat zone. While you can use the splitter arrangement to do a long low & slow cook (butts, briskets, etc.), I prefer the full basket setup with the foil barrier, as C6Bill described.

I prefer pellets, as I have struggled in the past with keeping chips lit. That said, get good quality pellets that don't have a lot of binders in them. I like Lumberjack. Home of the Real BBQ Wood Pellets - BBQ Lumber Jack – Lumber Jack Grilling Pellets

That sandwich is MONEY! 🤑

Use less fuel. Just a few coals will do for a cold smoke of salmon. Plan B - heat soak the KK at the desired temperature for an hour, kill the fire, then put the salmon on with the smoker going.

On of our IA breweries is named "No Coast"!! LOL I wish that I had a good seafood market here. Some restaurants get decent stuff. We do have a truck that comes up from Galveston every few weeks in the nicer months that has really good, fresh shrimp, crab meat and whole red snapper. They also have oysters and crawfish, but never live/in the shell - too bulky.