tony b

I've had the best success with pellets. Get good quality ones so you don't worry about what binders they used to make them, which leads to the buildup issues. I use Lumber Jack brand. Once lit, they seem to do OK on their own. I blast them through the side holes in the cold smoker with my MAPP torch. I've had mixed results with trying to put lit charcoal in the tube. YMMV

Nothing wrong with that prime rib in my book.

Glad to hear that everyone is OK. I had a breakthrough case back in October. No symptoms, but having to quarantine for 10 days was not fun!

@johnnymnemonicHope your daughter is asymptomatic. Nice Plan B on the dinner.

Nice cook and dry aged, too! I'd eat that!

My kind of Christmas! Screw the snow! (We're supposed to get 4+ inches this evening into tomorrow. )

@Cnommensen - only thing about that duck - he's not smiling at me! 😆 (Obscure reference to A Christmas Story. )

Speaking of cooking in the oven, did a 5 lb bone-in pork roast for dinner last night. Family said that it was the best they'd ever had! I'll take the compliment anyway I can get it! 😁

Glad to see that Rudolph wasn't what was on the grill! 😄

Great looking meal. No comments on the carrot! 😆

Enjoy the sunshine and the beach. Very envious. It's 28F here and snow is coming later today and all day tomorrow.

Agree. You don't want to overcook that beautiful hunk of beef. What's everyone making for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day dinner? I'm visiting family, with no access to a grill/smoker, so I'm going to have to use the oven tonight to roast a bone-in pork loin. Melting potatoes with shallot crack sauce and peas & carrots. A nice Pinot Noir to go with. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Well, wherever it came from, it looks delicious. No worries on the slightly higher temps. Just shortened the cooking time a bit. No impact on the results. The pink butcher paper wrap helped with that.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Glad that you came out of it OK. But, the poor Roo looks like it wasn't so lucky!

Killing me, @Poochie. Expecting 4 inches of snow this weekend. Good luck with the pork shoulder.

Looks crazy good!

No Kickstarter ever delivers on the original schedule in my experience. If the delay is less than a year, consider it almost on time!

On my Guru fan, I'm usually running only 1/4 to 1/3 open. The fan does the "heavy lifting" and supplies plenty of combustion air to keep the fire going. If you allow too much natural draft with a fully open fan damper, you can easily lose control of your temperatures, as no device will lower the temperature once it exceeds the setting you've given it. Also another good reason to just barely crack the top vent off its seat - just until you see smoke exiting.

Cute pooch!

I have something very similar to @Poochie's grill pan (great mind, eh, bro!) I have also used Frog Mats for veggies and shrimp. Their only downside is they should not be subjected to direct flames or very high heat. https://www.amazon.com/Frogmats-Non-Stick-Grill-Mat/dp/B00LBH7TZK Grill Mats are good, too. They take higher heat. They are solid mats (no holes), so a bit different style. I like them for saucing items, as the sauce/glaze doesn't run through the holes. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KUJCH66

Chicken thighs last night. Icelandic rub, direct, main grate, 350F with leftover wood chunks from the pork butt cook. They produced a LOT of smoke, as you can see in this picture. Plated with melting potatoes with the Shallot Crack Sauce! Got some nice crispy skin on the chicken!

Happens all the time with mine when I use the Guru. You correctly deduced what's going on. The fan is pushing more air in than can escape the top vent, so it needs to find a place to go. Not going to affect your cook or temperature control at all. The natural instinct is to open the top vent more to relieve the pressure, but you risk losing control of the temperature by allowing too much airflow when the fan isn't running, unless you really shut the exhaust damper on the fan almost closed. If you never plan to use the gas insert (I'm surprised that your KK came with one, as Dennis has pretty much stopped putting them on the newer grills, unless the owner requests one?), Dennis makes a replacement vent door that has threaded rods with wing nuts to secure the gas door closed. I got one for my 23" KK a while ago. I put LocTite on the threads to make sure that it doesn't loosen up. Has worked like a charm.

Funny how that happens! 😆

Keep us updated on how they perform for you on the KK?