tony b

The bottom vents shouldn't have that much influence over the dome temperature. The top vent is the controller. How windy is it? If it's fairly windy, you can get what's called "vacuum drag" across the top vent, which pulls more air out of the KK than normally would flow out for that same vent setting in calm conditions. Good luck with the rest of the burn-in and enjoy those Birthday adult beverages with the Mrs!

I applaud @tekobo for her tenacity in staying up that late to watch the game!

Not surprised by the left-right difference. The 32 has an oblong charcoal basket along that axis. Charcoal burns in a fairly random pattern, so no predicting how it will fan out from the initial spot where you lit it? As I said, the oblong basket has more room to burn in that left/right direction than front/back.

@BARDSLJR From your picture of the butts on the grill, I can see that you've put the temp probe right against the grate and it's close to the edge of the drip pan (almost direct), so I'm not surprised by the high temp reading relative to the dome. You're measuring the grate (metal) temperature, not the air temperature. If you don't want to buy/build a "tree" for the air probe, just clip the alligator clip to the meat probe wire, so it's off the grate. Just don't get too close to the meat. If you don't "trust" the Guru probe, do a quick test of both thermometers - standard calibration technique - put both into a boiling pot of water and see what they read. Or next cook, follow @jeffshoaf suggestion.

I won't bore ya'll with talk about turbulent airflow (eddy currents - not bad for a non-engineer, @jonj!) Let's just suffice it to say that there's a lot going on inside a KK - both heat transfer and airflow wise. To the central problem at hand - where to place the temperature probe for the Guru to get the best representation of the local temperature for the piece(s) of meat being cooked? As noted, I insulate the probe off the grate to get a better reading of the actual air temperature around the meat. YMMV You want to place the probe fairly close to the meat, but not so close that the temperature of the meat itself influences the probe temperature reading - the meat is ALWAYS going to be colder than the cooking temperature. I typically shoot for a couple of inches gap. Next, if doing an indirect cook, place the probe where it is shielded from the direct heat of the fire. With larger or multiple cuts of meat, this can present a challenge, in and of itself, once the grate starts to get crowded. I also prefer to center the probe front to back relative to the meat, when possible. As noted, there's usually a difference between the temperature near the front and in the back. If you notice the shape of the KK, Dennis has intentionally designed it so the airflow is predominately in the rear of the KK. And, don't forget that the center of your heat source is going to move around during a long cook, as the charcoal burns unevenly (unavoidable phenomenon of nature - chaos wins everytime! (aka - the 2nd law of thermodynamics!) But, once the KK is heat soaked, this shouldn't matter too much, relative to where the temperature probe is placed. Last piece of advice, when using the Guru - ignore the dome temperature reading, it's extraneous data in this situation. You either trust the Guru or you don't?

Hurray!! Glad ya'll got around to making the shrimp & grits. Happy that you like the dish, in whatever version you choose to do!

Ya'll are killin' me with these great cooks! It's too dangerous outside to even attempt a short cook here. Right now we're at the high for the day and it's MINUS 3F, with a windchill of -13F. You can get frostbite in the time it takes to set up the KK for a cook. Going to stay this cold for the next week +.

@RokDok De Nada; it's what we do here on the Forum!

As noted by @Braai-Q, 1st stock up on the adult beverages and settle in for a few hours. For temp control training, load up the basket with cheap lump (assuming that you aren't going to cook anything, so don't waste the good stuff!) and just start a small fire, and open the top vent just barely off the seat (just so smoke exits) and bump open the left dial to about 1/2 open (it doesn't control the temp, so it's not that sensitive to position when you first get going). Let the KK come up to its natural state (stops increasing) and make note of the dome temperature, enjoying that adult beverage in the process. Next, bump open the top vent about 1/8 of a turn and repeat. Have another adult beverage while waiting. Keep doing the 1/8 turn increments until you get to about 400F. That should cover most of your cooking range. These vent settings are very repeatable. If you want to keep going to do the burn in, start opening the top vent in 1/4 turn increments to speed up the process. You might want to top off the charcoal at this point, as this part will take a few more hours. You will also need to open the left dial/lower vent all the way. Keep going until you start to smell the solvent (typically around 550F dome.) Then stop the increase and just let it ride itself out until the smell is gone. Make note of any weeping white goop and/or lifting tiles. Have a rag handy to wipe off the goop (be careful as the outside of the KK will get very hot during this process). If you see any bulging spots, have a safety pin (or similar) handy to poke a small hole in the grout to let the solvent vent out. Keep tabs on the lifting tiles, (carefully inspect just about everywhere (except the legs) as you will want to remember where they are so you can press them back down into place as the KK cools off when you are finished with the venting, so they can re-set. Once cooled down, smear some grout around any tears that you see. It wipes off the tiles with a damp cloth. And, you're done - have another adult beverage to celebrate!

Like @MacKenzie said, penalty points can be assigned for posting those corn on the cob pics this early in the year. I just snowblowed 5.5" of yesterday's snow off my driveway this morning and we're about to get slammed by the Polar Vortex for the next week (single digit highs and below zero lows). So, tread lightly my friend, with those outdoor pics and "complaining" about 55F weather! Nice job on the tri-tip. Hope you liked the Santa Maria rub.

All natural disasters are horrific to those both directly and indirectly affected. The really bad ones, tornadoes and the derecho like we had here last August, is that you don't get a lot of warning that they are imminent (minutes to maybe an hour!) With others, like hurricanes, wild fires and flooding, you have some time to pack up and evacuate - assuming folks chose to do so. Doesn't make them any better, but at least they give you a better chance at survival.

Yeah, XO has a special Chinese ham in it, along with the dried seafoods (shrimp & scallops). Given that I love a good fish sauce - both Asian and Italian, I might have to give this a go next?

You said that like is some sort of problem?? Every homebrewer does the exact same thing! Here's a tip for monitoring the dome temps from afar - rotate the dial so that your target temperature is at 12 o'clock. Then you just have to look at the dial and see "what time is it?" relative to your target.

Hey, at least it's rain. We're having a blizzard today. Been snowing for hours - heavy at times and the wind has picked up significantly in the last hour, so it's almost white-out conditions. Very likely won't be using the KK tonight. Will hopefully sneak in a cook tomorrow before the Polar Vortex slams us over the weekend. Highs in the single digits (F) and lows below zero for the next week! And, that's before the windchill factor kicks in. This is usually my breaking point for grilling, when the windchill is in the negative teens. So, take some Aleve for the back and grill on!

Yep, that's the "classic" version that I was reading about that got me going on this. So your friend is ahead of you on this one. (btw - hope her loss of taste is indeed temporary!) Your version based on A. Wong's recipe, with the dried shrimp - is that a version of XO sauce - the other "hot" (pun intended) Asian condiment right now!

Just curious - what's in the pot?

Yeah, I know Mala Market. Good source for all things Szechuan.

OK, had been reading about this latest trend in foodie world - crispy hot sauce from China. It's loaded with fried garlic and onions, to add texture to what otherwise would just be a Mala sauce (chiles & Szechuan peppercorns in oil). I actually ended up trying this one, which is made in the US, as it was getting equally good reviews on Amazon to the "standard" Chinese version. The jar arrived yesterday, so of course I had to try it out on dinner! It went on sauteed green beans and mushrooms. Plated with a nice lemon pepper honey mustard pork chop. Pork chop on the main grate, direct, 350F. Lemon pepper rub to start and then sauced with the lemon pepper honey mustard sauce. OK, now I see what all the foodie buzz is about - this stuff is good! Glad that I only went 3 stars hot and not the 4 star version (which has ghost peppers in it!) Nice heat, love the crunchy texture it added. Will be experimenting more with it. I hear that it's great in scrambled eggs?

Indeed!

Depends on the size of KK. I was too nervous to rock my 23" off the box, so I just bashed it in before rolling the KK of the pallet. I can only imagine trying to rock a 32" or 42" KK off the box!!

happy to see it make it safely to its new home!

Quick dinner last night. Suya pepper pork cutlets, direct, lower grate at 350F. Plated with some curry rice and roasted chickpeas & cherry tomatoes with a dollop of Bomba (Calabrian chiles, eggplant, green olives and artichokes.) Indian garlic naan on the side. Washed down with one of my favorite beers - Hopslam from Bells. Unfortunately, it only comes out once/year and sells quickly.

Hang in the bro!

NEVER let a little snow get in the way of grilling dinner! This is what I woke up to this morning - and it kept snowing during a better part of the day. BTW - this was the 2nd such snow storm in the last week! But, my reward for snowblowing/shoveling the driveway (3 times thanks to the city snow plows that kept damming up the end of my driveway!) was a lovely steak dinner. CostCo prime rib-eye cap on the lower grate, direct, with post oak and mesquite. Served up with Wegman's salt potatoes (wonder how those got from upstate NY to IA?) with garlic & parsley butter, sautéed oyster & button mushrooms and a nice side salad with yummy blue cheese crumbles. And, a very nice Napa cab to wash it all down with! If all the snowblowing/shoveling didn't give me a heart attack, this dinner might! Serious amounts of butter in the sides and a gorgeous fatty steak! Cheers!

Now THAT's my kind of "cold room!"