Fish Taco Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 This evening I cooked a couple of chickens on the rotisserie. My first rotisserie and the birds came out really nice, tender and juicy...in spite of myself. I cooked the birds at about 360 for a couple of hours maybe and opened the bottom draft door & the lid to check on them and they were 160 in the thigh. I closed the lid but forgot to close the bottom draft door back down. When I passed by about 15 minutes later the dome temp had spiked to 430. I checked the birds...they were 180 degrees in the thigh and took them off the fire. Then I shut the lid, the bottom draft door and screwed down the damper on top. After an hour, the temp was still over 400. Two more hours and it is cooling down some but the dome temp is still 360...okay, it is really holding the heat...that is good...but, I just opened the lid (for the first time since shutting her down) and the coals are still glowing. Should the coals be out by now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 Easier to check for a smoke leak.. As you can't see air leaking into the cooker, the best way to check for sn improper adjustment is to do some smoking.. Have you noticed any leaks while smoking? Depending on where your leak is, I can find some small tweak to stop it. Throw a big handful of wood chips on and we'll go from there.. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 Just curous, did you happen to remove the Guru plug port or is it still sealed up? -=Jasen=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Taco Posted April 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 So, shutting it down should kill the fire quickly? The guru plug was in so that's not it. I have not done the wood chips thing Dennis suggested, yet. However, I seared some burgers with the lid closed recently. There was a good bit of smoke escaping from around edge of the dome between about 2 and 6 (6:00 being the handle). Sounds like I need an adjustment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcoliver Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Sounds like you need a latch adjustment, just loosen the two hex nuts and move the latch to where it is very snug. The latch should catch when you close it and then seal when you push down slightly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetzervalve Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Taco, Just wondering, why did you open the lower vent when you checked the meat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Taco, Just wondering, why did you open the lower vent when you checked the meat? He could have been concerned about flash back, but that only happened with me at higher temps (even if the damper top is open). -=Jasen=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeadDog Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 I never noticed before but when I went to use mine today it was still warm inside from the cook yesterday. The dial on the bottom was open just a hair. The charcoal looked like it was all out. I do know that from checking the dial after shutting the KK down that is does hold its heat a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Taco Posted April 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 I opened the bottom vent b/c of concern about flashback...have not ever had one...but again, it gets a little air before the lid is opened. I did adjust the latch previously and that cut down a lot on the escaping smoke. On the first cook or two it really poured out at the handle. While the latch adjustment did not completely get rid of all the smoke I was thinking that maybe it was as good as it gets. But, even if I press down and hold the lid the smoke continues to come out at the same rate...again between about 2 and 6:00 on the dome. The latch seems to be about right to me. I have been able to cook at 250 or so but it is always trying to creep up higher. The hamburger cook was short duration at about 400 degrees...the cooker was probably only fired up for about an hour before I shut her down. I started with a whole basket of lump (Kingsford is all I can find locally)...there were some big chunks in there...it burned just about the whole basket before the fire finally died during the night...at least several hours later leaving only 4 or 5 briquette size pieces of charcoal. I love the cooker but wish it would shut down better/faster to preserve the charcoal. It probably just needs to be tweaked a little bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted April 26, 2007 Report Share Posted April 26, 2007 Adjusted the back hinge? ... I love the cooker but wish it would shut down better/faster to preserve the charcoal. It probably just needs to be tweaked a little bit. Some folks have had to adjust the back hinge (I did). If I recall correctly I took all the tension off the hinge spring and disconected. Then loosened the top nuts on the hinge. This allowed the dome to fully sit flat on the lower base. Then tightened the hinge nuts back, and then readjust the front latch too. Then finally reconnected the spring and added the tension back in. Since the top and bottom are cast, once you have the hinge tightened with the dome flat, it will not leak. I use mine alot and haven't had to adjust since. The following link talks about it too.. http://www.komodokamado.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1082&highlight=hinge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Taco Posted May 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 Thanks, Turtle, for the instructions on adjusting the back hinge. I took the tension off the spring and, with the lid lying flat, loosened and then re-tightened all 4 back nuts. The the lid definitely nestled down some b/c I then had to re-adjust the front latch plates to eliminate some play that was not there before. Simple. I have not tried it out but am confident that did the trick....will let you know when I cook for Cinco de Mayo this weekend. Again, many thanks. Fish Taco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 ... I took the tension off the spring and, with the lid lying flat, loosened and then re-tightened all 4 back nuts. The the lid definitely nestled down some b/c I then had to re-adjust the front latch plates to eliminate some play that was not there before. Simple... FT, I have my fingers crossed for you..!! Good luck!! Turtle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Taco Posted May 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 The adjustment to the back hinge and front latch seemed to do the trick. I cooked some boneless chicken last night and did not see any smoke escaping from around the lid...none. Also, the shut down killed the coals quickly as I expected. This was not a great test but I'm very pleased and have high expectations for my next long slow cook at low temp. The unit retained heat for quite a while but that's what ceramic cooking is all about...right? Thanks to all for the great advice and counsel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Great news! If the coals shut down quickly then you are in bidness!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
