New to KK questions

[Tony8919]

New to the KK family (received my big bad last week), and had some random questions I figured I would post and get some insight from the pros. I tried searching for the answers on previous posts but please link if there is already a good thread on any of these topics;

1. Cooking indirect with basket splitter - is this effective for shorter cooks (less than 10 hours) or is the heat not distributed evenly enough with the charcoal off to one side since you can’t split the basket in the middle on the 32?

2. smoker pots - I have always just used wood chunks placed in the charcoal but understand the downsides of this. How do you use a smoker pot and is there one to buy or are they DIY. I understand the advantages of the smoke generator but am just not ready to go that route yet. 
 

3. large grilling sessions - what is the best lighting strategy to achieve consistent temps across the grate? I use a grill gun so with a full charcoal basket, do you light two different spots or even more? 
 

4. large smoking sessions - would you say one area of the grill receives a lot more smoke? Top grate vs lower or main? 
 

thanks for any insight and hopefully I can start providing guidance soon rather than just asking questions. 

[tony b]

Since I own an 23" KK, I won't be able to advise on some of your questions about your 32 BB, as it's a different design (oval vs round). I don't know the general burn pattern in the 32, so I'm not a good source for how to light the fire for larger cooks, but my guess would be to light at least a couple of spots for direct cooking a large amount of food. Indirect might not need more than one. But, I'll let the folks that actually own a 32 chime in with their experience. 

I highly recommend the smoker pot. Use mine on just about every long cook (more than 2 hours). It's a DIY - simple project though. Get a 2 qt cast iron uncoated Dutch oven (cheapest one you can find). You drill 3 very small holes (3/32") in the bottom; yes, the bottom, not the lid - you want to force the smoke down into the fire to burn off some of the volatiles to produce a cleaner smoke. Also, you don't want too many holes or too big ones; the goal is to starve the wood chunks of oxygen to make them smolder and not actually burn. This is how you get prolonged smoke generation. It's also important to seal the lid airtight. Most of us do this by making a simple flour and water paste (soft modelling clay) in a zip bag, cut off the bottom corner and pipe the paste onto the underside lip of the lid like iciing a cake. Then put your wood chunks in the bottom and gently place the lid with the paste onto the bottom to seal it up.  Takes some practice to get the right consistence and technique, but it's not hard to master. You just place the assembly directly on the lit area of the coals. It takes a few minutes to heat up enough to start smoking, but you're waiting for the KK to come up to target temp anyway, so it's not delaying your cooking time. 

And the cool thing is, when you're finished with the cook, you've made a few chunks of charcoal! 

[AAAsh]

Welcome to the club.

1. I use the divider to split the basket 50/50. Even with half a basket, I easily get 12+ hours of burn time on a low (350f) cook. I have the protein on the left and fire on the right. Never had an issue with burn time or uneven temps. 

2. Never used a smoker pot. Just throw some wood chunks on the fire.

3. Very rarely that I light the entire basket as I normally use the splitter so I have a hot / warm side. I fill half the basket and light a few areas withe my MAAP torch. Leave the bottom vent fully open and lid up for about 20-30 min. The basket is then roaring hot. If I need to speed things up, I will use a little workshop blower to add more air. 

4. I find the dome fills very evenly with smoke. My setup for smoking sessions is fire on the right. I install the lower grate, and then use the split main grate on the left. Add my protein to the main grate with a pan underneath to catch drippings. See the photo. I use a SmartFire temp control and get rock solid stability. 

 

 

[C6Bill]

1) I use the basket splitter a lot for indirect cooking. If I am doing duck or a single chicken l’ll split the basket so the coals are on my right and i’ll use the half grate on the left side. Works great for me

2) I have smoker pots and never use them, I honestly don’t think they help. In the 32 every time I put on in the middle it would force my fire over to the right side. But some swear by them.

3) I use a looftlighter and light one spot on each end

4) Sorry, no idea how to answer that other than to say don’t over think it

[BOC]

1. Basket splitter for indirect, but I tend to roll with a full basket for smoking because I don’t want to find out the hard way I should have…Dennis also sells a rotisserie splitter now that splits it front and back. I’ve started to use it more when grilling just because I like the real estate better that way for certain things. (I suspect this is completely personal preference though)
2. I’ve used the cold smoker, the smoker pot and just wood chunks under my lump. Most often, I just use the large chunks under the lump charcoal for no other reason than laziness because there is no extra clean up. And I haven’t found the flavor profile to be anymore or less off putting, but it is a cleaner with the smoker pot done correctly. I’ve also done some foil patches…but make sure you use the heavy duty if you head down that path.
3. I use a propane torch and light in many spots. It is not the exact same temp in all spots, especially when grilling and not just cooking at a steady temp. But I expect that and is part of the fun in cooking with fire for me. If you are cooking at a steady temp, just make sure it has been on long enough to heat soak. You’ll have to move things around a bit during the cook, but for me that is part of cooking. Chicken wings are my best example of this because I cover the entire grate, so I end up moving them around a couple times and taking them off a few minutes apart as needed.
4. I’m no scientist, but since the air will follow the path of least resistance through the grill, I believe so will the smoke. Which makes me believe that the top each will have the most smoke because that is where it will collect on its way out. However, as many times as I’ve have multiple racks of ribs and a brisket on at the same time, ribs on top, I’ve never not been happy with the smoke profile on both. Or when I’ve cooked ribs on the main vs up top, I can’t say the flavor profile changed drastically. That said, I usually cook them between 250-300 and at 215 it might matter more.


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[Tony8919]

Thank you all! Very helpful content. I do agree at times paralysis by analysis can take over and appreciate that the simple approach works just fine. Looking forward to testing and learning all the different techniques. 

[tekobo]

Enjoy the journey @Tony8919.  As @BOC said, it is all about the fire and you can reduce but can't eliminate variation.  I only go wrong when I fail to remember that simple truth.  

[DennisLinkletter]

 

1)  If I were doing a high ticket/Snake River Farms brisket, I would absolutely pull the splitter, (which takes seconds) and put the meat dead center with foil and drip pan on the lower grate.. The heat left, and right sides of the meat would be completely uniform..
     If you want to leave the splitter in I'd still put the meat over the coals with foil to make your airflow indirect..  Might not be noticeable but with the splitter in and the meat on the other side the far side will be a lower temp..  Not sure if it will change the outcome in a noticeable way but one side will definitely get more heat.  Note.. All offset cookers have directional heat and they get great results..