Idiot guide to vent settings

[bosco]

I just posted in another post... so here it is.

 

I am looking for some direction on how this venting works.  It has been confirmed that my twins will come with dual vent on the bottom and I have no idea how the top vent works.

 

I assume that the top vent spins open and closed and obviously the more open the hotter, the more closed the cooler....

 

With my current daisy wheel, I can see where the holes are lined up for air flow and very easy to recreate that setting for the following cook.  How do you know how far it spins etc...

 

And what do I do with those bottom vents.  One seems to be holes the other and open slot.

 

I am looking for video or photos you have taken while cooking and any advice etc.

 

I read a post with a chart that must have been from a user manual, however, I just don't understand it.

 

Please educate me !!

[5698k]

Don't overthink this, it's really simple. Instead of looking at holes in the top, you'll be counting revolutions. Most of the time, you'll be less than one anyway to maintain temps, I'm usually 1/4 or less for lo/slo's. I haven't played with the dual lower vent, I'm always using the cyberq. The only time I open things up a lot is for steaks, and even then, once I see 700°, I go down to about 1 open to maintain.

Robert

[ckreef]

To give you an idea of what top vents are like here is a closeup of mine. You can see the 2 small SS finger tabs. These assist you in turning the vent to open or close. They also make it easy to count the number of turns you have it open.

It's a bit different than what you are use to but you'll get the hang of it within a couple of cooks.

Here is a picture of my top vent opened either 3 or 4 turns (I forget). You can see the top gasket which slightly compresses and seals when you close it down.

When completely shutting the top vent with a hot KK do not turn it really tight. Just barely snug is enough to seal all the airflow. The glue that holds the top gasket in place gets soft when it's hot so if you tighten it down really hard the top gasket might move and it's just not needed.

This should be the same for you just bigger.

[CeramicChef]

bosceaux - as Rob said, don't get too balled up over this. If I can figure this out, so can you. It's really no big deal and it's a lot easier than you think.

I'm going to give you the same advice you know I've given a 100 times if if given it once. Spend a day with your new KK and get to know the response curve of your KK. A cooler of beer and some great tunes with a comfortable chair helps too!

You know the drill. Light a single spot in your lump. Open the dial vent wide open, shut and latch the lid, and open your top hat vent a couple of spins. Watch how temp climbs. KKs are very efficient in their draw through the lump. When you get within about 75° of 225 close your top hat one full spin and close the dial vent to about the first notch. When you're within 50°, close the top hat to about a quarter spin and clamp down on the dial to less than a quarter of that first notch. Again, notice how temps react. Coast slowly to 225. If you overshoot, KKs are harder to bring down than other kamados. It's not fatal, but it take quite a time to cook these things down. When you hit 225°, let your KK dwell there for about 30 minutes.

From here, you know the drill. Hit 250, 275, 300, 325, 350, 375, 400, 425, and 450°. I use my top hat exclusively within a specific range, 200-300, to increase temps and I generally don't move the dial below. When I move into a new range, 300-400 or 400-500, I'll open my bottom vent, screw down on the top hot, and go from there.

Notice that you haven't used the right hand vent on the air control manifold. You've got plenty of time to mess with that. I generally use it to fine tune temps. I'll also use it exclusively for low-n-slow cook in conjunction with the top hat. Note that none of the holes are designed to correspond exactly with specific temps.

bosceaux, there's no magic in controlling temps in a KK. You're quite capable of figuring this out. You really do know what you're doing, you just don't know it! You'll do just fine. All it takes is time spent with your KKs. And how hard is that?

[bosco]

yeah you are right, maybe I am overthinking it.  

 

Lots to think about while I am waiting for delivery lol.

 

I told Robert today, that I have officially stopped looking at the KK website.  Each day I look, I wonder if I should change this or that.  I am not going to look, I am not going to look........

[5698k]

USE THE FORCE!!!!

Robert

[wilburpan]

If you can hold temps with a KJ, you’ll be able to do it with a KK grill. Put it this way: before I got Smaug, I had zero experience with kamado grills or low and slow cooking. For my very first low and slow cook I was able to hold at 225ºF without any problem. So if I can do it, so can you.

 

Some of this has been said above, but just to reiterate, for low temperatures, get used to the idea that the top and bottom vents can be open by what seems like a ridiculously small amount compared to what I see used for a KJ grill. I think that’s a reflection of how much more efficient a KK grill is compared to the ceramic grills. When I’m doing low and slows, I’ll have the top vent open by a quarter turn or less, and the bottom vent is open only 1/16†or so. When I’m starting the warmup process, the vents will be open more than that, but that’s the final position of the vents as I get close to my target temperature.

 

With your dual dial system, having the holes with their fixed sizes will help. But don’t be surprised if the hole you use looks like it’s too small to hold a given temperature compared to the vent opening on a KJ grill. It’s probably not.

[CeramicChef]

+1^

When I first got TheBeast I tried to correlate the RHS holes on the dual dial air control manifold to specific temps, i.e. the smallest diameter hole to 225° say. Dennis got me gently straightened out on that deal in a hurry. I now use them for fine tuning and for the larger diameters cooks all by themselves. The top hat vent makes it so incredibly easy to dial in temps it's not even funny. I am constantly amazed at how well the KKs I have draw air and how Beauty! & TheBeast respond to increased air flow through the lump pile.

I've cooked on custom built stick burners, gassers, hybrids, kettles, clay pots, BGEs, Primos, KJs, and nothing in my experience handles air flow so well as the KKs.

[kjs]

I just posted in another post... so here it is.

 

I am looking for some direction on how this venting works.  It has been confirmed that my twins will come with dual vent on the bottom and I have no idea how the top vent works.

 

I assume that the top vent spins open and closed and obviously the more open the hotter, the more closed the cooler....

 

With my current daisy wheel, I can see where the holes are lined up for air flow and very easy to recreate that setting for the following cook.  How do you know how far it spins etc...

 

And what do I do with those bottom vents.  One seems to be holes the other and open slot.

 

I am looking for video or photos you have taken while cooking and any advice etc.

 

I read a post with a chart that must have been from a user manual, however, I just don't understand it.

 

Please educate me !!

Ya know, it's a matter of experimentation and getting used to your fuel, airflow, etc. You'll catch on soon enough, it's not an exact science, but not all that complicated either.