T Yelta

Is your Lowes an authorized dealer and was it the newer model that was on display? I ask because I have seen older models for sale at locations that carry overstock items and such. If it is a newer model then ask them to adjust the hinge before you make a decision. The lid should be able to stay lifted by itself and move with minimized effort. I hope this helps and I hope you find what you are looking for.

Quite frankly, I haven't found foil that stands up to high heat. I wrap the chunks with doubled over heavy duty foil and it seems to work well enough for lower heat cooks. If I can reuse the foil or use foil that was used for something else then I will. I haven't gotten around to modifying a cast iron pot yet but I guess that would be an option. I prefer to wrap because it is cheap and doesn't take up any extra room. If there is a foil that can stand high heat then I would probably buy it.

When I first started smoking meats, I used hickory because hey hickory is the macho thing to use (right???). After a while I started to think to myself that everything I smoked tasted like hotdogs. Why? Because hotdogs are smoked with hickory. That seemed boring to me so I started to experiment with other woods and flavors. Oak in particular is one of my favorites and I'm pretty sure I can taste the difference between oak and hickory and apple. Put a gun to my head and I would probably fail but I think I could tell the difference anyway. I guess what I am saying is that if you gave me a plate with something on it and said what kind of wood was used then that would be hard. If you set 3 plates in front me and said which is apple, which is oak and which is hickory then that would be easy.

If you wrap your chunks in foil then they become charcoal... bonus

That is shock and awe. Congrats, you win

The grate does not hold the sections in place. If you remove your grate then you will see that it offers no support for the anything. I hope this helps.

I got the black coating thing a lot. I would always hit it with a nylon brush and it would come off. I think it is normal.

The rules of the "danger zone" apply, but other than that, you can get some great cooks at temperatures under and sometimes well under 200*. https://blog.thermoworks.com/2018/05/down-through-the-temperature-danger-zone-on-cooling-for-food-safety/ I have a temperature controller. I can hold 165* easily. These thighs were started at 11pm and cooked at 175 ish (going from memory). 8AM the next morning they looked like this. They got through the "danger zone" on time and were juicy with extra crispy skin. I wish I could find the temperature graph, but they spent hours above 150 degrees which is more than acceptable for killing bacteria. Temperatures were verified with a Thermapen as well. 145 degrees for 8.5 minutes is as effective as taking chicken to 165 degrees. https://blog.thermoworks.com/2016/04/thermal-tips-simple-roasted-chicken/ Safety first of course, but don't fear going below 225 or even 200. That's just my humble opinion.

I think I picked up 14 or 16 bags total. It's still for sale at the same price but no regrets. I think this is great lump at a phenomenal price.

Nice mod

That right there is a great looking cook

Outstanding. I'm sure you will love the KJ2C. I have to stay away from that place because I know that stuff will follow me home I would still recommend the ash basket and I have no remorse about the purchase. I heard that the official guys from Kamado Joe are going to do a cooking event there in the future. I can't wait for that.

I think that drilling a hole would do great damage... to your warranty. I love the approach that Kamado Joe has endorsed. The Ikamand requires that you reomve the old door and replace it with something else. I don't have an IKamand, I have another device, but since removing the old door is an approved thing to do, I'll bet that new ideas about how to attach other blowers will surface. Whatever type of port you chose to use, if you blow air in, it has to come out somewhere. If your top vent isn't open enough then smoke will come out somewhere else, whether it be the bottom vent, the top, the main seal, or all of the above. Happy cooking

If the pit sensor is indeed a thermocouple and it is rated for temperatures up to 900 as some are, then fire it up and see how hot it gets. At some point, a blower can be too big as it blows more cold air into the pit than the fire can handle. The standard fan for Heatermeters is 6.7CFM which is about the same size as yours and people do high heat cooks all of the time. Every setup is different but you have nothing to lose but lump if yours doesn't work... then again, if it doesn't then just open the vent and let it go the rest of the way without the fan. Happy cooking

I got 4 bags. I might get more if it cooks well. If nothing else, it is Wal-Mart and they will take anything back.