Polar Bear

Having looked into importing stuff from Aliexpress (I'm in Australia), I imagine the shipping costs would be similar to buying a set up from CGS The CGS one will be much better quality though

I check my dome thermos (actually, all my thermos) once a year and adjust them as you described Considering your Joe has 6 years of cooking under its belt, its possible the adjustment nut is gunked up from all the cooks. You should be able to source an OEM thermo from KJ or you can measure the stalk and search for an aftermarket unit (I hear Tru-Tell units are great) They're typically accurate out of the box but you should be able to adjust them should you need too

I love Yeti stuff but some of thier latest products are "taking the piss" a little $40 for a bucket? $250 for a "pelican" case? $50 for a dog bowl? $300 for a camp chair? I'm all for great quality but there are times when i think they're taking things a little too far

Couple of things 1- The "free small version" was only offered to the first customer prepared to take home the unboxed "demo units" at the end of the roadshow. Even if your son managed to be the first guys through the door, he'd then have to deal with shipping a pair of grills without a box. While it was a great deal, considering your circumstances, you're not missing out on as much as someone who lived locally 2- While its always good to save a dollar here and there, there's more costs to consider here than inital cost of the grill itself. Not only do you have the extra gas you'll use trucking the grill from point A to point B, theres also the time required as will as the possible damage that could occur to the grill either during the transit or when you try to unload it. 3- If you're set on the idea of buying through Costco, I belive there is a method for refunding your Costco membership after you make a purchase. Not 100% sure, but i'm sure i've seen it mentioned here. Again, thats more messing around in order to save a couple of bucks, but its an option

But, to answer your original question... If you're placing your pellet tray on the grill grates during the cook, there wouldnt be enough oxygen in the grill to maintain a fire. The reason there is a bottom vent below the firebox is so that oxygen has direct access to the heat in order to cause combustion The top vent is to allow burnt gasses to escape from the grill. The vent system is more like the Intake and Exhaust than a pair of air inlets. Air goes in the bottom vent and exits through the top cause the grill to (essentially) breathe Putting somthing that is burning higher in the grill will usually go out as there isnt enough oxygen left in the atmosphere inside the grill to maintain combustion once it moves past the fire box You could increase the air flow inside the grill by opening up your vents, but then your fire would run away on you An easier solution would be to move the Pellet tray to the bottom of the grill, near the bottom vent, or simply fill your ash tray with pellets and do away with the pellet tray all together. Then the pellets will get first dibs on any oxygen entering the grill and be able to maintain combustion

Why not buy your wood in logs and chop it up? I'm sure theres a timber yard near by that could provide split logs, or maybe ask your local Offset Smoker communitty where they source thier wood from For the longest time, unless i was prepared to buy pre-packaged chunks (which weren't great) the only other wood option i had was split logs designed for offset smokers I bought about 100kg (220 pounds) of various split logs (apple, cherry, oak, pecan, Iron Bark) , borrowed a table saw from a friend and spent an afternoon chopping the splits into fist sized chunks It was a bit of messing around, I'll grant you, but now i'm set for smoking wood for the next couple of years and (time aside) it was MUCH cheaper than buying bags of pre cut chunks from my local Weber dealer

I leave my Kamado to cook for at least 24 hours before putting the tools away inside it. I normally store mine with the lid cracked and vents wide open. One morning, about 12 hours after a high temp cook the night before, I gave the ash basket a shake and the grates a scrub and then opened the vents, as i would normally do. I came back from the supermarket an hour or so later and the grill temp was up to 400f Now i leave it for at least 24 hours before i open anything up again

Wouldnt using the iKamand without the heat deflectors in place cause ash and shoot to be blown onto the food you're cooking?

I've been adding the oil to my morning Bullet Proof coffee for over a year No issues

Depends on your budget and how much grill space you have If you have a bit of cash, but not a lot of deck area to grill on, buy the Classic 3 If you have a bit of cash, but a lot of deck area to grill on, buy the Big Joe 2

As someone with a Big Joe II, if the Summit was availble in Australia when i was kamado shopping, it wouldve been really hard to go past it, IMO I love my BJ, but there is a lot to like about the Summit (especially the one in the cart) I'd either stick with what you've got or follow Johns advice and buy the KJ, see which you use more and then sell one. Aside from the Joetissery, there arent many KJ only accessories that add that much to the whole cooking experience , IMHO so you're not missing out on much

I'm not sold on this I think its just innovation for innovations sake There is more to Smoke Flavor and Penetration than just deflector design, so while i'm sure this will work just fine, I dont see the need to upgrade from the standard halfmoon set up

Yes No

The Eggspander should fit a KJ The DnC and Joetissery fits the the BGE so I dont see why it wouldnt work the other way round

Bear in mind, the Series 3 carries with it a considerable price increase from the Series 2