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I've had no issues keeping "uncured" but smoked and pasteurized bacon for weeks. I've also had a hard time getting bacon to taste "hot" without something hot on the surface. I use a recipe of 1/4 salt, 1/4 pepper and 1/2 sugar. The heat just doesn't seem to penetrate when the other two flavors do. Fortunately, the flavor adds nicely when cooking.

I do it all the time, whenever I want a concentrated fire for a small cook. It's convenient that the rest of the chamber remains cool(er), for 2-level cooking if desired, or a lower-temp bake. I use a heat deflector vertically if I don't want direct cooking on the cool side. Lots of options...

Temperature is like real estate, the three most important factors are location, location and location. Adding cold food always drops your temperature. If your thermometer probe is next to cold food, it's reading the food. Always steer clear of the dome thermometer probe! It's your best true indicator when it's only reading the air inside. Then add a dose of patience. Give it time to recover. I do not change settings often now that I know my grill. But I also have a control strategy.... I like remote, multi-probe thermometers. I put one on the grate next to the food, and the other in the exit vent. I control temperatures based on the exit vent reading, and watch the grate reading rise as the food cooks. Trust the Joe. Frank

A lot of us would have a Kamodo Kamado if we could. Many of us do. The rest yearn.

You really think Halethorpe, Bushnell's Basin or Prunedale give folks any hint?

I'll suggest going to an Asian market. They should have a variety to choose from. Mine was $20 for carbon steel, 18-20" as I have a Big Joe. Plus, they'll have utensils that fit. I use it on the "star" rack, so it's closer to the fire than the grates. Frank

Classic I for sure... too small for BJ, and wrong hinge - no cam. It's in great shape, too! You have the old firebox. When the ring breaks, you'll have a warranty claim. Don't rush; the petal firebox is problematic for new owners because the metal ring that holds the petals together warps.

That's expected when adding a large mass of cold food near the probe. Patience is the first lesson. There's no problem as long as temperature starts to recover when you close it. You might not make 430F again before the food's ready. Food insensitivity is one reason I always use an exit vent probe.

Nope. In both cases, make sure it's all ashed over a bit (i.e. mature) before you dump. Otherwise there's no advantage!

FWIW, my son gave me this for Christmas, and we've only used it once, for wings and ribs. The big difference I saw was temperature uniformity - both grate and exit-vent probes read the same as the dome thermometer. I attribute that to improved air flow, and just with the extension rack fit! Frank

Welcome to the forum, and rest assured, we all learn this the hard way. This helped me a lot. Stages of Fire - start: wood is surrounded by flame from the starter - growing: wood starts to outgas and burn without external flame - mature: wood fully engaged in stable, high temperature burning - dying: fuel runs out so temperatures drop The advice is only cook on a mature fire. @Golf Griller got it right out of the box. You need 1000-1500F in the coals to complete combustion of things that taste bad. Once I understood, I changed my process. I always use a chimney starter, wait for flames shooting out the top (maturity), and then dump on top of the fuel so it's the "peak" of the volcano, and the fire burns down. As new wood catches, the gas goes through the hot fire and completely burns. No issues in a Big Joe settling at 225F. I am often cooking in 15-20 minutes, albeit before reaching target temperatures. Big Joes don't heat (or cool) quickly, but the smoke gets sweet right away. HAve fun, Frank

and put the pizza stone on the extension grate, so it's even higher, for better top browning.

I bet the grate probe is getting heat from the deflectors, while the dome probe is reading closer to air temperature. Put a probe in the exit vent for the hottest spot not near fire. All can be correct without agreeing. Frank

Yes! But in an Akorn, with a loose lower vent. Bayou Classic looks like a very nice Kamado. I upgraded to a Big Joe, and found I could kill the fire by closing only the lower vent - no leaks there! Can you kill the fire without closing the top vent? If so, you just need to be more aggressive with vent settings. If not, I'd talk to Bayou Classic. I've found I can maintain 225F at the grate, 250F at the top vent using only the lower vent. The problem is that it doesn't let in enough air to get a smoke ring. I now leave a few millimeters of gap at the bottom and fine tune with the top vent. One enabler is to use larger chunks of charcoal. It burns a long time, and a little cooler due to the lower surface area of large pieces. I break down brands like KJ Big Block to fist-size pieces because BB is too big! HAve fun, Frank PS smoke roasting at 300F is a great technique, too.

You can get crispy skin with wet brine, just not at 250F. Dry the bird, give it a good 30 min. rest, butter the skin and give it 30 min. at 450-500F, or until you like the color. I'm a great fan of America's Test Kitchen, who just did their 2-turkey Thanksgiving cook, in pieces. I've quoted their breast skin browning recommendation; I'm not a skin lover.