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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.

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 to

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.

Dry brining a pre-brined turkey can be problematic for the reasons listed. Wet brining gets around those issues, because it allows 2-way passage in and out of the meat. Yes, the brine brings salt into the meat, but salt is also leaching out of the meat, along with whatever other chemistry the turkey contains. A 24 hr. wet brine ends up with a salt level determined by your brine recipe, as long as the brine greatly outweighs the meat. So, I use pure water with salt, pepper corns and spices in a brine that's 2-3x more massive than the bird, regardless the prior seasonin

I try to temp the thickest point, but you can miss, so I backup the remote probe thermometer with an instant-read. Thermoworks products have served me well (ThermoPop, and a pair of Smoke remotes).

Splitting is a good idea, even though I've never tried it. If the flat gets thin, add a thin foil wrap, to slow cooking. Regular mopping is a good alternative. My action points are ~170F for foil wrap and "no more than 205F" as "done." I put in the cooler ASAP to maximize time above 190F. I always use a water pan. While many meats always turn out great, brisket can be tough (undercooked) or dry (overcooked). My mistakes have come cooking lower than 225-250F - too slow, so it dries by the time it's done. And I've repeated those mistakes over