DWFII

Thank you....see my IG feed--here

Yes, IIRC, it was right around that price.

I got about four bags of that this summer...I like it.

Thanks @fbov Well, I wanted that to work but all my probes are bent at a 90° and when I dangle them through the vent the tip of the probe ends up touching the sides of the dome. I saw a photo above where just the straight part is inside the top vent... but I wonder how the probe can be accurate, or even helpful, if it is only reading the last three inches of the top of the dome and nowhere near the cooking zone?

Are some meat probes straight? Mine all have a 90° bend, so when I push it through the top vent, teh tip is in danger of hitting/toughing the sides of the dome. How do you get around that? In the photo above is that 90° angle outside the top vent...is that what I'm seeing in the photo?

How do you get "exit temperature" on a kamado? Just dangle a remote through the top vent?

Me too.

Thank you for the reply. I saw somewhere...was it here?...a series of photos in which a fellow was making a kamado. If I remember correctly he had a form and he was covering it with something--refractory cement? I dunno. AFAIK, the material was just left to cure, it was never fired or anything like that. I never saw how it held up with use, but in the end it was a good looking kamado. What else could it have been, if not refractory cement?

Nice job! I always thought that refractory cement might be a good deal. I have a "platesetter" for a LBGE. One of the legs is broken diagonally (I can still use it as is) and thought I might try to repair it. What are the downsides? Poor strength? Off gassing of noxious odours? It may not be worth it considering I can use it the way it is but bottom line is: why don't more people repair ceramic kamodos with refractory cement?

Thanks...sounds like a plan!

Got that...thank you. So if you were grilling a dozen thighs or three burgers or six brats, how long will you grill them for? Or how long before you open the lid and flip every thing over and then how long?

No I haven't...that's the reason i asked about all this. I've always had the offset for grilling and a WSM for smoking low and slow. When I got the Akorn I thought it would do it all so I gave the other stuff to my SIL

So "grilling" is not a good idea? Better to do wings, brats, steaks and burgers on the Weber kettle and save the Akorn for butts, pizza and briskets, etc.? Is that what you're saying? I'm starting to regret giving my Cg offset to my son-in-law. Can you grill open lid on your Big Joe?

Temp control is very good with my Akorn. I figured it would go out...it's just that I had to go eat and having the dome open throughout the cook had really stoke the fire. Nervous Nellie I suppose. Bottom line I wanted to cook on the Akorn the way I would have cooked on the Weber kettle--lid open and just a quick fire, not a lot of charcoal. Maybe that's not a good idea? I guess that's what I'm really asking--can it be done and should it be done?

Thank you for that. How full do you fill the bottom of the firebowl for grilling? Just a chimney full? Frankly it kind of scared me a little when I tried to shut the Akorn down afterwards. The coals...more or less one level deep...were glowing hot and although they only covered half the make-shift coal grate, the temp was above 500° and rising. The temp probably would have stabilized as the air flow was cut but I wasn't gonna be there to monitor it and make sure.