len440

Forgot about the lid being open think that is the most likely culprit. Trippers42 have you cooked anything else?

Almost forgot a pizza stone for Great pizza

a controller is a good option but learn how to use the Kamado without the aid of the controller first and like John a good instant read therm.is a must. I use my controller most of the time for monitoring temp of grill and meat, with fan not used, if im busy i'll use the controller and monitor on my cell phone. A Joettessory would be a good option this is my first charcoal grill without a spit. Now that it's warm a can cozy would be nice.

Talon65 So you cooked short ribs and it held 250 so i guess you have the vent settings correct and didn't have the white smoke problem. Guess the gasket was part of the problem. Kamado Joe should work with you on the hinge problem once the lid fits properly you should be good to go. You referred several times to your bge mini-max heating up in 20 minutes. The classic is larger and has more thermal mass to heat up, and will take longer to stabilize. Each one of these grills have a learning curve, my classic doesn't smoke like my gas or stick offset smoker. don't be discouraged,

Sounds like you are straving it for air. With the bottom open 1/2 inch and the top nearly closed you forcing the air flow through the coals and out the Leakey gasket. With the second gasket laid in place you are now using the vents as intended. What sized fire are you building? What I would suggest is fill up the firebowl, If using fire starter cube use 1,place in middle of pile light and let burn with bottom vent full open and lid open for about 20-25 min. Close lid I keep top vent full open till about 180-190 degrees. Close bottom vent to about 2 fingers wide top to about 1 inch. At 220 close bottom to one finger and top to 1/2 inch as it hits 22tt close top to 1/4 if needed to slow rise. This will take time and start with a small fire.

There are 2 things to be aware of 1 when you close both vents you will kill the fire and even after the coals go out you will have residual heat in the ceramics. Hard to judge how long the coals will stay lit after closing the vents give them a stir and check for live coals. The size of the fire will sort of determine has long the coals stay lit. Have fun with your Joe. Look around for John Seltzer's book on this site lots of good info.

If they taste great i would not worry too much about the smoke ring it's more of an aesthetic thing. Yours sure looked tastey

Don't know if you saw this but good info

I think what is happening is the pizza steel is hotter than the dome temp so is cooking the bottom faster than the dome is cooking the toppings. What helped me was having a IR thermometer that i use to monitor the pizza stone. It may take a while to figure it out But domt give up

This is what i meant to attach Not a wiz at doing this

While your waiting lots of info

If you were using the deflector plates make sure the back probe was no past the plate and in the direct air flow that's going around the deflector plateMine runs hotter in the back but i don't know by how much. I think this is caused by the air rushing in kinds of flows to the back of the fire bowl. This just a guess on my part.

I have to get one of those pans

That book is a great source of info. Once you learn about using the Kamado you will naturally start doing things " your way". I always fill the fire box each time i use the smoker. If i'm grilling i might just use what's in the fire bowl. The air flow in the grill is effected by a few things the vents and charcoal size and maybe brand. If you use a lot of small pieces (i've had a bag or 2 like that) this will restrict the airflow somewhat, larger pieces have more larger air gaps hence better air flow. The size of your fire will draw more air then a smaller one and create more airflow. We manage the airflow with the vents to control the size of the fire and temp. Placement of the wood is what ever works for you I used to wrap the wood chunks when i used my gas smoker and have thought about trying it for the Kamado. But the main thing is to enjoy the Classic it's a good obsession.

Chas I wasn't complaining about a stinky smell when doing the chicken my wife just doesn't like smoked chicken or turkey, i was just trying to state that different charcoal is going to have a different smoke flavoring on food, some stronger than others.