StlBBQDan

Index finger. Probably about a 1/2 inch or so. That's for the bottom vent. Top was opened to just under first line. I cooked a brisket and a had a great smoke ring. Maybe I just have to be used to the KJ taking a few hours to fully come up to temp.

That's a good idea. I also thought about using the divider to concentrate the charcoal to one side only. Not sure if that's a good idea or not. I am getting a KJ basket tomorrow, so that could change things as well.

I have the Big Joe 2. It's possible the lump had some moisture to start and that's why it didn't get up to temp as quickly. I'm honestly probably just nitpicking because the food is coming out amazing, and that's the important thing.

Hey everyone. I've had my KJ big joe for a couple of months now and while I'm having many successful cooks, there's a couple of issues I'm dealing with. 1. Vent settings: I like to generally shoot for around 275 on most of my cooks. My last cook I shut down the vents around 200. The top vent was slightly before the first white line and the bottom vent was maybe finger width wide. The first 45 min it seemed to stabilize around 250 which was fine but then over the next 2 hours it increased up to 300+. This seems to be a common theme with me. Do I need less width in the bottom vent?