Boater

Yeah, I found it a lot easier to hit close to temp and keep it there once I got a Smokewares top. But I'm a total newb to these grills - I know it's a skill folk have mastered for years, I likely just didn't figure it out before the new top arrives. What charcoal are you using? I'm using B & B Hardwood, not a pricey coal but have no issue getting up to temp and keeping it there. Haven't had that kind of issue with the one (same model) that I have.

Hard to say for sure, but a guess is maybe to do with the quality / quantity / size of the charcoal? If the chunks are too large, it takes a while for more coals to light. Too small, and the air flow is restricted, and it also takes longer. Same on quantity - too little just don't get enough heat from adjacent, too much isn't as much of an issue (unless there is an air flow issue). But maybe I'm missing something?

Good point. Classic case of "your mileage may vary".

Nothing like being optimistic I will say I'm a lot more comfortable with using the Smokewares top than the original.daisy wheel. Other than that, and adding the KJ ash basket, the Classic I is just what I needed. And I'm pretty sure that all the dimensions on the 1 and 2 are the same, so all accessories should fit just fine. The Joetisserie does.

I believe I see some barbeque in their future And I'll second the suggestion to contact KJ for a warranty claim. They'll have the best paint match, at least.

The biggest point for me with the Dexter knives is that they have (for me at least) a good balance between maintaining a sharp blade and ease of resharpening. If I was looking for a knife that I didn't want to sharpen, I'd look elsewhere. Other than something like a bread knife, that will never see hard use, all the knives I use regularly will need touchup regularly and sharpening after a heavy job (filleting a lot of fish with heavy scales, for instance).

Looking good!

Well, the real similarity comes from using the ceramic deflectors (in low position) for slow cooks. The sloroller is supposed to improve the circulation over the deflectors, but I'm happy with what I get. The real benefit I got with the newer cap was an increased ease to get the grill to near the temperature I wanted, similar to what you would get with the newer Kontrol Tower from KJ. Just easier to use, not improvement in quality of the results once the cook is done. I got the top from a post on the classified section of the forum. https://www.kamadoguru.com/forum/80-guru-classifieds/

I was in your position not too long ago, and got some good advice from several members of the forum (some of which I took) And of course, there's John Setzler's Really Right Stuff sticky thread with tons of thoughts (in comments as well as his post). I ended up getting a Joetisserie from AGC, and a KJ basket. I had a bit too much of a learning curve on the daisy wheel top vent and got a 2nd hand Smokeworks chimney. Thought about the Slo Roller, but thought I'd try it without it first, and have been very satisfied with the output so far. I don't use the Joetisserie as much as I thought I would, and spatchcocking a bird (my main use) does as good a job, but still glad I got it just because I like the ease of use, and more important, watching it turn

Dug the potatoes a bit late this year, so they've only been curing a month, but wanted to give them a try on the Joe. Wrapped in foil to ensure no smoke flavor, not sure what that would taste like, and this was to see how the potatoes were coming along. Had a small piece of pork roast without much external fat, so added a few strips of bacon for cover. Came out good, but got a bit more salt than I'd expected from the bacon into the roast. Started all at the same time, around 230F, ramping up to 270 at 1.5 hours, wrapped at 4 hours (right after this pic), then bumped temp to about 350. Potatoes were well-done at that time and got pulled about a half-hour later. Still warm when meat finished at about 5 hours. Had good flavor, still a little bit short on the sweetness, but very edible. Few more weeks of curing will help with sweetness (or add some brown sugar). Sweet potatoes and pork is one of our go-to meals, was nice to see how easy it was on the grill.

I started out with a similar question, ended up leaving the grill out of the patio, not so much concern of the smoke stain but more the increased smoke thickness inside the patio. I lose enough aroma in the first meal from just cooking, having more smoke in the cooking area would cut my senses of smell and taste even more. Just my 2c on the issue.

Yeah, those look like just surface marring. Sometimes that last mile of the shipping gets a bit choppy. Fortunately, yours seems scuffed, not cracked. But they have a good warranty period, so keep those photos for documentation, should something show up months from now. Mine used to look that clean. Not now, tho. Congrats on the grill, it's a bit of a learning curve in using the air controls, but for much of the rest, this forum has a lot of good information to get you going.

The equivalent of 1,724 KJ Classics, or thereabouts (give or take 1,500).

Welcome. Ditto on the photos. Just have 2 hexadecimal strings that Firefox can't display. Did you upload then attach the photos?

There's a dollar bill test that works well to test for seal. Close the lid on a dollar bill. It should pull out with some resistance all around the seal. But it don't need to be the SAME resistance - that's a road to unneeded work and frustration.