Got it cleaned up this morning (as much as is possible with a high pressure hose and some throwaway towels). I started thawing out an arm roast after I bought it yesterday so that I would have something to throw on while I was burning it in. Fired it up mostly to get the smell right but also to loosen up whatever else was caked on so that I could at least give the grates a proper hot scraping. There is something just a little off about anybody else's cooker's smell. I needed to make it smell like mine (Kingsford blue, hickory and beef I guess being the dominant "notes"). I also noted a hint of someone throwing cigarette butts in. Luckily it wasn't bad, but that is nasty. The smell is gone now. Threw the meat one when the temp hit around 300. I was running two Maverick pit probes, and amazingly the lid thermo and both probes were almost identical the whole time. The roast was almost 3 lbs and still 1/2 frozen when I started. I cooked it completely naked since it was so hard that nothing was really going to permeate the meat. A couple of slivers of hickory were just for my own olfactory amusement. Filled up both indirect baskets and put some charcoal in the middle too. I even used the new chimney started just so that everything/every area of every grate included could get christened. Ran full vents open the whole time with temps around 400 mostly but up around 500 by the end of the meat cook and for a little while after. I was basically willing to scrap the piece of meat to get the grill burned in, but it turned out pretty damn good. Took less than an hour (with a flip at about 45 minutes) to cook it to 145. Sorry I didn't get any pics, but I overshot my temp by about 10 degrees (running near 500 degrees will do that) so I could only rest for a few minutes and then me and the boys had to eat quickly before it turned. It was still plenty red in the middle, and because it was partially frozen it didn't flare up the charcoals very much. The outside was dark but not burnt. Once I had the grill tempo below 300 I went to work on the grates. All is right in the world now. I figure I won't get in too much trouble since my wife and kids tell me all the time that they just want some "grilled" food. Sacrilege in my opinion, but if it makes them happy... Also, I only had to touch the mac machine for $20 since I had a little over $30 in the "honey don't know" pocket. As far as she knows it was a $20 CL score.
The part I am leaving out about why I will be in at least some trouble is because I am actually about to start thinning the heard of cookers. I have a monster custom (not custom from a stock design but COMPLETELY custom) stick burner being built right now that will be completed in about 3 weeks. I'll leave the details a mystery until I have some pics and stuff, but it is a 20X36 main chamber with a 24X20X36 vertical box and a 22X20X24 firebox. All 1/4" steel and literally every option I could dream up in my head and still fit it on my patio and under the roof with proper ventilation. It is already fully paid for, so it is really hard waiting. It is going to be an absolute beast, and for about the same amount of money that I would have paid one of the Houston custom guys I was able to build my dream cooker. He is delivering it for free, so that was a big cost savings right there since I am sure it will be pushing 1/2 ton. I have barely been able to use an offset (the one I got down here was just a POS to hold me over for a little while) since I moved to TX. I was renting for a while, so I sold or disposed of all of my cookers when I came down then started over. Bottom line is that the 22.5" WSM is going away (if anyone is in N. TX and wants a deal...) along with my offset (probably going to have the scrap yard take it for the sheet value), an ECB and a roaster. I am going to keep my electric for those times when you don't want to cook inside but don't or can't use any fuel either. So the heard will be three. The one thing that I am not sure if my wife will catch onto is that a couple of the mods on the new one were specifically to add dimension beyond typical firebox grilling ability (OK, that's enough hints).
