Decided to smoke a 5-6 lb butt for first cook.
Coated with mustard & a heavy dose of Pork Barrel BBQ rub
Filled pan 2/3 full with charcoal briquettes with 3-4 wood chunks buried.
Used deflector ( which by the way had never been used )
When butt had been on 3 hours the hood thermometer read 275 F but the butt looked like cooking rapidly!
Got my igrill & probed the meat & put the grate probe on .
GRATE TEMP WAS 360F !
Closed vents almost completely but took a long time to come down.
Foil panned the butt with a little beer ( it was handy) at 165F
Finished on the grill. Turned out OK a little dry.
Few things I learned.
Don't trust the hood thermometer!
Might have used too much charcoal? Got too hot & cooked the butt to 190-195 F without adding any fuel.
This is a big cooker, my butt looks tiny on the grate, with an extender ( I ordered) you can cook for a crowd.
The grease drain rod works, my homemade grease pan overflowed!
Although not made from extremely thick materials the design is such that no lit charcoal & no ashes do not come in contact with the main grill only with the replaceable ash pan , charcoal pan & grate.
Parts available & almost reasonable!
Ordered drip pans & an extension rack.
Although first cook wasn't perfect..... Who wants a cooker that doesn't require a little skill & a learning curve!
