[JMSetzler]

I just fired it up a little while ago after oiling down the insides with a little evoo. It came up to temp very quickly. I was surprised. I loaded a full basket of kingsford blue with a few wood chunks. I lit up six briquettes and tossed them in the middle and closed everything up. I had the bottom vent wide open. When it got up to 230° I started closing down the vent, but it went right on up to nearly 285° before it started to settle back down. I probably need to let the temp come up more slowly with the vent only partially open.

About 35 minutes after getting it up to temp and the air vent barely cracked, it seems to have settled in at about 260° which seems fine to me. I'll let it run just to see how long it can go without any maintenance on the charcoal and I might toss a fatty on a little later tonight. Lookin' good so far!