It just showed up!!!

I've not noticed any adverse effects with light loads, but then again I don't do too many of those! I like the quarry tile idea, but I have no clue whether it has any merit. Seems like it would even things out to me...

Don't try to reinvent the wheel.

Put meat on rack.

Set at 225�

Insert temp probe.

Add 2-4 oz. wood of choice.

Leave door closed.

When about at temp,open door and look.

If not ready close door and cook more.

Go watch NCAA tourney.

Enjoy.

If that doesn't work,next time reinvent the wheel.

Thank you Tom for your common sense, not commonly seen on forums.

You're welcome.

Comes from being an ol' KY hillbilly.

"If'n it ain't broke,don't fix it".

I appreciate the enthusiasm and the attention/interest for detail,but sometimes we start fixing things that aren't broken.

After the long posts,by interested folks,it seems like about 99% of the Cookshacks work just like they are designed to -right out of the box.

But come on guys, a good portion of the fun of owning stuff is trying to figure out how it works and how to make it work better. What's the harm in: Putting in some tiles, opening the door, mopping, measuring smoker temperature, etc. etc.? Personally, I'd try it out first per directions. Then, maybe I'd try something different and compare the results. If it didn't work better, I certainly wouldn't blame the smoker. And I think there's a lot of value in discussing these sort of ideas here: What works, what doesn't work, how, and why.

Now don't get me wrong here. I certainly subscribe to the idea that a properly maintained and operating CS will give excellent results without further tinkering.

yep tjr

That'a why I prefaced with" try it first and then reinvent the wheel,if it doesn't work".

The one other thing that happens may be that we spend so much time ponderin' before we do the cookin',that we don't get around to the cookin'.

Kinda like folks told me with my first computer"push some buttons-you won't break nothin"

LOL

Smokin' used to say,back when,that with many other cookers you had a lot of outright failures.

Many of us have agonized over the purchase decision and then we want to do it exactly "right".

With a CS,they are almost always edible.

If we cook two butts,a month apart with a couple of changes,we can think of differences.

Then, cook 100 over the next month and they all pretty much average out.[Good]

I guess my thoughts are to trust your acquisition judgement to be correct and go ahead and enjoy the cooking.

How's that KCBS cookoff in Louisville looking for this summer?

No news of Louisville cookoffs here, at least not in the newspaper food section. And www.kcbs.us looks like it hasn't been updated for 2004 yet. Seems like last year it was when we were on vacation in July.

Or maybe that was the weekend I was busy perfecting my square wheel

I think maybe the new one,just outside the city limits,will be in August?

It will show up soon.

It will be a state championship and draw all the "big dogs".

KCBS site is slower than some others.