Gigasonix

What happened to the perforated plate? If it was missing you can call the help line and they should send one to you

I would say my method is very similar but I haven’t used wood wool lighters. I use natural lighters without any accelerant and I didn’t know that wood wool lighters contained accelerant

There is only one big gap in the fire bowl. So if you look through the vent at the front you should be able to see in the centre of the fire bowl underneath the cast iron grate. If you can only see the side of the fire bowl or lots of ash then that’s probably the issue

If the charcoal is burning and the vents and the front and the top are fully open then you get get it to 400c quite quickly. is the fire bowl definitely aligned so the opening is lined up with the front vent? Have you checked that there is no ash blocking the vent or the grate in the fire bowl? what charcoal are you using?

The whole kamado is a big chimney starter. One of the great benefits of a kamado is that they are very easy to light with decent charcoal. Why would you need to use a chimney to start it? Adding very hot coal from cold, especially in cold weather, is likely to increase the chance of cracking the firebowl or even worse, the kamado itseft. They only time I've ever used a chimney starter with my Kamado is when I was making pizzas and I wanted to top it up when it was already hot with more hot coals to keep the temperature vey high.

15 bags? I’ve used a full bag of BigK ach15 dura over about 1 month and about 1/4 of a bag of CPL and I think they are very similar in quality

I marinated it over night in an anchovy, garlic, salt, rosemary and olive oil marinade that I blended myself but you could choose what ever flavours you like best. I didn't use any wood and I'm glad I didn't as I used CPL restaurant charcoal and the meat had a good smokey flavour and a noticeable smoke ring. I did two large whole chickens a few weeks ago, one with the same marinade and one with a Thai marinade, smoked with beech and the Thai one was great but the garlic, salt, rosemary and olive oil marinade chicken was overpowered by the smoke of the beech.

I smoked a shoulder of lamb last Sunday for 10 hours until it was falling off the bone and it was raining most of the day.

I use the ProQ ranger which fits easily but leaves a bit of a gap around the edge so you do lose a bit of space to fill the bowl with charcoal compared to just using the fire bowl without the basket. The Ynni basket might be a better fit and better quality but it costs a lot more.

I use the ProQ charcoal basket so I can lift the basket out and shake it over a wheelie bin to get the ash off the big pieces of charcoal that are left and lose the tiny pieces then I clean the inside of the kamado with an ash hoover. Makes the job easy and takes a few minutes.

If you cut it into three pieces with a strip down the middle that you throw away it will fit.

Its tight but they do just fit on

I’ve bought the same from appliance direct but instead of cutting my original deflector I’ve cut a pizza stone that I bought from Asda for £8 and kept my original deflector plate intact. There is also one available on Amazon for the same price

Which charcoal did you use?

Yes I decided to get the same as you, thanks for the info.