Thanks again for all the comments tddeangelo!
As you said, it wasn't that hard to build. I used a chair and a couple pillows to hold up the firebox while getting bolts started, but that was the only difficult part to do alone. Even though easy, I should have just had Lowes do it after all. I wanted to make sure proper care was taken based on some loose parts I saw regularly on display units, but some of those were pre-built anyway (towel rack, OKJ badges) or probably just played with too much at the store. It would have been easier to just go through the instructions and tighten up anything. I did sheer a bolt on the firebox handle so some hardware could be better and I could be a little less zealous.
I took a day to give it a 6 hour seasoning, adding some wood near the end to smoke it up. Starting in the low 200s for a few hours and then ramping up to mid to high 200s with some 300+ the last half. Started low as I've seen many have had problems with peeling paint on their OKJ's, and since curing the paint is part of the season I wanted a gentle start. The manual is very vague saying "small fire," "two hours at least," "then begin increasing temperature." It's your product, give numbers! The OKJ website says 275-300 (not product specific), but with the firebox being hotter than the chamber I started lower for safety. No peeling paint yet, so we'll see.
It also mentions nothing of seasoning the propane side, but I don't see why it wouldn't. The point of seasoning as I see is to 1. Cure the paint. 2. Melt/burn away manufacturing oils/solvents/etc. 3. Add rust resistance with vegetable oil. 4. Give it flavor (questionable). At least 3 of those relate to the propane side as well, so I let one burner run on low at a time for a few hours, switching burners every 15-30 mins.
First impressions, it's a good kit. Side burner is great for starting chimneys. Propane is real hot, real quick. Firebox works easier than I was led to believe by those that try to push people away from cheap offsets. 1/2 chimney of Royal Oak Ridge briqs gets 220-250 easily and it stays there for 30-50 mins without much adjustment.
I think my hesitation for the Char-Griller ash drawer was wrong though. Can't say without using it, but I think it'd be a nice feature to be able to fully pull it out while cooking (made possible if using a basket that sits off and above the drawer. With the OKJ there's really nothing I can do but push the ashes around to keep air underneath and wait for complete cool down to pull them out when done. I've been using the charcoal chambers grate (metal plate underneath) for the firebox to give extra heat protection. And putting foil under that to keep ashes off the metal to make easy cleaning and less corrosion. I likely need some extra tools like an ash can and something to pull ashes out during cooks. Any suggestions?
I built a charcoal basket out of 24 x 24" expanded metal, exactly as seen in this video.
It was easy with some tin snips as the metal is thin enough. Eventually I'll try using it for extended hands-free fire maintenance such as minion or snake method, but so far just use it as an easy way to keep coals off the wall or shake ash off. If I raise this basket up some, I may not care as much about ashes building up underneath either.
Also bought a Classic Accessories cover as they have good reviews and seems heavier duty than most store bought covers. It's not specific to the unit of course, but that one seems to disintegrate in a year from what I hear. I might need to reinforce the spot under the chimney bolt as that will push through eventually I'm sure. Maybe a patch, spray on some FlexSeal type reinforcement on the inside, cover chimney with plastic bottle or a half tennis ball, etc.
I added the Fireblack felt to the charcoal chamber door. Easy job with just a little rubbing alcohol to degrease beforehand. So far so good. You can tell where the door would leak without it as it doesn't press and indent in some areas as much, but after several days more began to indent. I didn't notice much leaking on the smoke chamber or firebox (no seal), as most gets pulled right out the chimney. There's some, but nothing to worry about. Opening the propane side while smoking the other side even pulls smoke into that chamber. Some through grease hole between the two chambers and others through the seams in the wall that splits the two chambers.
Next up is a dual-probe wireless thermometer. I want something with high and low temp alarms, and I don't think Thermopro has the low temp alarm. I have an old single-probe wireless meat thermometer which I used for chamber temps for the first half of my cook and then changed it to an IT meat probe. Will also need an ash can, some kind of ash pulling tool, some rubber gloves for less hand-washing, and heat gloves to take meat off the rack. Plan to set up some kind of cheap baffle system as well, but no need until I have a dual thermometer to study heat differentials in the chamber. For first cook I just put the rack close to the chamber entrance and put a loaf pan with water in it. Blocks direct heat, adds some moisture.
What do you guys keep outside on racks under the grill? Seems like wood and charcoal risk getting wet, so not sure what to even use it for other than some basic tools I don't mind in the elements.
I suppose I shouldn't add everything to just this one thread, so I'll have to start a Qview. For now, below is my first cook for a quick teaser. I sous vide cooked a 4-5lb pork butt at 167 for about 21+ hours, ice bathed it and into the fridge for a day, then a 4 hour smoke at 215-250. All in all I couldn't have asked for more on my first smoke. Tender, plenty of smoke flavor, you can see it took a nice smoke ring, and delicious bark. Way better than the "professional" pulled pork I had the day before. Mixed with some of the juice from sous vide bag, it makes for easy and moist reheating in the microwave too. I went sous vide so I could make my first cook a short cook and the pork butt was on sale for $5.50 so cheaper than ribs.
