Well after seasoning the side burner this week - "spray" on some oil and cook
for several hours.

This Saturday I did a medium sized tri tip - a bit of overkill with the little
tri-tip and the giant chamber but what the heck.

I filled a chimney starter and a few minutes later dumped all the coals into the
sidebox.

I browned the trimmed little devil for a few minutes in the side box on to start
the cooking process, then transferred the meat to the main chamber, closed both
lids & opened the vents to heat up the unit. At 225 closed down the vents to
about 10% dropped 2 chunks about the size of a fist of red oak into the side
box, and walked away.

The tri-tip had been sitting in Garlic, Onion, salt, pepper and red wine for
several hours.

That was about 3:45 The guests were supposed to be there at 6:00. a little later
they called to say they were delayed until about 6:30.

About 6:00 the meat read 135 on an instant read, and the chamber temp was down
to about 180 or so. Transferred the meat back to the side burner to "finish"
the browning. When that was done the out it came into a warm oven while the rest
of the dinner was finished.

At 7:00 we ate - the tri-tip had a fantastic flavor, the meat was tinged red
around the outside for about 1/8th of an inch. This was one of the most tender
tri-tips I have ever cooked. Served with some local Central Coast red Q sauce
on the side.

Next experiment - 16 pound turkey.

It seems that one chimney of charcoal will not get over 225.

Dimitri