KBQ Noob: 3 questions please

jjdbike

Hello everyone,
As I said in the subject line I am, or am soon to be a KBQ newb. I am sold on the KBQ. I have two questions:

1st, I found a used unit online for $1000. I do not know the owner. By the pics it looks clean and seller says it's only been used 10 times. Is there anything I should look - check for before buying it? 

2nd, I currently own a "Flame Boss 500 WiFi" w/ three meat temp probes and a pit temp probe. Are there any holes in the cook chamber through which I can snake the probes and wired through without interfering with the operation of the unit?

3rd, in order to form a crisp mahogany bark, must one open the top "dirty smoke vent" as wells as the bottom "clean smoke" vent?

Thanks in advance!
JD

paqman

I would ask the owner if you can do the boiling water test.  Basically bring the KBQ to 200F-250F and then put 2 gallons of water in there.  Measure how long it takes before starting to boil and if the water has a good smoky taste.  I am sure others will chime in but that’s my 2 cents. 😂🤣🤷‍♂️

Money_Hillbilly

@jjdbike The unit is solid stainless steel so the only thing to worry about are the fans and thermostat.  My unit seems to be very durable and you can buy a replacement assembly for less than $300.  There is a small opening in the top corner of the door on each side to place your probe wires.  I have found that there is not much difference in running with either or both poppet valves open.  What I have found is the outcome is extremely dependent on the wood moisture level. If the wood is too dry the smoke profile is very weak.  I now but smaller amounts of wood, season it carefully and shoot for 20-30% moisture level.

JohnInCarolina

Money_Hillbilly said:

@jjdbike The unit is solid stainless steel so the only thing to worry about are the fans and thermostat.  My unit seems to be very durable and you can buy a replacement assembly for less than $300.  There is a small opening in the top corner of the door on each side to place your probe wires.  I have found that there is not much difference in running with either or both poppet valves open.  What I have found is the outcome is extremely dependent on the wood moisture level. If the wood is too dry the smoke profile is very weak.  I now but smaller amounts of wood, season it carefully and shoot for 20-30% moisture level.

Hmm.  I have only used seasoned wood (nothing kiln dried) and the smoke profile is quite different if I have the top poppet valve open or closed.  It’s very mild when it’s closed, whereas open can give you quite a bit of smoke flavor and changes the color considerably.  Obviously much depends on the length of the cook and what kind of protein, but that’s just been my experience.

HeavyG

jjdbike said:

Hello everyone,
As I said in the subject line I am, or am soon to be a KBQ newb. I am sold on the KBQ. I have two questions:

1st, I found a used unit online for $1000. I do not know the owner. By the pics it looks clean and seller says it's only been used 10 times. Is there anything I should look - check for before buying it? 

2nd, I currently own a "Flame Boss 500 WiFi" w/ three meat temp probes and a pit temp probe. Are there any holes in the cook chamber through which I can snake the probes and wired through without interfering with the operation of the unit?

3rd, in order to form a crisp mahogany bark, must one open the top "dirty smoke vent" as wells as the bottom "clean smoke" vent?

Thanks in advance!
JD

There are a few ways to get probes into the cook chamber.

As mentioned in the KBQ manual you can feed some probes thru the top corners of the cook box. 

Some folks feed the probe wires thru the door and carefully place the wires in the door gap:

Some KBQ's do not have much of a gap as shown above (not my photo) so feeding wires thru the door may not be possible.

My probes are too large to feed thru one of the top corners and I didn't want to chance screwing up a probe wire  by feeding thru the door so I went another route - I drilled a hole:

The beauty of being a simple metal box is that it is easy to make tweaks. Being stainless steel you don't need to worry about drilling/chipping some protective, rust blocking paint/surface finish.

I added a high temp silicone grommet to help protect the wires but the wires really don't move around once placed so the grommet is probably not really needed - just be sure to deburr both sides of the hole.

JohnInCarolina

All this time I thought HeavyG just didn’t own a camera…

Ozzie_Isaac

JohnInCarolina said:

All this time I thought HeavyG just didn’t own a camera…

Those are Steve Raichlen's photos.

nolaegghead

HeavyG said:

jjdbike said:

Hello everyone,
As I said in the subject line I am, or am soon to be a KBQ newb. I am sold on the KBQ. I have two questions:

1st, I found a used unit online for $1000. I do not know the owner. By the pics it looks clean and seller says it's only been used 10 times. Is there anything I should look - check for before buying it? 

2nd, I currently own a "Flame Boss 500 WiFi" w/ three meat temp probes and a pit temp probe. Are there any holes in the cook chamber through which I can snake the probes and wired through without interfering with the operation of the unit?

3rd, in order to form a crisp mahogany bark, must one open the top "dirty smoke vent" as wells as the bottom "clean smoke" vent?

Thanks in advance!
JD

There are a few ways to get probes into the cook chamber.

As mentioned in the KBQ manual you can feed some probes thru the top corners of the cook box. 

Some folks feed the probe wires thru the door and carefully place the wires in the door gap:

Some KBQ's do not have much of a gap as shown above (not my photo) so feeding wires thru the door may not be possible.

My probes are too large to feed thru one of the top corners and I didn't want to chance screwing up a probe wire  by feeding thru the door so I went another route - I drilled a hole:

The beauty of being a simple metal box is that it is easy to make tweaks. Being stainless steel you don't need to worry about drilling/chipping some protective, rust blocking paint/surface finish.

I added a high temp silicone grommet to help protect the wires but the wires really don't move around once placed so the grommet is probably not really needed - just be sure to deburr both sides of the hole.

...what the...?!!!

He has a camera?!

jjdbike

Thanks everyone!
JD