My wife and daughters have been out of town so I have been grilling out every night. I've been rotating the grills in my Weber garden - using all of them - but using my SJS more than the others because it is ideal for grilling for one or 2 people and because I wanted to do some experimenting.
So far I have pretty much experimented with the amount of coal to use (in my cooks- 1/2 chimney was about right - maybe a half chimney plus a bit) and how long the SJS would hold temperature with a grill therm dropped through one of the vent holes in the lid.
Some of my observations were: (1) - it helps to have a second charcoal grate when using lump charcoal because of some of the fines fall through the charcoal grate, they can clog the vent at the bottom of the charcoal bowl; (2) when the lid is put on over the food, it APPEARS that the temperature drops, but this seems to be because the food is in between the charcoal and the thermometer (when I rotate the lid to where the vent is not over the food, the temperature on the thermometer comes back up); (3) with between a half and 2/3rds of a chimney of lump, my SJS held a temperature in excess of 500 degrees, lid on, vents all the way open, for about an hour. After an hour, I shut the vents and went to bed. Undoubtedly it would have held acceptable grilling temperatures for a longer period, or if I had toyed with the vents to stabilize the charcoal temps at under 500 degrees initially, it would have held those temps for even longer.
Conclusions - great little grill for one or two people; the reports of temps declining after putting the lid on may be as a result of the food blocking the heat from the coals (or the food inhibiting the flow of air from the bottom vent thru the grill to the top vent - maybe don't fill the grill so full); temps will hold for plenty long to cook for over an hour without monkeying with the coals.
I've been "experimenting" with strip steak, ribeye steak and top sirloin steak (which was cheaper than hamburger meat when I went to the Pig to get some ground chuck earlier in the week). Tonight I would love to get off work in time to go by the fish market and get some tuna or other nice firm fish to cook - after all - you gotta be healthy!
Pat