Tom,
Thanks! I found it took me a while to understand the temp control on the WSCG, primarily because I was expecting it to behave like a WSM or a kettle, but it's a different beast. After a few uses I learned two things. first it takes a while to settle in on the initial temperature, like 20 min. Second, once it settles in it will stay steady (+/-3 f) until it runs out of fuel, or the ash sweep needs to be actuated to clear the ash from blocking the airflow. Once I understood these two things, I spent an afternoon working the vents to dial in different temperatures. Now I know where I need to set my vents to achieve almost any temperature. These settings are pretty constant, meaning you can pretty much count on the vent settings to always produce the same internal temp. It does change when you use different charcoals and it also might change slightly going from summer to winter cooking (I have yet to see). The changes are shuttle, however and can be easily adapted to by a slight change in the top vent.
So I have read some of thoes other post of frustration, and I offer advice when I see it. In the end I think many of the issues revolve around someone trying to run the WSCG like a kettle and then getting frustrated when it doesn't perform like a kettle.
