Hi, I've been cooking with the Akorn Jr, having done 4 cooks, brisket twice and short ribs twice, I stumbled upon a forum post whilst researching for a larger kamado so decided to join up.
Just purchased a 2nd hand, one time use Pro Smoke Dragon Kamado off marketplace so keen to learn how to get versatility out of it!
Welcome.
Great grill the Dragon. Like the Akorn Jr temperature is controlled by the top and bottom vents.
Spend a day with just charcoal lit and working out where the different temps settle on various vent settings.
I see you have a lot controller with it so that may make it easier to set a temp.
With wood chunks for smoking I find I get cleaner smoke when I mix the chunks in with the charcoal. You don’t need a heap of chunks in there maybe two max for a long cook.
Remember small fire is easier to control than big fire. I always start fire small and go from there. Temp in a Kamado is easy to increase but difficult to decrease.
Enjoy the grill.
Welcome to the forum!
I see you have a lot controller with it so that may make it easier to set a temp.
The controller I got for overnight cooking, that way I'll spend an hour to stabilise then leave a brisket or ribs at 220F for 8hrs overnight😅. Time poor with a young family.
For smoking wood, can I split ironbark firewood and use that?
Yep you could but as I say you don’t need much it just needs to smoulder. There is an internal temp on meat where the mea5 does not take on anymore smoke in any event. I can’t remember that temp 
Somebody will jump in on it.
I have a Smartfire for those overnight cooks but also use it on lon* cooks as well.
Welcome - looks good 👍🏼
Nice looking BBQ, welcome aboard.
Yep you could but as I say you don’t need much it just needs to smoulder. There is an internal temp on meat where the mea5 does not take on anymore smoke in any event. I can’t remember that temp
Somebody will jump in on it.
I have a Smartfire for those overnight cooks but also use it on lon* cooks as well.
So I tried some ironbark for the first time whilst smoking pork ribs. I maintained 130C for 2hrs but then my temps went way up to 170C and overcooked my ribs! The ironbark I split off firewood so resembled kindling and I placed 2 pieces in there, and added a couple smaller pieces at the 2hr mark. Where did it go wrong? I started with some water in my driptray/cast iron heat deflector, tried topping up after 2hrs but didn't help.
Where did it go wrong?
Too much oxygen/airflow.
Yes, that will do it. Once a kamado gets some heat in to it, it's very hard to get it back down and opening the lid needs to be done quickly so you don't fan the fire.
The only way to get it back is to restrict the air flow and as the fire dies you 'burb' the lid every few minutes to get some cooler air in there. It will eventually come down.
Yep fell into that trap early on in my Kamado journey.
When I do a low n slow I use the Smartfire pit controller which has a “lid open” mode which effectively then restricts the fire after you close the lid to control that sudden burst of oxygen. Not everybody likes it but it works for me.
Where did it go wrong? I started with some water in my driptray/cast iron heat deflector, tried topping up after 2hrs but didn't help.
Not much point in water in a kamado. It's moister in there than other bbqs. I did the water pan thing a few times when I first started but it would boil away and then the temps would take off. Refilling it mid-cook sucks and involves having that lid open even longer.
Some folks here advised me not to bother and I haven't looked back. Don't open it unless you have to, and try to be as fast as possible if you need to spritz or wrap or whatever.
When I do a low n slow I use the Smartfire pit controller which has a “lid open” mode which effectively then restricts the fire after you close the lid to control that sudden burst of oxygen.
Closing the bottom vent does the same thing and is a good alternative if you don't have a controller.
I split off firewood so resembled kindling
Did it catch fire?
Gday
The inkbird has a pause function just press the single button on the motor for three secounds and it will come up pause. Once you’ve closed the lid leave for 5 mins till the grate probe come up to temp. Press again for three secounds and it’s away.
Normal pottery kamados would soak up the excess moisture. Not good. But the steel kamados it’s an advantage you’re basically cooking in a moist cooker. Cuts down on the spritzing which you do to cut down on moisture loss.
It’s good to have the option either way really
Regards CD
Did it catch fire?
It did... 
what size chunks are ideal for ironbark? 8-10cm?
Gday
The inkbird has a pause function just press the single button on the motor for three secounds and it will come up pause. Once you’ve closed the lid leave for 5 mins till the grate probe come up to temp. Press again for three secounds and it’s away.
Normal pottery kamados would soak up the excess moisture. Not good. But the steel kamados it’s an advantage you’re basically cooking in a moist cooker. Cuts down on the spritzing which you do to cut down on moisture loss.
It’s good to have the option either way really
Regards CD
thanks dave, i figured it out late, I noticed the fan ramped up and unplugged the air supply!
It did...
Kindling shape is not what you want. Chunks will smoulder and smoke so get some from the local Bunnings or BBQs Galore etc. If sourcing your own, they'd be at least the size of a large egg, probably a bit bigger like the size of a lemon depending on how long you want them to last.
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