I bet this has been covered many many times but I am up in arms. I ran out of KBB which I swear by and had my dad pick me up some Charcoal today. Well, he brought me Western family briquettes. Man oh man I am just about to pull the damned chicken out of the smoker and head for the oven. This stuff started off super hot and I had to shut the bottom vent nearly all the way to get the temp down to cooking level. Then it just died. I mean died. In the Weber Kettle of all things. So, being one that is not easily dissuaded by adverse smoking conditions, I reloaded the chimney and started over with the minion method just like I always have and now I can't get the temp above 200 no matter what I do. Oh wait, I just checked again and now it's at 330. Wow, looks like the neighbors get some free charcoal when I can get to town to get some quality stuff. Geez! I just thought he knew after the last time we tried to use his Weber with crap coal. Hahahaha..... Hot and fast it is. Thank goodness it is chicken.