I wonder if you cut and fit some fine wire mesh on the bottom how long it would last?
I don't know how you light the fire, newspaper, lighter cubes or whatever, but when I use lump I stopped using a chimney.
I just pile some up on a cooking grate with a couple lighter cubes either buried within or actually sitting under the grate in the kettle bowl. Works great and eliminates the problem of some pieces basically being burnt up like when using a chimney.
On the same page as small pieces falling through, if you have an extra coal grate, lay in 90* on the existing grate and those small pieces won't fall through your cooker.
I had all but given up on lump because of the inconsistency, but after learning from here about the second grate trick, I've started using it again.
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