Big'un,Yes, the hot spot seems to persist on all but the lowest-temperature cooks. My air inlet vent is aligned directly in front of the lower damper at present, which I think may be part of the problem - the air rushes in and directly to the rear of the unit and up the back to where the hot spot is. I contemplated rotating the lowest ring to make the entering air go around the outside of the ring, thus slowing it down before it can get into the fire box.Thanks for the recommendation of the Turbo Grate. I've used things like that on air supply houses for automotive paint booths. I'll check it out.