You’ve gotten your Grill Dome delivered (or brought it home) and now you need to know what you need to do to get cooking.
If you purchased your Grill Dome directly 
from the company, it will be delivered strapped to a wooden pallet, shrink-wrapped and secured with metal or plastic strapping. If you purchased your Grill Dome from an authorized dealer, the wooden pallet and other packaging may have been removed. The dome will be secured shut at the hinges and various pieces of packing material are placed inside to protect the ceramic components during shipping.
Refer to your users’ manual to unpack the Grill Dome and remove all the components and accessories. Now you need to figure out where it’s going to live. Even with the Grill Dome mobile stand, you don’t want to be moving it, especially without help! Small Grill Domes weigh 80 pounds while the Superdome comes in at a whopping 280 pounds. The Grill Dome is a heavy piece of cooking equipment; once you have a home for it, my advice is to leave it there!
I have a large Grill Dome Infinity with a cypress table so selecting the right spot was important. I decided to add it to my collection of cookers in my side yard along with a few other grills and smokers. I leveled the ground and put a grill pad from Diversitech.com on the area that the Grill Dome and table would be.
Depending on the size of your Grill Dome, you’ll need some help. Medium, large and Superdome cookers are heavy… too heavy for one person to safely lift into a DomeMobile or table. Get a friend to come over and give you a hand with it. You might be able to man-handle a small Grill Dome but it’s always better to have help.
Where should you put the Grill Dome?
As with any smoker or grill, you want it at least three feet away from anything combustible (shrubbery, over-hanging branches, the side of your house, etc.). If you don’t have a DomeMobile or wagon be sure to use the ceramic feet under the cooker (it’s also a good idea to put fire bricks atop a wooden deck and then the Grill Dome atop those). The feet enhance the air flow into the cooker and reduces the heat under the cooker.
Follow the instructions provided with your Grill Dome to assemble all the components. You want the feet to be evenly positioned around the Grill Dome but not near the front slide (bottom damper). I recommend positioning the feet at 8, 12 and 4 o’clock position. Be sure the fire box is correctly aligned with the opening facing with the bottom damper door. (You don’t need to use the ceramic feet if your Grill Dome is in a metal cart such as the wagon or DomeMobile.)
Once the Grill Dome is assembled, you want to be sure it’s level. If it’s not level you’ll get uneven charcoal burning and irregular smoke penetration. Use a carpenter’s level to align the Grill Dome front to back and left to right. If the Grill Dome is not level, use shims to bring it to level.
Your Grill Dome is ready for its first cook. It requires no seasoning before you use it.