I think the biggest problem with not getting it hot enough, is liquid in the moat and leaving the lid off. Leave the liquid out and don't lift the lid.
I agree it is a whole lot like a convection oven. As far as food safety goes, those grill marks are not so good for us and the meat is a lot moister in it.
There is a picture here on the forum of some of the bread I have done in the Cobb.
To get the nice crisp crust I did put about a half oz. of water in the moat, right when I put in the bread to get some oven spring. That cooks out in about the first 10 min. The rest is a dry bake.
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27226814/gotomsg/27227684.cfm#27227684