diff --git a/components/pid/TODO.md b/components/pid/TODO.md
index 5a820f4..6bb19a3 100644
--- a/components/pid/TODO.md
+++ b/components/pid/TODO.md
@@ -52,15 +52,16 @@ git history for `temp_controller.py`/`temp_controller_smith.py`).
   actually exposes a model to feed.
 
 - [ ] **Config access is unchecked `dict[key]` everywhere.**
-  `params['Hold']`, `model_params['gain']`, etc., throughout, with no
-  schema validation at load time. We already hit this bug class once
+  `params['Hold']`, `params['Td']`, etc., throughout, with no schema
+  validation at load time. We already hit this bug class once
   (`config.json.sim`'s `gain`/`Model` nesting mismatch). A small
   schema/dataclass validation layer at config-load would surface
   errors immediately instead of mid-`__init__` — and would have caught
-  the dead `TempCtrl.Kalman` / `Model.kn` / `Plant.kn` keys still
-  sitting in `config.json.templ` and `config.json.sim` (harmless today
-  since extra keys are just ignored, but nothing reads them anymore
-  after the Kalman/`kn` removal — see `components/plant/TODO.md`).
+  the dead `TempCtrl.Kalman` / `Model.kn` / `Plant.kn` keys that used
+  to sit unused in `config.json.templ`/`.sim` (since deleted) and the
+  `Model.gain`/`Plant.gain` keys still doing the same in
+  `config.json.sim` right now — `Pot` dropped `gain` entirely, see
+  `components/plant/TODO.md`.
 
 - [ ] **`kalman.py` is now dead code in production.** Neither
   `temp_controller.py` nor `temp_controller_smith.py` uses `Kalman`
diff --git a/components/plant/TODO.md b/components/plant/TODO.md
index f52ab64..6058040 100644
--- a/components/plant/TODO.md
+++ b/components/plant/TODO.md
@@ -22,29 +22,37 @@ the current `delay`-line rewrite of `Pot`.
   wired up as plant-side measurement noise. Sensor noise is now
   modeled one layer up, in `TempSensorSim` (`temp_offset`/`variance`,
   wired from `brewpi.py`'s `TempSensorFactory.create(..., temp_offset=
-  -0.15, variance=0.01)`), not in the plant model. Note: `config.json.templ`
-  and `config.json.sim` still carry stale `Model.kn`/`Plant.kn` keys
-  that nothing reads anymore — harmless but worth deleting (see
-  `components/pid/TODO.md`'s config-validation item).
+  -0.15, variance=0.01)`), not in the plant model. The stale
+  `Model.kn`/`Plant.kn` keys this item flagged have since been deleted
+  from `config.json.templ`/`config.json.sim` too.
 
 - [x] **`theta_amb` is hardcoded, not configured.** Fixed: added a
   top-level `ambient_temperature` key to `config.json`(`.templ`/`.sim`);
   `brewpi.py` reads it once and passes it to both the real `Pot` and
   (via a new `theta_amb` param) `temp_controller_smith.py`'s internal
   models, so the Smith predictor's model matches the real plant's
-  assumed ambient instead of silently defaulting to 20. Real ambient
-  temperature still isn't modeled as a *drifting* disturbance (it's a
-  static config value, not a live sensor reading), so robustness to
-  ambient drift remains untested — that part of the original concern
-  stands.
+  assumed ambient instead of silently defaulting to 20. `Pot` also
+  dropped its separate `params['theta']` initial-temperature field —
+  it now always starts at `theta_amb` (so the same config value governs
+  both the assumed ambient *and* the pot's starting temperature; there's
+  no longer a way to start a sim at a temperature other than ambient).
+  Real ambient temperature still isn't modeled as a *drifting*
+  disturbance (it's a static config value, not a live sensor reading,
+  though `Pot.set_ambient_temperature()` now exists as a hook for that),
+  so robustness to ambient drift remains untested.
 
-- [ ] **No actuator/process realism.** Partially improved: `process()`
-  now clamps `self.temp` to `min(100, ...)` (won't simulate past
-  boiling), but there's still no heater power saturation enforced
-  inside `Pot` itself (handled ad hoc in demo harnesses), no
-  evaporation/lid heat loss, and no varying thermal mass `M` as volume
-  changes (e.g. boil-off, adding water/grain) — `M` is a fixed
-  constant for the whole simulation.
+- [ ] **No actuator/process realism.** Partially improved (`process()`
+  clamps `self.temp` to `min(100, ...)`, won't simulate past boiling)
+  and partially regressed: `Pot` also dropped its `gain` (heater
+  efficiency) factor entirely — `process()` now applies 100% of
+  commanded power with no loss, whereas before `params['gain']` could
+  model e.g. an 80% efficient transfer. `Model.gain`/`Plant.gain` are
+  now dead keys in `config.json.sim` (already absent from `.templ`) —
+  see `components/pid/TODO.md`'s config-validation item. Still no
+  heater power saturation enforced inside `Pot` itself (handled ad hoc
+  in demo harnesses), no evaporation/lid heat loss, and no varying
+  thermal mass `M` as volume changes (e.g. boil-off, adding
+  water/grain) — `M` is a fixed constant for the whole simulation.
 
 - [x] **Debug `print()`s left in `Pot.process()`.** Fixed: the
   unconditional `p_loss`/`theta_amb`/`temp` prints (leftover from the
diff --git a/scripts/demos/sud/demo_sud.py b/scripts/demos/sud/demo_sud.py
index 0b8d979..287e78e 100644
--- a/scripts/demos/sud/demo_sud.py
+++ b/scripts/demos/sud/demo_sud.py
@@ -34,12 +34,10 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
 	}
 
 	plant_params = {
-		"theta"		: 20,
 		"C"			: 4190,
 		"M"			: 20,
 		"L"			: 0.2,
-		"Td"		: 30,
-		"gain"		: 1.0
+		"Td"		: 30
 	}
 
 	sud = Sud("sude/sud_0010.json")