PrimoSand

Hi Folks, I'm in Hermosa Beach Ca 90254 (Los Angeles area). This spring I loaded up on Cowboy lump (seemingly only available in the spring) to avoid sky high priced and low quality Big Green Egg lump (available yr round @ crappy BBQ store) The picture shows what I was finding with BGE lump. With limited space I can't order a lot of Dennis's new extruded stuff but I have to get some. If anyone in my area is planning an order I'd like to share in the order. Maybe 6 boxes give or take ??? thanks Jeff

Can any KK owners that use a Guru w/ a blower fan out there answer this question : I KK my pork shoulders at 225 degrees until they hit my desired internal temp. To maintain this 225 degrees I have to almost completely shut the top vent and have just a tiny sliver of an opening in the bottom vent. (very, very small amount of air needed) So my question is ..... with the need for such a ridiculously small amount of air needed to maintain this low dome temp. wouldn't a Guru electronic blower even with the fan always off be too much air to maintain the desired 225 degrees for low and slow cooking? I will ask the Guru people this question if I do decide to pony up $650 plus for their ProCom or $225 for their DigiQ ll but I'd sure like to hear it from some of you folks first. thanks is advance for your help. jeff

Hi Jasen, Hay thanks again for the polder port plugs a while back. They really work well. They also look like they'll last forever if you don't drop them and watch them bounce off the balcony down 8 ft into the ivy. Only lost one !! On a happier note ....... There goes the timer !! the roast are done !!! the roast are done !! these four went for 20 hrs @ 225* I pulled them when the internal meat temp got up to 168* These are boneless pork shoulders from Costco, they come two in a bag for about $1.39 lbs A few pics: my drip pan/heat deflector (all tin-foil, about 1/4 inch thk). As is gets crusty I peel off a few old layers and add a couple of new ones. Not so high tech but it works well. Costco fan so the smoke won't kill my up stairs neighbors on both the 2nd and 3rd fl New Food Saver from Costco and the bags it makes for marinading. A bit of work to use but the end result is a nice, clean, tough bag that didn't leak. The old method was a huge Tupperware with a small garbage bag in it. Very messy. junk 20 hours later the eagles have landed finally some help arrives a quick wrap and then a bit of a rest looks like a winner the final test ....

what is .... Wiki ????? I've seen this on other BBQ forums as well ????

I pull the pork shoulders off at 168 degrees because as I go higher even to say 171 the roast get a bit dry. Or dryer the higher I go. 168 seems to be the right place to stop on my KK ???? I realize this doesn't square up with most of the on-line internal temp recommendations. At first I figured it's my thermometer but the three that I have (two Tru-Tels from Dennis and that Acu-Rit in the picture above) all show the same temp (with-in one degree) when I stick then in very hot or boiling water. When I first cooked a pork shoulder I took it off at 178 degrees and it was like mush. You could have made pork snow balls in your hands with it. No stringiness at all and not very good to eat. Another odd thing with my KK is/are baby back ribs. I cook them at 225 degrees for 6 to 8 hours and they never pass the "tong pick up test". (You pick a rack of ribs up with the tongs and the weight of the rack breaks the rack in half). This makes me think they're not done but if I keep going longer than 7 or 8 hours they just dry out and get tough like jerky. I think most folks on this forum say they cook baby backs in 4 to 5 maybe 6 hours max. So I pull my ribs once the meat pulls back and shows the exposed bone ends (6 to 8 hrs). They are juicy and meaty (most people love them and are shocked at how tender they are) but they show no signs of the stringiness that you normally see when cooking pork ???????????? The meat does not come off the bone completely clean, almost but not quite. I would love to have all the rib experts out there weigh in and help me with that head scratcher. As for the glaze I think it's from the teriyaki sauce that I marinade the bone-less pork shoulder in for 4 or 5 days in the bags shown above. This last batch of 4 shoulders did come out with a much better glaze than I've gotten in the past. In the past the out side has been some what dry and hard and I thought about putting some water or beer in-side the KK to add steam. I haven't tried that yet though. I'm thinking that this batch had a better glaze because of the extra meat in the cooker. This is the first time I've cooked four roast at once rather than two. Regardless of whether I cook the normal two roast at one time or four I get a little bit of brown water dripping from the bottom of the top vent so I know there is a certain amount of steam in side during a long cook. I'll post the pics from above in/on the cooking section. jeff

Hi Jasen, Hay thanks again for the polder port plugs a while back. They really work well. They also look like they'll last forever if you don't drop them and watch them bounce off the balcony down 8 ft into the ivy. Only lost one !! On a happier note ....... I'm looking to up-grade my current cooking thermometer. I bought a cheapy just to see what you get for about $40. I selected a an ACU-RITE from my local BBQ store. Both the BBQ store and the thermometer are pathetic. At least the thermometer does signal you when you reach your desired internal temp. I'm reading here on the forum that you really like your Procom even over the new DigiQII (you own both !). Can you tell me why you like it so much. I have a few other questions as well (hope you don't mind). If I'm reading the Guru web site correctly you pay about $550 for the Procom with out a blower. You can buy a Maverick RediChek Remote Wireless Smoker Thermometer for about $45. That's a huge $500 difference. Can you tell me what you get for that extra $500 ? Next question: How well does this whole electronically controlled Guru blower idea work on a KK? I've been trying to get boneless pork shoulders down to a science lately. I have 4 about to come out of my KK any minute. Boneless only because that's all I can get cheap ($1.39 lbs) at Costco. I've also been experimenting with marinating the pork in Teriyaki sauce for about 4 or 5 days before cooking. I'm also trying a new Korean BBQ sauce as a marinade this go around. Why not ????? I'm getting off the subject though. I cook these boneless shoulders at 225 degrees until they hit about 168 degrees internally. To maintain 225 degrees for 16 to 19 hours (I'm at about 19.5 hrs now with another 4 degrees to go) I practically have the top vent shut and the bottom vent with only a tiny sliver of an opening. So my question is ..... with the need for such a ridiculously small amount of air wouldn't an electronic blower even with the fan always off be too much air to maintain the desired 225 degrees for low and slow cooking? Final question: With the ProCom 4, The hand held pendent is capable of 2-way digital communication up to 600ft line of sight range. Will this thing transmit up to say a third story roof top deck and vice versa? I live at the beach out in LA. Here at the beach they build two separate houses on one, maybe 3000 sq ft lot. You usually don't get a yard, maybe a couple of flower beds. The houses are three stories straight up and practically out to the property line, with a roof top deck so you can BBQ and if you're lucky see the ocean. For the privilege of owning such a 2000 sq ft home you pay at least $1.7ml, with your property taxes running a bit over a $1000 per month. I'm getting off the subject again. So I'm wondering if the transmitter will transmit up to one of these roof top decks. I sold that house so I don't have that concern at the moment but if I can ever afford to buy again that is what I'll be dealing with. Thanks in advice for your time. Anyone else who may know something about all this is welcome/invited to chime in. take care Jeff There goes the timer !! the roast are done !!! the roast are done !! A few more pics my drip pan/heat deflector (all tin-foil, about 1/4 inch thk). As is gets crusty I peel off a few old layers and add a couple of new ones. Not so high tech but it works well. Costco fan so the smoke won't kill my up stairs neighbors on both the 2nd and 3rd fl New Food Saver from Costco and the bags it makes for marinading. A bit of work to use but the end result is a nice, clean, tough bag that didn't leak. The old method was a huge Tupperware with a small garbage bag in it. Very messy. junk 20 hours later the eagles have landed finally some help arrives a quick wrap and then a bit of a rest looks like a winner the final test ....

what's the lastest on the good stuff ??? Sounds all too mysterious. I was out this weekend (in the Los Angeles beach area) trying to find some lump. The only choices I found were "Big Green Egg" which I'm not to crazy about (but only used once to be fair) and "BBQ Galore Mesquite" which I will be trying for the first time tonight. With Ca. 8.25% sales tax it was $15 something for a 20lb bag. Very large pieces in it. I prefer consistent small to medium size chunks to get a better (continuous and even) burn. This was my objection with the BGE lump as well. Very large and inconsistent size pieces. During my last 16 hr or so pork shoulder cook my fire almost went out about 10 hours in. Had to open up the cooker and stir the fire !! Very strange. This never happened with some 8 bags of Cowboy which had a much smaller and consistent chunk size. It also took more air with the BGE large size chucks. Now this new bag of BBQ Galore has some really big chucks, like 3.5 inch dia by 8 inches long obvious tree branch big. All this brings me to my point. What's the latest on Dennis's good stuff (extruded coconut) ??? Dennis ... Anyone ?? Is it on it's way, did I miss the shipment or has it been calcelled or ??

Anyone .... I'd like to try a prime rib (bone in probably) can anyone give me an idea of how long the cook time will be/should be. It will be a small PR maybe 4 or 5 ribs max. I'm not sure what that would be weight wise. Also what's the best temp? thanks in advance for the help jb

WOW ....... very nice

Yes they are indeed inflated with air and then hung up and cooked in a big oven, the special duck chef was standing up in this oven with at least a dozen puffed up ducks ready to go. I saw this being done in china on the travel channel. Not sure how they keep the duck air tight and inflated though.

all right let's get back to duck here. Organic muscovyck ....... so apparently there are more than one type of duck out there...... and some kangaroo as well. What's next Panda Bears. I posted this ages ago and gave up. The only place in the Los Angeles area I can think of to buy a raw duck would be at a Chinese market and I'd imagine they sell whatever is best for consumption .... right ?? However I'll start looking for this Muscovyck and give it a try. thank you everyone for the help Jeff

Nice I'm going to have to re-think my whole position on rap music now. This makes me think ..... People want KKs but may be low on $$ at this time. Dennis has lots of inventory and more newer stuff coming out that has to move. Who's doing KK financing ?????

ok I get it. You're right that looks hot. Also I see I don't have a sear grill, but can probably get by using the lower grill. thanks for the help. jb

I'd buy a couple just to be supportive AND I need one. When I first started cooking I was surprised to look down and see smoke coming out of my cooker. I was really surprised that Dennis doesn't put a plug in them at the factory before shipping. I stuffed a wet napkin in the hole and once it dried it stops the smoke but probably not the heat lose. Anyway if you make them I'll buy a couple and color doesn't matter. Jeff

Jasen, Thanks for the help but when you say high temp .... how high and if you are cooking tri tip like a steak I guess there's no problem opening up the lid as needed to see if it's done ? I have just enough good lump left over for this one last cook so I'd like to get it right. I've got two small tri tips marinating in teriyaki and another good marinade called Mamma's. I'll put them on tonight but have no idea how hot the cooker should be. Again thanks for the help. Jeff