Amphoran

Re: Grilling at two temperatures Using the new sear basket mod, I've been grilling a lot at two or more temps. Fill one quarter basket (one side blocked off, front/back with the charcoal in the rear half, Usually on the lower grill you can do steaks or burgers on the back half with direct heat and lower temperature stuff (buttered buns, veggies, fish) on the front half mostly indirect. Mike

Re: KK shelter I spent several weeks in Melbourne whilst doing a stint at CSIRO. Lovely city, and to my mind quite similar to Seattle in many ways (right down to the trolleys, mate!) After about 15 months use, not yet.The back above the fence, the entire right side and half the front are completely open, so ventilation is good. I used 1 cm double wall greenhouse sheeting (polycarbonate), so at least the walls will be easy to clean off when needed. The biggest problem is clearing all the grape leaves off the roof in the late fall. By the way, love your screen name! I had a great visit to the distillery last year. Cheers, Mike

Living in Seattle, where it can rain all day every day throughout the winter, I figured that I needed to build a shelter (my bbq pit) that would keep as much of the outdoor experience, but keep the cooker and side bench dry and let me use it more often. I built it last spring, and can state that it met the test! Cooked at least 2x/week all winter, and hardly a drop of rain fell on the KK! our rain and wind all come from the Southwest, so I really only needed two walls. I brought electricity to it, so I can easily run the EZ-Q motor and the looftlighter, as well as provide lighting and tunes. It is lit with led rope lights running along the joists. Bright enough to see quite clearly late at night, but only 10W! Here are a couple of pictures: n68547 n68548 Cheers, Mike

Re: New Sear Basket - In Ready Stock - CA I've been using mine for a few weeks now, and totally love it! Cooking most of the time for just two, a quarter load of charcoal lights faster, kills faster and saves a lot of charcoal. Also, there are now two heat zones, so you can sear steaks on one half while toasting buns or roasting veggies on the cooler half. FANTASTIC JOB, DENNIS!

Re: Roti Question The original name WAS Duck tape, as in cotton duck, the backing fabric.

Re: Lighting Looftlighter My assertions are based on actual experience. I've not tried it yet on ECC, but on several loads of Royal Oak. I'll try the ECC in the next few days and report on how it works. My experience with Royal Oak, though (both fresh and previously lit) is that it lights faster and with much more control than any type of torch I've used, not to mention chimneys. Just my $.02 worth, but I'm hooked. Mike

Re: Lighting Looftlighter Over the years I've used a MAPP torch, a modified Harbor Freight torch (Drunk J's design), a weed burner, chimney, but after getting a looftlighter a couple of months ago, there's really no looking back. The switch doesn't require much pressure to hold down, and you have a tremendous amount of control over just how much coal you light and how hot it is. I definitely recommend! Mike

Re: Trader Joe's hardwood Briquettes Thinking back, I have smelled ammonia before, you're right. However, what has me concerned is my total lack of ability to snuff this stuff. It's just going to keep going until the entire bowl is burned out, even though all holes are plugged, all dampers are shut and no smoke is visible anywhere. Don't think I'll try it again...

Re: Trader Joe's hardwood Briquettes I just tried the TJ hardwood, and wonder if its spiked with nitrates to keep burning? I set the KK up for a low and slow, and royal oak will always settle in about 225 the way it was set. After an hour it was at 225. After four hours, it was at 450. I shut everything down to extinguish, and 24 hours later, the kk is still at 220, and when the lid is lifted, you can smell a bit of ammonia. I've never had this happen before! Mike

Re: Is the Benzomatic JT850 the best? The newer propane tanks with the overfill protection device also prevent flow if inverted - I keep one old tank around for refilling the small ones. Mike

Re: Build Your Own BBQ Controller (w/Wifi) Yeah, TCs are probably fine for a cooking application. I had to go to RTD's in the software controlled still I've been building for a large client, because we really need 0.1 deg C precision AND accuracy in order to adjust power or reflux quickly and keep the column in equilibrium as the boiler depletes. I'm currently using a NI backbone, industrial strength, but very spendy. I was hoping that I might find something that would do the job in the open source community. Cheers, Mike

Re: Build Your Own BBQ Controller (w/Wifi) Deej, Would it be difficult to add the capacity to use RTDs? They're much more stable over time than any thermocouple. cheers, Mike

Re: Tru Tel Options** I've done pizzas successfully in my KK at 850 deg, and got typical NYC wood or coal - fired results: a thin crust, sparingly topped pizza cooked in about 80 seconds, with the proper amount of charring on the bottom of the crust. However, I burned a whole basket of charcoal to cook three pies, which wasn't making economic sense. I may have set up the KK incorrectly (i.e. I had the heat deflector in place), but I heat soaked the pizza stone for two hours. I have since shifted back to using an electric baking oven (stone lined) for making my pizzas, using the following technique: heat soak the pizza stone for two hours at 550 deg, then turn on the broiler (about 6" from stone) for about ten minutes. Turn off broiler just before sliding in pie. Pies cook in 3-4 minutes, but do give the proper char on the bottom (from superheating the stone), which you can't otherwise get at 550 deg. If I could heat the stone faster without the heat deflector in place, I'd give it a try in the KK again. I left it in because I was afraid that the direct radiant heat from a raging charcoal fire might crack it. Cheers, Mike

Re: Pro Joe - New Ultimate Contender? Pizza!

Re: Pork Shoulder Country Style Ribs Country Style Ribs are one of my favorite cuts. I use them for a lot of Mexican and Chinese dishes, because they're easy to cut down to the proper size for the recipe, and in braises of all sorts, but to be honest, I've never grilled them! I'll have to give that a try. Mike