jclarkhpa Posted December 25, 2012 Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 Aloha from Hawai'i. I have been looking at a KK for about three years. It was just a wish for a long time, but my wife and I finally decided to pull the trigger. The KK was delivered on Dec 12, here's the pallet on my driveway. [ATTACH]n68641[/ATTACH] I also ordered a pallet of CoCo since shipping to HI is never fun. I hope this lasts a long time. If not, Hawai'i has a lot of Kiawe (a Hawaiian word for a mesquite tree that was brought to the islands long ago). It's possible to get some lump charcoal here, so I'm going to stop using briquettes. I used to have two Weber grills, but within a few days, both of them were given to friends, so they found good homes and I don't have to worry about having them take up space anymore. Here's the grill just about completely put together. She's a thing of beauty. I haven't put the two side wings on it yet in this picture. It's a 23" Dark Autumn Nebula. My wife and I really liked that color as well as a couple other colors. Dennis helped us choose the color for us, and then choose the KK that had the best color that we were looking for among the three that were available at the time! As you can see, she is in a shed. I live in Waimea, on the Island of Hawai'i, also called the Big Island. There are two things that make our location unique amongst most of the rest of Hawai'i. First, Parker Ranch (and the paniolo tradition) is located here in Waimea. Hawaiian cowboys (paniolo) started in the 1800's and cattle ranching has a long tradition here, in fact Parker Ranch is one of the largest privately held cattle ranches in the U.S. The second thing that makes our area unique is the trade winds that blow through the town. We are nestled between the Kohala mountains and Mauna Kea. These mountains act as funnels and the wind increases several fold over what most of the rest of the state experiences. Trade winds turn on and off through the year, and you have have the winds last for weeks. When they get roaring, imagine trying to do a smoke when you have wind speeds averaging between 35-55 mph, and gusts up to 75 mph for a week solid! It was such a hassle putting up a tent, staking it down, checking every 30 minutes to make sure it didn't blow down, hope the temp is consistent in the grill, etc. When we bought the KK we decided to attach a little shed on the side of the garage that will act as a wind and rain break. That way we can grill no matter the weather, and in Hawai'i it changes a lot. Anyway, that's the reason why the grill photos always show it in the shed. There's plenty of ventilation, I just need to run power so I don't need to use my extension cord anymore. Here's a photo of the KK ready to go. A few days later I was able to do the initial burn in. Here's the charcoal basket with it's first load. The burn in didn't go as well as I had hoped, but it was all my fault. I e-mailed Dennis and he called me back and walked me through it, I was getting too hot and he made sure I backed it down and slowed everything down. Dennis has been nothing but spectacular in the entire process, from purchasing to helping me through the first stages of KK ownership starting from ignorant, to knowing enough to be dangerous, and I know he'll be there until I actually know some useful stuff on my own! Here's a panorama shot of my shed. I have my KK on the left and my Backwoods Smoker Fatboy (I've had it for years) on the right. Those are the only two things I kept and moved into the shed. I named the Backwoods Smoker "Betty" after the Ram Jam song, Black Betty. The KK is now named "Lola" after the Sarah Vaughan song, "Whatever Lola Wants" however since she's also pretty burly, I do think the lyrics to the Kinks song "Lola" are also a little applicable. No matter what, we are super happy and love it. I look forward to using Lola more and more. I'll try to post my first cook we did a couple days ago on the forum soon. We had some ribs in the freezer and my wife couldn't wait for me to go get pork butt or a brisket, so my first cook was ribs. It went better than I thought, since I've never cooked on a ceramic grill before, but I still have a lot of room for improvement. For some reason ribs have been very hard for me. I can do pulled pork and brisket really well, but ribs have been my nemesis. I'm now excited that I can tackle ribs and master them as well. I'm also really excited about pizza and making artisan bread. I wasn't getting the heat I wanted in my oven, and Lola will obviously be able to give me more heat than I need. Anyway, I'm looking forward to being part of the KK community. Regards, Josh jclarkhpa 23" Dark Autumn Nebula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talisker63 Posted December 26, 2012 Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 Re: New KK in Hawai'i Welcome, I have visited your island and also attended a rodeo at Parker Ranch. We left the beach resort after swimming all day and did NOT dress for the freezing temperatures and hail at Parker Ranch! What a place of contrasts, loved the volcano, you will be able to make your own volcano shortly! Enjoy your KK I have had mine about 6 weeks and love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jclarkhpa Posted December 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 Re: New KK in Hawai'i It is an island of contrasts. It has 80% of the world's eco-systems, with deserts, rain forests, snow up on the mountain, grasslands, forests, etc. I can drive 20 minutes West and be in a desert with an average 17" of rain a year, or drive 40 minutes in the other direction and be in a rainforest with an average of a couple hundred inches of rain. The town itself has probably more than 30" of rain difference in the annual average between one side of town and the other. I still go out back and look Lola, both my wife and I love it. Even though I got it early, it's the best Christmas present! In fact, it's going to be my Christmas present and my birthday present for at least 10 years! Good thing I do love it and I'm happy with the deal. Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou! (Hawaiian for Merry Christmas and Happy New Year) jclarkhpa 23" Dark Autumn Nebula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducaticraig Posted December 26, 2012 Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 Re: New KK in Hawai'i Josh, congrats on your new KK. Also want to thank you for your write up as to your location in Hawaii. Sure makes me want to take a vacation again. Take care and I look forward to some pictures of the ribs you cooked or are going to cook. Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Re: New KK in Hawai'i Welcome from another dark autumn nebulae owner. It is really spectacular when the morning sun hits it! You're gonna love cooking on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
