A couple of weeks ago I was Banned for no apparent reason that I was aware of. I reached out to Dennis explaining the situation, everything was restored immediately.

Again a thank you to Dennis for his quick response.

Regards

Seasport

I was just posting a few other things regarding our BB32 and scrolling through some other posts, and I came across the Forum Members section. Even though I've read many posts on the forum and gleaned a lot of info over the past 5 years, I've never come across the new owners' posts on this thread. So, I figured I'd write a very late intro. 

We have a BB32 black pebble that we've had now for about 5 years, ever since we built a new house on an island called Waiheke (pronounced Y-heck-ee) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, about 30 min.s ferry ride from downtown Auckland.

First photo is the BB sitting on its new home deck. We built the deck to specifically take the weight of the BB, so that we can position it where-ever we want, by decreasing the spacing of the joists and stringers and beefing up their size. Hopefully we won't end up with the BB falling through the deck one day.

When choosing the BB I involved my wife from day 1. She agreed to the model and chose the colour and pebble vs tile. Then it turned up and she said: "holy crap, I didn't agree to something that size", so it's just as well that Dennis doesn't have photos that put the size in true perspective, otherwise I'd never have bought it. Then, after I figured out how to cook on it, she said: "I'm really glad that you bought it". And now, after 5 years, she wouldn't trade it for anything.

Our two kids (6 and 9 years) call it the dinosaur egg.

We've mostly cooked low & slow stuff on it: lamb shoulder (a New Zealand speciality), pork ribs, whole beef oyster blade (which I think rivals brisket), whole beef OP ribs, rotisserie chickens, etc. She also cooks sides beautifully: whole corn, baked potatoes, asparagus, etc

I've just started doing pizzas on it, finally after 5 years. It cooks beautiful pizza, and 2 at a time, which is great for the kids. The second photo is our setup for pizza, cooked at about 280 deg.C (540 F). Our kitchen oven maxes at 280 also, but the BB cooks the pizza much better at that temp.

I would like to thank Dennis and his crew for advice and support over these 5 years: Dennis has always responded promptly to my email questions. Also, thanks to the members of this forum who have shared info that has been very helpful to me over these years. Now that I'm reasonably versed in some areas of cooking on a Komodo I'll try to chip in knowledge for others where I think it'll be helpful.

Cheers, and happy cooking.

Paul.

On a side note, hobbies include: home theater, electronics/computers/gaming, homebrewing, winemaking, welding/fabrication and obviously cooking! Feel free to email or pm me on any of them!

-=Jasen=-

Dennis has a video on his Komodo Kamado website illustrating the use of the rotisserie cradle in the 32 Big Bad.  It is here:  

  I used this as my reference point when I came to fit my rotisserie.  His video includes real food AND illustrates the use of the reducer in the cradle.  

After drooling over the KK's for more 10 years my wife has bought me a 32BB for my 50th birthday. The delivery process to Sydney was pretty straight forward and unpacking a breeze thanks to all the information online.

After cooking 6 out of the last 7 meals since I unpacked it last week I am amazed how awesome the KK is. My wife is loving it because I always want to cook. So far I have cooked Sausage and onions (first cook to thank those who helped lift it up the stairs), chicken and veg, pulled pork (I have still to master temp control), beef fajitas, Steak with baked potatos and honey carrots, pizzas last night (need to fill the basket next time).

I need to track down a rotisserie motor that fits the bracket and then I'll be doing some charcoal chicken.

A big thank you to everyone on this forum, reading about all your cooks has made the move to KK better than I could have hoped.

I researched on this forum for quite awhile prior to ordering my BB32 and have learned a lot but have a lot more to learn.  I purchased the BB32 based on research here that it gives much more grilling space.  I am going to attempt to make the BB32 my grill, smoker, pizza oven, flat top and plan to learn to make bread on it.  The original intent was to put it in our backyard which has several levels and only the lowest level has the room.  The backyard is about to be demoed and redone.  I mentioned keeping in the front of the house temporarily and surprisingly our interior designer is encouraging me to put it in between our casita and house in a small courtyard.  This might be as she had volunteered her team to get it around back and realized a crane might be the only way to get it there.  We were all thinking of some type of art or water feature in the courtyard and as a testament to its beautify she is recommending the courtyard.  It is much closer to the kitchen and on the same level would be advantageous.

I read how hard it is to get the CoCo Charcoal so I ordered a pallet.  Feel free to reach out to me if you are in the Phoenix area and if your in need I’ll hook you up at my cost.  Otherwise I have lifetime supply!

I had already primed wife number last that we might be able to include some sort of pizza oven in a planned addition and backyard makeover this year, but the outdoor kitchen part of the project was growing out of control. Her sister had purchased one of those egg things, that I immediately dismissed as ridiculously small and impractical, but she enjoys cooking with it, so I sensed a bit of sibling rivalry a brewin'. Our assorted cooking gear was mostly older stuff that was not particularly efficient, nor especially fun to cook with, so I was already secretly planning on replacing a smoker or three, as well as a roaster, but here's the thing. A value line offset smoker for my brisket, by the time I mod it out and upgrade some particulars, was gonna run close to a grand, and if I wanted something much larger or more efficient, I was very quickly going to be looking at spending several thousand dollars for something that was still gonna run me ragged when I smoke. The small pig roaster is an older eye sore, but it works, and here again, any sort of acceptable replacement is more good money after bad in terms of still taking up space for a fairly singular use appliance. The big ass gas grill has pretty much always been  nothing special beyond being a convenient way to cook outside of the kitchen, 'cuz I mean, what's so special about gas cooked meal, the grill marks? And then there's the pizza oven. Building it is within my skill set, but the older I get, the more stingy I've been getting with my time. The alternative of course is to just buy one, but here again, anything that'll do a decent job on a 16" pie is going to start at another thousand dollars and up, so where does this leave me?

"Look honey, that new Old Country offset smoker is gonna be two grand with crating and shipping from Texas" (we're in Delaware)

"And a decent pizza oven is gonna be another $1,000, for something that's gonna look kinda cheap and just sits on a counter".

"Carl's Hot Box pig roaster is another $1,500 by the time we add all of the doodads and have it shipped," (a friend makes and sells them)

"And a decent sized ceramic Kamado Joe is three grand, plus almost another $1,000 for a rotisserie, a pizza cooking attachment, and    assorted geegaws. All of that for grill space that can only hold one brisket or a single large pizza."

"That's over $8,500 to basically do little more than we can do already, but wait!"

"We (this is part of the psychological warfare, where I turn 'Me' into 'We') can buy this here Komodo Kamado Big Bad that can cook twice as much food with a whole lot less hassle, AND you get to pick from all of these amazing colors and finishes, AND it'll save us over a thousand dollars!".

"Best of all, it's a whole lot nicer than that silly egg thing that your sister bought at Lowes. You know, the one that's exactly like a million others on patios all over the country..."

"The garden club girls are gonna die!"

"I can sell all of this other crap while we're at it."

"How can we not buy this?!" 

Yeah, this is not a luxe item, this is just common sense (or at least that's how I'm trying to sell it).  lol

Not a want, but a need.  lol

Anywho, looking forward to ordering one up later this spring, but first I have to build a place to put it.  :)

I joined the KK forum a couple of months ago and felt it was time to say gidday and thanks for all of the fantastic info here.

After doing many many months of bbq research I just contacted Dennis and put down a deposit on a 32BB, matte black with all the accessories. Like most people in Australia I was a standard gasser man (WeberQ) but wanted to take my bbq to another level. Upgrading to a massive stainless steel bbq was not going to give me the flavour or flexibility I was looking for, and they look like a Kenworth bullbar smashing through your wall and visually unappealing. Then I discovered KK. Then I became obsessed - even without owning one!

The 32BB will be shipped to sunny West Australia around April 2023 to be installed in my new home renovation, currently under construction.  I have made room for the 32BB to be pride of place in the outdoor kitchen zone. I took a lot of design queues from the forum so thanks again.

I'll certainly share some pics of the KK when it is finally wheeled into position. Once it's all fired up I would also like to give back to the KK community by sharing some cooking results and recipes, maybe with a uniquely Australian flavour.

cheers, Milton

I am Dennis Feldman and just pulled the trigger on the 32 this morning. 

We live on the east coast of Florida and have been a BGE'er for ~23 years.  

Part of my outdoor kitchen currently includes, a Fontana Fireze hybrid gas/wood Pizza Oven and a Halo 4B griddle.  

Looking forward to learning from the group and sharing ideas, techniques and recipes .  

All the best,

Dennis

Yesterday I was in the process of pulling the trigger on a new Primo XL grill but I just couldn’t do it. I decided to first go on-line and read lots of reviews on the Primo XL, as well as the other big name brands on the market. I was thinking I was going to find lots of positives but I quickly found the complete opposite.  Even the four and five star reviewers complained about the porcine cracking within a few months, which led to the poor customer service experiences they had to contend with trying to get the parts replaced under warranty. I found it to be a bit crazy to give a high rating on a product that does not hold up and the customer service is so poor.

In the process of searching for reviews, I ran across the Komodo Kamado website and with the help of the people posting on this forum and the third party reviews I found on the internet, I pulled the trigger on the KK 32” Big Bad. After more research on this  forum and a very pleasant 45-min phone conversation with Dennis Linkletter, I also decided to load up on the accessories. Listed below is what my final bill of materials is looking like. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

• 32" Big Bad, Dark Autumn Nebula (simply beautiful)

• Gas Burner Assembly (for heat soaking during those cold winter day’s in the US Northeast)

• Charcoal Basket Slitter/Reducer

• Single Bottom Drip Pan

• SS & Teak Grate Grabber

• Rod and Tube Teak Side Tables

• Baking/Pizza Stone (love me some homemade bread and pizza)

• Cold Smoker W/Adjustable Air Pump

• Coconut Shell Charcoal – 10-Boxes

• Coffee Wood LUMP Charcoal – 5-Boxes

By the way, I’ve been grilling my entire adult life (30 + years) and this will be my first Kamado style Grill. I have a feeling I’m going to find out that I should have jumped in a long time ago.

I’d also like to say thank you to everyone posting on this site, thank you to Dennis Linkletter for the valuable time you spent with me on the phone and last but not least, thank you to all the positive reviews I found on the other sub-par Kamado grills on the market. Without all of you, I would not be the new owner of a KK 32” Big Bad grill!!!

Now all I can do is sit here wait for the truck to back into my driveway!!!

Has anyone ever tried oven cleaner to get the cooked on stain off the tiles, particularly around the top vent? Would it be too harsh?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When my family wants to eat barbecue, we get bags out of the freezer.  I throw these bags in my sous-vide circulator at 145 degrees an hour or two before dinner to warm them up very gently.  The result is my bagged/frozen pork tastes almost like it's fresh off the smoker.

Often there's a lot of moisture in my bbq, so I have to use extra length in the bags so that the juices don't come all the way up to where the bag is sealing.  I've also put paper towels down in the vac seal bags as well.  Sometimes I get frustrated b/c it takes a while to get a good seal on a bag.

One question I have - is anyone else just kind of tired of having to screw around with vac seal bags?  Is there a brand of vac sealer that is like the Komodo Kamado - the rolls royce of vac sealers?  Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to get great seals 100% of the time on a food saver (other than the aforementioned paper towels in the bag or using extra long bags?

Thanks!

I’ve had a K7 since 1997, it’s served me well all these years. No complaints but it was definitely time for an upgrade. And man, this KK32 is over the top! Fit, finish, attention to detail and customer service are all amazing.

Looking forward to many years of enjoyment and delicious meals on my new grill.

Thank you Dennis for putting out such an awesome product!

Just placed our order for a 22" Beast. This will be going into a new BBQ island being constructed in our new home in Nampa, Idaho (Recent California escapee).

Ordered the Cobalt Blue tile Beast, along with a few accessories.

I have been lurking on here for a little while before ordering but hope to start participating soon.

A little about me, I have been Q'ing for many years, for home, parties, some catering, and Competitions. Started doing Comps in 2004. Was a Board Member of the CBBQA for quite a few years. I think I saw my first KK around 2008 or so, when a friend brought his KK to a Chris Lilly class that we (CBBQA) were putting on. Since then, I have always wanted one.

Most recently, I have been competing in SCA Steak Comps.

In addition to the KK, some of my current stable includes a Klose Family Reunion trailered pit, a Humphrey's Qubed Pint, a MGrills M16, Oklahoma Joes Rambler, 22" Weber Performer, 22" Weber Master-Touch, 18" WSM, and a few others. The Island will have the KK along with a 40" Blaze gasser.

Looking forward to learning a lot from all of you.

Bill