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Beef tenderloin on the KK . Plated with some mushrooms and smoked squash.

After 6 years of wanting a KK, I finally pulled the trigger. Sold the Yoder ys640 pellet grill and my Louisiana Grill kamado for this upgrade. Just did my first cook tonight: baby back ribs. Overshot 225⁰ and was chasing temps afterwards...gotta better learn the top vent positioning, but am excited to learn. Cheers!

Some more pics of the setup. After years of neglecting the Yoder smoker and not treating it the way I probably should have, I built this gazebo just for the Komodo kamado. My space is tight here (8'x8'), so between these three workhorses, I should have all my needs covered. Additionally, I modified the Napoleon propane grill as well, so I removed one burner and replaced it with an infrared burner that gets over 1000⁰F in 30 seconds. Between that and the Ooni pizza oven, I will never have the need to cook with hot temperatures in this Komodo kamado, and that will preserve the longevity of this beautiful masterpiece.

In case you don't have a thermometer:

grilled boneless chicken legs. sometimes getting the second smallest kk is not ideal for cooking for 8 people

Great night for pizza on the KK. I did two pies from Joe Beddia’s Pizza Camp book, roasted mushroom with mushroom cream, and a mortadella, ricotta cream, and roasted pepper pizza. The last one I made for myself with pizza sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms, banana pepper rings, anchovies, and mozzarella. All three were delicious! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This weeks local crop share had an abundance of fresh fall related items that went well in my KK slow cooker. Adding all the ingredients into a deep tray along side a marinated tender chuck roast all wrapped in foil and time prepared a hearty tasty meal.

just recent random non-kk stuff

Reverse seared ribeyes at 450⁰ topped with chanterelles simmered in a garlic butter sauce. Steamed and grilled the corn and broccolini on the Napoleon grill at medium heat for about 15 minutes. Pulled the ribeye off the lower grate at 128⁰ internal temp and it's perfection. YUMMM!

Cooked a rack of spare ribs on the 23 and a couple of relleno's on the 16 for lunch today. The spares were indirect with a few chunks of peach on the coals. I used poblano peppers 1 stuffed with a Roma tomato, onion, Italian seasoning and sharp white cheddar. The other for my wife was a mix of white cheddar and gouda. Cook on KK'ers Steve

I haven't posted any cooks in a long while, just wanted to say Hello to all the KK'ers out there. I generally check in daily to admire the all the great food and various gadgets, tools and other equipment that I may not be able to go without, the duck hanger is very cool. Someone aptly referred to this forum as the KK shopping network. Good call. Cooked a couple of leg quarters yesterday with red potatoes and a couple of Jalapenos and a loaf of take n bake bread. Kook on KK'ers Steve

Hello @braindoc I did a duck recently. Seasoned with Cajun seasoning and let sit overnight in the fridge. The duck with my third cook with the Duck Hanger. In both previous cooks I found I was dealing with temperature fluctuations when placing vegetables under the the protein (chicken and a couple of Cornish hens) to cook in the drippings. I was using a heavy duty SS pan that was covering most of the charcoals using the charcoal basket splitter. In addition to temperature variation I was also concerned with burning the veggies even while using a very heavy duty SS Pan. For the duck in the pictures I caught the duck fat to prevent flare ups and the pan was small so it didn’t block the charcoals as much as my SS pan. My suggestion would be to definitely put potatoes in the grill, but not directly under the duck, but to the area where you do not have charcoal directly under the pan. I would then catch the duck fat and then pour over the potatoes to allow them to cook in the duck fat. Another option is to cut away some of the duck fat before cooking (which is necessary anyways) and put the fat on a duck hanger and put veggies under this……on the non charcoal side. For our duck we did risotto made with corn cob broth and mushrooms and a side of Asparagus……It was best KK duck I have cooked thus far. Good Luck, PS - I forget the target temp. It was probably 350-375F. On another note IMHO I think you want to cook Duck to higher temp than 165F….It’s all dark meat and there is so much fat it really doesn’t dry out like chicken and I really like the crispy skin!

It was 2kg of roadside chicken here tonight, done with boneless thighs. Haven’t done that one in a while and the kids love it. Served up with some simple coleslaw, a yoghurt/cucumber/garlic thing, and bread and wraps. Winner winner chicken dinner.

As Fall is encroaching upon us, I cooked some Italian Sausages I picked up from a local sausage maker yesterday and paired them with acorn squash with parmesan flan on the KK tonight. Perfecto!

No, use the splitter such that you’re using a half ish basket. I suppose it doesn’t matter that much because you’re only going to use whatever it takes for a given cook, whether half basket full or full basket. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome to The Obsession! Best way to learn temp control. Fill up the basket with coals, Light a small spot, Open the top vent 1/4 turn and bottom vent just barely open (pinkie). Sit back with a cooler of your favorite adult beverage and watch the temp. Once stabalized, make a note of it, bump the top vent another 1/4 turn and have another beverage. Again, once stabalized, take notes, bump the top vent again and maybe open the bottom a bit more. Keep doing this until the dome reaches maybe 450F, as almost all your cooks will be below that temperature (except the burn-in and doing pizzas). The vent position/temperature correlation is very repeatable, assuming you have enough charcoal in the basket. Secondly, DON"T CHASE THE TEMPERATURE! If the KK is heat soaked, you're not going to be able to lower the temperature easily if you overshoot your target. Also, it's BBQ, not rocket science. Plus/Minus 50F off your target is nothing. Just roll with it. You won't notice any difference in the results, only the cooking time might be slightly affected. Good Luck, Post Pictures of that all-important virgin cook!

As my "partner in crime" battling the spammers, I'll give you a PASS on the No Pic, Didn't Happen rule.

Just remember, any time you ask for tips you'll get a lot of them and you'll need to figure out which ones work for you. That's why BBQ forums are full of references to Try-Tips. I'll see myself out...

I'm a gadget guy so I like using my FireBoard and Pulse, but the ThermoWorks RFX came out just after I committed and I may have chosen them if I had to buy new today. Still, with a decent UI both for local access, web, and phone the FireBoard is pretty nice compared to my previous Stoker (now out of business) where I had to build my own web UI.

https://komodokamadoforum.com/topic/2505-roadside-chicken/

If I don't get enough smoke flavor, I just pair it with a fine Islay scotch

Just received my pimento wood from Fruita. The chunks are decent sized and will require reduction before use. Happy to have it but 5 pounds of wood chunks really isn't very much wood. . . 🙁 On the other hand, it's the only source and they do include 5 pounds of pimento leaves.

I'm episodic in my pasta. For a while I was only making Sicilian busiate by hand, or rolled pasta with my Marcato Otello (a definite upgrade on their Atlas, several of which I've broken over the years. Laurie and I are just back from a food tour of Sicily with Rosetta Costantino, author of My Calabria. She and her husband were debating importing a powered pasta maker, and PastaBiz is having their annual die sale. So I returned yet again to see what I could figure out, making a Bigolaro easier to use. When I worked (math professor), one administrative skill I demonstrated was looking at a list of requirements that couldn't possibly all be satisfied at once, and killing off a requirement. The puzzle with a hand pasta extruder is this: They don't generate as much pressure as a powered machine. The Model B torchio that various of us own also accepts dies meant for the Lillo powered machine, but these Lillo dies allow less "flow" than the dies designed for a hand extruder. So one wants a dough wet enough to extrude by hand, but dry enough to not stick together and make a mess. This window is small, perhaps negative width. Meanwhile, people love how extruded pasta dough is just flour and water. Um, there's our candidate requirement for deletion. The obvious conclusion is that one needs to reformulate pasta dough to pass through a hand Bigolaro and Lillo dies. It's better to knead dough, but then it's too stiff? Um, add water. It's better to rest dough in the fridge for hours or overnight, but then cold dough is too stiff? Um, add water. If one is at all worried about "A1C" numbers for pre-diabetes, adding sourdough starter and resting dough overnight changes its carb profile for the better. You will worry about A1C if you live long enough, if something else doesn't kill you first, so it would be kind of stupid not to consider this. But you're off the hook! Just as sourdough bread dough that ages in the fridge for day(s) tastes spectacular, so does pasta dough handled this way. So extend your life and your quality of life by being a hedonist! I'm doubling pressure using a custom handle, and I'm adding a small amount of psyllium hush to my dough, which stabilizes water that would otherwise make the dough sticky. I'm adding sourdough starter, and resting the dough overnight, good for both health and flavor. And I've never experienced such an easy time using a Bigolaro. I stare at the shapes I can now perfectly produce, "I did that?"

I have a 23 Ralph like Toney has so it might be different considering the acreage difference. Sometime I'm in a hurry so I open the vents up quite a bit and get the coals rockin, then I shut the vents to my general running temp of 250 and let it heat soak and settle in. I'm thinking it's around 200, works for me if I don't get distracted. After a few times you'll just know where the runway is and you'll be cruising. Nice backyard outpost, enjoy your new toy.

I enjoy overthinking! (Plus I can't help doing it.)

Nice! I haven't noticed a problem with the ash at temperature, the fan doesn't usually kick on at high speed while maintaining a low-and-slow. But I did get a face full of ash when testing it. FWIW, here's mine - I needed to cut slots for the Fireboard mounting rails.

If I'm trying to get going a bit quicker than usual, I'll open up the top more until I'm about 100F below target. Then set the vent for the target. Like you experienced, if you get too close to your target before you close down, you will likely overshoot a bit. No worries. As we've said +/- 50F is nothing to fret about. Happy cooking!

Thanks @Tyrus I appreciate that. I thought of cool names to name it, but nothing stuck. I remember reading a forum article here years ago about how a guy named his KK "Puff" for the dragon, and that's always stuck with me. However, all of the dragon names seem like too much and unrelatable so instead, I've decided to refer to it as "The Forge." I think that's pretty badass/medieval sounding as well, and very fitting for me as I have 3 different flamethrowers and tend to cook with 900°+ high temperatures on my other grills. Now I just gotta get a sign that says "The Forge" to place above it. Thank you very much for the inspiration! Love it!! One question. If I want to speed up the process to get to 225°, and I leave all of the vents open, at what temperature should I start closing the vents off to be safe? 140°? Last time I overshot it, I was around 160°-180° or so (I wasn't paying too much attention) before I closed it off to 1/4 turn + 3rd hole open at the bottom and I landed at 250°. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who does this expedited airflow process to get to starting temps, and I know that these KKs heat soak like no other. Thanks in advance.

Very nice setup!

Thanks for sharing. your experiences. My understanding is that once the grout has dried, you can treat your KK as normal. I just went through the process of repairing cracks and filling in the grout. It was a lot messier than I thought it would be (this is a function of my ineptitude). With that said, I used my fingers to push/smooth the grout into the cracks while the KK cooled down from 500F. There was one instance where the tiles were sticking/pushed out and in that situation I used the syringe to squirt into the pocket and pushed in the tiles from the impacted area. Other than that, it felt more manual and I used my fingers to smooth in the grout in cracked areas. My understanding is that the materials (once the tube has been opened) has a short lifespan. I plan to 1) make sure my KK is covered now at all times when not being used and 2) cook as much as I can in the next weeks to check for cracks and fills in with the grout.

For slightly tougher cuts of meat, I recommend a soak in Shio Koji (paste is better than the liquid). But you should cut back on the amount of salt that you use to compensate for the extra umami of the Koji.

I've found what works for me is letting the meat soak in the marinade for 18-24 hrs as long as it's not one the accelerates the break down of the meat tissue as say pineapple juice, vinegar or wine...then your time in the soak is much less. Sweet and savory marinades do well longer, I soak my Tri-tip whole for 24hrs in a savory worcestershire sauce base having garlic and onion powder and other herbs, I find it at a local meat shop. It's kind of like brining a turkey, the process is long but the result is what your looking for. Chicken wings and thighs do well in a good soak of Buffalo or Peri Peri or Teriyaki for that matter. Some may not prefer it that way, experimenting with duration may be one's choice, you've got to find your comfortable niche. I do like those McCormick quick packages for chicken on the grill, best to follow the directions here or try a Product called It's Incredible by Heaven Made Products, an alternative to salt and pepper for some things. I really should be better at writing things down, I've probably forgotten more than I can remember but if the time and effort of preparing countless cooks have taught me anything I believe it would be just having a understanding of what goes with what. As far as methods are concerned...I stick to what works and evolve from there, like most folks.

This! The top vent open 1/4 on my Big Bad is also about 225-250 and 1/2 is about 300 with the bottom vent open enough to fit a finger in it.

Congrats !!!! 225 is only about a 1/4 turn of the top vent with the bottom vent only being open enough to get your little finger in there. Dennis has some good videos on that, i'll see if i can find the links This will get you a good temp for ribs And this one is everything you need to know about the 32

get a cheap one for $20 with a bottle opener, temp chart, f/c toggle switch, easy battery swap. thermoworks just reads faster, better IP, and more $$$

I forgot to take pics while cooking as these are done so hot and fast but for my first time having this i have to say it was really good !!!!

I was inspired by @remito make some roadside chicken for dinner last night.

The best way to cook beef Zoee lies in the preparation, sometime a day before it finds the grill, a well known fact. The heat part, you have the best cooker out there, how could you fail,.... impossible.

For all kinds of beef, salt, pepper, garlic is hard to beat. Brisket is always best low and slow, i like anywhere between 225-275. Steaks I like to cook hot and fast, direct. 600-650, lower grate, 3ish minutes per side for a 1.5” ribeye. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thermoworks has the best meat thermometers out there. They’re on the pricy side, but worth it. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

So unfortunately I have a personal issue which will unable me to use the kk. I will be letting it go. It’s under a year old. Like new. Comes with side tables, cold smoker, rotisserie and cover. If you’re in Canada or willing to make the drive, I’m 20 min away from Barrie. here are pics. any reasonable offer will be considered. Email me if interested. [email protected] or text 4163181033 merry Christmas and happy new year to all you fine kkers

Just got my hands on a box of pimento wood, it hasn’t arrived yet, so I’m not sure if it’ll be sticks or chunks. I’ve seen several videos where the chicken is cooked over pimento sticks or branches placed on a bed of leaves. Is that how you guys usually do it, or do you toss the wood straight into the fire?

Oh, digital all the way. I need them both in my kitchen and in my brewing room. I have several, each with a different range, from pounds to milligrams.

Thanks for the tip @tony b. I haven't had pieces this big before. I'll give the band saw a try. On the plus side, I will only lose 3/64" to the kerf instead of 1/8". I'll count that as money in my pocket, given the cost of the wood. 🤣

You will find that pimento wood is very hard. I struggle to cut the chunks down with a hand saw. I'm reluctant to fire up the table saw to do it.

Dave Zier https://ziersprime.com

Any time I think about getting another cooker, it seems there’s nothing I could do on it I can’t do on my KK. I really want to get a Weber kettle, a WSM, a PK, some other Kamado like the Blaze and so on. Just to have some more toys. But I never do get one. Don’t need to.

The FireBoard is nice, especially with their new wireless probes. I agree using a different fan may be easier, I had to hack together an adapter for it using a Thermoworks Universal Billows Mounting Kit (TX-1611X-M3) and a Dremel, but it works great.

Well, the experiment turned out great. The cook was for a party yesterday hence the delay with getting back to posting. A good time was had by all. Now, down to business. First let us talk about temperatures. My MEATER kept dropping off so I don't have a temperature trace to share with you but I took these three photos within a minute of each other. The two thermometers on the side of the joint in the KK were measuring 73C while the one in the top was measuring 81C. The KK dome thermometer was measuring about 73C too while the grill grate thermometer was showing close to 100C. In some ways, the actual temp of the KK was not critical, what was more critical was getting the meat out when it was close to hitting the 55C target internal temperature. The KK was great, keeping a steady temp for the whole of the approx 3 hour cook. I found this really thin needle temperature probe that my Husband bought years ago for poking into sousvide bags to check the temp of the contents. Here is the reading on the sous vide joint after about 5 hours in the water bath. A check on the KK joint showed a range of temps from 57C at the thinnest end to 52C in the centre. The good news is that the internal temp was consistent across the joint, staying the same as I pulled the needle from the centre to the edge. I rested the joints over night in the fridge and only cut them just before we had to serve them to the guests. Nail biting! Here are the two joints. The right hand one was cooked in the KK. It did have a faint smell of smoke so we did get some smoke into it from the smoke pot, even at that low temperature. And here are the results. KK joint on the right. Sliced up the sous vide joint was consistently pinker (lower pile in the pic below) but I suspect I could have got closer to that result in the KK by going for a slightly lower target temp. Learning? Sous vide is easier. Set and forget the water bath temp and get your meat out when you are ready. KK is more fun and does almost as good a job without having to buy extra equipment. Also have opportunity to introduce smoke when using the KK and I could have used the cold smoke generator to get a more pronounced smoke flavour. All in all I was very happy with the results from both methods and our guests loved this, new to us Brits, Italian method of cutting roast beef.

I vote for the roof concept