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American Wagyu brisket from Costco, coffee wood smoke, coffee cardamom rub. This was a good one. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Sunday nights are non-stop activity around here, as with two school aged kids who are busy with many activities during the week it’s sometimes the only night to get any cooking done… So the KK was busy managing a chicken, chorizo, Roma tomato and green bean paella- while inside a bolognaise sauce was made, as well as choc chip cookies and brownies for the lunch boxes (and banana bread which didn’t make it into the final photo as it was still in the oven!)

There's an Irish Pub in New Orleans called the Erin Rose where we got this a few years back. It was too good not to try to replicate. Smoked pork belly with a Dark Rum and Ginger glaze, mustard/garlic aioli, and slaw on home baked baguette.

@5698k The bread was great and did its job. Light and airy enough to soak up the juices without turning the crust to a messy mush. I'm not an advanced baker. I just follow Ken Forkish, (Flour Water Salt Yeast). Tiny bit of yeast and give it lot's of time to make flavor. It's not complicated, but you do have to plan a day ahead. Once you get the dough started, you're on its schedule. Pretzel buns baked in the KK:

Opposite Day on Taco Tuesday? I've smoked a lot of beef brisket and pork belly, but never the other way around. I put the pork brisket on the dome rack and got a just-right bacon flavor accent on the beef belly under it. Try ordering that at a restaurant! Dry aged beef belly smoked to probe tender (195f) and rested overnight @150f in a sous vide bath. Sides were pickled onions w/Tasmanian Pepper berries, baked beans w/peppers, onions and dark chocolate, slaw and cornbread --you definitely need to balance the insanely rich belly. If I were to change anything I'd back off the smoke a touch. It was great but more summer afternoon loud crowd/loud music vs. quiet winter thaw celebration... but the pork over beef is staying in the rotation. Has anyone else found other amazing KK meat stack combinations?

Decided to take advantage of today’s nice weather and cooked up Sicilian Swordfish with Salsa Verde and grilled lemon halves. Turned out fantastic! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Found in a butcher shop in Mattapoisett Massachusetts where once a Japanese restaurant use to be. In the display case it was labeled as "Good Fellas" because of the Italian provenance and the ingredients consisting of Capicola Ham, spinich and provolone. It was a large roast but the butcher cut it in half to my liking. Notice the cut and how the stuffing was placed, I hadn't seen this before and thought I'd pass it along if you hadn't. Excellent with Tuscan herbs applied. Plated with steamed Bok Choy drizzled with oyster sauce, & Butternut squash from the KK

Not deterred by the pending snow, fired up the KK to do some jerk chicken on pimento wood, of course! And because it was the Ides of March, plated with a Caesar salad to go with the pineapple salsa. Glad that I got this cook in, because this is what I woke up to this morning.

if you want to grill fish but not have to flip with a spatula and damage the skin, you can make a grate sandwich with two small grates and wire everything shut. my kk is small and won't fit any fish shaped grill grates with a handle..

Made a porterhouse steak with poblano crema and grilled artichokes with charred lemon aioli. It turned out fantastic! Love the KK! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mexican pizza, have you done this or heard of it? The idea came to me for using Rotel tomatoes and green chiles with some black negro beans. Empty the can, add a dollip of tomatoe paste ( overful table spoon ) and blend by machine. Add this to your dough, then the beans and taco hamburg that you just cooked. Cover with cheese of your liking grated and cook. Now I didn't cook this on the KK because of time constraints so I used the Ooni with the new gas attachment. Brought into the house and covered with sour cream, lettuce and tomato. The pizza was spot on, top and bottom with beautiful leoparding all around...however the middle was a bit gummy. I attribute this to shopping at another store other than my go to for dough and I noticed the dough also didn't have a good rise. Although the pizza was very good besides this gummy it could of used a twist of Taco Sauce as olive oil is applied to a Margarita pizza, preferably after the cook. First time for this, has potential. I will go to confession for not cooking on the KK

Did fennel grilled branzino flambéed with Pernod tonight on the KK and it turned out awesome! Tried to post a video of the flambé , but it won’t let me. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

What I love is everyone seems to have slightly different failures (in other words, not a design flaw but a random assembly error) and everyone says "Dennis sent me a replacement part" - the worst I've had on my KK was a wooden knob that fell off during a move and after a runaway fire and I also got a replacement. Compare that to the MexiK sites where all the tiles fall off and people need to fix it themselves because the manufacturer is useless and you see the real reason a KK is a great investment.

Finally got around to using a few slices off of piece of KD walnut. I was impressed at the amount of smoke and how long it provided a smoke for. It wasn't white smoke or a creosote laden smoke but an abundant amount yet light on the nose. I feel it worked well, however due to the issue with my latch falling off in my hand I lost track of this experiment by trying to save my cook from failure. But yah, it appears a go with some minor tweaking. Good candidate for the SS smoke pot, that I will try when my new latch is installed.

Finally, a use for exercise equipment other than as a clothes rack!

For the Super Bowl I went pork vs beef in my chili. It was the first time I made a pork based chili and I will absolutely make it again.

Wings again! Now just hold on a second, it's not the wings, it's the sauce...yep a peach sauce I found on a shelf at a distant brewery/winery out in the Berkshires., not far from Arlo Guthrie's house. If you don't remember him just do a Google. Wineries and breweries are an attraction I'll spin the wheel over for a look and taste, while inside finding local treasures people are making up at home in their kitchen and resting comfortably on shelves could be considered a bonus find So if your in a position and wondering what to cook for dinner, well that old bottle on the shelf you might have forgoten about could be a mix it in thought. Don't tell the wife though if it's gone past the date of expiration, nope you don't want to go there...trust me, besides it's still good way past the date, trust me, research supports this or a finger taste will suffice. Nothing special, it was tasty but it was just a reminder for you to by something next time your out and about or cruisin to no where, so take a chance...you never know.

Here's how to use a fan belt and wrench to open a stuck damper top. VIDEO-2025-10-24-05-10-08.mp4

Pimento wood...musta been a special occasion, no secret how you value it's importance and scarcity. The snow, better you than me, I've seen enough....looking forward to spring. Nice plate by the way.

As I stood by my KK talking with Dennis and I looked for those spot welds, there were none. Apparently it came down to the year of manufacture, that's all, other than that removal with a Dremel cutting wheel would make easy work of any tack weld as you stated. Looking at your break, I'd call that an oddity. For moi, it's pretty straight forward to install, remove the two cap nuts and replace. Weird how it happened though, I opened to take a temp on the meat and the latch stayed in my hand. I said, "this ain't good." So I posted this for those unaware to be mindful of the possibilities, reassure them it's only a speedbump. That's all Folks

Well at least the pork came out great !!!!!! Great job improvising.

I can see my KK now !!!! It took a few good days of melting but I am getting close lol

Wow, Remi. You certainly cooked up a storm and everything looks delicious.👍👍🤩

You have great looking buns !!!!!! 😳

Max likes it but I fail to see the humor in it 😡 I’ll dig the 32 out in a few days

An historical piece, not quite an antique but you'd make a great witness Toney if anyone was stangled in a murder case and asked if, "Can you identify this Mr Toney?" A little off script, but good eyes.

Cooked up a nice kielbasa stuffed pork loin wrapped in a bacon weave and it turned out delicious! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It may indeed be a California thing. Juglans californica, the California black walnut, is a distinct species from the black walnut found in the eastern U.S. The nuts are small and difficult to crack, and the meats are small, bitter, and generally not worth the trouble of extraction. I tried making nocino from unripe California black walnuts, and it was terrible. It wouldn't surprise me that the wood produces a noxious smoke when burned.

Probably just a California thing, but when I buy black walnut from the lumber yard I get sent Material Data Safety Sheets (MSDS) warning of inhaling the smoke.

No warning on mine either, just "plink" and I was holding the handle in my hand. You're correct, Dennis told me that mine had the cosmetic welds after looking at the picture I sent him. He was surprised by this failure; had never seen one do this before. Later years didn't have those welds. Once removed, the cap nuts came right off, and it was an easy repair.

I actually had the upper latch handle break on my KK. I could still latch the lid using pliers. Dennis sent a replacement and instructions on how to replace the whole upper latch assembly. There are some "cosmetic" welds that need to be ground out to remove the old one. The Dremel came in very handy for that task. All is well now.

Maybe I'll try my next paella with linguica instead! Reckon the kids may well like some cacoila as well... good suggestions!

I like it, just like camping. You have enough there for a few meals. Do they make a linguica to go with that chorizo? Have you tried cacoila, a marinated pork, great for sandwiches and cooks well in the KK?

@Tyrus No worries at all. Agreed, with a KK where air flow is controlled, the combustion is slow, and you want a lighter smoke profile --KD seems like a smart choice. For an offset smoker it might make a bigger difference vs. air dried wood. I used to run a home built water smoker and tried soaking wood chunks overnight to prevent flare ups. It didn't seem to make a difference. I cut a chunk open to see what it looked like and the water barely penetrated the surface. Sorry to hear about your dog. Losing a pet is tough. We just lost 2 cats in the last year. One cat was named Napoleon and had a lot of dog-like behaviors, so that's where that came from. When I created the account I thought Sarah & I might share it so picked a name for both of us. You can call me Eric. Cheers

First glance i thought that crab was an open faced rare roast beef sandwich lol Great, now I have to go get some roast beef !!!

Gumbo!

If you hadn't told me what it was, I'd have guessed gumbo.

The weather men got it right!! The Blizzard was spot on. So far we have 23'' and still snowing with winds still gusting to 50mph. Here are a couple of before and current pictures!! Will have to wait a few days to dig out the KK for my first cook of 2026!! Stay safe if you're in the northeast and don't over do it with the shoveling !!! Be smart take breaks or just hire someone to get it done!!!

For nearly every purpose our flour is freshly ground using a KoMo Grain Mill then sieved through a #20, #25, or #35 Gilson Test Sieve (12" sieves fit nicely into an 8 quart Vollrath mixing bowl (69080)). This is a home approximation to traditional stone-ground flour, which bears little resemblance to roller-milled white flour that isolates the endosperm. The nutritional value of wheat is mostly in the highly perishable germ, and the bran; "white" flour is a modern invention that is shelf-stable for years. White flour is spectacularly successful as an "artist's medium" for how responsive it is to varied baking techniques, but at health costs. Just as I can't watch athletes harm themselves in boxing or American football, I can't watch white flour baking. While many people who don't have celiac disease conclude that they can't tolerate gluten, a competing view is that they can't tolerate overly processed grain products. (One should let experiment not culture decide this.) And everyone is vulnerable to diabetes if they live long enough; the starch in white flour is too accessible; constantly stressing our insulin systems. Should one address this in one's twenties, or wait for rising A1C numbers in one's seventies? The medical evidence isn't clear, but the larger picture implicates overly processed foods in general as one reason that health in the United States lags behind its first world peers. My bread has evolved to use exclusively freshly ground flour and sourdough leavening, a "desem" style spread out over several days of cold ferments, for example using the Sourdough Home for an overnight bulk ferment at 50 F, and finishing proofing the shaped loaf in the fridge. Drawing out the sourdough process has both health and flavor benefits, and makes scheduling bread making easier: There's far more leeway in the timing of cold ferments; get in a step when you can. Bread from freshly milled flour is notorious for going sploof into a flat pancake when baked. Many bakers have worked around this without understanding the mechanism, but it's challenging. Bread spreads more as either the hydration or the rye content climbs, and spreads less if baked from a cold proof. I learned from Advanced Bread and Pastry, a professional tome by Michel Suas, about "green" flour: Flour needs to age several weeks to facilitate the quality of gluten development we expect. I don't want to age my flour. It's inconvenient, the germ goes rancid, the flour oxidizes. I now use 60ppm ascorbic acid, as recommended by Suas, as an additive to correct the difficulties posed by "green" flour. I mix ascorbic acid 1:20 with white flour (one of my few uses), and mix that 1:20 with white flour to obtain a 1:440 blend I can actually weigh and include in my dough. I found that it made a dramatic difference. I've stopped using the other additives mentioned above. I have been experimenting with small amounts of organic psyllium flakes, which gels to stiffen the loaf when chilled before baking, but doesn't adversely affect the crumb when used in moderation. Psyllium has a pretty wild effect on hydration, so I'm learning how to again throw strikes.

Looks delicious Tyrus! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I remember those!

Tryus WOW!! Thanks for making me feel better!! I thought I had it bad. Nice to see I'm not alone. I'm really impressed with the path you carved out absolutely a beautiful job! Question did where did you end up parking the snow blower?? P.S. Are you still disappointed As you were on Sunday at 3am ?

Here's a few pics in Mass gaining access out to the cooking areas. The backyard, whatever you don't see will be revealed in the spring.

That instantly brought me back to when I used to change my own oil. Craftsman made the tool, I have another larger one with a red handle and a longer wider strap somewhere in one of my tool boxes, but you get the idea. 8 1/2 years I haven't succumed to that demise, I spin the top to close but always remember by habit now to back off the cap to a touch. Then again my settings are generally a 1/4 to 1/2 turn at the final setting when closing so I'm not going far to that touch.

Nice Fatty!

Looks awesome, SteveL.

How desperate are you, are you Jonesin and seeing racks of ribs? The fix my friend is a good sturdy shovel, cut a path and the rest is all down hill. C6Bill and I are sitting in the sweet spot for this storm 12-18, he's probably doing the no snow go away dance in his living room. Ain't gonna work, but I'll be cookin. Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night shall keep you from your appointed rounds of tending to your KK.

Bought some Caputo Blue 00 flour and tried my hand at making neopolitan style pizzas with my gores. Crust came out thin and crunchy. Had a hard time keeping them temp above 550 for 3 pies, think I need to use better fuel ne f tine bud happy with the results gif the first attempt. Nice change of pace to my NY style pizzas I’ve been making the last 3 years

How to get Kamado hot 500F°+ -Remove any items or debris from the lower intake vent (e.g. ash catcher, small charcoal pieces, etc.) -Make sure the bottom of your firebox is well aligned with your lower intake vent. -Store your charcoal inside away from the wet elements. Only use dry fuel. -Use lump charcoal, it will get a lot hotter then briquettes or extruded charcoal and produce less ash. -Don’t blame your brand of lump charcoal, all major lump brands are capable of producing high heat temps for cooking pizza. -Deliberately build your fire: * Keep in mind small pieces of lump burn hotter however they also restrict airflow. * Larger pieces won’t burn quite as hot but they promote airflow. * Airflow = Heat * Airflow restriction is the primary factor preventing you from getting your Kamado to pizza cooking temperatures. * Do not pour your charcoal directly into your firebox, small pieces of lump can fall into the bottom of your firebox and block free airflow. * Lay your lump charcoal out in a wide mouthed bin. * Sort your lump by large, medium, and small pieces. * Discard any really small lump pieces and the dust that settles at the bottom. * Deliberately build your fire box to promote free airflow. * Start with large chunks (fist size or larger) place them one by one at the bottom of your firebox until you have a complete layer of large chunks on the bottom of your charcoal basket. * Now light your layer of large lump pieces. I prefer using a torch until I get a visual flame coming off of two spots of the large lump pieces. * Once your large lump is lit continue building your lump pile by using medium pieces on top of the large lit coals, lay them on top in such a way they don’t interlock with each other and block airflow. * Fill your firebox to the brim with medium lump atop the large chunks at the bottom. Cooking at high temperatures requires a lot of fuel. If you do not use enough lump your fire will run out of steam. * Optionally, you can place some smaller pieces of lump at the very top of your charcoal basket on top of the medium pieces. Don’t use too many small pieces and ensure they don’t fall down into your firebox. * Again, light several more spots on top of your now fully filled firebox, I recommend lighting until the charcoal is glowing in at least four different additional spots. * Once your fire has been built for airflow and is lit remove any platesetters, fire deflector plates, or any larger objects in your Kamado blocking the free airflow of convective and radiant heat up into the dome. * Close your Kamado lid. * Open your bottom vent completely. * Open your top vent nearly fully open, the more your top vent is open the stronger vacuum airflow will be created making your fire burn hotter. However, if you completely remove the top vent then you also allow some of the hot convective air to escape rather then being trapped in the dome so there is a fine balance, explore this with your own grill. * I like to let the grill heat soak for at least 1/2 hour at a temperature of 50 degrees above my intended cooking temperature. * Time is your freind, I recommend starting this process 2 hours before your intended cook time. Rushing things will lead to unsatisfactory results. * Once you’ve allowed sufficient time for the dome to heat soak open you grill and set up your pizza cook with your stone and deflectors if you are using such. Close you lid once again. * Keep your grill lid open as minimally as possible. You will lose some heat after installing your deflectors, let your Kamado stabilize once again at your cooking temperature for at least 15 minutes without adjusting vents. * Place your pizza on your stone. * Check on your pizza as infrequently as possible, you want to retain dome heat for cooking your toppings. * Burp your grill dome before opening. *Additional tips -You can pre-heat your pizza stone in your oven while you grill is heating up. -An infrared temperature gun is a good idea, this will allow you to determine if your stone is to temp before placing your pizza on. -A fan such as the BBQ dragon, a hair dryer, or leaf blower can force air into your lower vent speeding up this whole process. Getting your Kamado hot too fast can put additional stress on your ceramics. -Beer helps. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk