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No problem when you use the incredibly versatile Komodo Kamado! it was unseasonably hot here today in the Reno-Sparks area and I needed a fresh batch of biscotti for a little dinner party we're having tomorrow evening. And to keep the heat outside the house I stoked my Two-Three KK and let it cruise at three-fifty . Worked out great. Garden rosemary, macadamia nut & SoCal orange zest biscotti.

Just a quick cook today on the 32". I rubbed two chickens with the slabs birds and bones and cooked them at 350 for just about 1.5 hours. They were juicy and the meat was perfect.

Started the morning smoking 5 pounds of pork belly that I had curing. Ready for the grill. Smoked. Looks good to me, now I just need to cool, slice and package it, tomorrow.:) Let' try a trick a good friend of mine suggested, a touch of Sambuca on pineapple, not enough so that you can identify the Sambuca. Since the KK was still hot after the bacon, let's try some grilled pineapple with a wash of Sambuca.:) Both are delicious but I think I liked the warm grilled the best. Time for dinner, cooked up some mushrooms, noodles. Hot Thai pepper and added some of that pulled beef. As an after thought I wish I had sprinkled it with cheese, no matter it was fast and very tasty. It has been busy, while the KK was working I also finished planting my garden, just in time for a frost warning for tonight, but I have it covered.:) A woodpecker who frequents the suet feeder is feeding. Red maple tree at sunset.

Woodworkers are known to make rudimentary measurements, and they still enjoy their work! I wasn't trying to be a troll, but I should have seen some resistance coming. My first year at a Fire Island beach house, I arrived to find that the old timers had claimed all the drawer space. Rather than whine about this, I lugged over a new dresser on the next trip, and made a chart assigning fractions as sizes for the various drawers in the room, suggesting that people be fair in claiming the new drawer space. I faced Kangaroo Court for this, but not because people took offense. They enjoyed having a pet mathematician who could cook, but they wanted to let me know that not everyone can do fractions. This same crew made me miss the ferry back so I would stay behind to bone out the rest of the chicken I had brought out.

We did have frost last night, there was a sheet of ice on the birdbath. Fortunately I had blankets over the flower pots. This could go on until the middle of June. ;( Sliced the bacon this morning, and packaged it all up. Here is the stack of slices with the ends piled on top. They could go into making a pot of beans. Sliced layed out for vacuum sealing. Looking good to me.:)

Sorry to hear about your heavy frost. It's good that you were able to recoup. Just wait until I slice it tomorrow morning.

Recall the notion of a degree day. For example, growing degree days add up the surplus heat over a base temperature, often 10 C. Three days averaging 15 C, 20 C, 25 C add up to 5+10+15 = 30 degree days. What is the best rule of thumb for degree hours in barbecue? For example, in the thread Dinosaur Beef Ribs, Hector cooked 10 hours @ 235 F. Dave cooked 8 hours @ 285 F. Different pieces of meat, but it was rather evident that Dave overcooked in comparison to Hector. Could one have predicted this by an easy rule of thumb? A base temperature of 35 F makes these two cooks the same: 10 * (235 - 35) = 8 * (285 - 35) = 2000 degree hours, either way. But 35 F is obviously too low, and we know Dave overcooked compared to Hector. One can sous vide pretty much indefinitely at 135 F. We have 10 * (235 - 135) = 1000 degree hours, while 8 * (285-135) = 1200 degree hours. That difference is closer to what we observe, studying the two cooks in the thread. The rate of ideal heat transfer is proportional to the temperature difference, but real world roasting is far more complicated. One follows the water as much as the heat, to understand what is happening. For example, one can model the dwell in a pork butt cook by watching what happens to a wet towel. Nevertheless, a rule of thumb like I propose could be useful for anticipating the effect of small changes in protocol. If I know how long I like to cook a pork butt at 225 F, how do I adjust my cooking times for 240 F? That sort of question could be easily handled by a rule of thumb like I propose, at least for a first guess.

I am a new KK owner, the one thing I would do differently knowing what I know now is to order several boxes of Dennis' lump charcoal with the grill. it turns out you can't order individual boxes you need to buy a pallet at a time, but you can order boxes with your initial order because of shippimg costs

I'll bring the pie.

I retired from Engineering for a reason! This discussion is making my brain hurt.

I'll bring da shrimp! Rob

Count me in, too! Had a nice couple of bourbons after dinner last night - beautiful weather to sit out on the deck - Jefferson Reserve (Ocean Series) and Bib & Tucker - both outstanding.

Excellent looking "shot" of espresso! (pun intended)

Oh my... In my almost five years of online social media I have yet to see someone do biscotti. This looks incredible and I really want to do this ASAP. Amazing Amazing Amazing!

I do not like smoking poultry. Some love the taste, however, for me I like the meat to come through with a hint of the seasoning. I added one peach chunk to to grill but cooked at 350. I won't exactly call it smoking but there definitely was a small wood smoke profile. With poultry I believe less is more thanks egmiii

Pics of the new 19 inch and the new cabinet under the umbrella. As always, the workmanship is just superb. These sit right outside the pool house where the flooring has been installed [but is currently covered up for final painting].

@CeramicChef I made up the three stages based upon my experience to date. Please don't treat these as generally accepted BBQ facts. Throwing some meat on until it probes tender is a simple and proven technique for awesome BBQ. The only problem is it requires some planning and flexibility. It's done when it's done, not a minute sooner. In theory, given sufficient knowledge of the three stages, you could produce similar results to the tried and true method, but in a time span than better matches your time constraints. Possibly even better. Instead of spending 6 hours in the stall and 3 hours breaking down collagen, would you be better off spending 3 hours in the stall and 6 hours breaking down collagen. I couldn't give an opinion either way. But if I were forced to shave off some time to get dinner on the table, it would be nice to know where to cut. Regarding a drop from 300 to 225. I say, just toss it in the oven. Or just let the grill cool down on it's own. Maybe start the cool down an hour early. Or wrap it in a cooler for a bit. Lots of options! Maybe all of this is for nothing, but it keeps things interesting, in my opinion. BBQ science and art are not mutually exclusive concepts. Chemical reactions and secret spice blends make for some good eating! (FYI, if you're accustomed to using SAS / SPSS, check out R. It's slowly become the dominate statistical package. Virtually every university student now uses it, and it's free...)

If I wanted to put that much work into smoking a pork butt, I’d be cooking on a Weber grill instead. ***ducks***

dstr8, the biscotti looks very tasty and it sounds wonderful. It has been ages, years, since I made biscotti, now I'm wanting some, mostly yours.

What he said...but if someone comes up with a standard base temp, I'll be in line to try it...

Frost at this time of the year...sucks! Bacon looks great and the pineapple. I have quite a few maple trees at the new house that turn that bright red colour in the fall.

Don't know if I'll be any help, my wife married me for my looks...lol

(5*250-6*225)/(5-6) = 100 F, and 5*(250-100) = 6*(225-100) = 750 degree hours either way. 100 F is a lower base temp than I would have expected, but plausible for this rule. This supports your point that it depends on the cut. Using instead a base of 125 F, 5*(250-125) = 6.25*(225-125), suggesting that 5 hours at 250 = 6.25 hours at 225. So any reasonable base gives reasonable predictions.