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I finally had the time to try a rotisserie cook after all the trials and tribulations of getting this thing to work right! Had to do a whole chicken. Injected with Butcher's BBQ Rotisserie Chicken marinade and rubbed the skin with baking powder and kosher salt and let rest uncovered in the fridge overnight. Just before going on the KK, I brushed on some oil and dusted the outside all over with Yardbird rub. Into the rotisserie basket and onto the KK, preheated to 300F (final target was 350F for the 1st hour and 400F for the last 30 minutes or until done). Smoking pot with one chunk of pecan and two chunks of peach wood. Just about done. I noticed a lot of smoke in the grill. When I checked, I saw that I had leaks around the lid of the smoker pot. Never have had that happen before. No harm, no foul in my book. Done. Had been on the KK for about 1 hour and a half. Breast was 155F IT, legs were at 175F. Let rest for about 10 minutes while I finished up the sides. Plated with some cheese risotto and sauteed yellow squash, zucchini and mushrooms. Have to say that it was one of the best chickens that I've ever done. Seriously tasty. Skin wasn't quite as crispy as I wanted, but that's a tweak for next time. Maybe a tad more time on the KK at the higher temp.

Outback Kamado Bar and Grill ♨

I had a XL bge before I had my bronze 23. When I was building my outdoor kitchen, the 23 was center stage, and the bge was getting a shelf to the side. During construction, I put the grills in place just to get an idea of the look, and guess what happened? A bronze 19" TT ended up where the egg was supposed to go. NO ONE can resist the POWER of the dark side!! Rob

Jon B. also comes to Cedar Rapids to visit periodically. Missed him earlier this year, but maybe we can coordinate and have a KK party on my deck next time?? It's nice that you stay in touch with the family. I am a widower and still visit my spouse's family up in Minneapolis a couple of times a year, including Christmas.

Day 2 of KK cooking - thought we'd try some tandoori to take advantage of all the space available in the KK relative to other cookers. Turned out very nicely - the skewers sat nicely above the fire, all contained, temperature rock solid at 250C. Served with naan, kachumber, tandoori mushrooms and mint raita.

Chicken is so great done on the rotisserie I thought I'd do a couple of slabs of ribs even though I don't have the correct basket for that. They are in the grill @240F. Yesterday I sprinkled the ribs with granulated garlic, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Vacuum sealed and left overnight in the fridge. Ready after 4.5 hours. Cut into the smaller slab. The more meaty slab- Plated with some SV potato salad. Those are the first of the radish for this season and last year's peas. The ribs were perfectly seasoned for my liking and I would definitely use the rotisserie method again.

I've had one of these before and wooooed Mrs skreef with fine dining off it on our honeymoon at a cabin. I ended up getting rid of it (big mistake). Fortunately Chargriller came out with another production run after about 2 years. . Insulated steel with 14" CI grate. I also got the smoking stone deflector. Total with shipping just over $200. Weighs in at 37 lbs so really easy to transport by yourself. Doesn't compare with a KK but it'll do in a pinch. Better than nothing while on vacation. . Anyway needed to season the CI grates and didn't want to waste the heat. Petite sirloin fillets and lobster Tails for two. I could have done 4 of each. . I'm loving these $5 tails from Kroger. They say they'll be on sale all summer. . Reef's Bistro

I was trying for 250* but was OK with 300* - I basically got this one. I probably would have gone slightly smaller vent settings but after getting up so late I was scared the temp would be low and I'd never get to eat. . Clues along the way was the color of the bark and how much drippings were in the drip pan. Those just gave me a basic idea of how far along this cook was. Probe tender is always done regardless of everything else. . A great personal challenge. Reef's Bistro

I took temps along the way. Not telling ckreef. 10:30-240* 1:30-290* 4:00-280* 8:00-290* ending grill temp 204- ending internal temp This experiment was fun. Knowing what the temps were and ckreef wondering if he was close. He has cook enough of them that he knew how to get this cook done right. The bbq was excellent . It had the best bark taste and with the orange bbq sauce, my taste buds were in Heaven. You are the bomb@ckreef. I'm a lucky girl. Mrs. Reef's Bistro

Thanks for the kudos and kind words.. Grill looks great, ready for smoke on the water.. Shoulder is much better but still a long way to go.. worst part after the initial weeks of pain was not sleeping well for weeks. Have fun with your KK!

Today I decided to enjoy more of those boneless beef short ribs. Along with some sous vide potato salad. This time I add red and white radish from the garden, some lettuce, and some pea shoots.

@ dstr8, Potato Salad - Dice the potatoes, sprinkle with granulated garlic, cayenne pepper, and freshly ground black pepper. Spread in single layer and vacuum seal. SV @ 185F for 75-90 mins, depends upon how thick the cubes are. Test by squeezing one of the cube to see if it is soft. Remove when done and immediately put into very cold water of even better an ice bath. Add dressing to suit and I added a little seed style mustard, sliced fresh radish from my garden, chopped chives, diced onion, diced boiled egg that was not used for egg slices, and some cooked peas. You will find the texture of the salad different than normally boiled potatoes, but in a good way, they don't mush up. Now I'm hungry

This is why everyone should have a KK expert on hand for delivery. @ckreefknew what the cotter pin was for and hooked me up

Thanks to all for your comments! But I am sure everybody is in the same boat with the nicest pit to have in your yard. My journey with KK goes back 3 years into gawking and dreaming of having one of these pits. As we all know, they are pricey which contributed to my dreaming for 3 years. I embarked on building a home and stumbled on the one and only "SALE" of a select few pits and i couldn't stand it. I called and spoke to Dennis, who is a very pleasant and genuine guy, and he guided me into killing the dream and moving into reality. What a great experience it is to do business with Dennis and I love my pit! I met on the forum a local owner of 2 KK pits here in New Orleans and we made plans to have a pit break-in party on Friday. We plan to share on pallets of charcoal. Go buy another pit and see if you get this kind of family! KK rocks, but you know that! Hope Dennis' rotator cuff surgery rehab is going well. Thanks guys!

Thanks, guys. It was a fun cook. @dstr8, I will post what I did for the salad later today.:)

Chris - now that's funny!

This is reminding me of Bosco's delivery.:)

I'm sure you'll make great use of that cooker.

Love the bark on the ribs and the meat pulled back nicely from the bones.

Cheers CC Outback Kamado Bar and Grill ♨

It took a bit to get the picture up. Here it is!

Didn't think you were that much in the Dark Ages in OKC, but sounds like I could be wrong!

Looks like money from here already, Charles! Nicely done. @CeramicChef - Ken, I hear yah. But, it seems a bit off kilter for a Guru Challenge, where it's usually all about the recipe, not so much about the technique.

I went a full 12 hours. Just wanted it to probe a little better. Anyway here it is at 12 hours straight up on the KK the whole time. Pulled it then wrapped in foil and a towel for the next 30 minutes or so. Yea I knew I wanted to start this a little earlier - damn you Saturday night alcohol - LOL. Oh well we always eat late. Give me another hour or so and I'll post a couple of money shots. Reef's Bistro

Breaking News: I'm having my contractor build a custom gazebo 17' x 7' with a 8'-10' ceiling to house both the KK 32 and my extra large oval. Everything should be done by mid-week. Phase 2 will follow in 2-3 weeks and will include electrical work and an outdoor kitchen with granite countertop. My dilemma is that my oval is mounted to a stainless steel table. Perhaps , the countertop area can be designed so that the oval table can be slid right under it. Maybe, I'll create a platform just for the oval and then sell the table to an oval owner. Maybe, I'll replace the oval with a small KK. Nah! At least not now.

Well said CC. Wasn't a challenge between people it was a challenge between ones self, their equipment and their skills. Pointless for some but probably a really good learning adventure for others. . Just so I know how close I got it Mrs skreef has been inserting the dome thermometer every few hours and recording the temperature (but not telling me). After its all over I'll post the results she got. . On a KK it's all in the ramp up to temperature and the vent settings. I usually do it a little differently but wanted to play it safe without a thermometer. . ................... . Here we are at 8 hours. Looks like 2 more hours to me. Meanwhile wanted a BBQ sauce to go with this Asian butt so how about an orange BBQ sauce. . Reef's Bistro

@_Ed_ - wow, that's just some really nice chicken and the recipes sound delicious! My pastor is a priest from India and he's coming to dinner in a couple of weeks. You've just inspired me as to what to cook. Thanks! Congrats on a very nice cook! And I LOVE pink flamingos!

Hi MacKenzie, we are back on track this summer to work on our ODK, can you tell me what the pegs are that your sunbrella sides fasten to? Or maybe take a close up picture? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Been using my smoker pot for years now. I plan to use it tonight on the whole chicken cook. Works great on longer cooks. And the fun part is, if you use bigger wood chunks, you get a couple of pieces of charcoal at the end.

@bosco - you said it, buddy! Like handing Jacques Pipin a cast iron skillet and a non-stick pan, then asking which one he'd rather use for making a fritatta. Tell me it's the cook and not the equipment then!

Awesome buddy. I can't wait until you see the difference in food taste. Most say it's not the grill... It's the cook. You wait and see and tell me what you think. Non KK owners doubt us ...

Chris - as @MacKenzie says, just wait for that same cook on your soon-to-be-delivered KK. It's really sumptuous right now; soonits over the moon! Nicely done and kudos to you!

I made one last year but haven't had a chance to use it yet. Maybe a low and slow this week is in order

Aussie Ora, lovely cook and just wait until you do it on a KK.

Looks tasty. Interesting sauce. I like using non standard flavor profiles. Reef's Bistro

I've had lots of pizza for breakfast but have never made one for breakfast. You have given me tasty ideas tinyfish.

OK, so here's the koji rice steak aging experiment results. Here's the setup - a Trader Joe's strip steak (moderately tender cut) and the koji rice. Ground up some of the rice and rubbed all over the steak. Into the fridge on the rack. Here's what it looked like after one day. Things are starting to happen. Here's the result after 2 days. The grid marks are from turning the steak over after the first day. Rinsed, dried, and simple rub of Trader Joe's Steak rub (coffee based) and some Sucklebuster's SPG (salt, pepper, garlic). Onto the KK, direct @ 325F, bourbon barrel chunk, with some corn. 5 minutes on each side. (Note: corn had been on for 30 minutes already) Finished on the sear grate. 2 minutes on each side. Plated with some parsley potatoes w/black truffle oil, cooked SV @ 183F for 35 minutes. Some sauteed mushrooms on the side. And, don't forget that corn on the cob! So, what was the outcome? Will definitely try this again to see if first impressions hold. Steak was slightly more tender, but not dramatically so. I chose this rub combo, as I have used it on the same steak cut before, so I knew what it should taste like. There was a slightly noticeable taste difference this time - slightly sweet/malty, especially on the fatty outer layer. Not a bad thing, but different. Maybe next time, I'll keep it super simple and just use the SPG alone, to see if I still notice this sweetness. I might also go 3 days in the fridge, to see if that further improves the texture/aging. All in all, fun with food! My favorite hobby!