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When we were out and about Saturday morning we came across a really cute, little CI Dutch Oven. The original idea was to cook a small two person peach cobbler ......... But then I got thinking ......... . So Sunday morning when I broke out the drill Mrs skreef said (with a pouty lip) "Bye Bye little cooker." Of course I replied with "But it's for the good of mankind!" . That's 5 decent sized chunks of smoke wood that I split (with a machete) so it would all fit. Get the kamado up to temp (250* in this case) then put the smoke pot right down on the coals. Install your diffuser, grate and food. Close the dome. It took the smoke pot about 5 minutes to heat up. After that it was about 3 1/2 hours of the best smelling thin blue smoke I've ever had. Constant the whole time. So glad I listened to CC with this idea. Reef's Bistro

While Ken and others, myself included, are big proponents of the dutch oven smoker pot, the credit for the original idea goes back a few years to @Syzygies.

Just wanted to reach out and wish you all a happy and safe Independence day.. It was always such a big day growing up at the beach as a kid. We were invited to a 4th of July big whoop de do here but the puppy just arrived so we decided to stay and make her feel at home..

I haven't been using my smoke pot, I wonder what box that got packed in for the house move?

Great pics I would last 2 seconds if I had to work there lol Outback Kamado Bar and Grill♨

Couldn't get a more perfect day or weekend for THIS delivery! Happy 4th of July all!!!! (OK...one day early, but still:) Click on the pic for fuller resolution...They're worth it!!

Thank you MacKenzie... Several years ago ago I was making the choice of remodeling the kitchen or rescuing the backyard. I decided to blend the concepts and went with a redone backyard with a grill island. Unfortunately, I strayed from the world of real grilling and BBQ, falling to the grey side of gas grilling. True, I have been able to add smoke, but not the same! I've now come back to my senses and though I will still make use of my Lynx grill, I think it will soon be jealous of the time I spend cooking with my KK.

@Syzygies - Hi Friend. I just thought you should know I've posted your brilliant idea for the smoke pot in a few other BBQ Forums and it has been met with universal acclaim. In fact the word that is most used is "Genius". I've given you proper attribution and folks have asked that I tell you how much they love your invention. It really is a game changer for them, especially those with kamados of every strip. You're becoming quite the BBQ sensation. I just though you should know that your little smoke pot is really changing the way more than a few look at kamados. Thanks for sharing that jewel with us here.

So this doesn't really fall in the category of jokes， but my husband scored us reservations at The French Laundry coming up soon. I am fricken so excited， but nobody I know in real life really understands just how special this is or can comprehend why I want to spend so much money on one meal. I thought maybe someone on the forum could relate. He's been working on this for months， and it finally paid off. We will also likely be visiting Bochoun and Ad hoc. I own all three of the restaurant books (actually I have for years) and in my free time I have found myself perusing the photographs wondering what will be on the menu the nights we are there!

So I saw some very tasty Italian roast beef subs on here a while ago and I mentally bookmarked it to do this summer. Well today was the day and it was even better than I imagined. Yes， really. And so simple，this will definitely be done again.woke up this Morning，fired up the kk and set the vents to about 225. Then seasoned the meat. The run was a little salt (i went lighter than normal because the pepperoncini jar had a substantial amount of salt) fresh black pepper， ground mustard， paprika， garlic powder， and a little cayenne. Then set it naked on the grate and ran to church....well before I ran to church I realize EEEP! I forgot to add any wood! So I used the handy dandy flip up feature for the first time to add wood (i thought I would never use it because I can't imagine running out of charcoal) Ok got my wood in then ran to church. I had to trust my settings at the start of the cook because I had no time to monitor the meat. Got home 2 hours later， and whew， I did a good job setting my vents， still right at 225. Then I put it in an aluminum pan with a jar of pepperoncinis plus their juice. As well as a sliced onion， a couple smashed garlic cloves， Worcestershire， and liquid aminos.I covered that with aluminum foil and put it back in for about 6 hours. Meanwhile， towards the end of that cook， I fired up the old akorn. I hadn't done so since receiving my kk， but really I was looking forward to be able to cook on two different temperatures. So I got it around 550 and put on the corn. After these had mostly cooked， I swapped it out for an eggplant that my friend had picked from her garden about 1 hour prior to me cooking it. Now I LOVE this grilled eggplant. I hadn't done it in a kamado yet， but I was doing it like crazy before. Cooked pretty fast. Then shucked the corn and let it get a little toasty....during this time I had pulled the meat.then shredded it with bear claws. I sliced up some rolls and loaded the meat， peppers and onions in and topped with some provolone cheese. Popped those back into the ok to melt the cheese and crisp the rolls.I topped my with some horseradish sauce and a little au jus. This was my plate. Yes， I ate it ALL. Plus even more eggplant hahaha. I just let the kk keep going， because I'm about to throw a butt on for tomorrow. My friends are having a party and they asked me to bring it....kind of excited yet kind of nervous. Anyway this sandwiches were superb， and not at all difficult. I HIGHLY recommend you try them. And thank you to who ever originally posted it. Man this was good.

It is. Is that all you see? Sometimes it's only little damp spots and small bubbles. Rob

Hello all and "Happy Independence Day" to all of you plus happy grilling.

Thanks for the advice. Glad it doesn't get very windy where I live very often.

I just called.. as I do.. Usual suspect.. Latch was not in 2nd postition. We just started shipping grill with a yellow tag on the latch with the 2nd position info.

I would also get your grill in a more controllable configuration. Put the guru plug back in, bottom vent 3/4 open, top vent no more than two turns open. This would normally give you all the heat you need. Rob

I think it's time to check your thermometer, I find it hard to believe 430° for forty minutes with all that going on. Can you remove it? Rob

I've posted pictures of this place before but this time I thought I would do a virtual tour of their packing machine. Me and Mrs skreef went there today to buy some cheap peaches. Lane Packing is the only peach packing facility in the US that still packs the boxes by hand. Fasten your seat belts the tour is about to begin. The peaches are picked and put in large plastic bins. Those bins are put in a large water refrigerator (large plastic covered doorway in the first picture). Once the peaches are cooled to the appropriate temperature they are brought out by fork lift and put on the packing machine receiving area. A machine picks up the bins and dumps them on the conveyor belt. The peaches then get split up and go through a machine that removes the fuzz, washes then waxes them. They then go through an inspection area. The really good ones are culled out and put on the small upper belt. Any remaining leaves or bad peaches are put down the small square trash shoot next to each inspector. The peaches meet again and go up to the grading belt/computer. This new belt holds each peach in a known spot. They pass through a laser/computer area (under the green plate). The laser inspects each peach. The computer registers it's size, grade and position on the belt based on the laser inspection. They then pass through the sticker machine. They proceed along. Based on what the computer registered about that peach it's kicked off and goes down the appropriate slide to the correct boxing station located on the other side of the cat walk. Here the peaches are hand boxed for different markets/customers. You can see the different boxes at the various packing lanes. This is a really kewl place to visit. We go here every year during peach season. They have a decent store where you can buy everything peach and more. If you live in GA or are passing through on I-75 take a small detour to check it out. Reef's Bistro

If nothing else, I can get the burn in process out of the way! I've been reading up on this since it was a complete surprise to me, but it does make sense given the nature of the materials and construction...

Please remember that until you close the lid there is no airflow.. Close the lid.. the hot air exiting the grill will create vacuum and force air up thru the charcoal.. Much faster than the standard charcoal grill that lets air bypass the charcoal. I usually light just a little pile of lump with one starter or a half one then use a hairdryer as a blower to spread the fire. I've never seen a grill ship missing that pin.. that being said, with the spring tension on it you could not get that pin out with a hammer..

Pocket Aces seemed like a good analogy for twin 32's! Hard to beat! and yes CC, I have been seated at a few poker tables.... wouldn't exactly say that I 'play' as yet. I'm always a welcome contributor it seems....

Miss going to the peach orchards. We did that a lot as a kid growing up in So Carolina. I especially miss when we'd get home and make homemade peach ice cream!! Mom made the BEST peach cobbler, too!

There's no such thing as spending too much money on something that will bring you that much joy, even if it is fleeting. I've done it many times. Never gotten to the French Laundry, but threw some serious cash at a dinner at Bartolotta's in Vegas once. Never regretted a dime of it! The memory of that excellent meal with be with me always, as I'm sure that your's will as well. Bon Appetite!

I've reused my cedar and alder planks before. You can also hit them with a bit of sandpaper to restore the surface and expose new wood.

Thanks for promoting it and giving Syz his props! Brilliant idea. I never do a lo and slo cook without using mine.

Thank you! I just have to get a variety of temps under my belt， so I can know the vent settings for each temp. I'm liking how consistent the settings seem to be， regardless of outside factors.

Here's the 8" basket with 6" reducer on the 23" OTB. If you didn't get the 2 rotisserie shafts in your "tool & parts box," mention that you need them when you order the basket. The basket will come with the new adjustable motor shaft and motor mounting bracket. The motor has to be ordered separately from One Grill - model # 4pm05.

Be prepared to be shocked at the size of the lumps!

First, a full load of coal is never too much, there's still airflow happening. The most common culprit is the latch, make sure it's closed all the way, sometimes new grills are particularly stiff. Second, make sure BOTH bottom vents are pushed closed all the way, sometimes closing the lid can work bottom vents open. Third, sometimes the top vent needs a little extra twist, but just a little, to make sure the fiber gasket is contacting all around the vent. Rob

I started a conversation with Dennis regarding a 23. Let's see what happens. I don't know if it's going to happen in a month or in a year. Maybe, I'll decide to go with the 42 which will be out in a month. It's now time for solvent venting. I want to cook later this afternoon, but I want to get through this solvent venting process. I want to starting cooking in 4 hours which should give me enough time to get this solvent venting out of the way. KK 32 owners, please chime in with your advice.

Looks like 'pocket aces' to me. I bet the neighborhood is in for a tasty July 4th given you new found capacity! What's for dinner?

I bought the Rio Grande with high top lid. Huge 24" diameter Semi-Flat bottom at about 10" across Cones up to a height of 4" Gives you 27" of cooking space end to end...this will hold a lot of food!! Weighs in at a hefty 25 pounds and just shy of a 1/4" thick Handles providing a secure and safe place to maneuver while cooking and carry it as well Works great om an old 3 leg burner from yesteryear. We use it a lot at the beach. Joe

You just summed up my exact opinion after my first cook. I had three kjs and loved them. Everyone said that I would never use them again once I got the KKs. After my first cook I noticed things that I liked. I found the food moister, temps easier to control, less air flow etc etc. Suddenly I was thinking what am I going to do with all of these other BBQs now. Someone jokingly asked you a few weeks ago when you were going to order the 23. You responded much like I did saying that the other cooker was still great and you would keep it. Now, you got the KK, your wife wants you to turn the primo into a flower box and she loves the KK. You now love the cooking on the KK and now you too have come to that conclusion. Looks like it's time to sell the primo to a friend and make that call to Dennis again lol!

Though I have grilled salmon fillets and steaks many times over the years, this afternoon I smoked a fillet for the first time. Of course, huge rolling papers are needed. [rimshot] The fish was farm raised Atlantic salmon from Norway that was purchased skinless. I'm guessing it was ~2 lbs. or perhaps a little less. I adapted a couple of Steven Raichlen's recipes to end up with my cook. The ingredients are: 1 salmon fillet (I suppose you could use with or without the skin), 1.5-2 lbs. 1 cup dark rum 1 cup finely packed brown sugar 1/2 cup coarse salt (I used sea salt) 1 tablespoon black pepper freshly ground Preparation: 1. Check for and remove any bones in the fillet, then rinse under cold running water and blot dry with paper towels. Lay the salmon in an appropriately sized baking dish and pour the rum over it.. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes. After it marinates, drain the salmon and blot dry with paper towels. Wipe out the baking dish. 2. Make the cure: Combine the brown sugar, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl and mix well with your fingers. Spread 1/3 of the cure over the bottom of the baking dish. Lay the salmon on top (skin side down if there is skin) and sprinkle the remaining cure on top of the fish. Part the cure into the fish with your fingertips. Cover the salmon with plastic wrap and let cure in the refrigerator for 4-24 hours. (I did it for 24 hours). 3. Rinse the cure off the salmon with cold running water and blot dry with paper towels. Liquid will accumulate in the baking dish during the curing process. Discard the liquid. Place the fish on a rack over a cooking sheet in the fridge for ~ 2 hours to let it dry and become a little tacky to the touch. 4 Set up the KK for indirect cooking and heat to 225 degrees F. I used alder wood chunks for smoking in the US Pacific Northwest style. Use a drip pan. Oil the grate well and place the fish in the center of the grate over the drip pan. Close the cover. My fish took ~ 1 hour to smoke and reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees F. 5. Transfer the salmon to a rack to cool. When cool, wrap it well in aluminum foil and refrigerate until cold. Serve cold or at room temperature. The recipe says that smoked salmon will keep in the refrigerator covered for 3-5 days. You can also freeze it to keep for much longer. I plan to enjoy this tomorrow, but I did have a taste before wrapping it in foil. It is delicious and has a lovely brownish red color. Success! Keytickler

Thanks for the tour...

Score a lot of my kitchen nick nacks come from garage sales you can save heaps on Tupperware lol Outback Kamado Bar and Grill♨

The ribs were awesome! I feel bad that I had to turn off the KK 32 because I could have cooked more things on this beautiful fire, but unfortunately, it was too late and I had retire for the night. I can't see myself cooking on anything else from now on.

That salmon looks awesome. Also， I have never heard of reusing wood planks before.

Here's how things look at a little over 5 hours. I'm going to leave on the Big Bad 32 for just another hour. The truth is I'm ready to eat now, but I'll be patient.

You win

Perfect,ck

CC, it looks like you had a very tasty and healthy dinner with the bonus of rescuing the maple plank for another cook.

Time to fill some buns. I took seriously the idea of getting everything ready before the cook which will be fast. This was the juiciest burger I've ever eaten, It was a savoury slippery sliding smashed cheese burger.

I love looking at garage stuff.. Or my favorite is old antique stores. I found a antique silver platter.. It had the stamp of a place and i email them.. They say it was from Dekota State made for a Hotel. Made around 1890's to 1920..i paid $2 for a box at a Auction. Which it was in. Best $2 I ever spent. Mrs. Reef's Bistro

Very nice picture. Reef's Bistro

Yes, I saw it. I even called Dennis and he told me the same thing. I've attached the side tables and here are the latest pictures.

We grow Genovese basil from seed for pesto, first batch tomorrow with guests. This is further than I usually let it go, perhaps 5" high each. One of two barrels. An automatic irrigation system is a must (we use Hydrawise) as these seeds need watering multiple times per day. My first trip to Italy, half a lifetime ago, friends in Genova 'educated' me by showing me the basil sold at market. Rather small bunches. They characterized United States basil as lawn clippings, the primary reason that United States pesto was ghastly, inedible. They were very sweet about this, but this was a fervently held belief. English to english translation: We were morons to grow our basil so big, as if we preferred eating six year old sheep. On the other hand, I specifically seek out large weedy basil as a bed on which to cook salmon, which will be our second course tomorrow: Brine the best wild salmon you can find, 1/2 cup salt per gallon, less sugar, four hours. Place on a bed of weed basil in a Spanish cazuela, smoke gently using apple wood till melting. To die for.

Whenever somebody asks I always tell them to post pictures directly to the forum. When everyone uses third party picture hosting it eventually wreaks Havoc on a forums content. Reef's Bistro

Sorry for the length of the article but it is interesting. Pitmasters Embrace New Barbecue Truth: Rested Meat Is Sublime Facebook Twitter Google+ Email June 8, 20154:37 PM ET JIM SHAHIN A few slices of Franklin Barbecue's brisket. "Resting a brisket for a long time is really important," owner Aaron Franklin says. Joshua Bousel/Flickr For years, barbecue hounds planned their visits to barbecue joints with the precision of a Special Forces operation. Why? Because they knew there was a narrow window when the smoked meat would be at its juiciest, smokiest best. Once the window had closed, a platter of would-be sublimity typically deteriorated into a pile of dried-out disappointment. The problem was the "hold." After the meat finished cooking, it had to be kept warm for service through the day. That could mean anything from storing it on a steam table, which turned it to mush, or under heat lamps, which zapped the moisture from it, or leaving it on a pit, which further cooked it and dried it out. THE SALT Texas Pit Masters Bask In Moment Of Barbecue Glory With the red-hot interest in barbecuing, restaurateurs have looked for ways to deal with the problem. Their solution? Technology. Barbecue restaurants increasingly now turn to warming units by companies such as Alto-Shaam and Cambro. The pitmaster can take the meat off the pit hours before service, keep it in a warmer at 140 degrees Fahrenheit (the minimum recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and required by city health codes) without fear of drying out. Indeed, the meat improves. "My observation is that this rested barbecue, which could be two to four hours or more held this way, is the best ever produced," says Jeff Savell, professor of meat science at Texas A&M University, who organizes intensive barbecue camps throughout the year. THE SALT The Texas Road Food Takeover: Smoked, Fried And Tex-Mex The challenge of keeping barbecue at its peak also bedevils the backyard host. The home chef can stay up all night, coddling a brisket, feeding the fire every two hours to assure it runs low-and-slow, and getting the meat just perfect for a 4 p.m. slicing, only to deal with guests who don't arrive until hours later. It's hard to know how best to time the meats. The solution: Don't serve the barbecue fresh from the smoker or grill. "All cooked meat benefits from holding," says Savell. "Obviously, the larger the cut, the longer the holding period." Savell points to the distribution of moisture as the key to successful holding. Raw meat, he explains, is 70 percent water. Cooked meat is about 55 percent. Heat disrupts the proteins in the meat. Resting, or holding, allows the moisture to regroup around the proteins. "When the meat is cut [after resting], the moisture does not rush out," Savell says, "and will remain somewhat bound back to the proteins, resulting in the product we all desire." THE SALT The Past Is Where It's At For The Future Of Barbecue Celebrated Austin pitman Aaron Franklin — he of the recent James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest, PBS show and cookbook — says holding is crucial. "Resting a brisket for a long time is really important," he told an audience in January at Camp Brisket, one of the A&M barbecue courses. He said he keeps his in a custom-designed warmer at 140 degrees F for two to three hours after coming off the pit. Back before Franklin had a restaurant, when he was still throwing barbecues in the backyard in 2009, he looked into how best to hold meats. He used an old 1982 Henny Penny warmer, built for KFC. Upon opening the restaurant, he used an Alto-Shaam warmer, which uses what the company calls "halo heat," a form of gentle warming through uniform radiant heat. But Franklin came to believe that the meats could benefit better from something more akin to convection heat. Now, he uses custom designed warmers. "Barbecue is such a variable," he tells The Salt. "You're trying to regulate every aspect, including how quickly it's going to cool down." Wayne Mueller, the third-generation pitmaster at the legendary Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, Texas, says he improved an already fabled brisket a few years ago when he changed the holding method his family had employed for decades. For years, once a beef brisket was sliced, the pitman used to put it on a pit and it would be held around 150-160 degrees F. But about five years ago, he made changes based on what he noticed when he catered. He pulled the meats off just before they were fully cooked, at about 98 percent, which he says is more a matter of feel than of temperature. He then wrapped the meat in plastic wrap, which acted as an insulator, and set it in a Cambro warmer for an even heat that did not further cook the meat but let it gently rest. Mueller has since changed from the plastic wrap to unwaxed butcher paper because it breathes better and it's cheaper. "What I was finding was that briskets coming out four hours later were fabulous," he says. "Better than what we were serving in the restaurant." He now holds his restaurant briskets from two to four hours in a Cambro. "It took our quality index from a low A to a high A," he says. "Our holding technique adds about eight points to our quality index, a whole letter grade." This cooler may be the most important part of perfecting your barbecue. Jim Shahin for NPR Whether it's a brisket, ribs or a pork shoulder, the idea is the same: Allowing a big piece of meat to rest for a long period of time improves its texture and the overall eating experience. In other words, don't fear the hold, embrace it. The good news is that a backyard chef needn't invest in some high-dollar gadget to get the same result. All it takes is a cooler, some tinfoil and a few towels: Pull the fully cooked meat from the grill. Wrap it in aluminum foil. Better yet, use unwaxed butcher paper to allow a little air flow, which will help maintain the crusty exterior. Swaddle a few old towels around the wrapped meat and place the whole shebang in the ice chest. Shut the lid and leave the meat alone for a couple of hours, depending on size. Big meats, such as beef brisket and pork shoulder, improve with a long hold. A rack of pork ribs also benefits from some time off the grill, but only about a half-hour to an hour of resting. The technique simulates an actual warming oven and works wonders for home-smoked meats. "In my own limited experience," says meat scientist Savell, "when we prepare barbecue for these camps or in my own backyard, longer resting times always results in a better eating experience." And there's one more benefit. Allowing the meat to rest provides flexibility for barbecue-trail pilgrims and home pitmen alike. Which means the traveling chowhounds and patio pitmasters can rest a little, too. Jim Shahin writes the Smoke Signals barbecue and grilling column for the Washington Post. His work has appeared in Texas Monthly, GQ, Southern Living, Esquire.com, Bon Appetit.com and elsewhere. He teaches magazine journalism at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.