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Everyone loved the brisket. Here are the only shots I could take as the hungry hordes were waiting... The brisket passed the pull test as well as the flavor test...yum!

HERE SHE COMES !!! Christmas In July! CAREFUL What is all that on top? This is the most incredible, smart packing. Crowbar included AND making allowance on the crate so you can easily reach it with your arm. So when I ordered it Dennis offhandedly mentioned he would "throw in a couple boxes of charcoal." Understatement of the year! I can't wait to Smook those Smooking Chunks...LOL There is NO WAY I'm using that as a drip pan!...haha Anyone know what those four holes are for? Inquiring minds want to know! It's a crate / It's a ramp / It's a crate / It's a ramp / It's a crate / It's a ramp / It's a crate / It's a ramp....(If anyone names the movie reference here you wind the Grand Prize) I was a little worried about the pavers as my 10 yr old 23" rolled OK on them but it took a bit of effort. The half ton 32" BB has larger diameter casters. Rolling it was like butter on warm toast. Did I mention I did this solo? It's a little tight..... Soooo tight..... \\ Almost home Look at that amazing craftsmanship! Dennis...we need to talk about teak. Here are your grate grabbers on top of my 7 yr old P.O.S. teak table in the backyard. I clearly have a lot to learn about teak. Cotter Pin...check. I noticed the cotter pin has been engineered out of the lid spring.

Hey all. Migrated here at Bosco's suggestion due to my drooling over KK's over at The Guru. I guess that makes me KK Kurious. There is a KK in my future. Don't know when. Don't know what. Until then, that'll be me ogling your fine grills and tossing in the random question. Like many of you, I suspect a KK (or two?) will be the end of a journey through various cookers over the years. Started consolidating down to two cookers two years ago with the purchase of a large-ish insulated cabinet smoker then and a Kamado Joe (for everything but smoking...I thought) two months ago. The Kamado is a pleasant surprise. Didn't expect to enjoy or use it as much as I have. Now that I know, I'm imagining a further (and maybe final) consolidation step by migrating into KK land. Might take a year. Maybe two or three. But I'm on my way. Pardon my drool on your pics until that day comes.

I came here last August and told people that I was looking into early 2016 for a purchase. I bought two days later.... It happens lol.

When you take that first bite just wink with an evil grin. But what if it winks back and also with an evil grin?

Hello Komodo Family! There hasn't much activity on my end because my wife had a major surgery and is still in the hospital. Anyway, while picking up some cherries to take to the hospital today, I realized that the hardware store was right there and so, I decided to pick up some cotter pins. I was told they were called hitch pins. Anyway, I installed the smaller one. Now, my set up is complete I guess.

This worked out great. I had the grill good and heat soaked before loading the meat, but even so, with 50lbs+ of cold meat, the temp fell below 200F. It took quite a while for my grill to climb back to my target temp at 250F. Pulled off around 11am this morning and it was absolutely fall apart tender. Ended up being a 15hr smoke. I sent it with my sister as the picnic was set to start at 1pm. I couldn't make it till ten minutes to four, and by then, this was all that was left. That disappeared quickly(as did the four large cabbage heads we chopped for the slaw) and it turned out great. Told my sister if she needs me to smoke more pork for next year's event, she'll need to by me a 32" KK.

...I suppose you want a picture of the brisket? OK here's a peek – going to get this re-wrapped in butcher paper and then place it in a cooler, swaddled in towels with appropriate foil to protect them for the next six hours… I will be sure to give you pics of the sliced product when it is time to get ready for serving. It took all of my willpower not to take and sample one of those corners off of the flat. I will also be certain to reserve some of the point to create some nice crusty burnt ends - beyond what is already present.

I've been cooking on a KK for a long time and have done hundreds of butts or pork shoulder. I've got it dialed in....Rub at least 24 hrs in advance, KK temp stabilized @ 225, smoking chips or chunks on the fire then immediately the meat....wait 12 - 18 hours (depends on size / quantity when internal temp is 195-205 take it off). Sometimes rest sometimes not but I've never disappointed the eaters. I did my first cook on my 32" Bad Boy over the weekend (a more involved post about that elsewhere) and the only thing I changed was I used a foil smoke pouch. I decided to use chips not chunks, Apple Wood. Double layer pouch...fill with chips....holes in the bottom....placed over hot spot in Coco Char just before placing butts on. In past cooks, placing smoking wood directly on coals, I've always gotten of course a lot of smoke initially and the 3-5 hours of smoke as they are slowly consumed. Not this time. I got 14 hours of continuous steady smoke...never heavy....well just look at the photos. I am blown away. And the kicker was the comments of the eaters. All family members who have had my pork shoulders many many times...all asked what I did different because it was the best they had ever had and I already had cooked for them in the past...the best they had ever had. The highest praise was from my B.I.L. who prefaced it with..."I hate to say it to you....." Anyway check this out... Photo #1 Foil smoke pouch immediately after removing meat. Sitting on top of Coco Char for 14 hours. Photo #2 Unused fuel and ash after 14 hour cook + 2 hour heat soak. THERE IS A LOT LEFT! Photo #3 + Video....I take the pouch off and noticed a tiny wisp of smoke and opened it up. Of course when the oxygen hit it this happened....after about 15 minutes it flamed and burned up. I bet that would have produced for another 14 hours. Did I mention the compliments I got? IMG_5630.MOV

Well Folks i finally pulled the Trigger and got the 23 on the left I Paid Dennis today and because this is in Palm Springs he told me a couple days to get things sorted and then 5 to 6 business days till arrival at its new home You all have been telling me resistance is futile lol so i caved the dark side here i come ,i will post more as the updates come to me but i cant wait to get this baby home and elevate my cooking

I already mentioned to Dennis, the info that I'm about to share with you... First let me start with a question – What do you drink for your morning Joe (American slang for coffee)? Not having any coffee roasters or specialty stores near to me that roast coffees, my preferred choice in coffee beans is Starbucks and of that brand, I prefer their Indonesian beans. Sumatra is a single bean type coffee while Komodo is a blend of different Indonesian beans. Both are dark roasted coffee which I happen to also prefer. I find it funny that my preferred coffee comes from Indonesia and that my favorite blend is named Komodo. I'm sure we can all agree that there are at least a few great things that come from Indonesia and we especially love our Komodos so with that I give you (tongue in cheek) Komodo Joe: Is it another bit of serendipity that the image on the bag of coffee is a dragon? After all we seem to have a few KK's with dragon influenced names...

HI All, just a quick intro as have been lurking for a while and finally took delivery of my new KK 23 a couple of weeks ago. This one didn't have far to go as I am living in Jakarta (hence title of post), so Dennis was kind enough to drop one on a truck and run it up the road from Surabaya. Arrived a few days after order placed so was lucky not to have to go through the agony of the wait that some of you guys have been through. Bit of back story. Have always been a keen BBQér, Is part of the Kiwi male DNA to attempt to burn things over a raging hot grill. Also have smoked plenty of freshly caught fish as is also an important part of the kiwi way of life. But my interest in BBQ really took a turn when I spent 3 weeks in Dallas a few years ago for work and visited many of the smokehouse's there. From then on in I began researching what grill to buy next as my trusty 4 burner gas and my little Webber Kettle were coming to the end of their days. A popular TV chef in NZ was using BGE's for his show and that sparked my interest in Kamados. Some research later and it was clear that I could do better than BGE and fell in love with the KK. However living in New Zealand made this look a bit prohibitive from a cost and logistics perspective. Here is where fate intervened. This time last year I was offered a transfer to Jakarta and we arrived late last year. 6 months later, settled down and having convinced the wife that the spend on a KK would be worth it and would be like our souvenir of our time in Indo, I placed the order (with great support from Dennis). It arrived a couple of weeks ago,. Spent the last week or 2 in New Zealand for school holidays, so just got back and did my first firing and burn in last night. Like with many others, I was a little apprehensive, but went well. Some minor venting in various places, but no lifting of tiles etc. Took it up the various temp ranges using full basket of CoffeeChar. Managed to cook a couple of chickens through the mid-range temps, then seared off a sous-vide steak at raging hot temps. Got the KK up to 750deg and left it there to burn out the basket. Still have a lot to learn about temp control but was pretty happy with my first crack at it. Now just need to track down some smoking wood in Jakarta (which is much harder than you might think). That's it for now. Look forward to learning more from all of you as you continue to post you knowledge here. This is totally useful for newbies to the KK like me.

So my sister is hosting a Pelotonia prep ride fund raiser tomorrow, and I was asked to make smoked pulled pork for the picnic afterwards. By her calculations, she is requiring over 50lbs of pork(before cooking) for the event. The challenge: Could I stuff six pork shoulders, 54lbs worth, on my 23" KK? The answer: No problem. Could have fit a seventh shoulder on the top rack if I needed without much issue, which would have taken the total amount of meat north of 60lbs on a 23" KK. That's a lot of meat! I'll follow up tomorrow with the results of this stuffed KK cook. Wish me luck!

Some may have already seen this on my "First Butt" topic but since this is brisket, I felt it deserved it's own topic – LOL! Since the brisket immediately followed taking off my pork butt this took place at night and I neglected to take a picture of the brisket going on - this due to lack of adequate light and the need to get Pele buttoned up to begin the brisket cook without temperature getting out of control. The pictures are the wrapped brisket coming off for inspection even though it felt really good and loose in my hands and then on the platter just before I rewrapped it and threw it in a cooler to sit for the next 4 to 6 hours depending upon when my guests arrive. As I begin to slice for serving I will make sure to take pictures of the brisket. If I have any of the point left I will make burnt ends out of it...

The power of the dark side cannot be denied!! Rob

Stiles, I'm sure you will and a suggestion is to start early in the day, give yourself lots of time to vent .

Grab the eyes and eat it too! There is till some great fish left on that head. Great looking cook!

Awesome. I have been enjoying my 23.

Congrats on coming over to the dark side! Those 23 Ultimates are absolutely gorgeous. I've thought about getting one, but 3 KKs might be a bit much, even for me! You're gonna absolutely love your new KK! Again, congrats? Inquiring minds wanna know .... Name of your new KK and what's the first cook gonna be?

@twharton - great pictorial. It looks as if everyone had a great weekend. Your butt looks like it should have been a smash hit with every hungry stomach. That bark is simply killer! It's time for you to get a @Syzygies smoke pot. It will really change the way you look at laying smoke on a cook. Kudos to ya! How do you like that dual probe ThermaQ? I've got my eye on that when my iGrill2 craps out.

I need to see photos of that sucker bogged down with meat. Days like this make me happy that I am no longer vegetarian

Congrats Stile88 it looks a beauty do you know if they have been vented or do you still have to do that Outback Kamado Bar and Grill♨

I read your post yesterday and now this one. So from what I understand you had several, downgraded to two cookers and were content but love the Kamado, want to get rid of the monster you have and upgrade from a KJ. So going forward you would likely need multiple cookers. I had 3 Kamado joes, then 6 plus a few other cookers. Got the KKs and got rid of everything else 2 is the perfect number. For you it sounds like you cook in volume often I think a 19 and 23 is awesome but not what you need. I like the 23 x2 combo and in fact ordered it thinking it would be great sharing accessories. But still based on what I have read, this is not for you. 32 x2 is a ton of grill and they both would heat up at the same speed and use a bit more lump. Leading me to believe that the 23 and 32 combo may in fact be perfect combo. You are happy with what you currently have, and the 23 will be like the big joe but with two extra levels of grilling. The 32 will replicate you larger smoker. You can have the 23 your daily driver so to speak to cover everything from small smoke cooks to grilling for the family. The 32 is there for the heavy duty loads for larger cooks. I love my 23 and 32 combo and very happy that Dennis talked me into it. I personally would order them together for a few reasons. First you can get matching KKs so the tile is close. Second you pay less for delivery. As for movement, agreed, a few pieces of plywood and a few buddies and those suckers will move without issue. My vote is a 23 and 32 combo! I am bias, but based on what I am hearing from you that is your best combo

twharton, what a get set of arrival pixs. Your KK is absolutely stunning, perfect colour to go with the brick on your house. I'd recognize those blue ropes any place. Gorgeous setting. You will have food that has never tasted so good coming off that grill.

Steve M, nice looking ribs and chicken.

That looks awesome. I will have to copy that cook. Kudos!

Oh! Dadgummit all anyway! I just finished breakfast, saw these lucious chickens, and now I'm starving! Great hard birds. Kudos to you, @Steve M!

Chickens do look tasty!!

Thanks! It's like a cult in here. A cult I want to join! So how does this work? Just post my CC #'s and financials here? Where do I send the deed to my house?

You are in serious trouble at that point. Reef's Bistro

That looks fantastic mate love the egg Outback Kamado Bar and Grill♨

Thank you all for the well wishes. I hope I will be able to get back to grilling very soon. Currently, I spend all time at the hospital and I make two trips to the house to feed and walk the dogs. Our son has traveled out of the area for a few weeks. With nobody around and no time to do anything else other than sleep, the KK 32 is being neglected.

After the cook, I gradually took the kk up to 525 for the curing process. I let it go for about an hour before I noticed anything going on with the tiles. the first thing I noticed was a bit of white residue and I pushed on the area around it and noticed it was a little puffy. the tiles would spring back out so I relieved some of the areas with the pin holes using a t-pin as was recommended by someone here. After a couple of hours, I noticed a few more areas starting to bulge. The worst I saw was one tile with a corner sticking out so I pushed it back in. It seemed like I had a lot of different areas involved for a while. It has been going for about 4 hours at 525-550 and seems to be settling down a bit. I took a video with my phone in case some of the new guys want to see what it looks like. Excuse the shakiness as I was holding the phone with one hand and pushing around the tiles with the other. this was one of the smaller areas. It is a little difficult to see them moving but at around 28 seconds in, you can definitely see a couple of the bad ones. IMG_2749.MOV

Steve, what an awesome cook. I love chicken and I sure wish I could taste those for real and not just in my imagination thru your wonderful pixs.

the one on the left was salt and pepper only per TSO's request. the one on the right was slap yo daddy's APR. Cut up and ready for serving Enjoyed the juicy cook. The aroma and taste were both incredible.

CC, he has already rolled.

Not taking that bet!

@Gnomatic - you are a really good brother! Kudos to you for helping your sister. I like your concept of your sister buying you a KK BB 32 in exchange for BBQ services. What a marketing concept!

awesome. Really puts the size of the 23 into perspective!

Smart money is on March 2017, timed with the arrival of my annual bonus.

What a cook, and what result, perfect.:)

What a great looking dish and entry Charles. Since your right on my heels I better come up with something good.

That looks awesome. I have never had any of the dishes but it looks fabulous.

Winner Winner, um fish dinner

How do you know when your contractor is lying to you? His lips are moving!

Ok this was the first true test. The ribs were easy compared to this cook. Started with a 7.65 full packer brisket. Trimmed 1.5 lbs of fat off. Did a dry salt brine for 14 hours. The next morning I fired up the KK32 "501 Strauss" to 225 and then used Meathead's "Big Bad Beef" rub to lather up the meat. I used some Best of the West mesquite lump, but only about 5 or 6 pieces of the biggest pieces. I complimented those pieces with 4 chunks of pecan. Two of those pieces I wrapped in heavy foil but cut slits to expose the wood. At the 1.5 hour mark I dropped two more chunks of pecan in without foil. No more wood. Smoke was visible for about 3 , maybe 4 hours and then it was gone. Temps got up to 275, which was surprising. I think it was a mix of getting the KK to hot and not being able to back it down plus the fact it was 94 today and the KK was in the sun for the whole cook. I had planned on the cook lasting 6 to 6.5 hours......wrong. It took 9 to get the thickest parts to 190-ish. By this time it had been on for 9. A bit frustrated and needing to feed people, I pulled it and wrapped it in foil for 15 minutes. Cut and served. We served it with pinto beans that I had in the KK for the first two smokey hours (highly recommend), green chile hominy and a sweet Cole slaw. I threw a flour tortilla on mine. Every plate was cleaned so though I did not "nail it" it was thoroughly enjoyed. Here are some shots.