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Outback Kamado Bar and Grill

Hey KKers! Thanks for all the well wishes. You good folks are EXACTLY why coming home feels so good. Its really good to be back and able to decompress. The transformation will be complete when I light the fires and get a cook or two under my belt. Thanks again!

CeramicChef has entered the building! After an extended absence, I'm back and ready to burn some lump! Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa for the extended absence. I had a lot of overseas business that demanded my attention and I screwed up my Forum login here, hence my absence. I just talked to Dennis yesterday and got my password reset I went to Australia to help a friend of mine get his business in shape to sell. The guy is a wonderful entrepreneur, but from an operational standpoint, he's a putz. We got all the books lined out and negotiated the deal. While there, I got a message from a buddy in New Zealand. He asked me to come over and help him die. Lymphoma. Again. That was tough duty. Then I no sooner hit The States and I get a call from an old college buddy and he asks me to come to Houston to help him die as well and act as executor of his (sizable) estate. Cancer on his brain stem. Right now I'm feeling like Typhoid Mary. I'm getting to that age where friends are starting to leave this world and its' rather sobering when you come to that realization. I haven't burned any lump in a very long time. Beauty and The Beast are right where I left them patiently waiting for a pork butt, some NY Strips, and the odd pizza. I've gotta burn some lump and burn it soon. I hope everyone has been well and cooking some great food. Welcome to all the new KK Owners since I've been gone. By now you realize what a great decision you made choosing to join Dennis and the KK Family. It's great to be back and I look forward to getting re-acquainted with my KK Family, seeing all your great cooks, and getting to know all the new members here.

A hotdog is a hotdog is a hotdog.:)

I have a stone, a steel and several cast iron pans and as mentioned above, all good for whatever you are trying to achieve . I prefer the steel because of the lower temp required to get a Neo crust on a thin pie. I feel I am stressing out my gaskets when I use a stone at 800 on my KK. (I have noticed some small smoke leaks on the sides when I do a low and slo therefore I think i've scorched the gaskets, they are cleaned and I may be nutz ) I also prefer a thin crust. Deep dish is OK but not what I would ever make. As an aside I have purchased the Pizza Kettle kit that I'm going to stick on an old weber kettle or UDS and make that my goto pizza oven. I Live in the northern climes and cook on my KK year round so heat soaking the kk/stone/steel from 0' is a tough go in the winter that will be alleviated with the KP kit. I hope. Besides can you ever have enough options for real food???? I think not. Zo0

While it might have the requisite meat inside bread/bun, I've never called a hotdog a sandwich in my life. It's just a HOTDOG!! Plain and simple.

And I don't mean 4 or 5 of your buddies or a fork lift and a case of beer, you really, really need to get a structural engineer to evaluate whether your deck can support it safely. It all boils down to gravity. You know, the force that keeps our feet on the ground and makes launching a satellite expensive. Your deck is designed to resist a reasonable amount of gravity, enough to keep you and your neighbors suspended above ground without crashing through it and being injured. IT IS NOT DESIGNED AND BUILT TO SUPPORT SEVERAL HUNDRED POUNDS OF WEIGHT IN A SMALL SPACE! And if there's one thing a KK cooker is it's several hundred pounds of weight in a small space. Deck design and how it's supported has varied over the years , we've all seen the news where the deck fell off the house and people got hurt. If your deck was built more that 15 years ago you're in the Wild Wild West era and I wouldn't put anything heavier than a lawn chair on it. Building codes began to address this and have increasingly mandated deck construction methods and design to the point that today any new house will have a deck that you can pack shoulder-to-shoulder at a party and have confidence you'll all survive the evening. But the codes don't address excessive loads like a KK weighing 500 lb. or more in a fixed location would be. That's where the structural engineer comes in. I have to get a little techie here, we're talking about weight and the ability of a structure to keep it where you put it after all. Deck codes require a deck to support a minimum of 40 pounds/square foot of live load(think of a 160 lb. person packed into a 2'x2' square that follows them as they move around and fill your deck with those people). Big party, right? But everyone has a good time and gets to take their chances driving home. Now let's look at what the deck is made of and the stuff that sits on it, that's called dead load. Codes require decks to support 10 pounds/square foot of dead load. That's enough for the deck materials and a reasonable amount of chairs, tables, etc.. What happens when you place a 23" KK on that deck? The footprint of a 23 is 23.5" x 30", now you've got 550 lb of weight concentrated in a space that 2-1/2 people would occupy for a short time. Less space than that since the casters are recessed. And the cooker isn't walking around, once you get it there it's there. Do some arithmetic: your deck which is designed to support 10 lb/sft of dead weight is now supporting 110 lb/sft. That's more than an order of magnitude greater than design. This is Not A Good Thing. Looking at the BB32 you're increasing the load to 118 lb/sft. There are no dimensions available for the SBB42 but I'd expect a greater increase, maybe somewhere around 130+ lb/sft. OK, techie hat off: What it all boils down to is that it isn't safe to put any of these cookers on any deck that hasn't been engineered for the weight and location of the cooker. You might get lucky and just experience some sagging in the first few years but eventually there will be a structural failure(we all fall down). As I said, that's Not A Good Thing. I've made my living building houses and decks for the last 25 years, never had one fall down. I use software to design beams, I work with suppliers on load calcs and I'm pretty good at what I do. I wouldn't put my 22" Supreme on my deck without an engineered design. "Do you feel lucky, punk?" I don't. Please get some professional advice before you plunk that new KK in the middle of your deck. FWIW, Bill

So in all the excitement of selling my kj well it was not that exciting lol but I gave them the joetisserie hence the motor I was using has gone look out .I just ordered this should work fine I was looking at 10 kg but thought why not get a bit more the specks say it draws 15 watts but the chick in the video says 12.5 lol https://www.bbqspitrotisseries.com.au/stainless-steel-bbq-spit-rotisserie-240v-motor-20kg Outback Kamado Bar and Grill

Started the cure last Mon. Washed it out yesterday and let it rest overnight. This morning I am already to smoke, have to get this done as we are due a winter storm tomorrow. I hope it fizzles. This last weekend was miserable, bitter cold with high winds, -29C Sat. night and to add to the misery my internet went down about 5PM Fri and it was down until about noon today. Every few hours I had about 2 mins of service, but you had to be right at the pc to catch it. Needless to say I was looking forward to doing something fun this morning.:) It looks pretty anemic but just wait. The KK is running around 210F and there are several pieces of wine barrel smoking wood on top of Maple-leaf lump. IT is now 147F. Time to remove it.:) The flip side- It is now resting in the fridge and I'll slice and package it tomorrow. One must never run out of breakfast bacon. I could not wait until the morning so I sliced it up this evening.

Pete Wells, the New York Times restaurant critic, reviews Franklin Barbecue: A MacGyver of Slow-Cooked Meats at Franklin Barbecue Spoiler, he likes the brisket. This would be his second bong reference in a review; he can't be unaware of how widely quoted the first reference was: At Thomas Keller’s Per Se, Slips and Stumbles Per Se is his most recent but not most famous take-down; that would be Guy Fieri. As Not Seen on TV

Gavinque - I think the very fist thing I would do is get a really good baking stone and get that thing heat soaked at the temp you want to cook your pizzas at. That is going to help immensely. It'll also help with those big temp transients you mention in your OP.

I used to look like that before I sobered up and lost all my hair!

I like mass when I am baking. Keeps the temps nice and stead. That is why I love baking in my KKs. That is also why I love using the baking stone that I ordered with TheBeast, my 32" Big Bad. Because of that mass, whenever I cook multiple pizzas, I get really fine and consistent crusts. I also use it for breads, pies, cakes, cobbles, etc. I particularly like using my baking stone whenever I cook lasagna. I haven't used a baking spell in a very long time.

I listed franks (just a big hotdog) in the menu section "Sandwiches" for a restaurant I used to own. I splayed them out, scored them, and served them on large hamburger buns. But as for me, I regular hotdog really isn't sandwich. To me a sandwich is served on sandwich bread with tomato, lettuce, onion, pickles, sliced cheese, condiments, and whatever else you like putting on your Dagwood. You can call a dog a duck, but if it barks at the postman, has a wet nose, fur, and sits in the middle of the street licking its ....

I had my kk training wheels on when you left. As helpful, kind, and supportive as you are, I can see why your buds called you. Happy to have you back. Steve

Great to have you back, Ken!! Dennis and I had been corresponding recently about your absence - we were both worried about you, seeing as we'd not heard from you in months. Glad to hear that you are OK, but sorry about your buddies. Rough duty for sure, but you are a kind soul for helping them out in their final hours. Can't wait to see pics of Beauty and the Beast back in action!! Cheers, mate!

I am making stock with the bones from my chicken spin as I write. Aussie, don't forget to save those bone. [emoji4]

That was a tough row to hoe, CC and I am sure your work and compassion was much appreciate. It is great that you are back and looking forward to burning a lot of lump.:)

So, you spinning a chook first?? Can't wait to see the pics!

AWWW!

Glad to see you back. Was worried about you.

Well CC i was wondering where u went it sure has been awhile glad you are back.. Sorry to hear about your friends Looking forward to your cooks again my friend

I honestly been thinking about not seeing a comment or post from you here or the Guru, sorry about your friends but you going to them shows why you were friends to begin with. Glad to have you back. Garvin P.S Time for the beast to roar again

This loin was already cut for sous vide and frozen but I thought I'd give the OctoForks another spin. Just seasoned with granulated garlic, black pepper and paprika, that was it. Put them on the OctoForks. Ready for the KK. Heated the KK to 425F and let it heat sink fir 30 mins. before adding the pork. Shut down the vents and ran the grill at 350 F for 35 mins and the loins were done. Next time I might go for 375F for 20 - 25 mins. Brought them into the kitchen. Sliced and it was amazing how much juiciness there was. Plated and the light is just right to show how juicy the pork was. I could not have been happier with the results.

OK , my .02 I think you need to get rid of the deflector stone. Get your pizza stone right down on top of the fire, main grill then plop the lid down on it . Even better if the flames lick up over the stone, give the crust a real nice char and will cook it in the requisite 90 secs. Drop some cut hardwood around the sides and get a real wood fired pie. There are no mistakes here, just more good food to eat . Zo0

I was wondering when you'd get back here, it has been a while. Sorry to hear about your friends, I just buried an old friend this past weekend myself. Enough negativity, fire the grills up! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It sure looks like an excellent way to do ribs.

I soak my cured briskets to remove some of the saltyness, depending how strong the cure was will determine how long to soak it for. Your first point may be a little trial and error for cooking time and saltyness. Cures brisket is a delightful change to regular brisket. Its been a while since I did one, I have to change that.

Not sure I'd want a gold cover donut. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

OMG - I guess if your pizza restaurant of choice is Chuckie Cheese - LOL On the rare occasions that I eat pizza out I'll only go to 2 maybe 3 different places and they make serious Artisan pies. These forum members make serious pies. Maybe I'm just a pizza snob. Anyway he got the basic stretching idea right but the rest of the video - no comment. And handfuls and handfuls of semolina, what was the man thinking.

I sometimes go a month, with starters on both coasts. I often bring bread from CA to NY, and my NY starter gets neglected. After a summer in CA, I always bring some of the CA starter to NY, in a very stiff, dry paste in a sealed chamber vacuum pouch. I agree with the above comments. The two issues are acid balance, and rising power. On the second feeding after a hiatus, I leave only a small amount as carry-over, to reduce acid. This is also mostly controlled by the timing of the last feeding before actual use; shorter is less acid, at the possible expense of going under the sweet spot for rising power. As for rising power, I always augment my bread with a tiny bit of yeast, which provides a boost and security. I don't view anything as an authenticity contest; sourdough provides flavor and better shelf life. One can quickly restore rising power by feeding twice a day and observing. I've read something about a float test, but it's pretty obvious if you just eyeball it. There's a view that an authentic starter (I was once offered one "from the California gold rush") is the same idea as the aliens that looked after early life, terraforming our planet. After a month with whatever flours one actually uses for feeding, any sign of the founder aliens are long gone. This extends to yeast; if you've used commercial yeast in your kitchen, it's going to get into the starter no matter what. I've embraced this on occasion, adding a pinch of yeast to my starter itself. In fact, for anyone who's had trouble with starter, recognize that there's a continuum of methods from reusing a bit of yesterday's dough (saves on yeast, back in the day), to biga preferments and such, to actual sourdough starters. A continuum is a math term meaning you can jump in anywhere you like. Follow the procedure for a sourdough starter, but instead of whispering in socks while adding pineapple (or whatever voodoo you've heard for this), just add a half teaspoon of yeast to the flour, water the first day. Now keep feeding this as if starter, while telling yourself it really is starter. It's certainly something that works, and if there are other organisms in your flour feed that stand a chance of joining the chorus, they will. Over time this faux starter will become indistinguishable from anyone else's starter, and it works right from the beginning. Easy to do again.

I generally make sure mine is fed on the weekends. Haven't gone longer than a week. My guess is I could go for a month, but I'd need to nurse it back to health a few days before using.

I have multiple Baking Steels, and multiple Fibrament-D baking stones. I take at face value any claims that a given solution works, but one can only make comparisons by trying both. People who make baking stones understand all sorts of heat transfer coefficients not generally revealed to the public. Dennis in particular understands this for his stones, which I have no doubt are as good as Fibrament-D. The rough idea is how quickly the stone returns heat energy to the baked good. One has seen something similar with bouncing rubber balls of different materials. Some balls bounce high, some are nearly dead, on purpose. To hit a given target, one compensates with different balls by how hard you bounce them. Here, good cooks can adapt and get great results from either Baking Steels or stones. Yet we're fighting a strong current here; to adapt, it helps to know which way it is flowing. A Baking Steel is optimized for returning a lot of heat in a hurry. A stone is tuned to return heat at a measured pace. Thus, I prefer a Baking Steel for thin crust pizzas, e.g Neapolitan style cooked very quickly. It also makes a great burger griddle, working on the KK. I prefer stones for baking bread; I don't like my bread to burn. A special problem, baking in the KK, is that heat comes from below. An unprotected steel or stone, left too long, gets too hot. One ends up cooking entirely from below, when ideal (think how a classic wood-fired pizza oven works) is mostly radiant heat from above. I work around this by stacking everything I've got, as a heat shield. For example, I had bought a thick rectangular kiln stone for baking bread. It didn't quite work, again the wrong thermal characteristics. (I'm of a certain age, and hippies loved appropriating objects that "the man" intended for other purposes, even if the redirection doesn't quite work. The old literature is filled with references to lining one's oven with kiln stones.) So I ordered a matching, also thick, Fibrament-D stone to set on top. It nicely fits two loaves of bread side-by-side, and the stack is thick enough to not overheat in my time frame. My giant cast iron skillet, filled with chain (meant for producing steam) also helps to turn the KK into an indirect oven.

I'm sure it would work fine. I have several pans kinda like that. I'll see if I can dig them up. If you can find it, I highly recommend a steel deep dish pizza pan like you'll find in Chicago Deep Dish Restaurants. They aren't easy to find. I think my sister found this one for me in a store in Chicago about 30 years ago. Here's mine: Heres a link to a good discussion on pans: http://www.realdeepdish.com/2012/10-15-deep-dish-101-lesson-4-nuts-and-bolts/ Incidentally, realdeepdish.com is the real deal if you want authentic Chicago dish dish. Most of what I see people posting as "Chicago style" is far from reality. I tried wading into those waters once and got my hands slapped, so I no longer comment other than to suggest you look there. EDIT: Oh, and I can't tell about the pan you posted, but you want 2" sides. For some odd reason, there are a lot of pans out there with only 1" sides. Probably sold by the same folks who believe there should be cornmeal in deep dish pizza dough. Heretics one and all.

I have the 3/8" thick Baking Steel and shaped KK baking stone and like them both equally but for different reasons. I'm all about Neapolitan dough; pretty much all I make/have made for years. To get the real deal cornicione, not a reasonable facsimile, using the stone at 750-800F dome produces the best results on a KK. I've done a ton of experiments using the same dough but 50ºF dome temp differences with the shaped stone on the KK from 550 to 900 and it is what it is. OTOH I can get, using the same dough, very very good results at 550-600ºF using the 3/8" Baking Steel. Not quite the same as the stone at 750-800F but close enough to justify the much lower energy requirements, lower heat soak temp and reduced time along with not having the hassle of maintaining 750-800 for more than a couple pies.

I have a 3/8 inch baking steel and love it for use in the kitchen, bought that before I bought the KK. On the KK I love the KK baking stone, no more burned bottoms and under-cooked tops. I've only done 1 deep dish pizza on the KK and I'm pretty sure I used cast iron.

Ok........Not sure where to begin For starters make sure and have some help! Packaging is the same as the 23", well done Dennis. To make life easier, unscrew the 8 lag bolts at the base of the crate; the crate will pull straight up. However this didn't happen in my case; I stepped away for a few mins to grab some tools and my helper was feeling like Hercules and started destroying the casing At any rate, from start to finish it took us about 2hrs to get her to the final destination. I CANNOT believe how much stainless steel she comes with!!!!!!!!!! I need to go see my Chiropractor after lifting all the grates. Below are all the photos from the unboxing; enjoy!!! Dennis you are a mad MAN; this thing is beyond anything I could imagine!!!!!! BTY - The last photo is for member 5698K