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We were very excited to take delivery of our cobalt blue BB32 last Friday, 03/16. My wife and I picked it up from the trucking terminal, got it home and set it up, just us mind you! Very excited. Cooked a Boston butt the next day, had to push the grill temp to 275 because of time constraints, but one of the guinea pigs, I mean guests, said it was the best bbq she had ever had. Doing the burn in now.

First the meatballs, the pork:beef ratio was about 45:55. Added onion powder, garlic powder, mustard, Fish Sauce, cayenne pepper, organo, an egg,oregano, thyme and anything else that was handy. Formed the meatballs and they are ready. I needed a cool place to put them while the KK heated up to about 375F, no room in the fridge but fortunately the temp. outside is about 32F and there are no critters that I need worry about so - On the grill. Done. Now for the spaghetti. Decided to grind some Durun wheat berries into some tasty flour for the spaghetti. Spaghetti is done and it's time for plating. Those are micro greens that are growing in the house at the moment. There are 3 meatballs in that sauce, trust me.:)

OK, now you've gone too far, MacKenzie - grinding the wheat to make the flour to make the homemade pasta!!

I usually cook my chicken in the same range as Tony, 350-375F.

Another chop dinner, this time with sweet onions and apples.

Our new Cobalt Blue BB32 arrived 03/16 and got it set up that evening. Had to cook the next day. First Boston Butt, 8 pounds, cooked at 275 so we could eat that evening. It was the best bbq one guest had ever had. We did the burn in yesterday, total of 9 hours, temperature to 650-700 F for about four hours, and went well. There was no reason to waste the heat so we made a couple of homemade pizzas near the end of the burn. Very tasty. It will get even better from here with experience, but it is hard to believe it can get much better

But, the pasta tastes soooo much better than store bought.

I typically cook poultry in the 350F - 375F range, as there's little worry about the bird drying out on a KK; and I get a nicer crust on the skin if I ramp it up to the 425F range for the last 20 minutes or so. I also like to cook poultry (spatchcocked or pieces) on the upper grate as it promotes more even cooking being nearer to the dome walls, so no turning is usually needed. Whole birds need to be on the main grate to avoid burning the top of the breast by being too close to the dome wall - at least on a standard 23" KK (don't know about the high top versions or the 32"?? Best part of all this - there's no 100% "right way" to do any of this!! Experiment and see what give you the results that you want and stick with that technique, period!

Spring is here, according to the calendar but the ground is all white here and about to get a little more white tomorrow, here comes the 4th nor'easter in a row. Just put me in the mood to get the grill out.;) Plated with some frozen veggies from last summer.

Great job trial and error you say.

When I received the rotisserie I knew chicken had to be first, simple and good test. A nice toy almost as good as the Lionel railroad set I had as a kid. Well, it was a 3 part process, brine, rub and sauce. While the brining was on I smoked up a 4.5 Lb piece of pork belly for bacon. This piece was cured for 5 or 6 days with an addition of apple jam and cooked to 150 with some pineapple juice and soy sauce baste. That makes it Hawaiian, if a Kangaroo walked by it would Australian. I got the spit on and it was a wonder to behold, don't take much to please me. The chook was rubbed and about 40 mins later basted with the sauce. The sauce was real good but was used up as a baste, it would have been nice to dip at the end. Hope you like the pics

I never thought of spinning a pork chop. Awesome idea. And man, pork chops with apples are awesome.

The only time I use the deflector anymore is when I'm using all three grates for low and slow, then I put the deflector on the charcoal basket handles because the meat on the lower grate is closer to the fire. Then everything is perfectly stable at the lower level as well. As for the spatchcocked turkey-I recommend checking it earlier than a traditional turkey. Mine tend to cook fast than I expect.

I'm doing 5 slabs of baby backs later today. No stone, no water, just foil on the lower grate. Probably will use the rib rack on the main grate.

I'm so very happy with our new kk. As has been said before, but it's so true, this is the finest made cooker in the world in my view. It's like those bands that people said "you don't really get their greatness, until you see them live". We'll, you just can't quite get all the way to imagining how awesome this cooker is until you actually lay eyes and hands on it. I couldn't wait and rushed through a spatchcocked chicken to break Her Blueness in. I put the heat deflector on the lower grid, instead of directly on the basket, then drip pan with water on the main grid and the chicken on the upper grid, 300-325.Turned out very nice. Ribs tomorrow. Planning to burn-in Monday.

Sadly, Jim is no longer with us.