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FINALLY! The local roadside corn stands are up and running!!! Of course I stopped and picked up an ear for dinner! Was decent, but you could tell it's "early corn." Just didn't have the sweetness that it will have in a couple of weeks! BUT, much better than supermarket stuff that's probably almost a week old! btw - duck sliders in Chinese bao, with glazed carrots in orange and sesame oils with tarragon and scallions.

The BBQ team went down to visit a potential new sponsor at the weekend, the butcher sent us each away with a goodie bag that contained some house made sausages and beef ribs. The sausages were amazing for breakfast and gave me the energy to cook these beefies

Really pleased to hear that they are all out now. Fantastic effort by all involved and sad for the family of the rescuer who lost his life.

Eli, pebble KKs cooks faster, uses less lump, looks more stunning and the food tastes noticeable better. Guess which one I picked? Seriously no matter what you choose you will be impressed with the beauty, functionality, and the taste of the food. Do call Dennis and get his opinion, he will not pressure you in any way and will give you an honest to goodness opinion.

Back in the USA with my Jackson Hole BB32 and got in a Pastrami Short Rib cook I have been wanting to do for some time! The meat comes from Sweet Cheeks meats where Nick marinates these guys in a dry rub for a couple of weeks. A deep pastrami flavor and no left overs!

This week night cook turned out so well I thought I would share the pictures with you. I found a recipe for tea smoking rainbow trout. It was all complicated, with rice, jasmine tea leave, sugar, star anise etc all getting heated up in a wok. You then had to find a way to seal it all up and smoke for 60 minutes. Easy with a KK. Set up the basket splitter in the 23", put a pan with the smoking ingredients on the direct side and the fish on the indirect side. 60 minutes later, the fish was at 55C internal temperature and here is the gorgeous result. The husband lifted the skin and fillets and was impressed at how perfectly cooked it was. And I thoroughly enjoyed the eating. So happy to own a KK.

Thanks all. I think I am less worried about the brisket than you are. I made a fundamental mistake in changing the target internal temperature and can easily revert to my normal target next time. The real insight for me is in, finally, understanding that the briskets that I buy here are much smaller than the ones that you use in the US. I only buy beef from three sources and they all use particular rare breeds that don't get all that big. So I need less lead time in future so that I am not trying to hold the brisket for up to six hours before people are actually ready to eat it! The fun thing about my meat suppliers is that we are friends now and we have a two way conversation. The funky cow guy got in touch to say he thought 5 weeks aging on the brisket was about right but did I want him to go further? I said no, we would go with where he had got to and see what it tasted like. Unfortunately my mess up with temps means that the only useful feedback I have been able to give him so far is that the dairy cow may be too small for a brisket cook. The good news is that he is an aggregator for a number of local farms and so will tell me if he thinks there is a different breed I should try. And so it goes. Did I tell you I am obsessed with food? I went on a similar journey with my Longhorn beef supplier and he has settled on 75 day aging as his standard "premium" product. No problems with the taste or texture of his brisket and I am surprised that you saw such a marked difference between eight day and four day aging @Syzygies. It may be that that is where some significant change happens in that time window but it is much shorter aging than any beef I buy here.

Reminds me of my corn “dealer” back in Shampoo-Banana Illinois. He preferred payment in small, unmarked bills. Could never figure out why...

A statement from one of the the Thailand Boys trapped in the cave. "Pipat Pho, 15 (nickname: Nick) - wrote in his letter he wanted his parents to take him for barbecued food once rescued" I'm a certified cave diver that has had a few scarey dives. This rescue will be the scariest adventure of their lives. I wish them the best. Pipat Pho (Nick), come to Reef's Bistro. You can have all the barbecued food you care to eat.

I own both a 23 and a 32. The 32 is the better grill regardless of your family size. There. I said it. The 23 is great too, but the 32 is just plain better. It is a true two-zone grill (the 23 isn’t), has more capacity, etc. I love them both, but if forced to choose one, it’s not even close. 32 hands down. Only thing better is a 32 in pebble.

Mac is a hack, just look at her posts. She only produces some of the most beautiful plates you’ll ever see. That said, she doesn’t know much about grills. Everyone knows that bronze tiles are far superior to others. Now that the obligatory ribbing is done, it’s truly personal preference as to tile/pebble, and color. Yes, call Dennis and discuss size, he’s kinda like the family doctor, he’ll listen to your needs and truly recommend what is likely the best fit. He’s not a salesman in that he won’t arbitrarily try to get you to spend more money, he’ll honestly steer you in the right direction. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Sounds like this would have been a great time to use the wrap in foil, then towel, and into the cooler to sit until dinner, method. It will hold nicely for hours. However, those "funky cow" steaks looked amazing!!!

Size does matter, I recommend calling Dennis and talking with him about your cooking style, amount, etc. He will help you decide which is better. I had the same questions when I purchased and went with the 32 and tiles As for the tiles vs pebbles the tiles were more to our liking from a looks standpoint. Had my grill for just over a week now and it really raised the quality of the cooking and the quality of the grill cannot be overstated when compared to other options. Happy shopping, you wont be disappointed either way I think

I needed flavour flavour for dinner, Peposo, should do it. Add some just picked spinach from the garden, add some rice and we have lift off.:)

@Shuley‘s recent cook reminded me that this has been on my to do list for far too long. In keeping with my current theme of cooks inspired by foreign cultures, tonight I finally got around to Detroit! Yes, it’s in the USA, but Detroit deserves special recognition and qualifies as foreign...to me, at least. Biggest city ever to declare bankruptcy, population 1/3 of what it was in 1950, and one of the highest murder rates in the country. And yet with all of that going for it, they also figured out their very own variant of deep dish pizza. Being a Chicago Deep Dish aficionado, I had to cook this for comparison and to see what all the fuss was all about. I’m using Kenji’s recipe from Serious Eats to the letter. The right pan, brick cheese, and the thick sliced pepperoni he calls for. One of the big differences from Chicago Deep Dish is the use of a cooked sauce with multiple ingredients: The dough for this pizza is very high Hydration, has no oil, and is kneaded a long time. Chicago Dish Dish crust is a biscuit. This will be bread. Assembly: Got the 23 heat soaked at exactly the right temp. Pizza goes on. Admiring my 23 and noting the need to clean the cap whilst I wait. Done! Beautiful! Nailed the blackened edge! This is an excellent pizza that deserves a spot in the rotation. Very different from Chicago style, but that’s not a bad thing. Hats off to Detroit!

1 hour later-

Are wood chunks used with charcoal in this grill? If not how is smoking done?

Excellent job hot smoking that fish, tekobo! @alimac23 - And those beefies look amazing!!

To be honest, I started off with a Gin & Tonic - my "go to" drink when it's this hot! But, I'll make up for it this Saturday, as my homebrew club is pouring in the Quad Cities at a festival run by their homebrew club. Will quaff a few to beat the heat - ha, ha!

I was in your shoes about a month and half ago. 23 or 32 that is the big question. Dennis steered me towards the 32” even though it is just my wife and I for the most part. The true 2-zone cooking was a huge reason why he steered me the way he did. But when we hosted Father’s Day I loaded the top 2 grills up and still had a 3rd completely empty. I have got it up to temp to make Sunday breakfast for just the 2 of us in 30 or 40 minutes. So it boils down to personal preference, size constraints, moving constraints and I hate to bring it up money constraints. I justified going larger because if you troll through this site, the used ones don’t really depreciate and there is one post saying “there must be something wrong” or something like that about a 10 year old KK out in the elements in Seattle that looks better then my 3 month old garaged black grand Cherokee! My back ground in cooking is a little different then most on here. I came from the restaurant business and I don’t mean fast food! When Dennis and everyone else on here says this cooker will take you to the next level I was extremely skeptical!!! For Father’s Day I made ribs which I have never ever done before, my brothers significant other’s father is on the rib circuit and I was told is quite the rib man. I was told hands down the ribs I made were the best he has had. I took the credit with a smile. But when you can take chicken to 185, on accident, and it still is awesome... I can’t take too much credit for that. As for accessories cold smoker, basket splitter, pizza stone and rotisserie. I also went with a custom cabinet and covers. I am trying to weasel my way into some charcoal. At least get some coffee smoking wood. If you haven’t figured out here the people are pretty awesome as well. They are a wealth of amazing knowledge! After 10 plus years in 4 and 5 diamond restaurants and some time at a culinary college is about even with what I have learned here in the short time I have been a member. I am not talking about basics, your not buying a KK if you need help boiling water! I mean the recipes and techniques I have never even heard of or thought were even possible! Now I just need to figure out how to buy another one.

You will find the kk's are much harder to tip over. I have a 23 and love it. There have been times a 32 would be nice but I think I would prefer a 2nd grill in those cases.

Some T bones and a dodgy side lol. Outback kamado Bar and Grill

Hey Bruce, the hoisin bbq sauce is great on pork and chicken, it’s a Steven Raichlen recipe, he actually cooks it on project smoke on a KK Here’s the link that has the link to the rub and bbq sauce: https://barbecuebible.com/recipe/pork-belly-steamed-buns/

Wow, that’s a great cook tekobo. Great shots. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I upgraded from a Weber. The KK is major major step up. Like everyone has said, talk to Dennis. I ended up with a 23 pebble one. Really happy with it. I can feed a large group with this. Pequod is right though. If you want to two zones and have more space the 32 is the way to go. Buyers remorse... I wish I could get two hahaha. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Wow, that plated shot is looking so delicious to me and you know how much I like fish, not. Beautiful cook. [emoji4][emoji4][emoji4]

I really like that corn stand. Awesome meal.

All those are personal preferences, based upon lifestyle, family size, final home/location of the grill. As noted, Dennis is a Master at this, so chat him up (he LOVES doing it!) and he'll help you reach a decision. But, in the end, you're going to absolutely fall in love with whatever you decide to get. There is almost ZERO buyer's remorse here in KK land. In all my years on this Forum, I only recall ONE buyer who later regretted it and sold his grill. All the others who've sold were always due to other circumstances, usually moving to a place where they could take it with them and were heartbroken about it!

Looked real pleasing Tekebo and I'm sure your guests thought as well. The two main ingredients when cooking a brisket are patience and time, deviating from the game plan is a roll of the dice. Then again sometime change is good, glad it all worked out. I also sometime have 2 or 3 cookers running at once but lately I've made sure to have a pencil and paper handy with time and temp on each especially if I'm having a few. And for some unexplainable turn in events it all works out in the end.

Huh. Very curious about the brisket. I've been in the long slow cook school for brisket, but I'm very picky as to which briskets to cook this way. I look for true marbling of fat and other solubles. I've always imagined that the leaner brisket benefits more from the quicker, hotter cooks. The Golden Gate Meat Company sells fantastic briskets from the Ferry Building in San Francisco, and by prearrangement they'll dry age for me. I've tried eight days and four days. Everyone loved eight days but I thought it came out too soft, almost eat-with-a-spoon. Four days was better, but I've been skipping the dry aging since. The jury is still out for me, here. It may be funky cow is the ideal source for some cuts but not brisket. I remember when beef cheeks were all the rage in NYC bistros. My attempt here was dismal. Laurie blamed the too-hip-for-words sourcing, said the cow had smiled too much.

Just the opposite, Bruce. It's revered for imparting almost no flavor, just like Dennis' cocochar. That's why his stuff is a good substitute for the binchotan. @Pequod - I'm trying the stuff from the Korin website - Aramaru and the Sumi, as they are affordable. The Sumi is very much like Dennis' cocochar, extruded with a hole in the middle. The Aramaru is like lump, but more "stick like." Once lit (which takes some doing!), they both burned quite steady, produced good heat, little or no smoke (except when meat juices dripped on it) and lasted a long time. Had I been using the super premium white stuff, like tekobo ordered, I'd sure as hell be trying to learn how to snuff it out at the end of a cook!!!

Here’s one source: https://www.cooksinfo.com/italian-flours. According to this, our All Purpose and Bread flours are closer to Italian type 0. And then there’s this: http://nybakers.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=9_15. Based on ash content, it seems type 1 is more consistent with French type 65 or 85. And this: http://www.theartisan.net/flour_classification_of.htm. Italian type 1 doesn’t seem to be something we’d find the equivalent of in the wild. More of a specialty flour, but type 65 at NY Bakers would be close.

Great looking belly and buns mate look so tempting ..rib racks do a nice sauce . Outback kamado Bar and Grill

Lol Amazing effort fom everyone those boys must be so scared . unfortunately one rescuer did not make it back Outback kamado Bar and Grill

Kai Yang Chicken with Tamarind Dipping Sauce. This is a Milk Street recipe. There’s lemongrass in there, so I know it’s authentic. Making the sauce. Starts with sautéing some lemongrass, a chili, and shallot. Then magic happened! (I.e., I forgot to take any other pics of the sauce making process). The chook brined in a soy sauce, fish sauce, cilantro, lemongrass, etc. mixture for two hours. Then I spun it with a pineapple. The pineapple is sporting Dizzy Pig Pineapple Head, which I’m told is all the rage in Thailand. Ready to serve. Have done this one before. It’s becoming a favorite way to do a chook.

Tonight’s dinner was Berkshire pork belly with home made bao buns and a hoisin based bbq sauce, these are quickly becoming a favourite!

Hey Tangles, not yet unfortunately, it’s been on a bit of a road trip! It’s expected to hit freo on the 31st of this month