Leaderboard

Picked up my Konro today and just had to do my Suya cook as the first cook. Yesterday I broke up some of Dennis' coffee and coco lump. This is just a sample of what I did. The 3 cookers. I happen to have some very well dried softwood and hardwood to start my fire. In the bottom of the SoloStove I put some of the softwood and a couple of pieces of hardwood, set that burning then added some coffee wood for this cook. I actually took some of it out before lighting and it worked just fine. Once the coffee wood was going I moved it to the Konro. A little air from the blower and the fire was good to go. Prepared some beef tenderloin for this Suya cook and let it marinate for a few hours prior to lighting the fire. Plated. Yum, almost on the edge of mouth over-burn for me. Perfect. Next might be chicken. The coals were still going after this cook so I used tongs and put them back into the SoloStove inside the KK and shout the KK down.

It is not just people that are finding the days hot around here- They have almost all of the water splashed out of the bath. LOL

I had an 8 lb Boston butt that I’d rubbed the night before and it was time to see what I could do. I had a “false start”. Let me explain. After the initial lighting and closing the lid the grate temp peaked at 120f and then slowly dropped to 115. I was puzzled and opened the lid, removed the grates, the diffuser, and charcoal basket to discover the fire had gone out because I had failed to remove a piece of plastic film directly below the firebox which was blocking the lower air intake. My friends were unimpressed with my fire building skills lol. I restarted the fire around 9:30 pm, got the temp up to 235F and cooked that butt over night and got the IT up to 203F around 11:30 am the next morning. I wrapped it in foil and put it in a cooler for another 2 hours til my friends could come back for their sandwich rewards. The guys WERE impressed with the lunch, which included some pickled red onions, homemade North Carolina pig pickin sauce and (optional) KC style sauce and some homemade Asian slaw. All in all, a fantastic start to a future of fun and delicious BBQ’n!

I'm going to have to disagree with ya here my friend.. Craig aka Meathead at AmazingRibs.com once said only the Primo could create two zones.. I made up this little video to demonstrate how the clearly the two zones were created in a 23" KK. Probably should of cranked it up a bit but it definitely shows TWO ZONES

Okay all...I started the cook at 9:30 pm and it took off the Wagyu brisket at 2:30pm so a 17 hour cook. The temp held most of the night. I did have to add a bit of lump around noon for the final stretch. The pellets seemed to work real well although they did go out towards the end of their burn. Excellent bark and very juicy point. I chopped up the flat for sandwiches and stuff in the future. Flat was on the tinfoil. Overall, extremely pleased with cook. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Knowing I’d be leaving on Saturday July 7 for vacation at Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland, I was very happy to get my delivery on Thursday July 5th, just in time to uncrate and set up my new pride and joy. I didn’t realize just how big it really was and how much 500+ lbs was to handle until actually doing it. Fortunately for me Dennis was quick to point out the leapfrog plywood method to roll the grill across my lawn and having read others’ descriptions of the whole uncrating and setup process on the forum, it was accomplished in relatively short order thanks to the help of 3 friends.

I was going to use the Konro to roast some tomatoes for lunch but didn't have the energy after spending a few hours sawing up limbs from some large fallen tree branches caused by a wind storm. Actually I was too pooped to pant. I think of the Konro as something similar to a fondue. It's for people who like to play with their food as it cooks. Next time I will light a bigger fire and one of these times I will try regular lump to see what happens but that coffee lump was very good. Didn't try the coco lump yet. @ Pequod, that means you can't use it until Xmas.

Yes! Do tell! Can’t wait to get my Konro. Wife will be surprised and pleased that I’ve covered my own Christmas shopping again.

I was wondering when I got that email that said my great aunt had died and left me $150,000 and all I need to do is send $3,000 for legal costs .I said if you pay it just send me $50,000. still waiting lol . Will be fun trying these out Outback kamado Bar and Grill

I admit, I do sometimes wonder whether the prince succeeded in finding a new home for his stash and who he shared that fortune with. I also have concerns for what happens to Santa’s elves in January.

Awesome mate was looking at the tracking at around 2.30 this arvo .and noticed they knocked at my door at 1.49 .gotta love usps tracking .so left work early to get to the post office. got there and when they brought out the parcel the lady said this is the one that smells like vinegar .I thought I know there goes uncle doughies you could smell it .so I said she'll be right .ta love .grabbed the parcel and headed home. first I was waiting for this lol...usps told me it had a stay lol. Great selection of rubs the salt looks interesting..get to try both suya master rubs..love the glasses. and now for the uncle doughies glad you put it in a zip lock bag . .there was a small hole in the bag that leaked some into the box but bugger all .I pored it into my old bottle pretty much full. .cheers tony. . Outback kamado Bar and Grill

I’ll get a little technical for a moment, but I know @tony b is a recovering engineer, so let’s roll with some Engineering approximations and others feel free to ignore. (Once an engineer, always an engineer!). Radiation decays with distance squared. So, in a Weber, where the distance from the coals on the direct side is, say 6”, and distance on the indirect side is say, an average of 18”, the radiative heat transfer rate is nearly 10 times less on the indirect side vs the direct. Do the same math for the grates of a 23”, where the main is about 18” from the fire, the middle grate is about 12”, and the sear grate is 6”. For the main grate, the distance to the fire is about 18” on the direct side, and (doing a little Pythagorean thing), about 22” to the middle of the indirect side. Repeat this for each grate. Here are the results: Main grate: Radiative heat transfer on the indirect side is about 2/3 that on the direct side Mid grate: indirect side is about 1/2 that of direct Sear grate: indirect is 1/5 of direct Comparison between main grate indirect and sear grate direct: about 1/13 of direct I’ll skip directly to the results for the 32: Main grate: indirect side is 1/2 of direct Mid grate: indirect side is 1/3 of direct Sear grate: indirect side is 1/8 of direct Another data point comparing indirect side main grate to direct side sear grate (I.e., the 32’s two-zone configuration): 1/16 of direct Last, take a closer look at Dennis’ video. First, that’s the mid grate of a 23. Per calcs above, radiative heat transfer on indirect side is about 1/2 the direct side. Notice something else? The paper is browning fastest from conductive heat transfer via the grate itself, not radiative, which is why we go to the direct side (unless using conduction via a steel of CI to sear). What does all of this mean? The definition of “two-zone” is somewhat subjective, but it starts with a differential in radiative heat transfer between two sides of a grill. Let’s say the magic ratio of indirect:direct is 1:10. The Weber achieves this. A high (indirect)/low (direct) 23 and 32 both do this. The difference, then, is in the convenience and grilling area for the indirect and direct sides. For the 23, you have to remove the food and the main grate to get to the sear grate. For the 32, you simply flip from the main half-grate to the sear grate without moving anything. For a Weber, same thing...flip to the direct side or use the cold grill technique. A concluding comment: in my subjective opinion, the reason I say the 32 is a true two zone grill and the 23 isn’t comes down to convenience for two zone grilling. With the 32, I can complete a two-zone cook without ever moving any grates and without ever worrying about having enough room. The 32 is a two-zone machine.

Funny, but they sent me some of the sugar coated fennel seeds too! Must be their version of a "lagniappe." My Nigerian Maggi cubes came yesterday, so now I'm set to whip up the next incarnation of my suya rub recipe and see if the 2-3 changes I have planned will find that magic sweet spot (Je ne sais quoi?")

Bruce, the Bazaar Spice suya pepper is excellent, and very similar to @tekobo's Nigerian suya pepper. You won't be disappointed.

Go for it, Bruce I will be watching.[emoji4]

I don’t why my last answer came to this thread. But nicecook Mac it looks delicious!

Interesting. I'll amend my statement to: The 32 and 42 have two BIG zones. Big enough for a goat. A good, and not so hard to do experiment, would be to put a 23, 32, and 42 in split (50/50) basket configuration and place a grate level probe at the midway point of each half on the main grate. Dial in so that the indirect side is the same on each -- say 250F. What is the reading of the direct side probe? Or flip it around -- dial in 450 on the direct side of each; what is the reading on the indirect side? My intuition says the temperature differential between direct and indirect sides is greatest with the 42, then 32, then 23, but by how much? With my Maverick XR50, I could get readings at four points on the main grate of my 23 and 32, but somebody would have to send me a 42 to measure that.

The 23” is unique also in the fact that it’s charcoal basket is round, so the zones can be front to rear, side by side, or catywompous if you like. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The brisket weighed 15 pounds before trimming so about 12-13 at cook time. I found soaking the smoker in brewers wash overnight worked the best. Effortlessly cleaned the next day. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What it means is that the size and shape of the 32 relative to the 23 lends itself to a substantial temperature differential between the hot and cool sides, and with substantial area for both. So, imagine each is in a configuration with the basket splitter (the 32 in 50/50 configuration...it can also do 75/25). At the sear grate level, the indirect vs. direct sides are roughly equivalent temperature-wise. The biggest difference is the very small direct area due to basket size. Now move your eyeline to the upper grate. Here you have a full size 23" main grate over a split basket. The difference in temp between the hot side and cool side is much less here. There's no reason to cook this way. In a 32", I'm using a half main grate and the temperature differential is still high due to distance. Now for workflow. Let's say we're reverse searing some steaks. In the 23, I have no reason to use a split basket, because I'll just cook the steaks at low (225'ish) temp on the main grate until they're "in the zone", remove the steaks and main grate, crank the vents, wait for a roaring flame, then sear. All's good, if a bit complex. Here's the same workflow for the 32. Cook the steaks on the cool side until they're in the zone, then flip them directly onto the sear grate. Done.

In a 19" (most people have bigger KK's) a smoke pot doesn't work really well. I bought a nice small 1.5 qt CI pot and drilled my holes. The problem in a 19" table top is not really enough space in the fire basket to accommodate the small smoke pot. It worked really well one time. The next two times it didn't and so I gave up on it. I didn't preheat the CI ahead of time and that probably would have helped. The only real pain with the smoker is cleaning it. There are numerous products that help. ZEP 505 cuts rights through the build up and one day I'll order some brewers wash. Dealing with the air pump is about as much effort as dealing with the rotisserie motor and both are just not an issue. One day I'll have them both cranked up and do a smoked rotisserie cook.

Gosh, I am soooo jealous @MacKenzie! The konro grill looks great as does the food. Was it a different way of cooking? How would you say that it complements/contrasts with KK cooking?

Looks brand new Mac, the cooker that is, very nice. Oh, a complementary meal too.

I had some posts on hot smoking with this thing when it first came out. Not gonna look them up and force them on you, but summarizing key points: Both give you clean smoke. Temp range: smoke pot is at its best from 225-275F. Cold smoker has no limits. Smoke intensity: cold smoker is controllable throughout the cook. Smoke pot is set, forget, and accept what it gives you. Smoke duration: Unlimited with cold smoker because you can refill anytime. About 4 hours with the smoke pot. Ease of use: Smoke pot is dead simple. Cold smoker requires power, tubes, attachments, etc. (but worth the minimal hassle). Both have their place, but the cold smoker is super versatile.

I love it. Nigerians are, unfortunately, known for internet scams and drug running. I was worried that a "consignment" of suya spice from Lagos, sent on by a Nigerian in the UK would attract unwelcome attention. But no, the suya spice has made it past sniffer dogs in Canada, USA and now Australia. What fun. Our reputation can't be all bad. I hope you enjoy both versions @Aussie Ora.

I'm actually working with a company that is authorized to issue exemptions.. Jumping thru hoops does not even begin to explain what we are going thru.. Luckily we actually had all our "original" production records for the required 5 years back.. All the production testing numbers were required, then double checked against the also requested spreadsheets with the same info.. and their staff has on our dime visited our factory twice.. from Jakarta.. ARGH . Gotta play the game.. I hope to be back in the saddle again before the end of the year!

Glad the glasses made it OK, even if the Dougie's took a hit! Happy you could salvage it. I'll double wrap it next shipment. Scored the Makers glasses while down in Kentucky on my bourbon swilling adventure. Didn't know if you preferred the round or the square, so I got both - ha, ha!! When I went to the local BBQ store to pick up a couple of things for you, the lady there had me try several new items; the pickle salt and the gunpowder rub were spontaneous purchases. I'll be curious as to what you use the pickle salt on - it really does taste like dill pickles!! I'm normally not a fan of rubs with charcoal in them, but this one (gunpowder) was actually pretty tasty. ENJOY!

I baked a couple of loaves of Ciabatta in the kamado today, ready for sandwiches / toast for the rest of the week.

I'll second the 100% pellets route. I started with small wood chips and struggled like the dickens to make it work - almost to the point of ditching the smoker entirely. Then I went with the mix of chips and pellets - better, but still struggled sometimes to keep things lit. This time was the first attempt with all pellets - worked like a charm. I'll deal with an occasional disassembly and cleaning if it continues to work as well as it did on Sunday. YMMV

Rubbed up and injected a collar butt with some apple sauce, orange juice and bourbon. let it go to 165 over some Pecan to form a nice bark. .the gave it some of this wing sauce I like the taste.. After a while it seemed to absorb the sauce and enhance the bark. .so I gave it some more..Dee whipped up her own version of slaw..looking good.and a final slather. .and ready ...and pulled. .not the best shot but tasted great. Outback kamado Bar and Grill

I had already accused @Aussie Ora of making up weird combinations elsewhere and didn't want to be rude and comment on his use of wing sauce on pig but hey, we must bow to the magic of Aussie O.

This is a Tale of Two Suyas. It was the best of cooks, it was the worst of cooks... For this cook, I wanted to compare the Nigerian original by way of @tekobo with the Suya Spice sold by Bazaar Spices in nearby Washington, DC. My original plan was to compare these with the version by Milk Street, but the pinky test suggested these were very similar to each other and nothing like the Milk Street version (good in its own right, but different). The Nigerian version is on the left and Bazaar version on the right. After dry brining strips of flank steak for an hour, I divided in half. That’s 12 oz of steak in each bowl. The one on the left is rubbed with 1.5 Tbsp of Nigerian spice, and on the right is the same amount of Bazaar. Onto the skewers: Onto the sear grate of the 32 with some ears of corn: Resting on the cutting board. Bazaar version on the left, Nigerian on the right. I had shakers on the table of each for extra spice on the plate. My daughter the food critic gave me her opinion, which matched my own. The underlying flavors of each are the same, but the Nigerian version has a bit more heat. Both are very different from the Milk Street version. We agreed that the Bazaar version could easily be tailored by adding cayenne. Finally, she said to me: It is a far, far better thing that I eat, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better plate that I go to than I have ever known. (apologies to Charles Dickens )

I have the basket with 8in reducer awesome for holding things together .I was luck to get the first straight rod from Dennis and love it .I have a basket for it that's great for wings. thighs and all those fiddly cooks.at the end of the day rotisserie is a fun way to cook

Hello, I'm Dennis Linkletter designer and builder of Komodo Kamado, welcome to my forum. It's been a long road but I'm absolutely confidant that from a standpoint of quality of materials, construction and design, I build the best ceramic grill available. From the stainless damper top assembly to the German castors you'll find that every component and feature is the product of thoughtful design and no other grill can match my Komodo feature for feature. I hope that forum users will share ideas and be able to contribute to Komodo's ongoing evolution and development. Unlike the other forums which prohibit discussions about the competition, I want this forum to be truly pro ceramic, to welcome and promotes discussions about all ceramics and cooking on them... If you want to compare my KK cookers with the others, great bring it on...I've even included links to the all other manufacturers to help you do comparisons. I believe that all the ceramic grills fill a certain niche in the marketplace and have the ability to produce great food. I know that I could learn to be happy cooking on any of them.. it just would not be as easy, convenient or enjoyable as on my Komodo. I must admit I'm a bit lazy and I have designed my grills for ease of use and that many of my features are not necessary but a luxury. My cooker could be described as an unique shaped, extravagant, self-opening, extremely well insulated, tiled BGE with a lot of bells and whistles.. But remember food tastes great on them all.. I would like to ask that all posts be polite and please refrain from talking about politics and religion. If you're a diehard from a forum cult here to disturb and slander, please don't. If you like good people, great food, and ceramic cookers, you can and should register as a member of this forum. See above. So once again welcome to my forum, I hope that it becomes a great meeting place for friends as well a great resource. Dennis Linkletter Note: Images posted on the forum of KK cooks may be posted on Social media sites, if this is an issue for you please don't post them on this forum..

Suppose I could get these into my Konro? You just know what the next job is.......