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First post but not first cook. Have been learning by trial and lots of error over the past 3 weeks. First brisket - 3.5kg post fat trimming; simple salt and pepper rub with some thyme & rosemary; oak chunks; 225F for 12h; 1h rest; KK23 performed amazingly overnight as meat went in at 23h30. Not enough time to get through stall as I had to take out when guests arrived (181F internal). Nonetheless very satisfying. Next attempts will trial Texas crutch vs. 300-350F method I’ve seen on the Forum.

10lbs wings, lg tray Jack Daniel Beans, 2 Racks of ribs with Memphis dust and sauced, 2 trays of Mac and cheese, Broccoli slaw and salad, Potato salad, Pineapple and Fruit Salad, APPS....Olives and mozzerrella, Charcuterie board, Taco dip, 5lbs schrimp and at least 10 desserts were to many to list. Endless beer and wine and thats what I remember off hand

I wanted to try Syzygies' idea of using the double bottom pan under the pizza stone, so here goes- I just set this whole arrangement on top of the main grate. Add a little fresh basil from the garden. First slice of three. I'd do this again but next time I'd be a little more patient and wait for the KK to get to 500 F. This time the stone was 465F. Crust seemed to be a little more chewy than normal and I could have cooked the whole pizza for another minute but it really was very tasty as is. A shot of the crust from my phone.

After the last few posts in the Bruce thread I got wondering - really, how often do I cook outside? Only one way to know for sure - let's keep track of it. No pictures for this thread, just - Day, Date - what I cooked - what grill I used. I'll update this first post every couple of days. I'll keep this going for maybe a month or so or until I get tired of doing it - LOL - check back often. P. S. If Mrs skreef cooks outside instead of me I'm going to count that - she cooks every once in a while. Fri, 9/20 - salmon - 19" KK, direct using Grill Grates Sat, 9/21 - chicken halves - Nuke Delta Sun, 9/22 - meatloaf Wellington - 19" KK - Mrs skreef, Guru meatloaf challenge Mon, 9/23 - Bisquick Chicken Pot Pie - 19" KK - used leftover grilled chicken from the Nuke Delta grill. Tue, 9/24 - Wed, 9/25 - grilled thighs - 16" KK w/ Grill Grates - corn risotto - outdoor side burner Thu, 9/26 - pork tenderloin medallions and a cabbage steak - Blackstone griddle Fri, 9/27 - Sat, 9/28 - swordfish steaks and crab cakes - 19" KK Sun, 9/29 - grilled pineapple - 16" KK w/ grill grates - mushroom risotto - outdoor side burner Mon, 9/30 - boneless skinless turkey breasts - 19" KK semi indirect on KK grates Tue, 10/01 - hamburgers - 16" KK w/ grill grates Wed, 10/02 - Thu, 10/03 - Bronx Bombers and bread sticks - 19" KK indirect on upper grate. Fri, 10/04 - Cobia and crab stuffed U5 Shrimp - 19" KK Sat, 10/05 - Sun, 10/06 - Pan Pizza and Ranier Cherry Crumble - Wood Fired Oven Mon, 10/07 - meatloaf and green bean Caserole - 19" KK indirect, upper grate @ 400* Tue, 10/08 - 1/2 chicken - 19" KK Wed, 10/09 - Hamburgers - 16" KK w/ Grill Grates Thu, 10/10 - marinated pork tenderloin scraps - Blackstone Griddle Fri, 10/13 - Sat, 10/12 - Supreme Pan Pizza - WFO - lamb loin chops and crab cakes - 19" KK Sun, 10/13 - Brunswick Stew - 19" KK Mon, 10/14 - Mac & Cheese and chicken legs - 19" KK Tue, 10/14 - Brunswick Pot Pie - 19" KK Wed, 10/15 - Thu, 10/16 - Fri, 10/17 - smash burgers - Blackstone Griddle Sat, 10/18 - Sun, 10/19 - Flat Iron Steak - Nuke Delta Mon, 10/20 - Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese - 19" KK

Always wanted to cook a pig this size but, trouble is getting enough people around to eat it is the problem. The stars were aligned and that was accomplished today when 45 people came with appetites . I did manage two pics of the pig in it's case on the offset most other times my hands were busy and greasy. Looking back I can only say, don't be intimidated by size, in the end it was just a long cook and wasn't difficult. On a KK 32 or 42 cooking a pig is like an autonomous car, the road is clear, on the offset the challenge is constant. But do go for it, it's rewarding. Shout out to Eddie Mac..thanks

We should ask you Charles do you ever cook inside? Instead of listing the Outside Cook’s you should list all the cooks from inside I bet the inside list will be a lot shorter LOL

And plated with a potato bake. Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Awesome! Know it was crazy good, just by looking at it.

Looking good ..Ready for a rest.. Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Inside joke...but really pebbles cook best

Off camping for a week today.... Actually Glamping at Fingal Heads. By the time I return, the new KK ship should be pulling into dock. Pulled these out of the oven this morning while organising the final packing. Left to right. Purple Crack Sourdough, Banana Bread, Chocolate Brownies.

It would probably be shorter but definitely not as fun/interesting.

I can participate on a weekly basis. With travel, I am usually gone M-F. Yesterday- chicken breast, wagu burgers, shrimp, beets. Now, the wife has choices for the week

Oh, sorry. Read it too fast. Yah I do and possibly you would do it first before me since the new grill of yours is perfect for it. However, I may have to travel or call around and find a farmer for the piece of meat which is a "whole shoulder clod". This piece is approx 40lbs and was cooked by Steve Raichlen on an Argentinian grill. I haven't found the meat, although I have inquired and alas, I don't have the grill. But I do have a 30in x 30in refractory lined fire pit that I could rig a level of grates to and finish that cook. So that may be next. I guess a bucket list is something you think of as dreams yet achieved, maybe something beyond reach but you know you can get there with ambition and motivation. Just looking to improve Tekebo, stay on course and once in a while stumble off the path and venture into the wild.

Very nice cook looks deeeeeliciousTyrus, man I hope you had help with all that.

Looks delicious Aussie! Hey I got a knuckle sandwich once LOL

Possibly a tribute to Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant...

That sounds like a lot of food and a lot of work. I hope you found time to enjoy yourself! I actually wanted to know if you have anything else on your bucket list but my question was, obviously, not clear. Having cooked a 55lb pig do you have any other ambitions for your KK or Traegar over and above the baseline of eating good food from them whenever we can?

Cooking a whole pig certainly warrants a check mark on your bucket list. What else is on there, food wise?

Make sure you include a “no schmucks” clause if you go the Craigslist route. It doesn’t actually work, but makes you feel better when you’re contacted by actual schmucks and you can point to it in your ad.

Looks good Aussie. Did it crackle up? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes. It was! You should know because you enjoy entertaining and always set a nice plate. Started at 2 a.m. with coffee and on the offset at 3 a. m. at 250-75. Slowed the process down to 225 when the temp was rising to fast in the shoulder to come off in planned time for guests. Off around noon. As hosts I feel effort is overlooked by us because we endeavor to do all we can to make it a pleasurable time for our guests. Did I mention that it was injected, inspected and never neglected and tasted so good however the future methinks keeping the cook to around 20 lbs. Check mark on the bucket list

That looks fantastic!

Wow, that looks gorgeous! Well worth the anticipation and effort methinks.

Slow going. Digging through those palm roots from next door was a handbrake.

Flexing after steak dinner Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, Braai-Q. My wire haired fox terriers have already gone to dog heaven, I think they came back as 2 KKs. This is a picture of a picture beside my desk.

Well, this chapter of the journey has closed. It started with an innocent question about charcoal and ended up with the purchase of a 32KK. 😁 I'm kidding but you lot are a terrible influence! 👨‍💻 The 32KK arrived just before 4pm. Having checked in with the clearing agent after 8am, I knew to expect it late afternoon. I called to confirm and the vehicle tracker said they were 15 minutes away. I called Keith (local farmer) who said he would be over in 20 mins with the (telehandler/teleporter/lull). Perfect. The vehicle arrived and the driver (who was Russian) discovered that my Russian was as fluent as his English. So through a combination of interpretative dance and 'da, da, da, nyet, nyet, nyet' we got the truck parked where it wouldn't block the road as he could not make the turn. Some more 'da, da, da' and the doors were open and the tail lift engaged. Those familiar with the UK will be surprised to see blue sky. Typically, the arrival of complicated deliveries involving expensive items demands that the heavens open and that you have to deal with a deluge of mud and water. Tail lift down, we talked strategy (more interpretative dance this time with pointing) and a da or two later, we had the KK on the pallet truck and wheeling down the road. I'm afraid there aren't any comedy images of the two of us pushing 675KG of crated Komodo down the road. I was alerted to the presence of two cars behind us with a flurry of 'nyet, nyet, nyet' from the truck driver just as Keith arrived in the opposite direction driving the telehandler. We were stuck in the middle between a telehandler and a Range Rover. The Range Rover decided that reversing was a good idea and as Keith had to turn, he charged up the road in the same direction as the Range Rover in what looked like some surreal joust. Keith drove the telehandler in a way that suggested a love of rallying and that it wasn't his first rodeo. We got the KK off the blue pallet first which would have seriously complicated life (special thanks to @PVPAUL who helped me avoid a problem and a lot of wasted time) and placed it on the patio. I have to say that as a piece of equipment, the telehandler was pretty impressive to watch. The horizontal hydraulic arms just extended out and eased the crate down effortlessly. It has all wheel steer so is remarkably manoeuvrable. As it was now after 4pm, the siren call of the pub saw Keith dematerialise and the Russian driver had already departed in a flurry of 'da, da, sign here, spasibo' leaving me to free the KK from its confines of the last two months. I looked at my watch. 17 minutes from arrival to being ready to unpack. Might have to setup a league table on the forum although 90% of that is thanks to the telehandler. 💨 I had my socket set, screwdrivers, mallet and a small crow bar ready and tackled the crate. Eight bolts came out pretty quickly and my wife was enlisted to assist lifting the cover off. A challenge as she travels closer to the ground than I do so we were not well matched to lift evenly. The dog decided that now was the perfect time to get underfoot so had to be shepherded out the way. It went smoothly and off came the top. At this point I remembered that I should probably document the grand reveal. The patio is being ripped up and hard landscaping due to start shortly so I have blue linemarker all over the place for the contractors so they don't go through pipes or other services. And there it is. I've not quite finished unpacking it all as it was my wife's birthday and we were going out for dinner. While I would have liked to have opened it all up and set everything in place, I just didn't have the time so it's a job to finish tomorrow morning. One thing that I wasn't sure of was the hanging assembly for the side tables to fold them down. It was approaching midnight that I looked at them with a head torch. Anyway, I'll finish this post with an obligatory shot of the dog (Welsh Terrier) contained in the BBQ to show scale and to keep him out of trouble after he picked up some of the packaging and sailed down the garden with it. Staged next to the 19" tabletop (same finish), the 19" looks positively pocket sized. Until you try and move it. Thanks to everyone for the advice and support along the way. Now I just need to remind myself of burn in procedures and strategies for making the grill easier to clean.

Right after dinner I went on a round trip of 52km to get homemade ice cream worthy of some Grilled Peach Reef Syrup. Winner winner.

Do pebbles really cook better or is this just an inside joke?