Leaderboard

After almost a week of freezing rain and snow, I finally got a break in the weather to fire up the KK for dinner! I had a piece of picanha in the freezer, so onto the KK it went after getting a generous rub of flaked salt, freshly ground pepper and some garlic seasoning. Lower grate, direct, over coffee charcoal, with mesquite and coffee wood chunks, Dome around 400F. Plated with a nice side salad, crusty bread, smashed roasted potatoes and sautéed mushrooms! Up close and personal!

Today it was brisket day. Started last night with grill at 245 F and took it out after 15 hours at 203 F. Have done brisket multiple times never had got such an awesome brisket before. Main difference; the grill; in spite of some troubles I had with temp control, KK makes an awesome brisket.

Had a late couple of extra mouths to feed tonight, so one of these went into the KK frozen. Both turned out superb. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I guess the obsession took over from cold tony. Well done. Here is the venison oiled, spiced and going on. Oh, and that’s a prime beef rump going on too. Cleaning out the shed in prep for backyard Reno and found some chunks of a Acerola Cherry that I’d stored a few years ago. It smells delish. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Big MoMo is officially SOLD and gone. Believe it or not to a gentleman off of Craigslist. Hopefully he will get many years of awesome meals off of it. I want to thank all of the KK Community for your support and advise trying to get it sold. Farewell to all and God bless. Car Doc is out.

What Pequod said - close the top damper almost fully closed - just barely off the seat. Also, if it's a windy day, close down the damper on the fan outlet of the Guru, so you don't get too much airflow when the fan isn't running. I pretty much always have mine at least half closed. One thing about a controller - once the temperature goes above the setpoint, the controller can't bring it back down!

My wife made Zuppa Toscana soup Friday night. The kids asked for a KK pizza to go along with the soup. It made a great meal. I will try to get permission from Hannah to post the soup recipe. It’s always a family favorite.

Funny this coming up today because I am still waiting on my first brisket to come out of my 21" using the digiq dx2 (13 hours and counting). Next time will give a try to a hot and fast approach. I have done many a brisket on the green egg with the controller but this time I struggled a little because (in my opinion) the difference in thermal mass between KK and the egg. I have always just lit the grill plugged the controller and walked away until it settled. Not this time. Because it was cold last night (27 F) the controller fan lit an infernal fire on my pit trying to get all that thermal mass of the KK and heat deflector to 245F which resulted on the KK reaching the temp and than severly overshooting (315 F). It took about 2.5 hrs to tame the beast and be able to put the brisket in. About 11.5 hours into the cook I started running out of charcoal (had to refill) and I believe this was a result of the large amount of charcoal that got burned in the first few hours of fighting to drop the temp. Next time I think I will get the KK, grates and deflector to the correct temp and than plug the controller for temperature maintenance. I am also curious if any of you guys that have had your KK for awhile can elaborate if my ramblings above make sense or whether I might have made some other mistake.

Guilty. That’s a very good point Dennis, however, somewhere between preparing the food and eating the food, the sun generally goes down, and lighting for photography is reduced, and everyone is hungry, and, no, it’s the drinks that distract me. I’ll try and take more plated shots. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@Tony, I'd get up close and personal with that dinner too.

Please always try to take a shot of the food "when it's done cooking in the grill" Uncooked food is fine for the story but not drool worthy like the finished shots.. Thanks in advance..

I pretty much just start it after lighting the coals. Plug it in and let it do the rest. You’ll close down the top vent more than for an uncontrolled cook. You want the fan to do the work.

He was my sensei.

Think I'll kill this duck story now but, before I go a few additions are in order. First I took the time machine back into the archives and found various techniques and procedures applied with lots of success from many contributors. One of the finishing touches that I had ignored was to raise the temp at the end to crisp the skin. The technique of hatching the skin looks promising to quicken a crisper skin also. Some chose to use the rotisserie, others used stands, while others offset or cooked direct, so it appears there is a number of ways to cross the finish line holding your duck. The skin inflation prep seems a little Dr Frankenstien to me because I would have take the duck out to the garage and hook em up to my compressor using other implements to help raise his skin. Mel Brooks would like the idea. What I did notice was that Toney grasped the pebble from Wilburpan's hand and has a long history in the duck world so to speak which may in itself make him a duck officionado. Try as I might with one foot in front of the other I think we'll plod ahead and conquer this duck problem. I bought another, so there are three now in the freezer, you might say, "all my ducks are in a row."

@MacKenzie I’m sure it does that’s why I’m getting it. I spent the better part of four days reading nearly every thread on this board before deciding on it. I expect I’ll be doing 90%+ of my cooking on the KK but if I’m u der taking a big project like this I might as well get a few extra toys to complete the outdoor kitchen

I like that plan. IMHO, the back strap is the only piece of venison that I think is worth eating grilled. Most everything else needs to be braised or stewed.

My hunting friend has cleaned out his freezer and given this venison to my dad who in turn asked me to cook it for him this weekend, AUSTRALIA Day.( ckreef I think you were buying something for this weekend to celebrate with us) [emoji23] It’s mostly back straps. The only request from dad is that I put a hint of smoke on it. It’ll be transported 40 minutes away after cooking. I’m thinking of getting a small fire going in the kk, then a coat of oil over the venison and some dry rubs while frozen. An hour or 2 in a smoky kk while it defrosts, then bag it for 10 hours of sous vide at around 52C( 125f). Take it to dads bagged and finish it off on his grill. Any suggested variations to this? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Today was a big day. Dennis sent me a picture of my KK she’s a beauty! Will be heading to CA shortly and Dennis is kind enough to store it a couple months until my yard is ready we also got our design and signed the contract with our landscape designer. Construction starts Monday! they designed in a gas BBQ as well as the KK but I’m now leaning towards getting a flat top gas grill in case I need to do a super quick cook (chicken breast or hamburger) for the kids and I don’t want to fire up the KK. I’d love anyone’s opinions or insight on that choice I’m attaching pictures of my KK and our design

Cover is not as crucial if it's under a roof that will protect it from freezing rain and snow. @Sgt Stedanko - Sorry, repeat that, Lard Ass! ROFLMAO!!

I think it depends on your climate sgt. I don’t have a cover as I see my kk as a piece of sculptured art. Midnight midwinter our temp drops to 10c- about 50f and it’s under a roof through the heat of the day. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Keep the duck cooks coming. If it’s on a restaurant menu I will normally order it. We don’t see it often in our markets and therefore I don’t get to cook it much. Most of my hunting mates target other game. That duck looked delish. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm jealous. Not of the hunting bit but of your access to wild ducks. And quail. I wonder if pricking the skin all over would help? You would still get the self basting but a crispier skin? I don't cook duck very often and would normally avoid it on the roti for fear of fat flare ups. Will try your method and see how I go.

Wooden handles just don't stand up to the washers abuse. Knifes are sacred, a rite of passage...I can remember my first buck knife, now where did I leave that?

Same deal here. I keep my Japanese knives separate from regular knives. Everyone knows not to touch MY knives.