Leaderboard

Cooked some baby backs , chicken , and hatch green chili pork sausage last night. Setup the KK 23" with KJ Big Block and sassafras wood ( great with pork and chicken ). Cooked the ribs and chicken for 5 hours naked no wrap and threw the sausage on the last 2 hours. Coated everything with a combo of BBQ sauce , butter , and honey the final 30 minutes. Everything came out great especially the chicken moist and falling off the bone.

Some progress today. Set the posts and the roof. For the observant, that’s a netball hoop at 3m( 10 feet), not a basketball hoop. And enjoyed the view from where I expect to be having a few more of these. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I saw a 32 in person and I knew then that the 32 was the one for me. When I got it I said this thing is a beast. Q U A L I T Y.

I chose to remove the lag bolts. I couldn’t lift the crate off because of the damage on the top of the crate. I thought my ramp was destroyed too. So I removed all the slats and managed to save my KK wood sign. A long story short all is well.

This is pretty funny VIDEO-2020-03-13-23-56-46.mp4

Staying away from crowds, so took an early pass to get home and cook a feed up for the two chippies building the ODK.... well, there was all this clean, scrap timber around for smoking So I put a coffee, spice rub on some pork. And roasted it, direct And indirect as soon as the dripping blew extra smoke out of the KK- about 90 minutes into the cook. Turned out delish. That’s with my new love for vinegar and honey based sauces. BTW ssgt that slow cook Butt looks sensational. Well done. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We just got ours delivered and moved it. There are no instructions where to place what tray and in what position. We are new to this and trying this blindly. We did het it up yesterday to 550 deg.F for just over 4 hours, wiped off the white stuff that bled but it is hard to find the holes where they came from, so it is hard to know if there are holes. I am eager to try cooking but will need more guidance!!

I use my basket splitter for about 1/2 of my cooks, as I'm usually just cooking for myself. It saves charcoal and gets hot faster when I'm grilling. I like to use it on most rotisserie cooks, with the fire in the back. Just keep working with it to find the best uses for your cooks.

That's one way to enforce social distancing. A lot cheaper and easier to just stop bathing...not 'fessing up to anything...

Looking good! Always good to do a test run of cocktail hour before the real thing.

Great progress! Has to be nice to start to see the shape of things to come!! Love the "construction" wine table!!!

Officially my last day of work woohoo can sit back and bludge .Dee got the flick from work yesterday . My worst fear has come true all those jobs that I said I would do around the house when I have time has just rocked up. Bugger looks like I have a full time unpaid job at home. Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Lots to respond to. Like you, @Syzygies, I was planning on taking a course in bread and/or pizza making. Ironically it was with a flour milling company in Northern Italy, called Petra. I decided against doing it this year, before corona hit, because it was for pros and my bread and Italian skills are not yet up to that level of assault. Maybe by next year this won't be such a risky endeavour. I don't think I have proved much with this one success. Maybe that my starter isn't 'strong' enough to rise a whole loaf using the small amounts of starter that Chad Peterson recommends. In any case, I will approach my next loaf with a bit more confidence with the stiffer leaven by my side. I did order a cheap digital PH meter in the depths of my despair. When it arrives it may give me more data about how my leaven varies for different bakes. This tips and tricks thread isn't meant to be scary and I fear that my trials may put others off. I have had great success in the past using yeast or yeast and leaven. My current desire is to explore the options with leaven alone and that is what is causing me pain. @Basher, that old adage about using the "best" ingredients was never truer than here. If one doesn't get the leaven right, your bread literally falls at the first hurdle. I am waking my starter back up with a view to trying some einkorn bread in the next day or so. Good luck with yours. Here we did a weird lockdown dance yesterday. A couple of baking friends were out of flour, as are all the usual sources. I had to leave some in my porch so one of them could pick it up. Both very happy to be able to start feeding their starter again. I have the Suas book recommended by @Syzygies but have not gotten into it yet. I am a leap in and do it sort of person and have found you tube videos with Chad Peterson, Trevor J Wilson and Rubaud useful for checking my technique. The book I have started to read is called Living Bread by Daniel Leader. I like the look of all the variations you get on basic bread from around the world and look forward to trying them once I have a better handle on doing the basics. One day, one day, I will get around to making a baguette. Two residual questions from me: how do you all store your home made bread? I slice and freeze excess but have not found a reliable way to keep bread fresh if I don't freeze it. It dries out on the counter and goes soft in an airtight container. Should I just get an old fashioned bread bin or is there a secret piece of kit yet to be revealed to me? I wondered if the proofer would be a good storage box. Second question is that I still don't know what these "seedlings" are for. Any ideas? I wrote to the Austrian company that I bought them from but have had no response - probably busy coping with COVID-led demand. And yes, I know how to rotate pictures. No, I don't know why this one stubbornly refuses to upload the right way up.

Nice looking meal. Hey if u like KJ big block check out their website. They have a charcoal sale buy 4 and get 1 free with free shipping.

All those promises of, "When I get some free time." are coming to haunt you.

Thanks Jon, yes, every day is a new day to understand how it shapes up. I’m very conscious about aspect and summer/ winter solace and how the sun can be shaped through the day. We live in a hot climate and until the form is in place, it’s interesting to see where the hot and cold places will be at different times of the year. Plant growth will also play a role over my next 3- 5 years of discovery. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

lookin tasty coolpapabill

Good luck Aussie

Really gorgeous. Congratulations on the successful launch!

Yes it was. The height of the pallet allowed the ramp to fit perfectly. Thanks. Yes it was. I was nervous and saying a few choice words too.

Tony B uncrating pics are up.

I got a call at 830 am. Trucking company asked me if they could bring my BB32. I said sure and here are some pictures. My son and I leaped frogged with two 1/2 sheets of plywood. The crate fit through my 48 inch wide gate.

He came inside a big white truck.

I live in the middle of what's known as the Monticello Wine Trail. https://monticellowinetrail.com/ Lots of the local wineries are now offering free shipping, free delivery (if you're local), and discounts in some cases. I've been stocking up...just in case...

Wonderful! Get to cooking.

What size? 32? And congrats!

Just more time for all those cooks that you couldn't find time for before; plus, more time for posting pics of those cooks, too! Win-Win!

Seems the latest crazy spree in the US is a run on guns and ammo. I guess people want to defend their TP.

Looking at that again this time in the daylight with a magnifyer and my glasses on and a sobering eye I do see a small tack weld. I believe that to restrict any side to side movement, assist in stress. Regardless don't try to remove it without Dennis's input.

Dang Aussie all that's a bummer. Let me know if you need anything. I'll send it your way. Might take a month to get there but so far mail is still going strong in the states.

Nothing that I’ve found that can keep the crispy crust. I think this is really about the humidity in our climate. A dryer climate would help this. We use those wax sheets for our cheese. They are a great alternative to plastic wraps. Probably cut our plastic wrap use by 80%. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cheers .same to you Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Tekobo a seedling to me is a germinated seed. Not sure if these are for planting? Or maybe they are saying they are late harvest and will therefore hold more sugar content. Trusts the Austrians and Swiss to end all their words with LING! [emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well done bigshep. I can imagine it’ll be fired up soon? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice cook , text book on description, wonderful color.......smack on

It is hard to unsee something, as you now well know.

Has anyone found a use for the splitter on a 21" KK. If u did please share because I would love to put my splitter to use. Bought an extra basket and splitter when I got my 21" KK and tried using the splitter once for burgers. Did not like it. I only had 6 burgers all on the direct side and the ones closer to the blocked side (still over the fire) took much longer to cook and look good. Hind sight maybe should have gone for the cold smoker instead since i am finding it hard to accomodate a cast iron pot under the low grate when doing a long smoke.

I haven't tried to work on my hinge because it works so well and closes as it should. If I ever did and approached this, I would look at it and assume because it is affixed with two nuts that it may detachable. I don't believe that is a weld on each side, it may be a solder and a sharp tool could snap that. The bottom catch is a piece made to move up and down for tightening the lid dome to the gasket for a better seal, not side to side for a hinge adjustment, it is fixed as I look at it , unless there may be a bit that allows the hole diameter to move a fracation within that setting to move side to side. That would mean an oversized hole, other than that those two posts are fixed. That slope in the pic shows the hinge off center, you can see a twist on the right, if it was working perfectly before, it shouldn't have changed unless altered. This is my hinge. Show the pics to Dennis as stated and I would imagine he would describe how to replace or fix the top hinge. You could drill out the holes on the catch assembly to slide left to right, for the 1/16 but that's a hack.

Thanks Steve

It's a humongous beauty, think your gonna love it.

Gorgeous KK, and so fortunate that there was no damage to it. That crate is a mess, good news about the KK sign too.

Whew, that was touch and go there. So did the ramp work okay?

When I got it to the concrete damage I noticed the crate was damaged in two places but inside the grill looked fine. You can see the top of the crate is leaning to the left. Nails were protruding on the right side of the crate inside the plastic. On left side of crate it is leaning rather bad. So I took all the supplies off the top and went to get some breakfast. When I returned and started removing the plastic I noticed the damage you see in this picture. The grill was fine inside. I was nervous but while looking inside I didn’t see any damage to the grill. I did call Dennis. I also thought my ramp was damaged too

Some of our wineries have started doing similar -- they schedule a virtual tasting a week or so in advance, and then you go to their online shop and they've bundled the wines for the tasting. LOVE the creativity these folks are bringing in a tough time. How can I not support (and sip!)?

What a cool idea! https://www.virtualbeerfest.org/?fbclid=IwAR13tAPecDmuK-hI6w430QRXt_Tv1g3alcCUFKQVza0MNQe9Z-EpJGDQDw4 I just bought 5 "tickets" to the event.

Made a couple of pork butts yesterday. I didn’t season the one on the right at all as I wanted to try one with simply smoke flavoring, and also will add it to my pups kibble for meals. I couldn’t believe how tasty it was simply being smoked over hickory for 13 hours; I may do this more often. The butt on the left was seasoned with Tennessee Mojo and was delicious to say the least. Can’t wait to try out this rub more. It had a nice little kick to it. This pic was taken a few hours before the cook was completed. The color was remarkable as was the flavor. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've been doing that for years so she'll be right .. But seriously I know us Aussies like a Drink . But that's a pretty ample load a carton and a bottle of bourbon per day . But there is no policing ie I can buy a carton of beer at one store and then just drive to the next we have heaps of bottlos /drive throughs to by piss ..I have squirreled away a few light refreshments .in case we go into total lock down Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Glad to share recipes; it will be up to you, however, to procure the necessary equipment and to source the ingredients!

Well said tucker. There will be an end to this and unlike the gfc, this is not driven by greed. These moments will galvanise communities. To all who find themselves in extremely tough circumstances, don’t forget to ask for help. You will be surprised how many friend are sitting on the edges wanting to help. They just don’t know where they can help. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I received great news today. My 32BB has landed in Richmond, Va. terminal.