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Got an interesting cut of pork from Porter Road a while back and decided to try it out last night for dinner. They call them Pork Wings. It's a cut from the shank area of the front leg. Website says to cook them like ribs. I was a little behind schedule, so I did them "hot and fast" method - 325F, direct, main grate, with peach wood chunks. WTF??? I can't upload any pictures? Had a similar problem in another post, as well. The upload "times out" and fails. UPDATE: PFM - it's working again!! The interesting thing about this cut is that small bone was barely visible before cooking. Plated, with homemade pasta and sauce. This was a very tasty cut of pork, somewhere between a pork chop and a beef rib. Got a nice smoke ring on it, too!

Luxury beef producer pays world record price for Wagyu embryos http://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-09/mayura-station-pays-world-record-for-wagyu-embryos/12228920 Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Sounds like you could work in our IT department. IT person - close the application, huh...still didn't work, OK - re-boot your station...NUTS! I'll have to dig into this one. Don't worry we're here to help and remember...We're not happy till your not happy.

Nailed it! That looks spectacular

Ribs tonight gave them some pecan and Chile lime Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Smoke Generator.. my latest tweak is I microwave the chips or chunks until they steam nd then until most of the steam is gone.. Taking the moisture content down seems to be the ticket to smoldering.. I then turn down the air-pump to as low as I can go and still keep it lit. No need to have it blasting as the heat generated from more airflow can create bio-gas fog which is what we are trying to void.

Ahh you gotta love third world living.. I have a full time gardener who lives on the property. My grates are automatically cleaned the day after he smells smoke! It's a dirty job...

14 pound brisket. Following Aaron Franklin’s process and wrapping later than I usually would. Here’s a couple of pics just before wrapping. 36” paper is pretty handy.

Not a chance, Paul. While I'm an engineer, I don't even pretend to know sh!t about computer equipment and networks. Like I said, it's all PFM to me!

More like 4 or 5 months here! We had snow just a couple of weeks ago and a hard freeze last night! Turning the corner next week into the 70s. Planting guide says not to plant here until late May.

I lived and worked in DC for 26 years. Comes with the territory.

(Cue slow clap 👏...👏...👏...) Your brain works in amazing ways.

Well that’s essentially why I remodeled my backyard so I could enjoy our good weather 9 or 10 months a year instead of 5 or 6

Snows not in the forecast

This one? That’s a pineapple guava tree

PFM!!!

We like to tell folks that they've never really had a decent roasted chicken until they've had one cooked on the KK. There's just something magical that happens inside this grill to a nice whole bird! And, the upside is, it's practically impossible to mess one up! ckreef actually tried to overcook and dry out a chicken, as an experiment. He almost couldn't do it!

Reminds me of a beer experiment that I did with the POSK back in the day. A smoke infused Czech Pils. I named the beer Bong Water! Took 4th place in the club competition with it.

I admire the effort @tekobo. It's a bit like how my day started. Checking the forum as a break from the relentlessly 'new normal' and decided that maybe today was the day to 'fatten the curve'. I thought I'd do a classic French scrambled eggs on sourdough toast. Browsed the thread. Then felt like pizza at 7.30am. Made the dough then realised we were short on toppings. Other than Wild Garlic. Essentials trip to the shop later and selection of ham, salamis and other oddments acquired. Currently waiting for the KK to reach temperature......

I think the trick here is to find a balance. This shouldn’t be a one and done. But rather, an opportunity for the slow drip that lasts a lifetime. Would you rather have $10,000 today, or a penny a day with compound interest? Start small. “Hey Wingman, remember those two KK’s? Howsabout cooking me...[insert favorite food item here] with a nice bottle of wine?” Wingman eagerly complies. Being Wingman, he thinks you’re singing his tune. Soon it becomes, “Hey Wingman, remember those two KK’s? Howsabout I remodel [pick your favorite room in the house]?” Again, Wingman complies. After all, he gets some benefit from this as well. He’s also only half paying attention because his brisket hit the stall and he’s freaking out about where to buy pink butcher paper. Keep working it another year or so. “Hey Wingman, remember those two KK’s? There’s this really cool $5M cottage in Malibu. Comes with a Lamborghini.” By now, Wingman doesn’t even realize what’s happened. He nods up and down, drool dripping from his chin. That’s from the tri tip sandwich he’s finally mastered. This is called gaslighting. Look around. It works.

My new ritual - a steak night every week in lockdown! Tonight, it was a Porter Road Chuck Steak, direct, lower grate, dome around 325F, with a chunk of grape vine. Turned out a bit more "black & blue" than the rare that I was shooting for, but it was still a nice damn steak! Plated with frites, sprayed with duck fat and fried in the air fryer, with dipping sauces of chipotle ketchup and an aioli. Marsala mushrooms and a nice chimichurri for the steak. A nice side salad with blue cheese. Bon Appetit!

ROFLMAO! Nice pies, dude!

Made a couple of my South Side thin crust pizzas on the 32. Perfect clone of my hometown favorite, the legendary Colucci’s. Two 14” pies fit no problem. Homemade sausage — only way to get that distinctive Chicago flavor. Always, ALWAYS cut square. Wedges are the enemy of the people. 🤔

Hi, Eggary! Been a while. Yeah, Dennis developed this smoker tube device that plugs into the Guru port. You can use it for cold smoking (works great) and if you don't want to use Syzergies Dutch Oven smoker pot, you can use it to generate smoke during a normal cook. Here, I'm using it to hot smoke some pastrami. Not a great picture, but you get the idea. What you don't see is the aquarium pump that attaches to the metal tube to blow the smoke into the KK.

Let us know what you think.

any pics? was hoping to see some detailed pics to see how the grout tile etc held up. Glad to hear everyone is happy and still cooking on these units.

Gotta stay with the microwave when doing chips, you could set them on fire, a BIG no no.

No the Coffee Charcoal is natural lump.. BTW those are last containers 22 lb boxes.. this container has 44 lb poly bags and 12 lb boxes.

I have a good electric power washer, that I bought for maintaining an IPE deck. It revolutionizes BBQ grate cleanup. There's a bit of setup and teardown, but I'm outside puttering, I don't even notice. What I don't like is getting my hands greasy while scrubbing haphazardly at nooks and crannies, to poor effect. The power washer gets it done, better than I ever could by hand. We gave away our rotisserie long ago because it wasn't worth the cleanup. I'd consider one now.

Around here, we call it garlic mustard. Invasive as hell! I spend a lot of time pulling the stuff up by the roots (fortunately, it's pretty easy to do). I've never thought of trying to eat it.

A good start. Also do poached eggs using the SV. This one is a bit trickier, as it's not forgiving at all on the cooking time. I'm talking down to the quarter minute! 167F bath, eggs straight from the fridge, 11.25 minutes, then immediately into an ice bath for 1 minute. Perfectly set white (the liquidy part will cling to the shell, so you only get the "good part" of the white) and a yolk that's just runny. Go to 12 mins if you want to set the yolk more to a jelly like consistency. Play with the time until you get them exactly how you like them.

That is what I have done since getting the KK many years ago, things just taste better.

Found it...........................

I think the Steven Raichlen smoked chickens we had last night helped soften the blow of the purchase. Also I recently purchased a zephyr blue HD Street Glide Special and have been doing $500-$1000 in modifications to it every month. I told her no modifications for a while to offset the cost. The grill took precedence for me. Back to the smoked chickens... A-friggin-mazing. The best chicken we ever had was Sous Vide and seared in ghee. Our spatchcock chickens were unbelievable. @Christinelynn cut off pieces of breast meat and I'd hold it up in my hands and squeeze it and juices would literally drip out of the meat. We spoke to Dennis about it last night while discussing our new grill purchase. He's pretty proud of how chicken comes out of his grills. I think those chickens helped convince Christine we need to cook on these things primarily.

Morning mist photos. I think you’ll all appreciate the hidden storage behind the island, small but important feature

@Christinelynn I suggest at least a years supply of your favorite meals cooked on the KK's by Wingman. He can practice this skills and you will be the beneficiary!!!

Perpetual wine of the month club ? [to go with all the good eats he had better be cranking out.]

tekobo, looks like my kind of breakfast not sure I'd have room for the egg though.

More on the "Men cook with fire" gender stereotype: I used to have a beach house share on Kismet, Fire Island. Each town is known for its excesses, and one can question my motives for needing to reveal the town. Cherry Grove had the best partying, and all were welcome as long as they weren't too insecure in clutching an opposite-sex partner's hand. Passion consumes everything on Fire Island. The best club alas burned down. This story is about fire. One Fall night I found myself alone in the house with a prominent motivational speaker; she traveled too much to make it out to the house much, but was finally free. A strong personality would be understating the situation. It was cold, we needed a fire. I assumed a bit too much control, setting the fire. It wasn't that I didn't believe women could light a fire as well as me. I didn't believe anyone could light a fire as well as me. Rather than protesting directly, she proceeded to describe the importance of fire in pottery. How in Japanese lore, a potter struggled for years to replicate a glaze desired by the emperor. He finally gave up, and threw himself into the fire. Oxygen restriction is now recognized as an important technique in developing glazes. As the story goes, the pots he died for came out exactly as he sought. Huh. I guess women do understand something about fire. I relayed this story to a Chinese scholar. She promptly corrected me that the original legend was from China. Of course.

"Men cook with fire" gender stereotypes aside, women are a key presence here on this forum. The partner debate can go either way. I had to work on Laurie to get our first off-brand "Richard" K, which fell apart. Dekes can work. I had Laurie believing that I wanted to build a wood-fired pizza oven in the middle of our lawn. After a few years of kamado outdoor cooking, it was Laurie's idea to upgrade to a KK. We were both thrilled to speak with Dennis. I projected bonding with a kindred spirit who exemplifies OCD as a life force, a positive expression of the species. What else could explain the beauty of a KK? What did Laurie project? Um, err, um, let's just say Dennis has a gift best left unexplored. I was so happy to get the KK, I just watched Laurie's reaction with amusement.

Hey there @Christinelynn, it is always great to talk to Dennis. When you get to that stage, you know good stuff is about to happen. I am the wrong wife to advise on this dilemma though. I talked about KKs for so long that my husband finally gave up his Argentinian bbq and bought me two KKs. I bought him a new Argentinian bbq in return last year. Although Sinbad the cat knows it was really so I could learn to play with fire. That said, @Wingman505's transition to two KKs was super fast and you definitely deserve a reward! You have already won the Best First Post Ever award. A very warm welcome to our world.

I've been catching up on everyone's cooks. Drooltastic. It is 06:43 here and I now have a hankering for meat and red wine. A good start to an excellent day methinks. Will exercise first to justify it. I have been sorting through cookbooks to reduce my collection and picked up one of Heston Blumenthal's "perfection" books. He devotes quite a few pages to the perfect burger. His perfect burger minces chuck, aged short rib and brisket. I was planning on trying it out before I saw Tyrus' post. Now there is NO way I am mincing my brisket. Yum.

Haven't eaten there, but I was the "dumb end of the board" helping my woodworker neighbor install a fancy shed for extra storage, before their remodel. Thomas Keller pays attention to detail, I got to meet him twice. I mentioned using his sous vide cookbook, and he didn't look surprised at all. He later asked about the roof color, and I suggested no, it should match on Google Earth. That elicited a bit of surprise. The veggies being dropped off were mind-boggling. Our favorite sous vide vegetable is also potatoes. I've sold friends on sous vide this way, that feel they have meat otherwise mastered: Peel and quarter (or to size) potatoes, vacuum pack, and cook sous vide at 185 F or above (this is the threshold for most vegetables to actually cook) for one to two hours (to taste, revisit this on subsequent trials). Chill the packs completely, ideally overnight, or in ice water if in a hurry. A few hours before cooking, open the packs and spread out the potatoes on a cooling rack, with a fan blowing on them, to dry off as much surface moisture as possible. (A brief time in a dehydrator would also work, but that's more cleanup.) To serve, fry hard in ghee, with salt and pepper to taste, till they pick up lots of color and cook completely through. Twice-cooked starch is transcendent. That's the whole idea behind french fries done right. This is a riff on that. Thomas Keller discourages sous vide for most vegetables. I don't make complete dishes from his first cookbook, The French Laundry, but there are some amazing techniques in there. For example, cooking lobster just long enough to remove and reserve the meat, then using the shells for stock, then gently cooking the meat in mostly butter, some water (which translates well to sous vide). I've used this to top a gumbo to die for. His favorite vegetable technique is "big pot boiling". I mean big, like a 16 quart pot. (There is online debate on how big is necessary. Diminishing returns, of course, but people are revealing that they can't tell the difference, not that you can't. It's not easy to cook beyond one's perceptions; I'm convinced Keller is a super-taster.) Nearly fill with water salted to sea water (decide to taste), bring to hard boil, and plunge vegetables to cook exactly to taste. Plunge next into ice water to arrest cooking. This preserves flavor and color, which matters at his prices. If you save tomato harvests as we do by skinning, partially dehydrating with salt till "gooshy", and freezing, then adding those tomatoes to Blue Lake green beans cooked big pot boiling and dressed with your favorite vinaigrette makes the best green bean salad I've ever made. I've brought this as a vegetable side to Thanksgiving by very serious cooks; this is the only "pot luck" veggie course I know that can break through the cacophony of other dishes.

I've just started dive into non-meat SV recepies. This one is next on my list.

There's a tag inside each KK that would help figure this out. I bought my 23" well over a decade ago. I'm very proud of my serial number. Apparently there were only eight people before me.

Excellent question - this should be good. Probably not for Dennis in that unlike many products, the Komodo probably has too long a life-cycle. 😁

Dennis, do you have a rec for a temp controller?

Recovering fluid dynamicist here, although it's been a very long time since I worked as one. But when I did work as one it was related to combustion chambers of things that fly to great altitudes. Here goes: to hold a steady temp means you're at equilibrium. Energy in equals energy out. Energy in is coming from two sources: ambient air via the lower vent and that being released by combustion of fuel. Energy out is the hot air leaving the chamber and heat loss through the walls. Set the two equal to each other for equilibrium. Energy in air leaving the top vent + Energy lost through walls = Energy due to combustion + Energy of ambient air in. Any combination of settings that keeps that in balance will work. ckreef keeps the air leaving low and combustion energy low, thus saving fuel. Other settings work too, but are less efficient. Sorry for geeking out.