Leaderboard

Fixed up a couple of pork tenderloins using the Adam Perry Lang recipe with peach glaze. they were as awesome as I hoped.

Some more ribs .. Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

The aftermath. They appear to have been a hit. Best I’ve made, and a great first attempt on the KK Looking forward to many more attempts. I also cranked up the KK and threw on a couple of steaks that did not suck. No pictures of them as I almost lost an arm from the fam when I tried to rest them properly.

Hey there Paul. Great to hear that someone else uses these cuts for burgers. What proportion of each do you use and how much fat do you cut out? I left most of the fat from the short ribs and brisket in and kept the chuck as lean as possible. It becomes a two person job when you make a burger this way - one to stuff the meat in at the top and the other to catch and lay out the strands on the clingfilm. So....this morning I decided to have a burger for breakfast. I bought slider size brioche buns and blue cheese slices from my local supermarket. I was a bit apprehensive when I sliced a couple of burgers off the roll. They looked more like a pork sausage than anything else. Sorry, no photos, I was too busy being worried/disgusted at that stage. Fried in a pan with no added fat, heated the buns, added fresh shallots on the bottom and melted cheese and hot sauce on top and ate them. Wow. I think it was worth the effort so far. Soft and juicy burger. None of the resistance you might normally get when you come to tug your mouthful of burger away from the rest of the burger but still a good chew in the mouth i.e. not pappy and soft. I now realise that this isn't Heston's perfect burger. It's my burger to play with. I think the brioche slider that I chose is a bit sweet for me and also I want to find out how the burgers taste when cooked over charcoal. I do like the slider size. You can eat a good, thick burger without all the extra stodge/carb from a bigger burger bun. I might also go for more chuck ground with the 8mm plate next time, to get a little more chew. Lots to try but I would definitely recommend these cuts of meat and this method of grinding and assembling your patty.

Paul I have the spit and the cradle. I thought the cradle would be good to jam larger cooks in, however, I’ve never used the cradle. Many times the spit. Others have said the cradle is tough to clean. I can see how it would be tougher. It would into my dishwasher afterwards, if I used it, so I don’t see cleaning it as a problem. Here is my grate storage solution. Two large decorative iron hooks and can easily play musical chairs with them to uncover the desired grate. I thought fishing them in and out of drawers would be a pain. Those iron geckos have a tail( hook) that stands out just short of 2 inches and can hold 4 grates. The moose could do the same....... but then where could I rest while I cook? Mascots everywhere now! [emoji3] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So far so good. The interesting thing about the burger recipe is the fact that you need to get the strands of minced meat aligned. That means you don't mince the meat and then mix it up. Instead you lay it out in strands and then roll up in cling film to maintain the orientation of the strands. The idea is that this gives a more open texture to your burger. This is what ours looked like when we laid it out as it came out of the mincer. I ended up following the recipe with 2kg chuck added in to the minced 2kg brisket and 4kg short rib meat. With an 8mm hole grinder plate, you end up with some chuck meat to chew within the matrix of meat and fat from the brisket and the short rib. We then rolled each batch of mince up to get something that looks more like a meatloaf than a burger. All three rolls are sitting the the dry ager to cool before getting sliced into individual patties. The rest of Heston's recipe sees you making your own burger buns, ketchup and cheese slices. That will take the rest of the week! In the meantime I think I will buy some burger buns and will try out my first Heston burgers tomorrow. The chilli recipe has been a bit of a headache. Heston specifies a list of chilli powders that are not available to buy in the UK. I was straining to be faithful to the recipe and even contemplated ordering a load of spices from the US. Then I reminded myself of what someone said recently. Recipes are a source of great waste. You buy a bunch of things to cook a particular recipe and then never use them again. And here I was, looking to buy this very specific list of chilli powders and get them shipped from the US. Err....no. I will go round my local shops to see what they have tomorrow and will raid my cupboards for the rest. All good fun. And all because I decided to give my Heston "perfect" recipe books a try rather than give them away. I hope I don't regret that decision.

Brisket-on-stick......we had a pretty fabulous dinner last night. My daughter and her family will get the bigger rack for dinner tonight.

KK made the works! Shorts Ribs

Those pizzas look fantastic. I’m intimidated by making dough but will probably try pizza tomorrow. 3 hours in. Climbed to 250-275.

And here we are about halfway, at 3.5 hours and 170 degrees, on our way to 203*.

When it's in the "2nd position" can you wiggle the handle of the KK at all? If it doesn't move, you're OK. I'd watch it going forward, as you might need to do an adjustment on it. It's very simple, but the one thing to understand, you ONLY adjust the bottom piece. Even though the handle piece has bolts on it, it's actually welded in place and not adjustable. To do the adjustment, you just loosen the 2 nuts on each side, gently tap down on the catch with a piece of wood (need to be careful that you don't crack a tile with something more robust like a hammer), re-tighten the 2 bolts and check it for tightness. The assemble doesn't move much, only a few mm. If you get it too tight, so it's really hard to latch into the 2nd position, loosen the nuts and tap upwards just a hair, then re-tighten. (Rinse, repeat!)

@tekobo That looks fantastic! THE BOMB! Those are the same three cuts I use when I grind burgers. I never pack or knead the mince, but the idea of laying it in strands is brilliant. I'm going to have to try that.

Like @Troble, Saturday night is turning in to pizza night with the kids. 😊

First cook - Baby Back Ribs!

First things first: Dennis, look away from this post for awhile. No cooked meat and no KK action until I finally get through these hellishly complicated recipes from Heston. His perfect burger is a 1:1:2 mix of chuck, brisket and aged short rib. I have started my journey with 4kg of short rib meat cut off the bone. It had been dry aging for 31 days and needed a good strong knife to get through it. Given the meat next to the bone is often the tastiest, I worked away to scrape the meat out from between and on top of the short rib bones It broke my heart to cut up a brisket but this is what 2kg of chopped brisket looks like Twice through a 3mm grinder plate with the brisket and short rib meat. I know, that looks fatty and not at all appetising. The next stage is to cool the mince. Separately I have 4kg of chuck, cubed and salted, sitting in the fridge for six hours. I doubled the amount of chuck in the recipe because I was worried about the fattiness of the brisket and short rib. All three meats will be put through an 8mm grinder plate later today and there is an interesting technique that I am looking forward to trying. I will be back with pix later. In parallel I am using the rest of the short ribs to make his perfect chilli. The ribs on a long horn cow are massive so I had to quadruple the quantity of brine in his recipe. Beautiful short ribs Sitting in brine in the Kong cooler for the next 12 hours. Off to do something other than cooking for a while...

My cradle will also fit in the dish washer so there is no problem cleaning it and the size you are looking at should also fit in your dishwasher.

That’s a very good point. I used mine while wearing gloves rated for 1000 degrees. Guess I could have just grabbed it with my hands.

I just end up using bbq gloves and the handles. I see how they could be handy for the half grate for sure.

I used my grate grabbers to take the top grate off so I could remove the drip pan and finish my ribs right over the fire. Worked great, glad I have them.

I second the lack of grate grabber use, lol. I mistakenly ordered a second set too. 😄

Personally I have never used my grate grabbers and I do like both the spit and the basket rotisserie units.

Break those shiny grates in!!!

The vast majority of my cooks will be 2 zone, so the second basket will save lots of PITA time with conversions. I'll probably order the teak table for the 22 TT. It looks like it has a decent amount of storage. 3 shelves and the drawer underneath the cooker (I can't just call it a grill or a smoker.) So ... if I end up with the lower grate (will usually live inside the cooker), the warming grate (the description says there's a grate hanger), the roti, the spare basket with the splitter, and the smoke generator, would that table have enough room? Anyone have experience with it? Also for the roti, any feedback on the spit vs the basket? Also feedback for the grate grabbers? Thanks, this conversation is not only helping my decisions, it's also helping my mental state during the wait.

Pizza night

More grilled chicken thighs last night. Classic poultry rub with green and pink peppercorns, direct, main grate, 325F initially, 375F finish. Apple wood chunks. Plated with homemade pesto pasta, crusty bread, nice salad - on the deck again. Wine is a Chardonnay & Viognier blend.

Comes with a nice steamer top. Not sure when it'll get its maiden voyage. Going away this weekend so it might have to wait for the following weekend. Yea I'm a sucker for ceramic pans

I love my single loaf one, it should work just fine.

If you look at the picture I posted above you can see the SS plugs on that 32, one on either side.

The threaded SS are removed when using probes. You remove them, then use the silicone plug as normal. You can see the Threaded SS ones in AJR's photo set within his delivery thread. I think the improvements are the SS are more secure when not using probes and they reduce another unwanted air intake path when probes aren’t in use.

Didn't buy the grate grabbers, I have gloves. Never missed having them. More small, loose gear to get lost in the deck cabinet. I have a large rubber tub for my charcoal. That's where I keep the 2nd basket. I can't overstate how nice it is to just swap the 2 baskets back/forth - easy, peasy. I have the spit rod with both forks and basket. I have the cradle. And, I have OctoForks. They are the only thing that I DON'T use much. Food falls off them too easily unless you secure it somehow, which defeats the purpose. The tines are very sharp and I've sliced several fingers sliding food on/off them. One of my few regret purchases for the KK. YMMV As far as cleaning the cradle, baskets, forks - PBW (Powdered Brewers Wash). I put the gear in a 5 gal bucket, mixed up the PBW (1 TB/gal) and submerge the pieces and let them soak for a few hours/overnight. Take them out, rinse with water, wipe down with a paper towel or sponge - done! The cradle will stick up above the solution in a 5 gal bucket - so after a few hours soak, I take it out and rinse/wipe the submerged section, then flip it over and dunk the other end - Rinse, Repeat!

Try my best. Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Looking good nicely done Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Well that's always good.

Steve, nice job on the pork tenderloin dinner.

Great looking pizza!

It's customized concrete. Since the KK was too heavy, I had to make the middle a solid block to support and raise it up for the roti.

As all have said above, the warming grate is an essential if you are used to cooking in 2 zones. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interesting Tekobo. I have read that the biggest error in making patties is most people knead the mince and ingredient together into a tight patty. The article suggested to treat the mince very delicately to leave small air pockets throughout the patty. These pockets steam cook the mince and hold moisture and tasty fats leaving a very juicy burger. It looks like your method has this similarity. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You will want the warming grate for 2-level 2 zone cooking, and as the name suggests, warming. 😊 The teak tables are incredibly well built. I did a bonehead move and very slightly split one of the wood planks a quarter inch. I had a woodworking buddy of mine secure and shim the wood for a couple of days. Looks good as new, but I had to order a replacement despite Dennis’ encouragement not to. My OCD couldn’t handle knowing it was there. If I could go back I’d have ordered the smoke generator for both of my KKs, but I too built one of @Syzygies smoke pots and it works amazingly well. He stated his wife won’t let him smoke food without it, and I have to agree with that wholeheartedly. Also, I did not follow the advice of many forum members and neglected to purchase a second basket. Big mistake. It’s a PITA moving the coal aside when reducing the basket, and it’d be nice to have different types of coal in each basket. I could use one basket with coco char for low and slow cooks, and the basket with the splitter for 2-zone and searing. Good luck with your purchase. Dennis makes it easy and painless. Just try to be patient awaiting it’s arrival... That’s easier said than done!

Argh.. a larger Table Top.. This one is already difficult enough to move around the factory during production! BTW I'm in the process of making teak removable counter fillers.. something like the left side here.. This is only a photoshop-ed mockup. The idea is to fill the square hole in counters.

GORGEOUS!! Looks like an Aussie cook - he's the master of beefies!

Awww yes! KK food envy. Today I think I'd like to go with Troble's chicken schwarma and Mac's rhubarb gallete. Yummy! Instead I will have to settle for leftovers from last night's cook. This baked ham was originally smoked in the KK many months ago and then frozen. Soaked, then simmered and then glazed with sugar, rum, English mustard and baked in the KK. Turned out nice with boiled potatoes and a very old fashioned but tasty parsley sauce (no pix, in my tummy!).

Well, got to say. It worked. After a while I could see the smoke again. It must have been the piece of wood it was on. Either way, super consistent temperature as everyone knows. Honestly, the easiest Smoker to use. such a good brisket. Photos below.

Well I wish I could say it was more of a hidden gem... I do have fun driving it though.

IMG_7347.MOV

I was too impatient for many uncrating photos but here is one and one in the final position (though a teak cabinet is in transit to join the KK). (I also have to learn how to rotate pictures on this forum apparently! I was right side up in my local app)

Had to take a peak. The outdoor kitchen is still a few weeks out. What to do..... I am guessing I have to move this thing to patio on my next day off. Gonna do some “low” low and slow probably until she is built into her new home. Maybe a burn in as well while I can get around her.

Warmed up leftovers, drumstick in the airfryer and rice in the microwave. It still tastes just fine.

Bards if you want good ribs, Aussie seems to nail them on a weekly basis...... for a long time. Maybe he can provide you with some tips? I feel your pain in upsetting neighbours with renovations and am sure your ribbed peace offering will smooth them over. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is the color I selected, I really wanted the most orange grill I could get. My vision was orange and I even have a mini orange vision, kind of a college school color thing.