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This my second carrot cake done on the KK. We will serve it it with some honey Bourbon drizzle. I’m not a baker at all so bare with me that the frosting is not teal even on it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah @Tyrus, it's just my home-brew - I don't sell it and somehow it disappears - I give quite a bit away. I don't put a curse on the people who don't bring the bottles back - people are pretty good at returning them to me. As to these bottles : I gave a talk / beer tasting in the village hall a couple of years comparing Belgian 'Saison' beers with French ' Biere de Garde' - both "Farmhouse " beers. People brought their own food and had eight different beers to taste. When I found out that the wholesaler ( in France ) didn't have the beers that I wanted in sufficient quantity I nipped over on the ferry and went to the individual breweries to get supplies. I stayed the night at one brewery (Esquelbecq) and my poor Toyota Yaris was packed to the gunnels. The front of the car was pointing upwards a bit like a dragster. The customs officer pulled me over and said "That's a lot of wine you've got there sir", when I said it was all beer he laughed and waved me through. So, the bottle on the left (The Bronze) is from the French brewery " Brasserie de Duyk" and contained one of their Jenlain beers, the one on the right (The Matt Black) is from the "Brasserie St. Sylvester" and contained the beer "Trois Monts". My ship docked at Southampton last night - and needed five tugs : the KK must be really heavy.

I should have gotten a picture of he whole shoulder BEFORE I cut it up, but I'll get one of the second shoulder when I unwrap it tomorrow, instead. In the meantime, here's dinner for seven- AFTER we ate. So dinner, and lunch, and dinner, and maybe two or three other meals to come. Oh, and it turned out delicious and nearly perfect.....a good day (except for the Saints' game.)

The final product (with some melted butter in the pan). It was delicious. Amazing how the fat just basted it the entire cook. Held together for bigger pieces rather than all stringy which was nice. Much darker color than the Costco roast and richer flavor by far.

You're going to be blown away by that Kurobuta pork. Heritage breeds are just so crazy good. Last night was steak night. New cut - Sierra steak from Porter Rd. Similar to flank. Cooked direct, lower grate (thin steak), mesquite and post oak, rubbed with Gunpowder. Grilled a piece of haloumi cheese and the romaine lettuce for the Cesare salad. Plated with a nice 2x baked spud. Chimichurri sauce and sautéed mushrooms for the steak. Interesting cut of beef. Good flavor, but you have to cut it against the grain.

Briskets are so strange. I bought this 16.5lb beast and I trimmed off probably 1.5lbs of fat (at least). Still I thought this bad boy would take 16-20 hours to cook. I put it on last night about 6:15pm thinking it would be done between 12-2pm, I’d rest it and we’d eat it for early dinner around 5ish cooked at 245 this guy got done at 9am. So 15 hours. Looks like it’ll be lunch instead of dinner. More pics to follow later

Repeat after me - I WILL NEVER PUT MY KNIVES IN THE DISHWASHER!!! (Note: this is one of those "line in the sand" positions that you sometimes have to take with the significant other!) Not only is it very bad for your knives (blades getting nicked up banging into the other silverware and dishwasher detergent is very harsh on carbon steel and can even pit stainless), but it's dangerous - very easy to get cut/nicked by a blade when removing from the dishwasher.

1) If you mean "fully open" then 3 or 4 turns is pretty much it. As you said, after that, not much change. For perspective, most cooks are done in less that 1/2 turn open position. 2) NO, don't do that unless you want to be replacing gaskets frequently. I'm sure that the hair on the back of Dennis' neck went up when you did that - LOL! 3) Yes, you only leave the lid in Position 1 in between cooks, after the fire is out, again for gasket longevity.

Kurobuta pork shoulder on the left, Costco pork roast on the right. Can’t wait to see/taste the difference. Never done Kurobuta pork before. The fat cap on it is amazing. Pure white and buttery soft. Update - Right before the wrap -

I received my 21" Komodo Kamado right at the end of the year. After doing the curing cook, my first few cooks were higher temp cooks for skirt steak and pork chops. Last night I started an 18 hour brisket, using a mix of the coffee charcoal and the much harder extruded coconut charcoal. I've also purchased some Binchotan and am excited to try that next time. I used an UltraQ to manage temps, and with a full basket of charcoal I had to keep the top vent only 1/8th of a turn open in order to keep the temps around 225F. Like everyone else says, it is amazing how well this thing holds heat! I used Meat Church's Holy Cow rub, and this is the first brisket that my formerly vegetarian wife has not only liked, but absolutely loved. I'm sold!

Of these mass produced stamped knives- very popular with butchers and fisherman the brands can polarise people, however, they are all pretty similar. Victorinox- softer steel by 2- 3 Rockwell points. They drop the edge a little quicker, however, a couple of stripes along a steel can hold it for a days work. Very easy to sharpen at the end of a day for butchers. F Dick- steel is a little harder and considered of better quality than Victorinox, however, also come with a higher price tag. Frosts- this is my preferred. The steel is slightly harder again. They are hard to buy retail here as the supplier sells all his knives directly to commercial fishermen and abattoirs. The pros reckon they can hold the edge much longer and need less touch ups through a days work. Nothing wrong with any of these knives if you can settle on a quick and easy sharpening method. All can be made razor sharp with little effort. I still say for a special knife, try out blue super steel. Unbelievable polished razor edge retention. This is carbon steel and doesn’t compare the the above 3 stainless knives. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You make it sound so pedestrian, when us homebrewers all know that our brews are better than many commercial ones!

Told ya!

BTW my birthday is in Nov.

My wife is good about not putting knives in the dishwasher and usually she just washes the steak knives. I pretty much always wash my cutting knife immediately after use I’m going to dive into this tomorrow on my laptop. Will let you all know where I landed. Thanks again

NOT a big fan of wire bristle brushes! CDC warns of injuries from inadvertently swallowing grill-cleaning brush bristles - CBS News Stick with the open end 3/8" box wrench or the Grill Floss (my vote).

Mac., I sent a carrier pigeon with a message and never got a response, that was my champion, he made the trip I'm sure, you didn't eat him because he was fat, did you?

Have one, and the only reason I haven't employed it is, because you have to stop when your food comes off to clean the grates with a warm or hot water tub and that seems break a common transition of moving food to the table. It's ok, break the habit. Or do what I do. I'll brush off the grates later upon reheating them for the next cook, with a brush it all falls away and then I use a paper towel to clean, yah simple. The other is still a possibility. Choices

All the essentials. Brushed suede and a gun case for your torch, nice touch. Be careful though about wearing that attire on the street, my understanding is that in Merry ol'England the executioner had a similar set up. Don't want to upset the neighborhood kids

@tony b I don’t think so. I usually cook my brisket at 235-240 but maybe you’re right

Well Tony - we can be more extravagant with the quality and diversity of our ingredients!

I think may, I think I might, visit that place before Tuesday nite. The journey is long, it's path torn with strife. I'm just hoping I come back with a knife. No promises pal, although I might send a picture

RokDok, I like the bottles you chose the color and shape....the labels you printed by hand and the proof to read for those to ascertain, and then you corked them perfectly for prosperity. Where did you find those containers, they are a treasure and I believe you continually pass them along. Tell me, is it traditional to return the bottles back because they do look a bit ancient, and are your customers under any curse if they don't. Inquiring minds, you know, not me ..Mackenzie asked me to propose this

Had to look up what grill floss was! Will order one I think. Thanks for the tip.

Thanks Tony b. I only ran it a short time with the lid in position 2 and it wasn't super hot. But I was wondering if that hot air running over the seal would damage it. Won't do it again. Thanks for clarificaiton. Cheers Jamie

@Boom Boom nice looking cake

@Tyrus I was thinking of a Santoku, slicer and chefs knife. I don’t use cleavers too often (perhaps I should be?) but it’s all relative to price. For $56 I’d likely do it i’m just trying to avoid going crazy on the knife info and $$$

Looks deeelicious, Boom Boom.

Your not hiccupping as you say that.........................................are you?

Excellent work. Looking forward to pictures of the first cook.

@BOC I definitely want to be “ignorantly happy” I’ve never put any of my knives in the dishwasher. Just want something sharp that will last a decent amount of time and make it physically easier to prep my food. Appreciate all the advice from everyone

Holla at me if you can't get it there and would like one - happy to ship one to you!

Looking perfect!

Wrapped the two shoulders at around 3 and am now, at 3:30 up in the 190s for both, so we are well on our way to probably coming off around 5-5:30. Here's one of the shoulders just as I took off for wrapping.

That's a snazy looking dinner, Tony.

All dressed up and nowhere to go!

I think you're ready!

@RokDok see you got some of the pro q coco good job it burns well i had a pallet delivered with 12 bags of normal. The KK takes ages to go through it, i have used 1 bag of charcoal and 3 boxs of coco this includes the burn in (7.5 hours). Also like you i have been spending out on "extras" ever since Sovs

Thanks to folk on the forum I've combined a little retail therapy with preparation - you'll know who gave me these ideas. I've got a couple of sheets of 18mm ply, and I have tongs etc. I've cleared a couple of 5' x 2' shelves in the garage to house the "extras". First, the reading list - the essentials - love Meathead's science. Next 110 Kg of coconut charcoal, plus some of my usual local charcoal. For lighting, a cordless leaf blower and Mapp torch, plus a popular pair of gauntlets. Xmas presents from Mrs RD and the RokDoklettes, a personalised grill apron with matching leather gloves, Meater (plus - thanks for that tip -I can monitor the cook from the pub next door), and a pair of bear claws. My stocking contained lots of spices. Last, but not least the 9.2 % Bronze Triple and 10.2 % Matt Black Stout, brewed to toast the arrival and of course essential (seriously) "Adult Beverage" for the burn in. Cheers RD

Wow, so many fantastic cooks. Hats off to everyone. Inspiring, they are.

Wow that pork loin looks amazing! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here’s the end result of the pork loin Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tri Tip injected with a Korean bbq sauce and dusted with some lanes magic dust Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

For the new folks, there's a next step to this process that's important. Once you see the dome temperature drop 50 - 100F, you're pretty sure the fire is out at that point. Next, bump the top vent off its seat a bit. This will prevent it from seizing up on you as it cools down further. If this happens, it's a major PITA to get the top vent open again. You should also open the lid to the 1st position on the latch to take the compression off the gaskets. They will last much longer if you do this.

Tyrus, I wish you had let me know in advance that you were sending your Champion. Sorry