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Inspired by @tekobo. It was a much better idea for tonight's dinner than what I had originally planned. Mine is a creamy tomato version. Of course had to include Mrs skreef's muffin top corn bread

I am so excited for the Super Bowl tonight. I have rooted against the Patriots for many years but I just have to doff my hat to the GOAT. A huge accomplishment, getting back to the big game with another team in the weirdest of years. Not sitting on the fence. I am rooting for the Chiefs but I won't begrudge the GOAT one more win if the Buccs are the better team on the night. Yay! Lots of wings, maybe some ribs, blue cheese sauce and sweet potato fries. Happiness is...

It has taken me a year to get around to it but I finally made shrimp and grits for the first time ever. We enjoyed the dish even though I forgot to add the hot sauce recommended in Sean Brock's recipe. Used Anson Mills grits as recommended by @tony b Do again, for sure.

You raise an interesting concept: what is the actual temperature at which we are cooking? I don't use a BBQ Guru, but the issue of probe location and temperature is universal. Is the probe exposed to any radiant heat (outside the boundary of whatever heat deflector you choose)? Is the probe on the same plane vertically as the meat? The KK dome thermometer will generally read higher than a probe on the main grate, and may or may not match that of a probe on the upper grate, depending upon its location front to back. I'll have to leave it to the engineers of the group to determine the temperature effects of any eddy currents within the KK body and dome. All this you have already stated, so I'm not adding anything new except my practice. I locate the smoker probe (I use ThermoWorks) within an inch or two of the meat, isolated from any stray radiant heat from the fire below (Tony also insulates his probe from the conductivity of the metal grate but I don't bother). Once the KK temp is stable, I note the difference between the KK dome temp and the grate temp and, if they are within 25° degrees or so, call it good. I adjust the KK temperature according to the smoker probe, as it is nearest the meat. I am referring to a KK23, which is what I use for smoking. A KK32 or KK42, with their greater configuration variations in fire to meat location left to right, would likely be more complex. Incidentally, I suspect (and with no proof whatsoever) Franklin's pit temperature also varies as you note, left to right and upper to lower grates. One of the reasons I was initially interested in a Lang smoker (which @Tyrus has) is its design to have the smoke travel all the way to the non-fire side of the chamber before it comes back across the meat to the exhaust. I thought this was an excellent way to accomplish a number of positive things, one of which would be to stabilize the temperature. Since our high today is only 12°F, I wish I had some of your pork shoulder for the game later today.

Thanks Mac. The real challenge is staying awake for the whole game and then getting up for work tomorrow. It starts at 11:30pm here and doesn't finish until about 3am. Going to try and get some shut eye now. How 'bout those CHIEFS.

I am liking your tomatoey interpretation Charles. I am also getting to understand that grits are like polenta. I always dismissed polenta as tasteless pap but there is a lot more to making it and enjoying it than meets the eye. More grits (and polenta) cooking to come. I succumbed to product placement by Sean Brock, broke and ordered a bunch of stuff from Anson Mills. Once I am through this batch I will look into milling my own. A new, mini, rabbit hole.

Folks, I am troubled of mind: the BBQ Guru- where to place the temperature sensor? Okay, for all intents and purposes, the BBQ Guru works pretty well and is a game-changer- excepting, of course, the buggy software, which regular drops its bluetooth connection with my phone, or the control screen goes blank and I have to reboot the entire Iphone to get it back- but that's not today's topic. The BBQ Guru works great- a temperature probe sense the heat in the cooking chamber, the control unit pulses the fan off and on to maintain a relatively constant temperature (the real miracle of the BBQ Guru) ....but what IS that temperature? As I was ramping up the 32" KK this morning, I was noticing the difference- at points huge - between what the KK thermometer was reading and what the temperature probe was showing: and, moreover, it differed really, really widely depending on where I placed the probe. Center of the grill?- 280. Over by the side, near the handles of the grill top- 150. Towards the center, rear, 190. And so on and so on...So I am watching the temperature, trying to get it close to stablizing on 275 for my pork shoulder, as Franklin recommends, but what is "275*??? Is it the Kamado thermometer? The Guru probe in the middle? Or over by the side? Or in the center? I have resolved to go with the Kamado reading for consistency, and regulate the temperature relative to whatever the Guru reading says it is. So my KK reading right now is right around 270*, and the Guru is reading 228* and keeping it there. Happily, pork shoulder is a very forgiving piece of meat and I can probably cook it anywhere between 230 and 330 and be just fine. What do y'all do? If I were running one of those 1,000 gallon, 2-foot-long propane-tank offset smoker there would be some temperature variation closer to the heat source and at the far end of the smoker, but it would be relatively consistent across the middle 15 feet or so, and maybe a little cooler at the far end. But the KK has significant variation in temperature from over the heat source to the sides: so ultimately, I've decided that the KK thermometer will be my benchmark for establishing "275*" and the Guru will be my controller and I will use it to reach a given temp, and maintain it, but I won't rely on it.

I won't bore ya'll with talk about turbulent airflow (eddy currents - not bad for a non-engineer, @jonj!) Let's just suffice it to say that there's a lot going on inside a KK - both heat transfer and airflow wise. To the central problem at hand - where to place the temperature probe for the Guru to get the best representation of the local temperature for the piece(s) of meat being cooked? As noted, I insulate the probe off the grate to get a better reading of the actual air temperature around the meat. YMMV You want to place the probe fairly close to the meat, but not so close that the temperature of the meat itself influences the probe temperature reading - the meat is ALWAYS going to be colder than the cooking temperature. I typically shoot for a couple of inches gap. Next, if doing an indirect cook, place the probe where it is shielded from the direct heat of the fire. With larger or multiple cuts of meat, this can present a challenge, in and of itself, once the grate starts to get crowded. I also prefer to center the probe front to back relative to the meat, when possible. As noted, there's usually a difference between the temperature near the front and in the back. If you notice the shape of the KK, Dennis has intentionally designed it so the airflow is predominately in the rear of the KK. And, don't forget that the center of your heat source is going to move around during a long cook, as the charcoal burns unevenly (unavoidable phenomenon of nature - chaos wins everytime! (aka - the 2nd law of thermodynamics!) But, once the KK is heat soaked, this shouldn't matter too much, relative to where the temperature probe is placed. Last piece of advice, when using the Guru - ignore the dome temperature reading, it's extraneous data in this situation. You either trust the Guru or you don't?

I set up my 32" KK with two 8x12" disposable baking pans filled with water, on the first grate above the charcoal and wood, placed close to the center and about 3" apart. I used to use a larger single 18x12" water/drip pan, but I thought- and this is highly theoretical- that for purposes of good smoke turbulence throughout the cooking area where the meat is, I was better served to have a space between the two drip pans which also serve as heat diffusers, to allow some of the smoke and heat to come up directly from the center of the pit and some come up around the outside of the diffusing pans. Consequently, I get very different temp readings as I move the probe around from the far perimeter, the area directly over the diffusing water pans (and immediately next to the meat) or to the dead center of the smoker, over direct heat. And all these readings differ from the Kamado's temp sensor. By the way, I had 72" Lang hybrid before this- half for traditional smoking and roast and half for direct charcoal grilling. In retrospect, I wish I had just gotten a 72" all devoted to smoking/roasting- I think it would have had better air movement and been better for smoking and flavor. The false floor of the Lang design and reverse air flow works well, though, to eliminate obvious hot/cold spots in the working area of the smoker- very clever design and the construction quality was excellent. The reason I traded it out for the KK was a simple matter of labor and versatility. With the Lang, and I presume any other traditional offset firebox-style smoker, I think you are constantly adjusting fuel and airflow to try to maintain a near-constant temp. A good long 14 or 16 hour brisket cook is long, drawn-out chore- you really can't be away from the smoker for more than a maximum of 20 minutes or so. With KK, however, I can check about once an hour and the temp is very, very likely to be exactly what it was last hour, or so close it doesn't matter. AND I can ramp this sucker up to 800* or more to do high temp cooking, or use it for direct heat roasting and searing (like for steaks.) I really, really like my KK, especially now that I have learned a few tricks about ramping up and maintaining level temperatures. (And it is, objectively, a lot prettier than the Lang.....)

I too will be watching the game with interest, and of course rooting for my Chiefs and the Kid.

Wow, tekobo, what a night you are going to have.

Really great pictures. Love seeing your effort.

Looking good. I might have to make that tonight.

@RokDok congratulations! Looks beautiful and you deserved multiple stouts! Enjoy that lovely addition to your family!

Very cold weather coming in for the next 10 days. Decided to use last night's moderate temperature (1°C) to cook up this tri-tip. Santa Maria seasoning over duck fat. Plated with salad, roasted baby potatoes and baguette. Accompanied by 2007 Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon. I left it on the KK16 a couple of minutes too long, but it was still tasty.

Left over KK rib on bone that my son cooked on the KK. Green peppercorn gravy, a little bacon, garlic, onion. Very rich between the beef and the cream. This was a slight error where I had left home after lighting the KK and my son who knew he was cooking steak, grabbed the bag of rib on bone rather than the thinner sirloin that would have been easier for him to cook. Anyway, although they were a little rare for my wife, they were pretty good.... and even better second time around. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For the record @tony b I very much enjoyed the rub thank you. Trying out the pork injection Sunday for my pulled pork.sandwiches. I used the slap yo daddy rub on that as well. I’ve never purchased it prior but always used his substitute recipe for the rub and followed this recipe for the pork butt. http://slapyodaddybbq.com/images/06 Culinary Artistry/Slap Yo Daddy Pork Bone-In Pork Butt.pdf I mixed the injection today and used a To-go stainless steel coffee mug to hold the liquid while I used the injector. Worked well

Thank you @tony b, brilliant advice, great plan. I really do need a dry day. There should be one after the weekend. Can't wait to fire it up again. Many Thanks RD

As I type this it’s 55 degrees at 7:40pm, feels like I haven’t cooked on the KK in forever so today I fired it up and did some chicken breast that I’ll use for quesadillas and chicken lettuce wraps the next two days, but I’ve been hungry all week so felt like some good read meat fortunately I just got a bunch of new rubs and spices that the venerable @tony brecimmeded to me so tonight I grilled a tri-tip indirect over coco char rubbed with Oakwood Santa Maria rub, over mesquite wood chips, served with slow baked sweet potatoe and Greek yogurt (quickly becoming my go to baked potato), along with seasons first corn on the cob, which could’ve been cooked longer and probably grown longer. Served with my favorite Fred’s Horseradish sauce also @Tyrus decided to break my dry streak for 2021 and have a nice glass of red wine tonight which was lovely. Meat turned out great, enough medium +/well done pieces for the misses and medium/- for me. Top it off with my friends Umphrey’s McGee doing a livestream concert sitting outside, capped off in the hot tub. Lovely evening

Simply amazing bit of kit. I thought I had understood what "the obsession" was all about. I didn't quite , but I do now. Absolutely perfect. Without a shadow of a doubt one of the best decisions we ( it was Mrs RD who found the site) have made. Many thanks to all for advice, egging on, joking and nurturing. RD

It's dark here now but there has been a break in the rain. The aim is simply to cook a couple of steaks tonight. So I'm using a quarter basket of local lump wood charcoal - I may need to change this to half but if I do that just means a little more adult beverage so no bad thing. First time I've ever used a Mapp torch - what a great bit of kit Followed by the blower Swivelled the KK around so I can keep an eye on the temperature, through the window.

Beautiful pics. Nice work and thank you for sharing

Don’t know how I missed this post, but here’s the chart I consult for my back yard. My skies are Bortle 4. https://www.cleardarksky.com/c/CfMtnOvrVAkey.html?1 Our local astronomy club also does observing from a local microbrewery close to this location (Bortle 3’ish): https://www.cleardarksky.com/c/FnMtnObkey.html?1 I know you saw this one on Instagram. Post it here for the locals too.

@tekobo - not sure what a UK Costco might stock, so maybe they do carry grits over there?? But, if all else fails, maybe you can score one of those killer Prime bone-in/cowboy ribeyes for $12.99/lb for their Father's Day special!