Leaderboard

My Supreme has just arrived! I was almost more impressed with the packaging!!! Can't wait to get going!!!

First cook complete- smoked turkey breast.

Pork tenderloin with Gates' Classic rub. Plated. Broccoli, bread, mashed potatoes and gravy, 2012 Merry Edwards Meredith Estate Pinot Noir.

We call this cut of lamb shoulder chops. The last round of lambs from my chick pea farmer were huge. The biggest was 36kg at 9- 10 months of age- that’s 80lbs dry weight. The butcher reckons the shoulders were to big for a standard oven so he trimmed these shoulder chops with a bit if rib niblets attached to the shoulder. Left overs into a Thai lamb salad with ginger, garlic, lime, fish and soya sauce and vinegar dressing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Something like this, perhaps? I think it is available in Ontario...

I have been stuck on soaking in normal dishwasher liquid and cleaning with a Kurly Kate since I got my KKs. The PBW that I have found here in the UK is expensive and doesn't seem to have the magic effect that guys on the forum report, even when I use double the quantity recommended. That said, I will give it a go again soon. Things that have worked - sticking rotisserie sharp bits in the dishwasher and soaking and washing the rest in the sink. Things I am yet to try - @Syzygies' power washer trip, @tony b's PBW - again, buying a paddling pool to soak my 32 bits in if it turns out PBW does work and finding out if my friend's dad will let me put my grates in his pub's industrial grate cleaner.

Im spending $700/year (CDN) on charcoal, roughly $2/day. Which is only a 17.6-20lbs bag every second week. I understand the math will never work because of the time value of money, but at 1/2 charcoal usage, that's $350 saved every year. 14 years + $1500 from my Big Joe gets me a budget of $6400 CDN. That's pretty close to the cost of a used 23" ultimate. Please don't destroy my delusions, let me get away with saying a KK pays for itself, because it really truly almost does unless it kills me first.

Welcome to the Obsession. I'm sure that you are going to be more than pleased with your new 23" KK once you see it and start cooking amazing food on it. And don't forget those all important uncrating pictures when it arrives!

The last piece of the ODK jigsaw

Time for another trip through time. M101 -- Pinwheel Galaxy. Nobody knows why it's called that. Whirlpool Galaxy -- another mystery in naming Imaged the Pelican nebula and stitched it to my previous image of it's neighbor -- North American Nebula. So...a grand mosaic. And this week I bagged me an elephant...trunk nebula.

Terra Blue is on the way

That is something I need to look into.. I've always wanted a tandoor.. and if it runs on charcoal? I'd be super interested

@tekobo - PBW is expensive here, too, unless you buy in bulk. Our homebrewing club does a big bulk purchase of grains and stuff once a year through one of the local breweries. We get everything at the same prices as the brewery does. Last year I split a 50# bucket of PBW with 5 other folks. The price point was very nice ($3/lb) The "trick" with PBW is to start out with very hot water to soak the parts in. I typically mix it at 1 TB/gallon of hot water.

Well done folks! Both cooks are making me hungry. Love me some Thai salad. I have 4 pork tenderloins in the freezer (nice sale at the market). Need to break one out soon!

@Braai-Q is correct. Dennis is always looking for improvements in the design, many of which come as suggestions from current owners. the good news is that he often makes some of these upgrades available to us owners of older models. I have replaced the gas door in mine with the threaded rod version to properly seal it up so it doesn't become an unexpected source of air in-leakage. I also upgraded to the dual dial front door. I've added the 2nd gasket. Not to mention adding accessories over the years as they've become available, such as the half grate, double bottom drip pan, cold smoker, and various rotisserie parts. There is no "planned obsolescence" in KK world.

@Basher good looking chops. Love Thai salad @jonj mouth watering plate. Well done

I think the KK is like the Porsche 911. If you're not a car guy, this probably doesn't mean that much but the essence of what it is remains present in all evolutions of the vehicle. If you get what it's about, it doesn't matter which one you have, you'll still enjoy the experience. I don't see what comparing the history of the models offers you if I assume that you're looking to make a purchase decision? My 32KK which I bought a couple years ago has been updated to include a steel trace around the lid (apparently people were leaving tools on the side and shutting the lid on them and breaking tiles off for example). Doesn't make a difference because it's not a mistake I've ever made and well, just be careful. Dennis has obviously had enough issues to deal with that he felt it worth addressing but I don't think the fundamentals have changed that much.

Well justified CeramicTool. Alternatively, you will cook twice as often for the sheer enjoyment of cooking on a pretty KK. This will save you heaps on dining out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Another Canadian here in Ontario. Just spoke to Dennis and my 23" is on the ocean!! I am so excited that I'm almost giddy. I, too, had a hankering for the 32" (much to my wife's chagrin) but after a few discussions with Dennis, the 23" is what I ended up ordering (much to my wife's joy). The process has been seamless, so far and Dennis a pleasure to deal with.

And go....! IMG_2037.MOV

Surf & Turf tonight. Prime grade rib-eye cap, marinated in Shio Koji, lots of fresh cracked black pepper and roasted garlic, then rubbed with a mix of Gunpowder and Dizzy Pig Cow Lick. On the lower grate, post oak & mesquite chunks, dome around 350F. For the "surf" part - CostCo tempura shrimp, done in the air fryer with classic cocktail sauce from Wegmann's (wonder where that came from??) and a house Japanese dipping sauce of shoyu, mirin, rice vinegar and wasabi powder. Twice baked potatoes (also in the airfryer) with the secret trick of putting the Peruvian green crack sauce INSIDE the twice baked potato! Sautéed mushrooms for the steak and a nice side salad with homemade blue cheese dressing.

My favourite is called My Wife’s Bitter. It’s strong. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is one of the things I am most excited about for when I get mine.. the fact that years down the road there will be new fun things I can add that'll work with my KK

Hi Tony B. It' a tandoori oven. It's probably the one I have used the most so far tbh. It certainly is an obsession! Many thanks to you all for your warm welcome.

Bravo! The rest of this treatise is making my brain hurt! The one thing to note about both of these devices is that even when the fan is not running, there is still airflow through the unit into the KK. That's why @Syzygies discussion on the addition of the damper on the fan unit is important. Like I said, on a windy day, you can get enough vacuum drag across the top hat to draw too much air into the KK and you'll lose temperature control from the fan unit. I've had it happen to me before. I usually set the Guru fan damper at least 50% close, will go even lower if it's a windy day.

Discovered AB at my 1st (and so far, only) GABF back in the early 90s. I still have the AB t-shirt that I bought there (doesn't fit anymore - LOL!)

I don't think that'll be big enough

Just put a turkey breast in. Hoping to keep it at approx 265 f. Fingers crossed!

Exactly. And charcoal is like wine, you can taste the difference, into price stratospheres you'd rather not know about. (I'm the one who devised the smoke pot and let my wife taste the difference. At least that mod isn't costing me money!)

I have a container of PBW here (found out about it here on the forum) so that should hopefully take care of any pesky cleaning. I just need to find a container later enough to soap the pieces when I need to clean.. especially with how huge the 42" Roti basket is.. haha

I appreciate all the responses. I think the 23 will do what I need it to do.

Yum yum yum looks deeeeelicious Tony.

Tony that looks like one of your finest. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats on the decision to invest 1AL6. I have the 23” and can easily cook for 10 or more. Reverse searing is no problem. I rarely use the basket splitter and often use the half grate- it’s. great warming grate. Here is how it looks. It’s easy enough to place some foil over half the lower grate to make the split grate an indirect zone. Others here have two baskets- 1 permanently in a split configuration and the other as a full basket. Maybe I would use the basket splitter more if I had 2 baskets? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree with Tony B on this one. I find myself buying more expensive charcoal now just because I have a KK and want to cook the best I possibly can with it. It’s a lot easier to justify a couple dollars here or there to aim for excellence when you have already purchased the luxury cooker. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, I finally broke down and bought yet another ThermaWorks BBQ alarm system (Signals) and Billows since they 1. fixed the open lid software, 2. made the adapter for Billows which fits the guru port on a KK, 3. added an airflow restrictor for Billows, and 4. had a super 24 hour sale price, which broke through my reluctance. After getting the units, I can report the ThermoWorks Billows snout affixes very securely to the Billows and is also a very snug fit into the KK's guru port (both of which were concerns of mine prior to ordering). The new airflow restrictor (yellow device), which I found as an afterthought in the ordering process, replaces the silicone fan cover (also yellow) which comes standard with the Billows. Here's what it looks like with all the accessories: It is a lot bigger than I expected, which is why I included the 6" rule in the picture. I haven't yet tried it (or Signals) out yet as the weather here hasn't been cooperative recently.

Curious how the third party solution compares with the adaptor sold by Thermoworks? Billows Mounting Kits I can see an opportunity here: Sell an adaptor that includes a BBQ Guru style airflow restrictor: As far as I can tell, there is no way to restrict the flow on the Billows itself. Review sites don't discuss this. Because the Billows is higher CFM than any BBQ Guru fan, this is less of an issue: One can further restrict the airflow at the damper, and the Billows will manage to push air through when it wants, with less convection when it doesn't want. Nevertheless, many of us actually use our BBQ Guru fan airflow restrictors, to control passive convection. Only someone who routinely depended on this using BBQ Guru products, and has never missed it after switching to a Billows, can convince me the Billows doesn't need one. "Huh? I had no idea my machine had this switch on it, and I never missed it" is a self-evident statement that's not exactly a testimonial.

Update: Got my 3 delivery emails and owners manual from Dennis and Mimi this morning. It’s official, my 32 is in the hands of the trucking co. I’m betting that Braindoc, GrillnBrew, Forrest, and C6Bill will not be far behind. Nice looking KK Forrest!

Gotta say that I think they've taken a step back. Most of their meats have been great, but we received some ground pork recently that was simply inedible -- tons of bone and gristle. Also not a fan of their sausages. Looking at the above, I think my recommendation would be to avoid "ground" meats and sausages, and stick with cuts.

Dinner looks wonderful, Tony.

Tried something different last night for dinner. I injected a chicken breast with Trader Joe's Dragon Sauce and let it marinate for about an hour in the fridge. Just before going on the KK, rubbed it with Slap Yo Daddy. On the main grate, 325F with cherry wood chunks. Plated with roasted potatoes with Peruvian green crack sauce, and sauteed green beans and mushrooms. I did like the TJ's Dragon Sauce injection. A nice change of pace from my usual injection of Frank's hot sauce.

Hello from Houston - Our olive & gold 32” KK is on the truck! It’s going into our new outdoor kitchen alongside a giant wok, an Evo flattop, and a pizza oven. I spent a lot of last year acquiring basic skills with a lesser Kamado, so I am hoping those will translate and continue to grow. Any suggestions for a first cook once it arrives?

Not a complete answer to your question, but this page shows many of the models including what I believe are some of the earliest OTB’s. https://komodokamado.com/pages/grill-gallery I don’t recall what OTB stands for, but it is essentially the 23. Dennis is continually evolving and improving his grills, but some of the major changes have been: Grout: from more traditional cement to a thermal rubber/polymer jacket (there’s a fancier name for it). Handle: used to be a continuous curve, now it’s square. Gasket: from 1 to 2 (I think) Other old timers will chime in with more

OMG, I never thought of getting ANOTHER one.....that would be marital suicide, here.