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Made a quick batch of soup yesterday to go with todays steak from SRF

While reading and watching Macs butternut squash dinner and her saying how she liked the vermiculite system, I ended up buying one! It’s going to be delivered next week. It’s my early Christmas present to myself. It’s been a long time since I last posted something but I do log on a lot just to see who is cooking and looking at the great meals you all post! Just wanted to say hello to all kamado friends.

Well actually, when I make Canadian bacon it looks like this - so I guess this batch was technically Canadian breakfast bacon.

Bacon is sliced, packaged and heading for the freezer.

Grass fed rib-eye for us, sausages for the kids. Lower grate, pear wood chunks. Another spectacular Sunday...

The ribs were definitely the best thing we cooked. We were too hungry and eager on the briskets and they didn’t go quite long enough. Decent though. The kk is great. I seem to have a similar thing as Jeff with the smoke not being as intense. The texture was amazing on those ribs and the meat was so pink almost like the entire rib was a smoke ring. I should have taken pics but we were too hungry. There will be more. It is amazing to have a smoker that large and temps just stay rock solid. What a great piece of equipment. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MacKenzie will help you spend any extra cash you might have on hand. But that is a cool gizmo. I'm looking at it myself.

Yes, “she” is mine lol as is this crazy boy. Can you guess why I named him Cooper lol

KKs are inherently very efficient. I have a 16, 23 and a 32 but not yet a 42. What I have noticed is that the larger the KK, the quicker your fire forms. I am guessing that is because the volume of air through the fire box increases with size of KK. Once I have the fire going I have not noticed any significant difference in use of char between the KKs but I have to admit to not having done any direct comparisons. As @tony b said, I would not base your choice of KK on use of char. You will be surprised by the efficiency and the basket splitters help you turn a big KK into a smaller, focussed cooking machine. Have fun making your decision.

Cured a pork belly for breakfast bacon and today was the day to smoke it. I expect to slice and package it tomorrow. In the bag on the way to the fridge for cooling. I'll put them in the freezer for an hour or 2 tomorrow morning before slicing. Here is Japanese Burger Steak that was done last evening in my Vermicular cast iron frying pan the kitchen. The sauce was a red wine and espresso balsamic vinegar mix.

A couple of low temp pre burn in cooks. Chicken for a deconstructed pot pie and short ribs for a ragu. Both were great. Now we are 12 hours into the burn in/ venting process, stable at 750f and still “negotiating” with two spots on the lid that are steaming with tiles popped out. All part of the process. I see kk pizza in the light at the end of the tunnel next weekend!

Wagyu filet Mignon w/Peruvian salt & black pepper. Seared in cast iron pan over mesquite wood with a tiny bit of Irish butter cooked asparagus on cast iron pan while meat was resting. Dusted with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Wagyu fat juices and butter got it nice and crispy on the outside. Super tasty Yukon gold potatoes roasted in oven with truffle salt, black pepper, garlic powder, oregano & paprika. Finished under broiler last 10 minutes and topped with grated Parmesan cheese 2015 Lechuza Amantes Red Wine from Valle de Guadalupe delivered 6 types of local handmade ice cream. Cookies & Cream, Pumpkin Spice, Banana Pudding, Chocolate w/peanut butter, Strawberry Shortcake, Hershey w/brownie

It is good to know you are lurking, Bruce. I was about to send out he posse to find you. I was slow to warm to the Vermicular Musui Kamado but knowing the $$$ I spent I had to use it. The more I used it the more I found things to use it for, now I consider it to be one of the best items I have ever bought and would replace in a heart beat if I had to . They have wonderful recipes on their website too.

@jeffshoaf I have to say you're right about the KK. I didn't get the smoke flavor I was expecting this weekend. It was "good", just not what I'm used to. If I figure something out I will let you know. FYI one thing I thought would be better but actually wasn't is putting food on the upper rack to get it up in the dome a little more. I thought the food I put on the main grate was actually better. It was apples and oranges - ribs friday on main grate, briskets saturday on upper rack. Both AWESOME on the texture and definitely has me loving my KK but I want more smoke. I will try the cold smoker attachment next and see if I like what that does.

Yesterday was a rough day. So, I thought I'd enjoy a perfectly cooked tomahawk for dinner. I cut the bone off before slicing, then went back outside to close down the grill. When I returned, my little buddy strarted poking around in my absence. Even he can recognize perfection! In case you're wondering, he's a good little boy and waited for his morsel [emoji3] Just thought I'd share. J Sent from my SM-G998W using Tapatalk

Lovely looking bacon @MacKenzie!

Beautiful MacKenzie! Sorry I couldn't be there. They arrested me at the border for carrying a giant bacon slicing knife. Your bacon really does look great!

Mine always wait, unless I’m not looking then they grab and run lol

Some more pics from the weekend.

Reminds me of a saying George Carlin used...."Never get a dog with an asshole higher than eye level."

Hi PVPAUL, Sharp looking grill in your profile pic! My girlfriend is from Appleton!. Okay, to your Question. The quick answer is YES. As you heard in the video, I did have a good long conversation with Dennis to get the latest information out to owners. Yes, Dennis does cure the refractory cement body to achieve a ~5% humidity level in the cement. As I mentioned, this is accomplished with kiln drying and weighing of materials before and after to quantify the moisture level. With all that, even in the latest grills, as I mentioned in the video, the humidity in the air can be absorbed by a grill, especially if the inside has not been "sealed" with the soot and residue from cooking in the grill. Recall the example I shared of the grill top and the spring. This is an example Dennis shared with me. I also mentioned that 2 things need to vent, even int he latest grills: Humidity and solvent in the acrylic jacket. Dennis now wraps the grills in plastic to reduce the humidity exposure during transit.