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For years with my BGE I have been cooking pork butts to send up to my brothers-in-law who live in NYC where they say the BBQ choices are few and far between and when found are expensive, etc. Plus of course they live in situations where they can't cook their own. With my large BGE I could do 2 pork butts at once and I would do 2 or 3 cooks before christmas each year in order to send them off with a mess of good BBQ vaccum sealed and frozen to keep for weeks/months. This would take quite some time because of having to do those 2 or 3 cooks. One reason why I switched to the KK 42SBB is because it can fit so much food on the main grate. I cooked 5 pork butts at once for the christmas haul. Much more efficient to do it all at once and the product was amazing. Jansal Valley coffee and chili pepper rub Coffeechar (that came with my KK) Coffee smoking wood mini-splits (that came with my KK) First attempt with my new Thermoworks Billows (thanks to @BigO for the suggestions on how to set that up optimally with the $2.99 addition of the damper). I have never used ANY controller before but this thing really rocked. Kept my 42SBB within 2 degrees of 225 for 16 hours. I trusted the KK and the billows. From when I put the pork butts in to when the meat probe registered 195, I didn't open the KK. The results were fantastic. The pork just melted. I couldn't believe it. My first words included some elated profanity. I had to use gloved hands to lift these off the grates. They were just deconstructing. The fifth picture in this post is what they looked like after taking them off. I didn't try to break them up like that - that's what happened to them when lifting them off the grates. Truly the KK is amazing, and the 42SBB was the ideal size for me. 5-6 pork butts on the main grates is perfect for these big cooks I do to send pork up north for my family (and doing one awesome cook instead of several saves me time) - one big bagging and vac-sealing operation, and done. I am looking forward to bringing some fresh pork for a church BBQ sometime. I'm also looking forward to doing tacos al pastor for a big neighborhood party and have 4 or 5 vertical spits going. With the 42 you can do anything. I couldn't be more impressed with this grill. It performs so well. I've done probably 100-120 pork butts in my big green egg over the past 12-14 years. I have gotten a result this good maybe 1% of the time. And this was my first time with pork butt on the KK. Actually that's not true it's my 2nd time. It's my first cook doing "only" pork butt the entire time and leaving the lid closed the entire cook. That's not to say my BGE results were bad. I love what I used to do. But what happened to day was INCREDIBLE. And I feel I could easily replicate it tomorrow. AMAZING. If you are thinking about buying a KK, have already ordered one, etc - you're in for a treat. If you are looking at different sizes and you think the 42 is too big - it's not. It might be a little large for your wallet, but I'm not finding it too big for what I like to do. For grilling I appreciate the extra room. For smoking, sure it could be big if you want one pork butt or one brisket. But there's still no better tool for the job. One question I have is that with the Thermoworks billows, I heeded the suggestion of opening the top vent of the KK very conservatively. What I noticed is smoke coming out the edges of all of the rectangular openings -- the bottom vent plate, the port for the gas starter. Not sure what the other side is for. But anyway I did notice some air leakage there - it's not a big deal at all. In fact I thought to myself that the positive pressure would make some really amazing results - smoke ring, deep smoke flavor, etc. And I wasn't wrong. This cook went perfectly, but I was just wondering - if I wanted to be a perfectionist and seal the edges of all the rectangular metal plates on the bottom of my grill, would I use flue tape or is there some other more elegant method to seal around these rectangle steel plate openings? What do other people do (if anything?) - or - just leave well enough alone?

I have been planning on writing this review for the past two years I just have never been able to make the time. I’m not big on writing reviews but I decided I would go ahead and do that now I’m thinking about it. I have been thinking about getting a Komodo probably for the past three years, and once I decided to build a pool and a new outdoor area I figured this was the time to make the investment. Like most people I reached out to Dennis and he was very responsive yen answering all my questions and trying to figure out what works best for the area I was putting together. One part of the conversation that was especially notable was when I told him what the design of my outdoor area looked like and how I had to make space for a 42 inch gas grill. He laughed and asked what I wanted the gas grill for, ‘are you going to be storing stuff in there?’ And I remember thinking well that’s arrogant or someone who is very confident in his product. Delivery went smoothly as can be expected, the grill is super heavy as you all know, installation in my outdoor area was a massive undertaking with a platform being designed to accommodate the weight. So two years in what’s my conclusion? Boy what a waste of money. Specifically what a waste of $7000 for my 42 inch Alfresco gas grill. I probably use the gas grill once every 50 or 60 times I go outside to grill. In fact I’m fairly certain the last time I use the gas grill, coronavirus wasn’t even a thing. I think I would have probably been much happier with a much smaller gas grill for resale purposes, and the largest Komodo I could fit in my space. so what do I use my gas grill for you may wonder? The pictures tell the story and I’m not even making this up……….. sigh.…… Merry Christmas everyone.

Chicken thighs last night. Icelandic rub, direct, main grate, 350F with leftover wood chunks from the pork butt cook. They produced a LOT of smoke, as you can see in this picture. Plated with melting potatoes with the Shallot Crack Sauce! Got some nice crispy skin on the chicken!

I use one of these for fish. I lightly spray it even though it's non-stick because if anything sticks, it'll be fish.

That gas grill makes a great warmer! I like the ODK area too, plenty of room, handsome colors and a good fit for the KK

Solidteknics started in Australia with made-in Australia pans using Australian iron and then added stainless steel pans, then started an American branch making pans in America using American iron and steel. The Australia branch recently added woks; I got an email today indicating they're getting ready to introduce American-made woks via Kickstarter. They generally introduce new products on Kickstarter before general availability. Of course, you may have to wait months for the Kickstarter items ship. I'm generally wary of Kickstarter but Solidteknics has followed the same process since they got started and have reliably fulfilled Kickstarter orders but they do often miss their ship dates (my pans were delayed 3 or 4 time). Once the Kickstarter is over and they begin regular production on an item and show it as in-stock on their website, they do seem to be reliable. I used the unperforated pan for french toast on my induction cooktop after doing a round of stovetop seasoning sand it performed well - very non-stick and heated evenly. Much lighter than cast iron and a bit lighter than my Williams-Sonoma clad stainless pan of the same size.

On other pits and smokers I've had, I've always used Peratex Ultra Copper. But I've never used it on my KK. You saw a steady stream of smoke coming out of the rectangular openings? You might see some when you close the lid, but I don't know why you'd see it durning the cook. I'd wait for some of the experts to chime in on this subject. If I had to guess, it'll be suggested to leave it as it is. If you do go this route...Peratex...you apply it to one clean surface, let it sit a few minutes, put some clear wrap on top of it...don't press it in, then lightly push the other surface to it. Let it sit overnight. Remove the clear wrap and you'll have a great seal. It's the consistency of toothpaste. If you change your mind and want to remove it once it's dry, it'll peel right off a smooth surface. Don't try to remove it while it's wet. I've used this on a barrel pit and an Akorn smoker with great success. On the barrel pit, I put it on the pit, not the lid, placed the clear wrap, then closed the lid on it. Even Jambo's leak smoke!

I was thinking veggies, shrimp, and other small things that tend to fall thru the grates but fish is a thought. I've never had good luck coming fish and generally prefer to have it battered and fried but I have been thinking about smoking some - even watched a few YouTube videos the last few days. I've tried grilling fish on the gas grill and I didn't care for the result but a bit of wood smoke and/or charcoal flavor might make the difference for me.

Funny how that happens! 😆

Repeat this again today as everyone ended up liking it and then was gone

Last minute decision to do a pork butt after I realised I had a cabbage in the fridge…so lit the KK and cycled to the butcher. Cranked it hot and fast 385-400; wrapped at 170; off at 203 for a 1hr rest. 6.5hrs all up, peach wood chunks, home made rub. Served with coleslaw, home made pickles and a vinegary sauce… heaven.

Well, the good news was that we hit 73F yesterday - in Iowa - in the middle of December! But, the warm weather brought very severe winds that spawned t-storms and tornadoes. Lots of wind damage north of me and widespread power outages. While we had 50 - 60 mph winds here with our t-storm last night, it wasn't nearly as bad as the folks west and north that saw 80 - 90 mph winds - and the tornadoes! My power blinked a few times, but never went out. I'd planned ahead and had a pork butt ready for the unseasonably warm day. Overnight cook Tuesday. Finished up mid-morning Wednesday. Guru running at 250F, indirect, with smoker pot loaded with hickory and apple chunks. Followed Meatheat's advice and trimmed a lot of fat off and liberally salted it Monday night. He says that he likes this technique better than injecting (which had been my standard practice.) Tuesday morning it got the CYM treatment with 3 Eyz rub and Dizzy Pig Crossroads. Went on the KK at 10pm. Target was 203F, but pulled it off at 200F around 10am. It had gotten so windy by that point that the Guru controller kept getting blown over and coming unplugged. I didn't catch it in time and the fire went out. Once the KK started to drop in temp, no point in leaving the butt on the grill. I wrapped it in foil and put it in the cooler in the beach towel for 3 hours before I pulled it. And YES, there's pictures! Dinner was pulled pork sammies! Hard to say whether Meathead's technique worked better than injecting, but the results were just as good IMHO.