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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/26/2020 in all areas

  1. Pizza round 2. This tine utilizing tips from the legendary @MacKenzie cheese pizza, double layered pepperoni pizza and prosciutto & basil pizza. 3x improvement over last week thanks fir the help Mac!
    6 points
  2. Road Kill over veggies can't wait...... Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk
    5 points
  3. I roasted some lamb chops today for my mom. Her 90th bday is tomorrow it’s a 3 hour drive so I cooked them ahead. Using indirect heat at 250, rubbed with salt and pepper. I put them on the fire after finishing a brisket. The lamb is for Mom but the rest of us will eat the brisket. They came as a 4 rib roast but I cut them in to 4 chops to get more smoke on them. Penny and I sampled one, it was luscious! Lamb on the KK is one of our favorites. Oddly, I used HEB Hardwood briquettes instead of lump, for both the brisket and the lamb. With a few big chunks of coffee wood. Yeah, I still have some of that left.
    5 points
  4. REK is the bane of my life on the Fourth... Sort of. You see, I am the pyrotechnician who sets up and shoots the Kerrville fireworks. Well, it’s a big park and not everyone is down at the end where REK plays his concert. When it gets dark, everyone down at the opposite end, where I set up the fireworks, starts screaming and hollering, “Come on man, get it going, let’s light it up!” And the drunker they are the more”colorful” and obnoxious they get yelling at me. Because: we don’t shoot the show when it gets dark. We shoot it after REK finishes his last encore. Well the newspaper publishes a defined shoot time, not “when REK gets done” He’s an entertainer, what do those guys crave? Adulation, praise, love, and another encore. And that encore never ends exactly at the published shoot time. He’s got this signature song, his finale, The Road Goes On Forever is I think the name of it. Or at least those lyrics are in it. When I hear that, I know it will be go time shortly. I’m told the guy does the show gratis, so he gets props for that. Or he takes the money and donates to a worthy cause. Something. I don’t know. But apparently he’s a stand up guy. You can’t believe the nerves and butterflies in that last minute before you push the first button. One year my hands were shaking. You have spent all day in the scorching heat wiring up explosives, hoping you did not make one mistake. All the batteries have to be hot, the transmitter has to be synced on the right channel to all the firing modules, all the modules have to have good signal strength, and a whole lot more things have be perfect. By this time we have triple checked everything in the field, and the electronics, it’s stress city, you want it all to go off perfect, and more to the point, safely! When I push that button and the first product goes up, the relief is indescribable! Anyone who wants to come to Kerrville on the Fourth, come ahead on!!
    4 points
  5. That's crazy, kinda makes me think of Pad Thai? Well, tonight was another steak night. A skirt steak from Trader Joes rubbed with Gunpowder and Dizzy Pig Red Eye Express, direct on the lower grate with post oak and mesquite chunks. Plated with sautéed mushrooms and asparagus, with roasted potatoes, and chimichurri sauce. I have to say that I nailed this one top to bottom!
    4 points
  6. Best first post ever!
    3 points
  7. Welcome @Christinelynn and @Wingman505. Glad that you are on the right side of the pebble v tile debate even though you didn't join me in the cobalt blue pool. Olive and gold is an acceptable alternative. I look forward to seeing your KK and your cooks.
    3 points
  8. You're welcome, I'm glad I decided to check the forum posts one more time before retiring for the night. Your pizzas look delicious, I think I know what I'll be dreaming about tonight.
    3 points
  9. Yes, I was surprised to count up the days from when I put the meat in to age and to find that I had managed to wait 78 whole days before breaking into it. Guessing we will be at the outer limits when we try the second steak at about 90 days. Looking forward to it. I invested a lot in time but the meat didn't cost very much so I won't be afraid to dump it in the bin if it looks or smells wrong.
    2 points
  10. Hey Tony. I’m not too creative with my KK, just smoking briskets and pork butts over and over. So I don’t always have something unique to post. Maybe I’ll frequent the forum a little more.
    2 points
  11. First, only light a very small amount of charcoal to start with. One golf ball sized bit ,as you describe, should work. Next, check for an air leak. If you have a Guru or a Stoker and your 32" has a port for same, fire up the fan and check for smoke leaks. Close the bottom vent and be sure it is pushed all the way home. Crack the top vent enough to let a little smoke out. Now that the fan is running and the KK is pressurized there should only be smoke coming out the top vent. Check the lid/body junction all the way around, and any other doors, ports or fenestrations that a 32" may have. If you don't have a Guru or Stoker you might finagle a blow dryer to blow in the port, assuming you have a port. Any smoke leaks should be evident; if you find one contact Dennis for a solution. I have had air leaks cause the temp to creep ever upward to 350º exactly as you describe. And you wind up burning all your fuel as well. If you find a leak and fix it, problem solved.
    2 points
  12. Decided to smoke some 2" pork chops. Using the correct holes for the temp probes this time and the grill has been reading 176F and the built in gauge 190F for the last 30min. Once I knew what I was doing I'd dare say it was easy. Thanks again for all the advice everyone!
    2 points
  13. I am so stuffed and wait until you see with what. Never thought I'd be doing this, Spicy Peanut Butter Pasta.
    2 points
  14. Wanted to try this one again. Added a few toppings this time. This is becoming my favorite pan dough. I think it came out better than the first one.
    1 point
  15. I can’t tell everyone how excited I am to be a part of this community. I’ve coveted one of these cookers for a long time and somehow convinced my off duty supervisor (wife) to purchase one yesterday evening. We bought a 32” Big Bad in olive & gold pebble tile. We purchased multiple accessories including the coal basket divider, dual bottom drip pan, teak side shelves, grate handles, and baking stone. I currently own a BGE XL and a Kamado Joe Classic 2. I will be selling the XL for sure and the jury is still out as to wether I’ll sell the KJ. I look forward to discussing KK with everyone here!
    1 point
  16. Today I smoked a brisket, Franklin style, on briquettes instead of lump. It came out excellent. That is all.
    1 point
  17. Maybe the Egyptians would have used duck fat if they had access to it? If only they knew what Tekobo knows! [emoji1658] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  18. Basher, are you saying Tekebo should have wrapped the beast in linen to make it more presentable?
    1 point
  19. I tap all the doors and check the the plugs each and every time to make sure they are all tucked in, flat against the housing and always double clik the latch. When I first received my KK the front door would always slide out just a bit upon closing the lid. I had to tweak the door a little so that I would have a little friction along those rods within the tubes to stop this. This worked fine and the door remained tight however, posting a method not quite understood by others can come ill received. I also found the back door or gas unit door sliding out on occasion but a little push always helps it out. This area is subject to ash falling onto it and generally this aids in keeping a tight fit within the sliding mechanism since I've had it. Dirt is good. Yes, the top vent is the controller, when doing a low and slow a movement of 1/2 inch either way can offset temps 10 degrees. It takes a while to prepare the fire, generally an hour or 45 mins before placing the meat on before heat soaked, take it slow, check the boxes and it'll soon come. Accept the fact that when placing on the grates or meat your temps will always drop 50-75 degrees. Unlike other kamado's the balance here is the refractory, the patience to ease it into that zone temp you want without over shooting. The KK does all the work, you simply turn the dial.
    1 point
  20. The concept is that the bottom vent is not as critical as the top vent. The top vent is the true rate limiting step to the combustion reaction. If you close the top vent and leave the bottom vent wide open, the fire might smolder a little. Very little air will flow both in and out the open bottom vent. But if you open the bottom vent full wide open and just barely crack the top vent, the fire temp won't run away. The air FLOW is the thing. And it flows in the bottom and out the top. Think of the top vent as a faucet, and the water flowing out as air. The more you open the faucet, the more water(air) flows out. And the air flow is actually the oxygen flow, that supports combustion.
    1 point
  21. Don’t dump it Tekobo. You are only at stage 1 to mummify it! [emoji24] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  22. I would love to and will put that on the post-lockdown list. Ironically, I am closer to Napoli than San Francisco. Will see which I make it to first.
    1 point
  23. Tony, another very tasty looking dinner.
    1 point
  24. It's not like you're trying to dock with the International Space Station. Once you get the hang of vent settings, it's pretty damn easy!
    1 point
  25. 1 point
  26. This is where the basket splitter comes in handy - to have 2 Zone cooking. Forward sear over the coals, then move your steak off to the other side to roast indirect until target temperature. If you don't have a basket splitter, take note of where the hot spots are in the charcoal basket and move the steak over to a lower area.
    1 point
  27. I tried to call but got your voicemail.. Always remember that charcoal always burns at the maximum volume for the allowed airflow. When you first light a KK, especially with your 32 there is a lot of material that sucks up BTUs/heat and gives you a false reading. When the needle does not move, common sense kicks in and you open your vents little more to get it moving, BUT your grills hot-face/body is not yet heat soaked and is still absorbing BTUs. With some adjusting, you finally get it nailed at 235º but you did this by lighting enough charcoal for 350º. Now when the grill's walls get heat soaked and stop absorbing heat and actually start giving off heat your grill screams past the 235º target and climbs to the 350º because that's the volume of charcoal that is now burning from the volume of air given. Now with your grill heat soaked to 350º even cutting off all the air and killing the burn won't quickly bring it back to your much lower target temp. Also all that charcoal is lit and just opening the lid gives if more oxygen to get going again.. You are sorta up sheeit creek without the proverbial paddle. We've all done this. few times.. my quick cheat if you can catch it quickly enough is to use a squirt bottle carefully and put out one chunk of lump at a time.. BTW unless you want the entire basket burning to grill.. you never need a fire starter volume of charcoal to start. I generally light an orange volume and then just crack the damper top to preheat. Always give yourself extra time until you learn exactly the settings for the desired temp. Once you learn the top damper setting.. Lite your charcoal, dial it in, walk way and just trust it.
    1 point
  28. That is so funny, I know I'm several months late but I just happened to read this post.
    1 point
  29. Glad you're here Christine so we can get the real story.
    1 point
  30. My wife, Christine, everybody!
    1 point
  31. 1 point
  32. hmmm... Interesting. That's not exactly how I remember that conversation going! 🤷‍♀️ Weird...
    1 point
  33. Set up the pool lights last night....getting closer to being done. Should wrap up construction this week. Then on to furniture
    1 point
  34. I believe that I understand its purpose better than any English language review I've read. In the 1980's I'd read somewhere (Patricia Wells?) that some French chefs with access to restaurant vacuum packers were "steaming" fish by instead vacuum packing the fish with marinade to cook in a water bath. And Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen was published in 1984, discussing how the boiling point of water is an arbitrary crutch in cooking. Putting two and two together, I looked in various science supply catalogs hoping to set up a sous vide cooking system (without having heard anyone was actually doing this, e.g. for foie gras in France). It was beyond my budget. I was a bit aghast that I hadn't pushed harder, when many years later I saw sous vide cooking emerge. One misses most advances in math or science by simply not pushing hard enough. Plenty of people are smart enough, or much smarter than the people who make breakthroughs. The people who make breakthroughs are pathologically stubborn and don't give up. I'd given up. Agitated, I started playing with the same kind of temperature controller used in the BBQGuru, and modifying soup warmers to bypass their thermostat. Then over time actual equipment designed for this became affordable. Now we own various Joule circulators, with clumsy earlier circulators in the garage or discarded. And as you say, we don't make skyscraper food. Sous vide becomes a standard technique. A step, never the complete process. Sous vide cooking a finished dish is throwing a ball blindfolded, hoping it lands somewhere near your intended target. Fine for a restaurant that gets a thousand tries. Takes all the fun out of cooking at home. One often wants to sear first, often in the same pot, then fiddle, taste, and season as one cooks. Add or remove ingredients on a timetable. For this reason it completely baffled me that slow cookers remained so primitive, weren't stepping up their game. I've met "titans" of weaker industries; they only triumph because anyone with two brain cells to rub together gets out of that industry. They have self-serving explanations for why they're dragging their feet on progress, which ususually comes down to customers already not wanting to pay the $60 they're asking for $4 of Chinese electronics. So I've been watching this market. The Breville | PolyScience the Control Freak costs $1500 and is nowhere near as effective as the Vermicular which encloses its enamel cast iron Dutch oven. I wish that the Vermicular didn't cost $670, but it doesn't cost $1500, and it's not going to cost $60. I bought my most recent Staub Dutch oven on sale, but the Vermicular Dutch oven is fairly priced for what is a top-of-the-market pot. I've also gone fairly deep down the Japanese cooking rabbit hole. My last international trip before quarantine was to Japan. I imported a Katsuobushi bonito shaver. I own many Donabe pots from Toiro Kitchen. There's something austere yet deeply comforting about the Japanese approach to vegetables. Various of the Vermicular cooking modes make most sense in the Japanese tradition from which it springs, though they translate well to other cuisines. My braised cabbage, my first use, is a good illustration. If one had been thinking of something like the Vermicular, wishing one could build one, then it's wonderful they'll build it for you. Simply being told one wants this isn't going to sell many units, and will lead to disappointment. Though it may be advanced, it's also freedom. We were drinking rose in the shade during a hot California evening, when we'd normally be inside cooking. If you found this thread by googling Vermicular, look around. There are many serious cooks here, and they're here because the Komodo Kamado is the best ceramic charcoal cooker made. It's worth every penny.
    1 point
  35. Our favorite loaf pan bread yet. Lots of farro available from unrealized past aspirations, and it really works as a guest flour here. And it dawned on me that I can have lots of rows in my history spreadsheet for every possible ingredient combination, yet I can automate only showing the ingredients in use for my recipe printout. Sourdough Whole-Recipe.pdf
    1 point
  36. I'm not mocking anyone on this thread just to be clear. The commitment is fantastic and intimidating. I feel we should do a bake off and humbly offer myself up as judge. If anyone wants to send 'convincer' loaves to me, I will provide a full report extolling the virtues of said loaf. I can see the KK Load Olympiad becoming a thing.
    1 point
  37. My last name is Wingle. "Wingman" was coined my first year of Pop Warner football when I was 7 years old. The coach tried pronouncing my name two times, gave up, and yelled "Matt Wingman!" It stuck from that moment on. Ironically I joined the USAF in 1999 and spent 11 years as a Nuclear Weapons Team Chief. I work in NW to this day. I have also been known to help a fellow friend and take one for the team from time to time. I guess its all applicable to some extent. I'm going to take a ton of pictures of the setup and subsequent cooks. I have to get this 1000 pound behemoth from the front of my house to the back, over gravel, through two gates, while fighting a grade. I'm going to employ the plywood method and leap frog the wood along the way. I'm starting to think employing people to do it for me may be the best path forward. Ive also researched chartering a crane. I don't have long to decide as mine was in stock in California. Dennis said it'd be here by mid next week. Speaking of Dennis... He spent a half hour on the phone with me answering questions about the cooker, delivery, setup, our dogs, spice rubs, etc. What an amazing guy. It's clear to me he's really involved from purchase through ownership. I haven't experienced an owner who's so involved and accessible. I see evidence of this level of CS on this forum too. I've seen proposed design changes as a result of loyal customer suggestions. It makes one feel as if each customer is incredibly important and can positively affect future product development. Special stuff....
    1 point
  38. Looking good Tekebo, I'm thinking 78 days, how'd you you come up with that number. Patience is a virtue to wait so long.
    1 point
  39. Just think the second steak is only going to cost half as much.
    1 point
  40. My wife and I are taking meals to her folks during this viral shutdown, Todays lunch was ribs, slaw, and beans, a pretty classic BBQ lunch. I like to buy spareribs so I can trim the tips and pick the deliciously tasty and fatty meat to save for future bean cooks. I got a bit of a sloppy trim on one of the racks , had a few prior to the trim work . be safe, stay healthy steve
    1 point
  41. Looking tasty Steve, and Pequod- great journey. I've been locked out of uploading with Tapatalk- too many photos so back to laptop. This was Saturday nights eye fillet and rib fillet, grilled with split grill. Forward sear on those eye fillet cubes- they were about 2' cubes. Plated with jacket potato, bacon bits, mushroom sauce and coleslaw.
    1 point
  42. The reason why I’m such a Komodo fan is that they do everything really well. From cold smoking cheese to high temp pizzas, they accomplish the task and do it to perfection. As a huge fan of pizza, we make them often when having a family night or friends over. Everyone can make their own and that makes things better while keeping the conversation flowing. These were done on a 42” Serious Big Bad. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  43. Update on this. I ended up with both a 120 inch Wood Fired Oven and a 32' KK. I just couldn't bare to compromise. Thanks for your advice.
    1 point
  44. George - I have the 23" ultimate and I'm putting in an outdoor kitchen with a built-in pizza oven and my KK of course. Let me give the KK some kudos first. The KK makes some damn fine pizzas. If I only had one piece of cooking equipment, its a Komodo Komado hands down. However, if you're making a true Neapolitan pizza, then ideally you need an oven that will get to 900-1000 degrees...which the KK will do but not easily and then the oven and the handle is hot to the touch. If you're just cooking one pizza, then this works alright. The issue with all kamado style cookers is that you can't see the pizza and every time you check it out, you're letting out the heat. If you adjust your dough recipe, you'll make damn fine pizza's at 500-600 degrees but the same issues persist and each pizza takes a bit longer which dries out the pizza a little more. Gas grills are for people in a hurry. The one thing I've learned about cooking is the best stuff, takes a little longer, which gives you more time to enjoy the process, your friends and a good drink...or more. In the end, I ditched the gas grill and I'm doing the KK and wood fired pizza oven for me...and a pellet smoker for my wife because its idiot proof. This way, everybody is happy except for my wallet.
    1 point
  45. But wait ..... there's more. Operators are standing by. I got up early to rinse them and noticed that when I sprayed the PBW grates the black stuff just peeled off. No scrubbing nothing. The Dawn is clean but darker. For some reason the grates are not clear of the black gunk like with the PBW. Check out a side by side comparison of the two. I guess I take back what I said earlier. I was a bit premature in my conclusions. see for yourself and determine how you would prefer your grates to look after cleaning.
    1 point
  46. I need to try some lamb chops, never had them before Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    0 points
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