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Pineapple cured ham...... with genuine crackle. With a touch of cumin and paprika. Baked Over a fist of silky oak. The butcher suggests to boil this like a silverside. A light rinse and this is better than baked Xmas ham. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hello, my name is Forrest. I’m probably one of the youngest forum members at 25. I have become super involved with Kamado style cooking the past year and have absorbed as much knowledge as possible. I’ve had different grills along this journey but I’ve ended up with a Kamado Joe Big Joe. Although I believe the Big Joe is a top of line ceramic grill I see numerous advantages in the refractory cement grills that Dennis is building. I believe they are the finest Kamado style cooker in the market. The added insulation, further reduced airflow, hinge mechanism without the need of bands, airflow controls/dampers, all of the 304 stainless steel, integrated base with wheels, and the sheer beauty. Damn KK’s are the Rolls-Royce of grills/smokers/outdoor cookers in general. I have saved up money for what I think will be a perfect sized KK for me. I have decided on the 21” and have my eyes set on the olive/gold pebbles. I talked with Dennis a week ago and he said he was going to sort pebbles for a 21” grill and send me picture. I find it kind of tough to get ahold of KK but I’m waiting patiently to hear back and patience is worth the level of personal customer service you receive from KK. Dennis gave me some tips on the bacon cook below. I will share some photos of my cooks/Kamado experience. Can’t wait to add a KK to the stable. Cheers! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Forrest welcome aboard. Well, 25 is kinda old you know pretty much everybody here is younger than that. I believe TonyB and Mackenzie are 19 and 20 respectively, ahhh no matter, what's age anyhow..just another birthday. I like your thoughts and you won't be disappointed with the performance, as a matter of fact two racks of St Louie are laying on my grill now. Big Joe and a small oval, a good arsenal but the KK just might put them into early retirement.

Forrest, Wow! If there was ever a guy who deserved a Komodo Komoda, you’re the one. I also bought the 21’ Superior (with square black tiles) after being reassured by Dennis that it was large enough to cook a large packer brisket, and indeed it is. I love mine, but it’s so cold and snowy in Idaho, I am not using it very much. But spring is coming and so is entertaining, so I am watching every video and reading every book on the subject. I can hardly wait to get back at it. Dan

Beautiful, Basher. I mean the ham. Well, that doesn't clarify things does it, I mean the roast.

Thanks @tony b, It was quite windy and I think you are right. It has given me a pretty good feel .now of what I need to do to get the desired temperature. Thank you for the birthday wishes Tony and Paul - I passed them on to a delighted and surprised Mrs RD. We had some sparkling Vouvray and a lovely Nimes - to go with the duck breast and sauté potatoes cooked in the residual heat. Thanks Again Tony, Best RD

The small grill is a BGE MiniMax. Awesome for camping/transporting. The KK will replace that on my back patio and the BGE will find a place in the garage dedicated for transporting. I have a feeling one day a larger KK may replace the Big Joe. But until then I will be really set with the Big Joe and hopefully the 21” soon. Admittedly I’m not patient... hoping Dennis gets back to me soon. Lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You’re definitely well ahead of the curve! The kk will only make you better with all of the advantages you mentioned about it. Don’t let anyone tell you that the grill doesn’t make that much difference. I just recently got my kks back after a year and a half, in the meantime cooking on a traeger, a Weber, and the occasional egg a friend’s house. The kk stands alone. Pics are required on delivery, and welcome to kk cooking! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Super Bowl is the only time that the UK press report in any detail on the NFL. It would be super irritating to hear the result before I'd watched the game and so it is worth staying up, if only for that reason. The most surreal Super Bowl was the one I watched the year I was living in Sydney. It started around 10:30am on the Monday morning. Weird or what???

Of course! I just cooked up these chicken wings for lunch. The secret is high temp 450-500 and cook them high in the dome for the radiant heat off the dome, makes them crispy every time! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome Forrest and congrats on the decision to invest. Always a tough decision to pull the trigger, I haven’t heard of anyone regretting it. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your new cooks- they look well prepped. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And I'll bring the beers as my contribution to the tribute! @Forrest - you're going to be blown away by the upgrade that you're making. Hope Dennis can hook you up quickly.

@Tyrus, I'll be sending you a complimentary dinner for that age endorsement.

Wow! Your grills are stunning! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Olive/Gold is a great choice. You clearly have superior taste.

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...

@tekobo a brasserro is the rack to hold wood above the fire box; the stuff in the bottom burns and falls thru as it turns to embers and is ready to move under the grates. You load fresh wood on top and it gravity feeds down. The AZ BBQ ones I'm considering can have independently adjustable split grids without a central post; you can lock them together by putting a pin in the shaft at the top. I checked out ox grills after seeing your mention in another thread; they don't seem to be available on the US but very nice! All stainless! I'll probably get stainless grates but I'm not prepared to pay for all stainless. I'm undecided about the rotisserie; there's a pop-up one on my gas grill with a dedicated infrared burner but i rarely use it. I guess it would be fun to string a bunch of whole chickens on one and let them tumble over the fire. Thanks for the input!

Now there's a big kitty! Good looking piece of kit and lovely meat @jeffshoaf. I hope you like the results in X days' time.

Thoughts or suggestions - get one if you have the space and the inclination to try something different. What do you like or dislike - I love the V shaped grate bars and the fat collection tray. Great for grilling fatty meats without flare ups. I like also the finer control that you have for grilling delicate foods and the active participation in fire management, adjusting the distance between the fire and the food and just generally playing around. I also like the plancha style option for grilling things like baby squid and other seafood. Could probably do breakfast eggs too but I have not tried. Any changes I would make to mine if I could - we used to have one with a cover and I think that made it more versatile. The Argentinians use these grills for larger hunks of meat using a lid and I struggled to cook a large porchetta on a spit without a cover. That said, I would probably do that in my new 32 now. The brand I bought had the option to have two sections on separate wheels i.e. you could have one side higher than the other. That option introduced a central post that reduced the continuous grilling area. On balance I think I made the right choice but it could be helpful to be able to have food at different levels. Finally, I did not have space for a separate fire box. If you do have the space I would go for a fire box to the side that allows you to create embers to keep the fire topped up. You can build the fire in the base of the parilla grill but it is difficult to replenish during a long cook. I use my 16 to do that work now and I was very happy with the 16's performance as a, very expensive, chimney. Do you stick with lump or do you use wood - I use lump because wood smokes too much for where I live. I don't know what a brasserros is... Links - this is the UK company I bought mine from: https://www.oxgrills.co.uk. Sorry, I bought it for The Husband not for me, Freudian slip! Worth a look just to see the various designs they have built to give you ideas about what you might want to specify. They appear to mostly be bought by chefs so they have all sorts of different modifications to suit them.

Gronkowski...................................Polish for touchdown!

Have you seen Almazan kitchen on YouTube? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Happy birthday Mrs. RD!

@tony b, four hours in now. It's around zero here at the moment and quite windy. I found that with even with the top just off and the left vent open a quarter of a circle ( ie half open) the oven went quickly to 250 F +, So I closed the left vent and opened up the right vent on the smallest hole. With the top open just an eighth the temperature dropped to 150 F. I left the top on one eighth open and slowly went up on hole size on the bottom vent which gave me control between 150 and 245 F. So that gives me some low and slow temperatures. With the top at one eighth and the left vent at half open it went to 392 F There is clearly a bit of windchill here, so with the lower vent fully open and the top 1/4 open it is sitting happily at 630 F. I've got a tiny bit of bubbling from a couple of pinholes, and a few hairline cracks in the grout, but that's about it at the moment. Adult beverages on standby at the moment - it's Mrs RD's birthday - we'll celebrate the end of the cure in a few hours and put on some duck breasts. Cheers RD

Hey all! Just been catching up on the thread, there’s some insanely good cooks been happening! There isn’t a single thing that I don’t want to try Cooked a couple of pizzas tonight, it was a really quick dough, so results as expected, but they didn’t look too bad. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Game pizza.

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

Hey guys, Long time board reader, long time drooler over all things KK. I've been reading this forum for five years now, pining away for the time I would be able to have a KK of my own after having one of the best meals ever cooked by a friend on his 23 Ultimate. Just pulled the trigger on a 23 Ultimate in Cobalt Blue. Wanted the 32, but couldn't justify the price difference to the boss. Maybe after she's had a few meals on it, I'll be in the market for a 32. Thanks to everyone for already answering 99% of the questions I would have asked had they not been answered in the forum already. And thanks to Dennis for answering the other 1%. Now the interminable wait for it to ship to AZ from California. Adam

Sure, but just wait until Dennis comes out with the OMG 52! Congrats and be sure to post pictures!

Yes, the more sensible choice would be the 32. However, my heart is with the 42. So, it's not you 32, it's me.... I contacted Dennis and changed my order to a 42 SBB in Terra blue!!!! . My countdown now begins. I feel like a kid counting down to Christmas. Thanks a lot everyone! So many helpful comments and ideas. Couple things that swayed me to change my 32 order to the 42: 1. YOLO 2. The fact that as awesome as the 32 is/would be, I would always have the 42 in the back of my mind. "if I had just...." 3. If I ever decide to get another KK, I can always pair with a 21 or 23. 4. Like someone said above, this is not a sensible purchase. After all, We're talking about the most overbuilt grill in the world. So I followed my heart for this one. I will post some pictures when I get it.

jrc87..........I believe the main difference you would see between the two sizes would be the time it would take to "slowly" heat the cooker up for low & slow indirect cooking temps of 250*-275*F. I base this on my experience with my 16" and 19" TT's . I can get both the 16 and 19 up to searing temps or for direct cooking in the same amount of time. If I'm slowly bringing the KK up to 250*F for indirect cooks, the 19" takes a little longer. I also own a Primo Jr. and XL. That was the main difference I found with those units also. When I used the XL for small direct cooks the charcoal basket divider worked great. I have seen the 32"KK in person and there is no doubt in my mind that the 42 SBB is my next purchase. I love the oval shape of the Primo's and the 42KK is the closest along with the KK quality. My 2 cents but you can't go wrong with either. PS - if I was starting over with a clean slate...........I would get the 42" and the 16" KK............................perfect combo in my simple mind.

Wow. @Mcjudsten that looks awesome. Between your pics and Dennis' it is clear that the 42 is a very flexible machine. Hmmmmm...

I have had the 42 for about 2 months, so new to it and working through options - mostly cooking for a family of four, and double that 3-4 times a month. What I have worked out for everyday cooks is to split off both ends of the firebox and cook on the lower center grate for most med/hot cooks. (Salmon, tuna, steak, pork tenderloin, etc.). Using some ceramic plates for now, Dennis is shipping me another steel divider for the other side. This works VERY well since often times we do the entire dinner on the grill and use the top side racks for veggies, etc. Attached a couple photos as examples.