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Hello all. Bought a slightly used 23’’ cobalt blue KK this fall. Been reading here and cooking a lot and decided it’s time to say hello. Nice to be part of this lively community

It seems pics are mandatory. I will be pleased to post some of my upcoming creations in the middle of my snowy backyard. As an appetizer here is a pic of my last batch of Montreal style smoked meat (brined brisket)

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@tekobo, @Basher @MacKenzie I went to the post office and UPS to try to mail you guys a huge package of goodies but was shut down saying I’m not able to send perishables to AU, UK or CAN @tony b yours is on the way @Tyrus , @jonjmessage me your address and I’ll give you the package was planning on getting you guys in round two drove home quickly to drop off the bags and to my surprise the delivery was in my driveway to deliver my new KK, he showed up 4 hours early even though I confirmed multiple times I wouldn’t be home till 1pm today. So good news bad news gotta run to work appt back later to unpack

Forrest I’m going to sound like an old man here but here is something that I thought of because of your young age. It looks like your in your first home. This will not be your last home but this KK will be with you the rest of your life. You may want to save the base and the top/ramp of the shipping crate so that you can easily move this to your next home. I’m amazed that someone your age has taken this leap but I’m very excited for you. When I bought my KK I did ask my son what color he liked since he would inherit it at some point. His answer was wise beyond his years when he said Cobalt pebble instead of tile. He’s just a chip off the ole block I guess. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Since I own a 23", I'll let the other 32" owners advise directly on the "must have" accessories. But, I will tell you to load up the pallet with as many boxes of cocochar and coffee wood chunks & charcoal as will fit. Only way to get it right now in the US and is the cheapest shipping cost that you will EVER get, regardless of where you live.

Ah @GrillnBrew.Thank you. That's very interesting. I've had to look up most things you mention ! I now know what canning pots and turkey fryers are - I never imagined you could deep fry a turkey. My development is a bit arrested as I haven't progressed beyond my home made set up ! The Sabco system looks an amazing piece of kit, reproducible brews and mobile to boot. I can understand though the move to the Blichmann Easybrew for smaller batches. I can still lift the pots with wet grain / water - just about- but then again I tend to brew with friends so it spreads the load. There has been a rash of brew systems along the lines of the Spiedel Braumeister which are a bit more like brew in a bag systems and I like the idea that both the Sabco and the Blichmann are RIMS. I bet the Blichmann is superb quality. My system is a chimera - RIMS , but then I do a final sparge with water from a hot liquor tank. Might you be prepared to share your chocolate rye porter recipe ? It sounds interesting - never brewed with Rye. Will need to brew in the not-too-distant future to replenish stocks - The combined Maillard of Stout and KK Steak are going very well together.

Happy new owner, indeed.

A hobby????? RD and tony are too professional to call it a hobby. You guys run rings around most commercial brewers from what I’ve seen. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well I dropped some serious coin today (for me at least). If you are a young grasshopper like myself it is good to compartmentalize your funds when you got it. I set most of the cost aside for my 21” KK with a gift card to use once my KK is ready for the 2 month boat ride. So stoked for this cooker! [emoji4] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is really great advice, I will keep portions from the crate for future moves, thanks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m definitely going to build a smoke pot, I haven’t decided wether I’m going to go Stainless or cast iron. I might try both and see what yields better results. TBH the flour paste is the biggest barrier for me, I just don’t want to add that to all the other prep that is required for a BBQ cook, so I might start with stainless and see if it works out. Additionally, I’m definitely getting the KK cold/hot smoker. The smoke it produces in Dennis’s videos looks brilliant. I’m still not totally understanding the concept of why it produces excellent smoke. But I’m sure the taste of the food will do the talking. I’m a fan of wood on top of the coals and put the meat on after it clears up. Maybe I will have to do a head to head battle on these methods. Maybe even make a YouTube video out of it. Thanks for all the ideas thus far. [emoji482] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Blichmann equipment is the "gold standard" in homebrewing gear - IMHO. Soft spot for them, as Dr. Blichmann is a Mech Eng professor over at IA State. Smart man, he give his grad students "projects" that become the prototypes for some of his commercial gear! I've met him several times at Hombrew Con, while salivating over his latest product. I don't own a lot of his gear, it's all top notch, but also pricey. I'm currently experimenting with the BeerMkr. I backed them in Kickstarter. Neat system for brewing small batches (5L), which is a good size for me right now, with the pandemic. I hear you about how COVID has messed with all the Club meetings and Festivals last year. Our homebrew club had our online meeting last night. We're hoping that the weather will be warm enough by the April meeting that we can meet face-to-face again outdoors. I have my fingers crossed that this year's Homebrew Con in mid-June will still happen in San Diego. Last year's in Nashville was cancelled of course, as was GABF in the fall. All the local Festivals were cancelled here over the summer/fall, including our own club's annual homebrew fest - Drink Local, where we host many of the other homebrewing clubs in the state or on the border with WI and IL. We are optimistic about holding it this year!

Just adding my +1 to the smoker pot. I'd recommend slightly smaller holes - I did 3/32", but if a 1/8" bit is all you have, then it works just fine. The one thing is that cast iron is easily drilled, whereas depending on the stainless steel composition, it can be quite hard and difficult to drill. It takes some practice to get the flour paste consistency right - think Playdoh. My usual problem is that I didn't get it fully hydrated and have dry pockets when piping it onto the lid. (Mix up the paste in a zipbag, cut a bottom corner off, and turn it into a disposable piping bag.) In all the years/cooks that I've used the smoker pot, I only have had ONE cook where the pot caused a problem with the fire. Just random chance that the fire burned out all the charcoal underneath the pot and it collapse into the basket and prevented the fire from burning outwards. I also own the cold smoker unit, as I have named it so, that's pretty much all I've used it for - smoking cheese, nuts, salmon, pork chops and bacon. I've never used it as my smoke source for a hot cook. I understand that it will work just fine in that application, but I have an older KK with the single port, so I'd have to make a choice over the Guru or the smoker for that cook. Many of us have found that the cold smoker works better with pellets than with small wood chips. They are more compact in the tube and propagate the fire better than chips, hence the posts about difficulty keeping it lit. Given that the cast iron DO is a lot cheaper than the KK cold smoker, start there and see how you like it. You can always get the cold smoker attachment later if you think that it would fit your needs better?

I vac sealed and froze much of it. Probably enough for much of the year. Just 2 at home now that the 3 lady birds flew from the nest. Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Tapatalk

Welcome from beautiful Nova Scotia.

The recipe come from a french language website in Quebec (my native language). https://maitrefumeur.com/recettes/fumoir-recette-smoked-meat-de-montreal-brisquet/ I can help with translation if needed. But the amount of nitrite needs to be computed quite precisely with the help of a brine calculator. So if you can figure enough by yourself, it will be better. You can find some recipes in English but that one is awesome. I brine my brisket for 30 days (don’t try that without nitrite). I will be glad to assist anyone who wish to try. Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Tapatalk

The smoke pot is only used at temps from 225-275, so you’d typically be indirect regardless. At other temps your choices are the traditional wood chunks on charcoal or the cold smoker which can be used at any temp.

Thanks Tekobo, starting to consider which accessories I might want, but that will be another post. Looks like you're bit of a night owl!

@BOC, @GrillnBrew what an amazing coincidence. I look forward to when GB gets to meet BOC's KK. I am guessing that BOC is keen to meet his KK too. Soon come.

Lots of us here are smoke-potters. Be sure to get the order of those words correct. Many folks at Amazing Ribs have tried it and like it. There's another kamado forum -- Kamado Guru, I think it's called (haven't been there in years). The site's owner -- can't remember his name -- was encouraged to try it, but Meathead he's not. He did everything precisely wrong -- drilled the holes in the wrong place, etc., and then proceeded to pronounce it useless. It's like those people who review recipes on All Recipes: "I substituted 17 of the ingredients and decided to boil the meat and grill the pasta. This recipe sucks!" Get the holes in the right place (DOWN), make sure it's air tight and won't melt or off-gas noxious fumes. I think Syzygies' method for lighting is to use a weed-burner to preheat and then move it into the charcoal basket, but I'll let him fill you in. Don't ask him about shuffling cards.

I've been brewing about 15 years now. I have a Sabco that served me well after doing time with canning pots, turkey fryers, water coolers etc. I have since downsized to a Blichmann Brew Easy which does a better job with 5-gallon batches and I no longer have to lift kegs filled with wet grain. I used to do 10-gallon batches, but I don't drink as much, kids moved out and with the pandemic, we haven't had any homebrew club meetings or beer festivals where I can share. I do have a recipe that I brewed at a local brewery, the head brewer was in my club and always enjoyed my chocolate rye porter, so I was able to brew that on his system. He brewed it again in December and now it is out in cans, so that is cool. I did quickly notice that Tony and RD are into brewing, so I followed those threads very closely. I think it is cool that RD can get water from the creek running by his house, I can imagine the profile is perfect for stouts. Lots of expensive gadgets is right!

So, let's talk about the "brew" part of your Forum name? Several of us here are homebrewers. Another hobby with lots of expensive gadgets! 😄

I keep finding new uses for it, so we'll see how long it really does last??

Hi Pequod, my success using a chimney is very hit and miss. I have found starting binchotan easiest in a KK, interspersed with a few cocochar briquettes. The fact that the pieces of binchotan are long and stay whole makes it relatively easy to lift them out of the KK and into the konro using a set of fire tongs. The things we do for our stomachs.

Welcome to the Obsession! Pictures, please!

Hi @GrillnBrew. Welcome again. @RokDokand @tony b are likely to be interested in your grill and brew combo. The 32 is a no brainer for the level of use that you describe. Like @buzilo, I learned my lesson the hard way. In spite of advice to the contrary I went for a 21 and 23. I have since sold them and now have a 32, 23 and 16. Whatever you do, don't become a one kamado/one grill household. The versatility of cooking at different temps on two different cookers can't be beat, particularly when you don't want to have to keep dashing into the IDK to cook some parts of the meal.

That's funny, I have a similar use case. I use my KK to heat up the coals needed to create an even bed in my Argentinian barbecue. I just put the amount I need into the KK fire basket, light it and come back when they are glowing. The Rapicca gloves have made the transfer of the fire basket to the Argie Barbie much less perilous!

Happy Fat Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras) everybody! Still too damn cold outside to fire up the grill, but since it's the special day anyway - beans & rice. I had some Andouille and Tasso in the freezer. New secret ingredient - Nigerian Pepper Soup spice! Bon Temps, ya'll!!

I backed them in Kickstarter. I have the MEATER+. You won't have any issues with using them in your KK. Many folks here have them. Only way to actively monitor temps during a rotisserie cook, which is why I backed them when they were in development.

I’ve had my 23” Ultimate for a couple months now and have had some really successful cooks, most recently these tri-tips smoked at 225-250 dome temp until rare then reverse seered on bottom rack at 500 dome temp for a couple minutes on each side. The roasts turned out more medium than medium rare but they were still incredibly tender and juicy (pics below)! I also made a home made Chimmichurri sauce to accompany the meat. Questions: 1) I can’t seem to get temps to stay at 225 or below. I was reaching 245 to 250 with a tiny crack open in the bottom vent and the top dampener opened about an 8th of a turn. Any tips on how to maintain 225 or even lower? 2) Are there any drawbacks to having a full charcoal basket at the start of each cook? I’ve noticed a lot of you aim to have only the charcoal you need for a cook. C8D1FA3C-32D9-4607-AAAD-FC8DDB632478.mov IMG_5478.MOV

Can you wangle a copy of the recipe for us? I will try.[emoji16] Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

I planned this to be a KK cook, in fact had the KK all set to light but a friend called to say she had some homemade beans and brown bread for me. How could I resist so decided to do a quick cook of the Miso Chicken inside the house and eat it next day. The best baked beans I have ever tasted. The chicken was very good but I know that it would have been much better done on the KK, next time.

Non KK “cook” but a Valentines Day tradition in our house. Got to use my new Suisin bread knife that @tony b recommended. midnight moon, humbolt fog, OG Krystal, frommage D’affinois w/fig jame and slice honey crisp apples. Served with sopresata rustica & seeded sourdough baguette lunchtime beverage is Laurent-Pierrer Rose. Followed by Joseph Phelps cab

Good luck. During my waiting period, I probably amended my order 5 times. I’m sure Dennis loves when people do that [emoji12] (sarcasm). But I’m sure he doesn’t mind really, it is a business after all and the more you buy the better he is doing. You can expect your patience to be tried a bit while you wait, and likely comforted by some retail therapy. I should be taking arrival of mine in the next couple of weeks. My wait has proven to be great for my future cooks and equally poor for my cash flow. For all of the right reasons of course. Can’t wait for the young grasshoppers to show what we are capable of. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ain't that the truth. You guys convinced me! I added the baking stone to the order. This is my final decision so I stop bugging Dennis with amending my order, lol!

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

I am such a copy cat. This is @Troble's original: Here is my copy, using beef and suya spices: I was desperate to try this and, following @BOC's advice about how to make a Trombo King of my own, I hunted around in my cake tin box and presented The Husband with this, an hour before it needed to go on the grill. Make me one of those please I said. He drilled a hole through the middle and "secured" the skewer with a plate he found in his workshop. Here it is loaded up Lessons learned? Cook low and slow initially to avoid too much fat rendering and collecting in the base, cut the skewer so that it fits within the KK without tilting and ... do it again. Soon.

If @tekobo lived in Singapore, I could see her impulse shopping the range. 😆