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It's our friend Peter's birthday, and his wife asked if a bunch of us would meet in the village pub this evening at 8pm to celebrate. So, as we live next-door to the pub we suggested that the bunch came here for some food first. Now having been under the spell of @tekobo 's KK cooking wizardry - and having eaten her fab veal short ribs we thought this would be a great dish to serve tonight. In view of the fact that it's a pretty significant birthday for Peter, slow cooked ( braised really) rib is moist, succulent and above all soft, it would be easy for him to eat. We could even cut it up small for him if he forgot to bring his teeth. There is a commercial butcher at the end of the road. I know them well and I ordered the short rib from them. An unusual request here in Blighty : " So, let's get this straight Dok - you want Pork Spare Ribs, but not separate - all joined up and not in Pork but in Beef - so - bones with a lump of meat on them". " Yes, indeed , I think that would be a reasonably accurate approximation of my requirement " So, picked them up this morning : The thing is that they are frozen. Mrs RD is always giving me tips and advice and very helpful in pointing out where I've done things wrong, but she suggested browning them in a pan first. 8/10 Roasting them over direct heat with some cherry wood initiated the smokiness, gave a decent Maillard and really helped with the thawing out : Whilst this was happening Mrs RD made a braising stock of : Softened Onion & Garlic, Star Anise, Fresh Ginger, Coriander Powder, Chinese 5-Spice, White wine vinegar, soy sauce and beef stock, which we poured over the browned ribs, followed by a couple;e of bottles of stout from a batch I'd made in 2017.: Both pans now in the KK at about 150 celsius with hunks of cherry wood from our tree which had a haircut a month or so ago.

About 5 hours in now and the ribs have shrunk a bit so all four can go in one tin, not needed to add any further liquid so far : I'm flipping the ribs every hour or so and basting to keep them moist. My first two cookbooks which I bought about 35 years ago were the Roux brothers, and The Manoir aux Quatre Saisons by Raymond Blanc. It was just about possible to cook recipes form the first - the latter was very difficult, but I did like the first few dozen pages on how to peel shape and cook vegetables. In particular potatoes. I like to carve them into little boat shapes : : And, before you ask ... all my injections are up to date - I haven't missed any.

Short answer to your second question is that, yes the 22 is a better cooking vessel than the 19. I can say that with confidence even though I have owned neither. I have a 16 and while it is fun to cook on, it has limitations, one of which is how close your food is to the fire. In my larger KKs you have the option to cook indirect higher up or close to the fire on the lower grates. It’s all about flexibility and, in addition to the extra space, the 22 offers better cooking options.

@tony bmy wife’s family was in town last weekend from Peru and they brought me a TON of spices and sauces from Peru. I’m going to be refining this recipe with some of the rubs they brought me plus my Aji Amarillo plant has about 30-40 peppers on it that are about to turn

Well? I followed the trail down to here and came up empty. Need some hunger inducing pics please!!!!

I'd eat that! Please tell me that those potatoes are going into either duck or goose fat??

Yes, you don't need a ceramic cooker heat deflector, any more than you need a trombone mute. Nevertheless, people like to "shape" the fire in a cooker, just as they like to "shape" the sound from a trombone. In both cases there are long traditions of using found objects, such as terra cotta plant saucers and toilet plungers, respectively. Some people inexplicably have trouble reaching higher temperatures in a ceramic cooker. A heat deflector makes this harder, but with good technique one won't notice a difference. Be sure to leave an inch or more on all sides, and buy an unglazed plant saucer to minimize the risk of lead. (As an aside, galvanized metals off-gas toxins. Like choosing smoking woods, only use materials in a BBQ that have a long-standing tradition of tested historical use. Even here, one might question the choice of used oil drums by Texas oil workers for their BBQ rigs. Err on the side of caution, and be aware of what one does not know.) Terra cotta plant saucers are easily lined with foil, for easy mess disposal after a cook. They eventually crack. I went through a saucer every several years for a long time, before moving on.

I may be mistaken but I took his comment about buying a kamado jr. literally. That is, he did not buy a Komodo Kamado but instead bought a kamado joe junior grill, which somehow came without the deflector.

This is a MUST TRY menu. It's awesome. Big hats off to @Troble for sharing it. I've made this multiple times and I try to have the green sauce in my fridge frequently for putting on all kinds of spuds. It's my "Green Crack" now!

You could hang meat like in a UDS (ugly drum smoker) and it would cook just fine. I'll test it for you if you'd like, Dennis.

I have the 19 TT and have cooked 4 Boston Butts on it. It is a great grill/cooker/smoker. Having said that........if the 22 TT was available when I purchased my 19 or if I had to replace the 19, I would go with the 22 in a heartbeat. Mostly for the extra room for ribs, multiple cuts of meat, etc. The 19 can be tight on some of my larger cooks. Agree with the previous comments.....go as big as your space will allow.

I think letting meat come to room temperature before cooking is one of those things that everyone "knows" that has been passed down for years without question that just isn't valid, like searing sealing in the meat juices. Every thing I've seen where someone actually tests it by comparing a room temperature cut to a refrigerator temperature cut cooked the same way at the same time has shown no advantage to tempering. Even some of the folks who are obsessive over food safety don't question the tempering thing.

Bigger is better. get the biggest one that will fit.

That is a tough decision, my point of view would be get the largest size you can fit into your space. Better to have too much grilling surface than too little. Good luck and what ever you decide upon you are going to be in for a thrill.

You need to order one of everything, if you don’t you wont get the free goat. oh wait, is the goat only for the 42’s ?

Did another small cookb using oak on the big grill last Saturday. I didn't make too big of a fire this time but did have to add wood during the session. I'm still experimenting with different sear techniques and used the griddle for the sear this time. Cooked all the sides on the grill as well, including baking a couple of potatoes in the embers. Very tasty!