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Hey, guys (and gals), I am back, for better or worse, after a misadventure relating to my change of email addresses. The University finally took away my old email that I had used for nearly 20 years and now my new and permanent email, should you need it, is "[email protected]." But on to ribs: one is always trying to make sure they are tender and juicy, and done but not dry. One wants to have a good ratio of smokiness without being overpowering. So my latest adjustments: 1) It take my 32" KK, using the Fireboard controller, pretty much an hour to ramp up from cold to my target temperature, 225*. In the meanwhile, there is all that nice smoke....why not use it? We know that the meat absorbs the smoke better when the surface is cold, and virtually stops absorbing smoke when the surface temperature reaches 135 or so. Why wait till the smoker is at final cooking temperature (225) to put the meat in? I use apple wood for ribs, anyway,it is a good match for pork ribs, though apple and is sweeter and LIGHTER than some other wood choices. Why not put the meat in early and give it a longer extended time for exposure to the smoke? (Also more air turbulence passing through during the ramp-up period than when the KK has settled at 225 and the Fireboard is just giving it a little push from the fan now and then.) I am using the 2/1/1 method (of course), and I start the clock for the first segment when I hit 225*. 2) Moist cooking during the second segment is to my thinking, maybe the most important stage for getting the meat cooked through AND keeping it moist. I had started some time ago cooking during this hour with the meat side down. Now I also include a liberal sprinkling of dark brown sugar in the foil where the meat side will be placed, a couple of large pats of unsalted butter, and , and very liberal spritzing of water up and down the foil. I also turn the temp up to 235* for this hour. 3) I turn the temp back down to 225* for the last hour, when the ribs come out of the foil for finishing (though admittedly, it takes some time for the temp to fall.) Yesterdays ribs were a success, and I would have taken photos but it was snowing quite a bit off and on. Yes, in beautiful, "300 sunny days a year" Denver we are having a weather s**tshow" of a weekend, 4 to 8" of snow around town, high of maybe 30 today......The sun comes out and it disappears fast , by Wednesday it will be mid 50's again (48* for Halloween Tuesday), and we will be back to beautiful fall weather. This is MOST unusual. It's nice to be back.Thank you, Dennis, for all the help.

Good tip, Dono, thanks!

These are the photos which informed and confirmed my decision to buy my first Komodo Kamado in 2016. Nice to see them again.

Best demonstration of how well a KK is insulated..

If I had a pan of potatoes I would have done this same technique indirect with the lower grate in place and foil on top of it, pan of potatoes on the main grate, then chicken on the upper grate. But - Best results I have had so far with my KK 42 with spatchcock chicken is actually direct heat but the chicken on the upper grate so that you get that really nice radiant heat from the dome to crisp up the skin. The chicken is so far from the fire I didn't need to go indirect (but see note above - I'd use indirect with the potatoes). Anyway - I forget exactly how long my last cook took but it was around 90 minutes give or take 10. Temp something like 375 to start and you can let it creep up toward the end if you want - last 20 minutes or so to crisp it up. I usually just cook until it's done and don't worry about increasing temp but I aslso haven't done spatchcock chicken but maybe 5 or 6 times since getting my KK. I have done it on the main grate all but one time. I have done it indirect just by virtue of having the fire on one side with the basket splitter and the chicken on the other side of the grill with drip pan underneath (that was OK). But direct heat works even on the main grate. Main grate still isn't that close to the fire. I turn it once about 25-30 mins in and again after another 20-30 so that at the last part the skin is up. But using the upper grate is how I have gotten the best crispy skin. I'm no expert, I just love my KK - never had chicken as good as what comes out of the KK. The BGE is fine just slightly less moist and not quite as flavorful. I have this chicken recipe that came from my hometown that is my favorite if I am putting smoke on the chicken. On the KK I don't turn the chicken every 10-15 minutes either. -- CUSSETA CHICKEN RECIPE for 4-6 halves: 3/4 cup oil 2 cups vinegar (1/2 pt) 10 tsps salt 3 tsp poultry seasoning 2 tsp black pepper Bring to rolling boil, remove from heat. Brush on chicken and turn every 10-15 minutes. -- I also don't always use this recipe. I have done a dry rub. Typically spray chicken with ACV, then coat with a combo of Lawry's seasoned salt and lemon pepper. Coat the chicken at least 1 hour but up to several hours (like overnight) beforehand. I have this cooling rack that fits inside a baking pan. I put a couple chickens prepared this way on that and air dry them in the refrigerator for one to several hours before cooking if I rub them like this. I haven't tried baking soda like some people do in order to get additional moisture out of the skin. I'm sure I could really get them crispy but for me it's about flavor. The above recipe from my hometown area has vinegar that you're actually brushing on the bird during cooking so you can't expect crispy skin with that one. On the other hand the dry rubbed one has some really good crispy skin if done on the top rack near the dome.