Leaderboard

Salt, pepper, Butter, olive oil, garlic, lemon chicken

Last night I got out two frozen chooks that my Italian butcher had spatchcocked and deboned for me. Per another post on this forum, I tried dusting one of the chickens with baking powder to see if the skin came out crispy. Heat soaked the 32 to 250C and cooked the chickens on the top grate. IMG_0175.MOV That fat came out of the chickens. Soooo delicious. The chicken on the right was the one with the dusting of baking powder. It came out a little browner but no real discernable difference in skin crispiness. I also cooked dessert on the KKs. Roasted strawberries with sugar and black pepper followed by a few drops of rose water at the end. Then I cooked some chocolate fondant Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their KK cooked dinner! P.S. The starter was not KK cooked but it is worth a mention. Sous vide cooked octopus legs, compressed in a meat press for making ham, cooled and then sliced to make octopus carpaccio. Game changingly delicious with a drizzle of good olive oil.

Yesterday I decided it was time to do some pork ribs. Lit the KK and shortly there after unexpected company arrived. In all the commotion I forgot about checking the KK temp. It was 425F and time was wasting. I needed to get the ribs on so they'd be done before bedtime. I put the ribs on and shut dome vents down to almost closed. By the time 5 hours had pasted the temp was now about 225F. We all know the last thing one wants to do is overheat a KK, it takes forever to get the temp down. I was dreading opening the KK. Surprise my ribs weren't burnt to a crisp. There's still hope for a nice dinner. I will admit the ribs were a little dry but the KK flavour more than made up for that. Plated with a baked potatoe with taragon, butternut squash and the first radish of the season.

My lady friend asked for a turkey sandwich the other day

Spinning a Huli Huli Chook and Pineapple with Dizzy Pig Pineapple Head on the 32.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wanted something tonight with a little bite, riding on the side of light. 3 Skinny zucchinni, half an onion, one tomatoe all chunky diced, some parsley, chive, linquica, tiny potatoes split, a ting of thyme, a tab of butter, some "That's Incredible spice" (a mix of S&P, onion salt, and garlic etc) with Hot wing sauce, yes and stir. Used the perforated deflector shield down low and cooked up top to a nice tenderness uncovered, then topped with a Mexican cheese for 15-20 minutes @ around 310F. Had a nice zing, and would easily compliment as a veggie dish as a side. Leave out the linguica (portuguese sausage) add polish kielbasa or your local favorite. I used a creamy hot wing sauce, find your own proportions yet don't over do it on the HW sauce...it's an easy but tasty side once balanced. An idea to ponder. Bon appetit. Additionally, I did partially micro the potatoe to coincide with the veggies.

Short notice dinner plans last night resulted in a 3.3kg porchetta on the roti. Good times.

I'll go see if i can find my notes but I did this one for my first day of retirement 4 years ago. It was great, I bought it without the head. I tried one with the head still attached and it was really creepy lol I will say this, I think if i do it again I will finish on the upper rack with skin side up for a few hours for a crispier skin.

AliMac23 spun this beautiful 12kg piggy using a spit, which can be much more challenging to get centered than using the cradle. But you can't argue with the results!

We now have both available. You ask and you shall receive..

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I suggest you don't do anything. That black jacket of oil and smoke protects the material from moisture. Cement is hydroscopic, but the oil in the walls makes it hydrophobic..

Best Happy Father's Day cake ever!

Fun fact: The one in the background is actually the cake, the foreground is a decoy

I felt I needed a fan and controller in the beginning of my KK journey. I needed the comfort that I could sleep all night and not worry about the KK or meat. However, the cords, electronics, etc. seemed to cause more stress. In the beginning, I also had issues with consistent burning lump in long cooks. I started filling my charcoal basket with lump as well as a chimney. I let the chimney coals get ripping hot and then poured them over the charcoal basket. I've NEVER had any issues since. I now do this method to assure I have a solid coal base to keep the KK going for a long time. I now sleep like a baby during overnight cooks. In fact, the last one I did I almost forgot I had something on the KK when I woke up. Lol. One other drawback of a fan was that it blew ash all over inside the KK.

Not that I have ever seen but as far as grout is concerned It doesn't last forever so if needed it is always best to just buy a new tube.

I would ping Dennis on the method you are referring to. I recall seeing photos of two guys using 2x4's and rope tied to each leg individually moving the base. But, if you have a cement pathway, is it not wide enough to roll the KK sideways on it? Or you can buy 3 sheets of plywood and leap frog the plywood sheets as you roll the KK on them.

I have discovered that putting a pan of water in the KK will drop the temp pretty quickly, at least if it hasn't been heat-soaked for too long.

Flannery Porterhouse ! Yum Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Finally a chance to smoke Beef Plate Ribs. These are insanely rich and flavorful. Did these @ 275 for about 7 hrs. Kept smoke generator going most of the cook with Hickory chunks and coffe chunks .

Hey there, it is soooo delicious. I bought some at our local salumeria in Padova and really wanted to work out how to make it. Turns out it was relatively easy, just needed a sous vide machine, a meat press, some patience and a meat slicer. I will post full details in the sous vide recipe section when I next make it from scratch. Yeah, it was a full on dessert night. The non-lactose intolerant folk had deliciously wobbly, slippery elderflower panna cotta, which was the original choice to go with the roasted strawberries.

that looked absolutey fantastic. Have never bought cooked or eaten this cut of beef. But now I'm gonna get one and follow your instructions! Yum!

I have many straight up pics of it. I just thought it looked great among the blooming flowers. It’s a beautiful addition to my patio setting. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Looks delicious Remi! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Beautiful cook. 👍👍 I can almost taste it. 🤩

The grill is absolutely fine. But two things, there is no need to be cooking ribs overnight. And I wouldn't suggest using the lower grate, the main grate is perfect for ribs. Try this. Four hours at 250 then wrap in foil and cook for another hour. You can adjust from there 👍

^^^ And if you really want to turn lemons into lemonade —have pizza ready to throw in when it’s clean and at temp!

If you’re concerned, get a hot fire going, about 600*, and let her rip. Hotter isn’t really necessary. If you’re up to it, let it burn a basket of coal completely. It’ll be clean enough after that. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I keep my FireBoaord turned on even when I'm controlling manually. I like to have a log of what I did and what happened as a result, so I can learn a little bit along the way, without having to actually pay much attention in the moment.

Smoked for a few hours with a Texas BBQ rub, then braised in a dutch oven for almost five hours with onions, garlic, beef and chicken stock. During the braising the temperature up at the top of the dome as between 350 and 400, The smoking was more in the 250 degree range.

That definitely does not look like refractory cement..

Best to try to fill the tears from the bottom up.. Get the acrylic material as far down in the tear as possible. Blunt tip 14 gauge syringe https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9jiyK6an5b4 Syringe 20 or 50ml Blunt Glue Dispensing Needle 14Ga

I'm almost there, but I like to sleep through overnight cooks. One can nail 225 F manually "most of the time" and sleep through the night, but "most of the time" doesn't cut it when 50 people are depending on the result, or the brisket cost $120. I like to measure my pit temp by sticking my probe through the TelTru dome thermometer hole. This is contrary to most advice, but it doesn't matter as long as one is consistent and understands one's cooks. The dome runs hotter till the KK stabilizes, so this yields a more gentle approach to cruising altitude. And I can set 450 F for bread without heat damage to the probe wire. So yes, my lesson has been to not overreach, just use a feedback loop without embarrassment to set my pit temp.

I've tried the Fireboard Pulse as well as the Thermoworks RFX. Both had issues and didn't come close to the "specs" listed on their site. I ended up sending both units back. Fireboard Pulse - I liked these the best paired with my Fireboard 2 Pro. The App and Controller work flawlessly. Of my two units, one died. They replaced it without issues. The replacement unit didn't work so I ended up sending them both back. The "ambient" sensor was certainly off compared to the true ambient temp in the pit. The only other downside to the Pulse was the weight of the ambient sensor. It had to be placed strategically in the protein due to the depth of the sensor. This could cause issues in some situations. Thermoworks RFX - I bought the two pack of the RFX units. The small size of these probes was awesome. Fit in any piece of protein without issue. However, one of my units wouldn't hold a charge. I was shocked at this next revelation. I setup the RFX through the Thermoworks app using the "Anonymous" login. When I spoke to the Thermoworks customer service guy and provided my unit ID he could see my name, location, and all the other details. This was NOT COOL in my opinion. I struggled with these RFX units holding a charge for the length of time stated by Thermoworks. I changed all of the settings Thermoworks suggested with no beneficial results. I ended up deleting the app and sending the RFX back for a refund. One additional consideration, these do not work through tinfoil. I could get them to connect to the RFX unit through my KK and 3/8" offset but not through tinfoil. In the end, I decided to sell my Fireboard 2 Pro, Pit Viper Fan, and all of there electronic cooking equipment. I'm done. I bought my KK to not deal with controllers, extension cords, etc. I wanted something simplistic and reliable. Adding these electronics just creates more headaches. It's so much better not having all the "stuff" when I relax and smoke some meat over the weekends.

I really wish I'd never bought my UltraQ. I've been a BBQ Guru fan since they were the best option, which was apparently long ago. That mechanical dial thingy, then two DigiQs, and now (for some reason, the DigiQs both work) the UltraQ. I love how I can mount the UltraQ on my garage wall, and see the pit temp from far away. One would think I bought the UltraQ so my phone would tell me the pit temp from far away? Even after deleting ShareMyCook and standing right next to the UtraQ, the phone will show stale data while lying about the update time. This is inexcusably stupid. It's not rocket science to handle messages so that one never falsely depends on stale data. I want a warning if my actual data is more than a minute old, not a lie. I should only see that warning when I'm out of bluetooth range. For those of us good at programming computers, it comes as a surprise how well or badly such apps work. My ceiling fan app is unpredictable, from an upscale company. I always thought of Leviton as generic box store stuff, but their smart switches are bomb-proof. One can stand in the garage and manually flip a switch while my wife watches the Leviton phone app in the house, and the new state shows instantly. From this perspective, whomever BBQ Guru hired are the dumb kids in the class. My various AI consoles tell me people think more highly of FireBoard products. The kicker for me was intermittent connectivity for my meat probe, in any UltraQ meat port. AI tells me this could be the probe (out of warranty) or the UltraQ (still under warranty). I just don't have time for this, I'd rather pay top dollar for something that just works. Wireless probes? Huh. For now, given that I'm this close to offering my UltraQ here for $25, I decided that for $25 I'd buy it as a pit temp monitor and fan controller with a nice display. So I'm keeping it, but one further failure and I trash it, move on.

thanks:)

I just got 20 lb of coffee wood from Dennis If you call the shipping price is much easier to justify lol

I just ordered some. Yes, expensive but the only game in town.

De nada! That's what we do here in this Forum!

It comes from shoveling out the kiln when removing the charcoal, never fear even if a chip were to happen it still could be easily remedied with a refactory cement.

What @C6Bill said. Finding pieces of kiln brick in charcoal bags is pretty common, regardless of brand.

Its not that unusual to find rocks in charcoal.

Can you post a pic of where it came from? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'd eat that !!!

@Justin Mulwee I will put the Upper grate inverted down low over the coals when reverse searing a steak or roast. You can see it in my picture above. I've never needed to access the coals like I used to with the BGE or Primo XL.

Just in time for the Abba reunion I have discovered something really cool about my money. I have been saving £2 coins for years. The pace has slowed recently because we use real money so rarely these days. A week or so ago I thought I really ought to count up the coins to see how many I have. I counted and weighed the first ten coins and then twenty to callibrate and then weighed the lot to see how much I had. £562. Hmmm. What to do with it? I can spend that easily with a few clicks online but spending real cash feels like a greater responsibility. First candidate was a medium Korin and some Binchotan but I am not sure if that is quite symbolic enough. No decision made yet. In meantime, I happened to mention my piggy bank to my greengrocer. His shop is one of the few places where I still spend and receive coins. He told me that some £2 coins are worth more than others. My curiousity was piqued and I found an article online this morning: https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/3524236/rarest-most-valuable-2-pound-coins-designs/ What fun, searching through my pile of coins. I wasn't aware of the different designs and the stories that each represent. The majority of my coins are the least valuable. But I have a number of different designs across the spectrum. And one of the most valuable on the list. This £2 is worth £40. I know this has nothing to do with KKs but I was so excited that I had to share this with someone and you were here. I like playing with money.

Post pix!

Size Queen! 🤣