Greg_R

For those of you using a Stoker (i.e. have knocked out the plug on your KK) have you found a plug to fill the hole when you don't want to use the Stoker fan (or during storage)?

I've been using the EZ Que for the past few months and decided to post my experiences with the unit. I got both the 6" and 8" cradle along with the A/C 50lb motor (could also be battery operated). Sales / Pre-sales support: EZ Que was quick to respond to all of my pre-sale questions. Their website shows a few of the features but it's hard to actually find the correct product for the KK grill for online ordering. I recommend calling EZ Que directly to place your order. KK owners want the 17.5" long cradle with either the 6" or 8" width + a motor (50lb or 30lb). Dennis sells the L brackets that you'll need to mount the EZ Que motor to the KK. I got my order prompty but was missing the motor. I called up EZ Que and they immediately fixed the situation. Overall, a good customer service experience. Setup: The first step is to mount the motor. You'll attach the bracket by loosening the 2 nuts on the right side of the grill (note that this is where the rod attachment goes). The KK is pretty slick... you'll have 1 small piece of square rod going from the motor to the grill wall (where there is a socketed piece) and another piece on the inside that attaches to the actual rotisserie cradle. In other words, there is no actual 'hole' in the KK... just a 2 sided socket that can rotate. Keep the bracket loose and mount the motor and square rod. Once in place, tighten everything up. I had some issues here... the motor did not perfectly align with the KK socket. I ended up enlarging the mounting holes in the bracket to ensure correct alignment. Now I had to hook up the cradle. One side accepts a small round rod and the other accepts a square rod (to go into the drive socket of the KK). After hooking everything up, I fired up the motor. It is LOUD (compared to my previous grill's rotis motor). I would not want to sit close to the motor and try to hold a conversation. Also, I noticed it turned in the wrong direction! EZ Que went through some trouble to ensure that the threads of their cradle both screwed in the same way (i.e. one clockwise, one counter clockwise). However, the motor spins in a direction that is opposite of both! Most rotis's I've used have the motor spin so it could tighten the threads. I called EZ Que and they said that I was using the unit correctly and to tighten up the cradle thread with a crescent wrench. This held when I rotis'd 2 turkeys in the 8" unit but I still worry about the threads loosening mid-cook and causing a problem. The Cook: The 1st item I tried cooking was a young chicken (brined and dry rubbed with salt and pepper). I used a 6" cradle and the hold downs worked exceptionally well. Getting the meat attached to the cradle is super-easy with this system and a pleasure to use. For later cooks I did 2 small turkeys in the 8" cradle and a pork loin in the 6"... all shapes and sizes were held securely with the EZ Que hold downs. I recommend sticking a drip pan under your meat to limit the mess in your KK. All the meat has come out _great_ and was super-tender and delicious. Chickens and turkeys are especially good. I've been trying various sprays during cooks (juices, booze, oils, etc.) and they've all turned out great. The Clean up: As much as I love the EZ Que cradle, the clean up is not trivial (like a spit rod). There are a lot of bars, knobs, and other grooves that need cleaning. It wasn't a complete pain, just do it while the juices are still hot (don't wait until everything has congealed on the cradle!). I keep the EZ Que motor permanently attached to the outside of my KK. Great features: - Motor attachment to KK without having a hole in the KK! - Full stainless construction of cradle - Cradle and hold-downs are sturdy and securely fasten the meat (regardless of the shape) - 6" and 8" option are great. The 8" cradle will hold smaller birds but you'll need to be more careful with placing the hold downs (i.e. sides are not held in by the cradle bars). For me it was worth getting both cradles for the peace of mind. Areas for improvement: - Motor alignment to KK hole (bracket issue?) - Have the motor spin in the opposite direction (or change the threading on the cradle). I'm thinking about hacking my motor and see if I can change the direction of rotation. - Motor noise needs to be reduced

I cooked up a batch of ABTs and made a taco mound. The mound is a 7+ layer dip and I used roasted jalapenos and pulled pork for 2 of the layers. Tasty!

A plastic trashbag works great for brining. I put the bag and bird in a pan just in case of a puncture. A cooler also works (nice for multiple birds).

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I've been lighting my charcoal with the gas attachment and letting it stabilize for ~5 minutes (after hitting temp). I'll try the top-down burn and separate coal starting method and see if that changes the flavor. BTW: she loves the flavor in pork and beef... it's things like pizza and breads that she doesn't like the smoky flavor.

I am currently using BGE lump which is supposedly hickory. I love the flavor but my fiance would like something a little more mild (i.e. less smokey). Should I a) Cook with BGE and foil after a bit (may not be possible with some foods) Get a less flavorful charcoal. What is recommended?

Another thing you might try is lightly roasting sesame seeds on the grill and then pureeing them to make your own tahini. Take a flat pan, lightly coat the seeds with olive oil and cook at ~300 degrees for 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them and stir... the seeds can burn.

There may be an issue with the door on the stoker fan because the duct is not entirely level (KK plug hole is at an angle). I'm going to research this further and contact Rock's BBQ. It has been windy here so another possibility is that the wind is blowing through the intake, past the fan and into the KK. For now I can live with the 10 degree issue (vs. the 80-100 degree issue I was having before when too many coals were lit).

I've been messing around with my new KK for a couple of cooks and think I've got most of the 'user error' problems ironed out. There are already a few resources detailing how to set the draft doors for a manual cook. However, I'm using the gas attachment to light my coals and a power draft unit (Rock Stoker) to hold the temp. There are a few important tips that I'd like to share (and I have a question at the bottom): 1) Light the coals with the gas attachment and then TURN OFF THE BURNER. It takes about 1-2 minutes to light the coals (you'll see white smoke exiting the cooker once the charcoal has caught). Do NOT keep the burner running to bring the unit up to temp. This will light a LOT of the charcoal and make temperature control very difficult. The goal is to have a very small fire in the cooker and have that fire slowly spread to other unlit charcoal over the duration of the cook. If you have too many lit coals then just a little bit of air will cause the internal cooker temp to spike significantly. Too much lit charcoal will also cause you to run out of coals before the end of a long cook. 2) Do not use the power draft units to drive the KK up to temp, use the draft doors. This will also light a lot of the coals and you will definitely get an overshoot on your target temp. An alternate method is to use the power draft unit and initially set your target temp about 25 degrees below your ideal temp. The overshoot will carry to your target and you can then reset the target temp to your actual temp. Example: for a 225 degree cook, set the blower to 200 and wait until it hits that temp and carries over. Once stabilized, set it to 225 and add your meat. BTW, even if you use manual control for the cook be sure to set things for low and slow with about 25 degrees to go... there will be overshoot to the target temp. 3) An alternate method to #1&2 is to fill the inner charcoal ring about 1/2 way with coals and keep the burner lit and blower on until everything is up to temp. Turn off the burner & then add unlit charcoal & wood chunks so they're level with the basket. This heats up the grill a lot faster. 4) Unplug or bypass the blower when you open the lid. Wait about 5 minutes until after you've closed the lid to start the blower back up. The grill temperature sensor will sense the cold air (when you open the lid) and run the fan for awhile after you've closed the KK lid... this will result in an overshoot of the temp. 5) The gas burner faceplate does not fit perfectly flush in my unit (due to the weight of the burner slightly deflecting the metal plate). I would recommend using the gas (for lighting) and then swapping it out for the normal faceplate on low & slow (air leakage isn't a problem for higher temps). The normal faceplate fits _very_ well. Perhaps the normal faceplate is built with the receiving part (i.e. a perfect match) before it's manufactured into the grill whereas the gas units are made separately? Question: After about 10 hours of cooking, my temps tend to creep up past my target temp (i.e. for 225 degree setting they will creep up to ~ 235). Does anyone else experience this? Could it be an issue with how I have my charcoal in the basket? If not, I'll talk to Rock Stoker and see if it's in the controller's profile.

The Stoker manual is a 30+ page book... it might take awhile to scan! Maybe the company will send you a PDF? It works the same way. The fan stops when it hits the target temp (and there will of course be some carry over from the stoke). If the temp goes outside the hi/lo settings then the alarm sounds. I am definitely planning on building a small side table that's watertight underneath to house all these electronics (lots of rain the PacNW!). The biggest issue with the Ethernet attachment is getting a cable to the box! I tried a powerline networking product and it sucked.

I'm using one right now to cook 2 Pork butts! I am sitting at work and am remotely monitoring my cook. Some caveats / issues: - If you are not using a side table then you will want longer probe and control wires (default is 4ft) - Unplug the blower when opening the lid (or your fire will get super-stoked). This is an issue with all electronic control temp minders. - You can set the target, low and high temp for the grill surface. I've had to set the high ~15 degrees past the target temp because the fan doesn't shut off fast enough. _However_ I am still learning and adjusting the KK (lid is a bit loose) and the Rock Stoker (may be a better profile for ceramic cookers). I am on my second cook with the stoker and KK and I plan to report back once I've played around with both items for awhile.

I have a Unicorn "Magnum" pepper mill and like it a lot. Features I like: - Easy grind adjustment - Easy load / unloading of peppercorns (white pepper vs black, etc.) - Lots of pepper per twist (nice when making 1/4 cup of pepper for sauces and rubs!) Amazon and other kitchen stores sell these. The 6" and 9" versions are the same (9" just holds more peppercorns).

For turkey I use a Foster's beer can... it's wide enough to keep the turkey from tipping over. Well, my Thanksgiving cook went OK. The deep fried Cajun bird brined very well (tabasco garlic marinade + salt and brown sugar + water) but the rub was a bit too strong and salty (for eating the skin). The roasted bird turned out great except it cooked very quickly (was done 1+ hrs ahead of time). Brining a fresh bird is the only way to go IMO. Also, avoid sugar rubs... the sugar burns at higher temps. Hope everyone's cooks turned out well...

Totally agree! I don't know why he'd suggest that. A good hot glove and _slowly_ lowering the bird in works for me. I've switched from peanut oil to 50% peanut 50% fry oil (WAY cheaper and similar taste). I'll be out of town so no KK turkey this week. I'll be doing 2 deep fried turkeys and 1 beer can turkey (in the oven) for 30 people. I do a memphis BBQ rub on the beer can bird and a cajun rub / marinate on the deep fried bird. The other deep fried bird will be a basic rosemary/thyme/sage/butter rub. All rubs go under the skin! I did get 2 extra turkeys for later this year on the KK + rotisserie. I look forward to reading about people's experience doing this!

The Jet tool is a recent near-exact rip-off of the Tormek system. Scary sharp is definitely the cheapest and fastest for chisels and plane blades. However, it sucks for round-edge tools like a knife (IMO).

My other hobby is woodworking so I've tried quite a few sharpening systems. No system is foolproof... you need to practice or see the technique shown to you. Scary sharp is great for flat blades (fast, easy edge, etc.), especially if you have a good honing guide (Veritas, etc.). For knives, I like the Tormek (or similar Jet product) but it takes some practice to get the motion down. Go down to goodwill and buy 3-4 cheap knives and practice on them before sharpening your $100 chef knife.

I got my grill Wednesday and _had_ to cook something! It was raining, 40 mph winds and ~45 degrees (F) outside. I fired up the burner (the hardest part in the wind!) and had it light the charcoal. The KK held the temp within 5 degrees of my target temp the entire time. I would never even consider firing up my old grill in these conditions. I'm super-excited to try a LONG cook now! I've also got a Rock Stoker... this is a great piece of equipment as well. BTW, I spent a good bit of time at the local BBQ place where we converted my burner to natural gas. After slowly enlarging the pilot hole and trying it each time we determined that "49" is the optimal size for the burner's pilot hole. "50" resulted in a _small_ bit of occasional yellow flame. Any BBQ store should have the bits with these sizes to open up the pilot hole. This is done by hand, NOT a drill (there is very thin brass around the pilot hole)!

I went to my local BBQ store and we started at a low number (<40) and worked our way up. The guy at the store sells these burners (or something similar) and claims that they are 20k BTU. We kept enlarging the hole until there was the occasional yellow flame (like a flicker every 3-4 seconds). This was at "50". In other words, "49" will give you the biggest blue flame. Any BBQ store should have the hand-twisted bits for auguring out the pilot hole. Just tell them to use a "49" on it and you'll be set.

I would highly recommend this cooker and company. Last night was my first cook and it was 45 degrees F with 40 mph winds and the temp didn't budge on my KK. Awesome performance! Dennis was helpful throughout the entire process... highly recommended.

OK, how has everyone opened the plug for the guru port? Dennis, what is the recommended procedure?

Glad to see the switch-over. I'm frankly amazed that Dennis didn't have constant problems with Paypal. I know someone who sells $3-$5k products in Canada (to the U.S.) and 1 in 2 orders gets 'blocked' by Paypal. This results in a complete freezing of the SELLERS assets!

You are correct... you want to run your brisket temp up to 195-200 degrees. Foil it and then rest it in a cooler (surrounded by towels) for an hour minimum. This higher temp should result in a very tender cut of meat. The rest time allows the meat to break down even further.

www.homesteadfinishing.com offers a variety of tints / dies for wood finishing. The forum there is very good for helping you choose a product...

In the past I've skinned a few granny smith apples and placed them in a row. I then place 3 racks of ribs around the apples (making a triangular "rib log") which can be secured via butchers twine or the rotis. hold downs. This adds some extra apple flavor and works pretty well (IMO). At any rate it should hold you over until the rib-tiserie is completed

Hmm... I ordered that exact tile and grout combination and mine is shipping in the next day or so. Perhaps that's the one I'll see in my driveway in a few short weeks?