Michael

Re: I'm all in!!

Hah! I used Mac Preview to rotate the pics, then saved them, and reposted to find...they came up sideways!?!?

Probably some position metadata that is not playing nice between my Mac/iPad/this site. If any one has any tips to get up something usable let me know!

Michael

Re: I'm all in!!

Michael - they are upside down here too. I'd love to see them right side up!!

Re: 1st time Brisket -- Triumph or Tragedy?

Michael' date=' I'm holding my breath here!! Robert[/quote'] Sorry was wrapped up with guests and then clean up all day. Temp drifted up a bit but I didn't end up cranking it up. Took it off at 191 -- fork tender. Guests were late (not unexpected) so had plenty of time in the cooler. Maybe not the best brisket I've ever had...but very good. So I'm calling it a Triumph!! Thanks everyone for the help and support! Best, Michael

Re: 1st time Brisket -- Triumph or Tragedy?

If you read this soon, its also ok to crank up your temp to get your brisket done. Right now isn't the time to get into this too much, just know that 225 isn't the holy grail of temperatures. There are some very experienced kk owners who regularly cook much hotter than that, with stellar results.

Robert

Didn't read it until this morning.

But the good news is the KK held perfectly at 225 all night. Amazing.

Took a look to Put the thermometer in this morning. Deep thick bark. Had to bend the thermometer to get it through the hole (why do they make those thermometers L shaped anyways)...but other wise morning proceeded without incident.

Brisket was at 181 for a bit but has gone up to 184 over the last couple hours. So I think I'm through the famous stall.

Guests arrive in hour and a quarter. Probably can distract them with drinks for an hour more after that. So the question is -- will it be ready to take off by then?

Re: 1st time Brisket -- Triumph or Tragedy?

Make sure your lid is completely closed, the latch has two positions. Push hard, when they're new, they're tight. I've never heard of a mis adjusted lid, the latch mistake happens all the time.

Robert

Yes. Triple checked in 2nd position. Saw on the forum sometimes the latch needs adjusting. But air flow we'll enough under control that will wait until later to deal with that!

Michael

Re: 1st time Brisket -- Triumph or Tragedy?

You'll be fine! Dont over think it' date=' let her settle in around 225-240 and you'll be golden. Just make sure it doesn't keep dropping once you get to your target temp. You might consider opening the top a tiny bit once you are getting close to your target temp.[/quote']

Thanks. Sitting about 210 now. I cracked the top a bit and even turned the dial on the bottom an imperceptible amount. Will watch for about 30 more mins then off to bed!

The big question though is: will it be ready to pull off by 1pm tomorrow? Tragedy if not

M

No I don't really know what I'm doing...we'll see how it goes. Big gamble too as it is for a BBQ party tomorrow afternoon with friends.

Beautiful, huge piece of meat. 13lbs though I trimmed probably a pound of fat off it. Simple Rub I got off the net: equal parts brown sugar, black pepper, salt, paprika and chile powder. Applied it with a bit of mustard to make it stick.

Put in ceramics for indirect and drip pan with water (paranoid about moisture). Cheap lump coal from the hardware store with some Applewood mixed in.

Can see a picture here: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5380&p=46614#p46614

Challenge #1 -- brisket didn't arrive immediately right before I needed to start. So had to apply the rub and put it straight on the grill.

Challenge #2 -- Temperature overshoot. Partly because I'm not familiar with the grill. Partly 'cause I don't know what I'm doing. Partly because I didn't believe how little air I needed for this temp (even though I read it on this forum), and partly because I've realized my lid leaks a bit of air (will need to adjust some other day).

Anyways -- by time I prepped the meat the grill was at 290 degrees. I started choking it off. But (1) I remembered reading how long it takes for the grill to come down because of all the thermal mass and (2) at 1.5hrs per pound I was already running way late for eating time tomorrow. So made the call and put it down hoping I'd get it to temperature.

It's been about an hour. The dial on bottom is but a sliver. The top cap is closed beyond the point where I felt the friction of the gasket -- but I can still see a bit of smoke coming out (a little more is escaping from the front of the lid near the latch). Now down to about 245 from the original 290

So 2 questions so far

(1) Anything else I can do to try to bring it even a bit further down in temp without snuffing the fire?

(2) An hour between 245 and 290..probably an hour more before down the the proper, near 225 temperature -- will it be ok? Anything I should do to compensate?

----

Anyways -- thanks for any tips. Will post updates so you can track the saga!

Best,

Michael

Re: I'm all in!!

Hmmm....all photos are upside down for me! I won't repost in case it is a just a me thing...but if someone else wants me to turn them around let me know and I'll put them back up.

Hello Everyone --- Proud new owner. Waited until my first big cook to post photos (the cook will be an interesting gamble). Looking forward to chatting with everyone here. Best, Michael ( BTW -- this is try #2, seemed like first attempt didn't take -- apologies if there are 2 posts )

Re: Heat/Ash Shield -- which way is up?

Thanks for all the forgiving words folks! Great to find a helpful bunch of people.

dstr8 -- if only I had seen that photo earlier!!

Best,

Michaelk

Re: Heat/Ash Shield -- which way is up?

Figured it out. Being dense is a great thing to be for an introductory post in a forum.

In case anyone in the future is wondering about the shields they go

* lip up

* oriented so they slope the ash back into the middle of the grill (the curved edge of the lip should push in to the curved edge of the grill)

When I had the first thing right I had the second backwards...which made me think that the first wasn't right!!

Anyways...Good to meet everyone. Off to finish the setup!

Michael

First Post!!

Just took delivery of my new KK and moved it in position this morning. (I'll post pics once its all set up). Had taken everything out to make it light for the lift and move -- but now a little confused on fitting 2 pieces back in.

Specifically the heat/ash shields for the front and side doors. I remember them being in place with the lip up. But in that position it looks like they would actually funnel ash through the door. So I'm guessing it is actually supposed to be lip side down -- though it will take some finagling to install that way since one of the shields catches on the firebox.

Anyone know the proper orientation?

Thanks

Michael