jeffshoaf

Those are in the freezer now - the 14 Oz one that'll be consumed today is in a ziplock in the fridge!

1st 31 day ribeye is out of the Steakager!

Those of you using a Meater, do you leave it in during searing? I see the specs say the maximum temp for the ambient sensor is 527° F and that's easy to exceed near the coals when searing, but does that mean bit temps could kill it or just that it can't measure higher temps? I've only had mine for a short time and I've used it twice - for one cook, i forward seared, and for the second, i didn't sear. I'd think that for a reverse sear, it would be nice to be able to monitor the internal temp during the sear and also during the rest. I'm doing a pork loin this afternoon and I'm trying to decide which grill and forward or reverse sear to use. Thanks!

Fir some reason, Steven's shows used to irritate me - I think it's just his manner of speaking and presentation. That being said, i searched Prime video for project fire and project smoke but they don't seem to be available anymore. I did find his Primal Grill, but they only have session 3 available so I'm watching it and working thru my irritation.

I can't take credit for the idea - i got the idea from a much earlier post here on the forum: https://komodokamadoforum.com/topic/4607-emulating-wood-burning-pizza-ovens-with-kk/?do=findComment&comment=43766 I considered putting the holes in the lid but i was concerned that putting it in the KK lid down would either warp the lid and cause leaks or muck up the clamping mechanism faster.

I used the largest one - 1.6 liters - since that was the closest size to the 2 qt cast iron pot most folks seem to be using. I placed it on top of the charcoal just before loading the meat. I didn't put it on earlier since i didn't have a feel for how long the smoke would last and it started smoking almost immediately; the cook was about 1.25 hours and it was still smoking. Dome temp was around 300 degrees F. I want really thinking about using this on a high temp cook, but now I'm thinking.... I wonder if the sear grate is closed enough to the charcoal to get the nasty stuff to burn off? If you're doing a reverse sear, you could put the smoke pot on the seer grate and slow roast/smoke the meat, then take off the pot, open up the air flow to get the temp up, then sear without exposing the pot to the sear temps. My KK is a 23 inch ultimate, Terra blue tiles since they're the bestest.

I made a smoker pot using the stainless 1.6 liter Stowaway pot from MSR and used it on a sirloin tip roast cook yesterday. I cheated and drove a nail through the bottom instead of drilling the holes but it worked well. Since the lid clamps on, i didn't have to make a flour paste seal - the lack of desire to deal with the flour paste is actually why i hadn't made a smoker pot before. I got the pot from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FBWSRW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Carnivorous on the Cooking Channel is lots of fun!

Just started watching Chef's Table BBQ - excellent show!

Sirloin tip dry aged for 23 days and roasted over pecan to medium, served with onions, green beans, and asparagus along with some leftover roasted potatoes. Very tender and tasty but a bit too much smoke.

Another demonstration of the KKs heat and moisture retention: when i was smoking Boston butts in my pre-KK BGEs, I did it with the fat side up so the melting fat could baste the meat and keep it moist, but with the KK, this results in pulled pork that's a bit greasy. Fat side down in the KK gives moist and tender non-greasy results.

I watched a couple of these last night - they make me feel a little silly for having all of this expensive cooking gear!

I added one to my order - thanks!

Here's what AZ BBQs say about their covers:

Thanks! I'll get a cover... Of course, this re-examination has got me thinking about rotisseries again.

Yes, I got a quote for the cover on response to the email i sent to initiate my discussion with them - it's $575. I was thinking about just covering the firebox and bricks with a tarp but I'm waffling... We get a lot of mold and fungus growing on vertical surfaces around here and that's got me thinking a cover is probably almost a requirement. Is it difficult to get the cover up over the uprights with just one person?

They offer a custom cover but it's $575 and i just couldn't bring myself to get it, especially since i was already over budget. I also have a lot of trees around and I'm afraid the space inside a tented cover would get quickly occupied by spiders and their webs! It will be somewhat sheltered under my roofed in deck. @Tucker, are you having any rust issues? They do offer stainless steel but i didn't even bother getting pricing.

I just placed my order for the brick-lined Santa Maria grill from Arizona BBQ Outfitters. They're estimating the current lead time to get it built at 14 weeks; the 48" model is actually 57" wide so it's a big'un and weighs 800 lbs. I upgraded to the dual stainless steel grates. I went a bit over what i had hoped to spend once the shipping was added in, but it was less expensive than my KK and my pizza oven. They said the had two being built now; of course, those belong to someone else so i have to wait my turn. She also said the price of steel is going up so i wouldn't be surprised if they have to raise their prices. Based on their Facebook page, they've been busy and recently shipped a bunch of BBQ pits. Now i need to find a source for wood. We had a wood burning furnace when i was growing up so i have plenty of experience cutting and splittng wood, but my old worn-out back can't handle that anymore! Thanks for everyone's input!

To add to what @tony b said, if you're using a BBQ guru of other controller, I'd advise not connecting the fan until the KK is pretty close to your target temperature. If the fan is connected, it'll run full blast in an attempt to bring the temp up quickly and will probably overshoot the target, then shut down to let the temp come back down, leading to the issues i mention above only with it automated. It also could burn too much charcoal too quickly, potentially causing the fire to go out too early on a long cook. Again, please don't ask me how i know... I try to give the KK at least 2 hours to slowly ramp up and get heat soaked but have had success with a 1 hour ramp up.

Just be careful accelerating your fire in the KK if you're doing a low-and-slow cook - if you overshoot your target temp, it can take a while for the temp to drop back down! And if you cut off the airflow, the fire could go out before the temp comes back down so it's tempting to try to accelerate the fire again to make up for the time you lost and you get caught in a loop... Don't ask me how i know this.

If you' try to contact AZ BBQ, use the email link on their website's home page - looks like they're not getting messages sent via the "contact us" page. The brick-lined grill isn't on their website but they do still offer it and it should be included once they update the site.

No experience with the gun. I used to use a weed burner with mapp gas but i couldn't keep the spiders out of the burner so I'm now using paraffin blocks. For some of the lump of extruded charcoal that's hard to light, I'll wrap a chunk in a paper towel and soak with corn oil and stick it right by the paraffin before lighting. The paraffin works for starting wood in the solo stove as well. If I'm starting a wood fire for a Dutch oven or potje, I'll use a paraffin cube and some charcoal briquettes in a chimney starter and then either dump the burning briquettes on the ground and put the wood on it or do the briquettes on top of the wood. If I'm in a hurry, I'll force some air into the bottom of the chimney starter using a battery powered lead blower - gotta watch out for stray Sparks blowing out the other side. Assuming i end up with a Santa Maria grill, I'll probably use this method to start the wood or lump.

@tekobo a brasserro is the rack to hold wood above the fire box; the stuff in the bottom burns and falls thru as it turns to embers and is ready to move under the grates. You load fresh wood on top and it gravity feeds down. The AZ BBQ ones I'm considering can have independently adjustable split grids without a central post; you can lock them together by putting a pin in the shaft at the top. I checked out ox grills after seeing your mention in another thread; they don't seem to be available on the US but very nice! All stainless! I'll probably get stainless grates but I'm not prepared to pay for all stainless. I'm undecided about the rotisserie; there's a pop-up one on my gas grill with a dedicated infrared burner but i rarely use it. I guess it would be fun to string a bunch of whole chickens on one and let them tumble over the fire. Thanks for the input!

i couldn't tell if the lid was slotted for the rotisserie or not from the pics and videos.

@Tyrus, your earlier posts pointed me to the hoorays, but they're a bit more $$ than i was hoping to spend. That's a massive rotisserie! AZ BBQ has a similar model without the shelving and not so overbuilt. Do you have to raise the grates to refuel? Thanks for the input!