TheNakedWhiz

Paul, really Dennis is just using the squares because he sees them in my reviews. He doesn't have a clue what they are for....

Firemonkey, well I have to admit I do have a bag in my garage and I was going to do a mini-review on them this past weekend until I got called into work early Saturday morning and it rained all day Sunday. Eventually I'll do a test burn and then I can quantitatively compare the ash to others.

There is a difference between the extruded coconut and natural briquettes. The extruded coconut has no binder. It is extruded under tremendous heat and pressure which takes care of making it all stick together. Briquettes are not compressed under as much heat and pressure and therefore need some sort of binder such as wheat paste or yucca paste (in the case of the natural brands). It is my assumption that the binder is what produces the large increase in ash.

Well, FWIW, the Wicked Good Charcoal briquettes produced less ash than several of the 50+ brands of lump that I have tested. So, there is some hope, lol.

Well, we are sort of celebrating two days early, having over the couple that did our renovation. Guess what? It's Paella again! We are having gazpacho and mushroom garlic toast for tapas/starters, paella for the main course and an apple flan with carmelized sugar syrup and blackberries for dessert. At least, that's the plan. It's hot out there today. I hope the temperature comes down by 7 when I'll be doing the paella. It gets just a bit hot sauteeing over a hot KK!

Also, it is worth noting that there is a new model of Thermopen which has pluggable sensors. It is more expensive, but it allows more opportunity for playing around with tech toys!

Pardon my French, but WTF? I don't know where it went. I was updating it, and I checked it after each update, and then poof it was gone. It's back now. Too wierd.....

I just added KK-specific information to my page on paella (as well as printer-friendly versions of the recipes). I used a 17" pan (could probably go as large as 18") and made a boatload! http://www.nakedwhiz.com/paella/paella.htm

Sanny, this will be a modified version of the seafood recipe on my webpage. I'm using some salmon, shrimp and clams, and adding artichoke bottoms. I'm also using the 17" pan today. There's gonna be leftovers!!!!

Tonight is paella, but this time, cooked on the KK!

The following post on the Egg forum might be helpful: http://www.biggreenegg.com/wwwboard/mes ... 3421.shtml

Tri tip is a very very tasty piece of meat! I would sear, then roast to medium rare, then slice thin across the grain. You can marinate them if you like. I can get marinated tri tips at the local grocery and I'm told Costco sells plain old tri tip. Try one, you will love it!

jehliner, Just to clarify, the mold he referred to is that fact the Kamado shipped a bunch of extruded charcoal that was moldy when they shipped it. It wasn't a problem of people not storing it correctly, but rather moldy product being shipped. Then, IIRC, Kamado didn't offer refund or replacement, they just said to let it dry out, and it won't hurt anything. So, that left a bad taste in some people's mouth, no pun intended. Re: the flavor, the flavor isn't off, but extruded coconut charcoal does give the food a very definite flavor. I did a side-by-side blind taste test using the wife as a subject (the wife who sits down to a nice tenderloin steak and asks if it is lamb ) and even she easily could tell that the extruded coconut flavored the food more than Royal Oak. It is a pleasant flavor, but it isn't tasteless like many people claim. I think if you get a box that wasn't shipped full of mold, and if you get it at an acceptable price, the extruded coconut is good charcoal, it just isn't quite like it gets described. BTW, when I review charcoals, I don't give the price too much weight since price can vary so drasticaly from outlet to outlet, and I gave the Kamado charcoal a very good rating.

Is this a new feature for the Guru to shut down when the meat hits the target?

I have just posted a product review of the 23" OTB Supreme cooker at my website. I hope you find it helpful! Review of Komodo Kamado cooker Naked Whiz New Product Review: Komodo Kamado Refractory Grill

Well, my smoked turkey breasts used to be the hit of the annual Student Ambassador Parent's Weekend pot luck dinner at Susie's undergrad school, but the enticement of turkey breasts for life didn't entice them enough to hire her, LOL. I'm putting my hope on this ESP thing! Thanks!

It would help if everyone could concentrate all their ESP thoughtwaves and focus them towards Burlington, VT and say "Hire Susie!" 'Hire Susie!" She is on pins and needles waiting to hear from U of VT on a job. We have our fingers crossed!

I just got my 17" paellera so I can make a big one on the KK! I'll have to try it next weekend. This weekend our daughter graduates from grad school so we'll be busy.

I'd eat hotdog deconstructed before I'd eat those things. I'm sorry, but damn I just don't see any reason to gross myself out and then puke.

Indeed, that photo is from my review of the Kingsford "lump".

It's better at night, lol:

Sanny, I know what you mean. I've made a few "unauthentic" but very delicious dishes in my time, LOL! And of course there is also the "the picture didn't look like this, but it's very good tasting" class of dish.

I just made paella tonight! Best pan for paella is (drum roll) a paella pan, which you can buy at (second drum roll) www.paellapans.com. Ok, you can also buy them from latienda.com and spanishtable.com. I saw earlier in the thread someone mention using arborio rice due to its creaminess. While arborio rice can be used, paella is not supposed to be creamy. To quote paellapans.com, "The rice should be dry and separate when done, not creamy like risotto." You can get proper paella rice from any of those three websites. For anyone who hasn't tried it, it is great fun and a good dish for company to share. Paellapans.com has some good information on their website about the basics, as well as some recipes.

You might try cranking up the temps to 450 for the last few minutes to crispen up the skin.

Lead Dog, I hacked some javascript that I had developed for something more fancy. It required IE because of some of the tricks used and I wasn't smart or industrious enough to make them work for all browsers. DAMN I LOVE PORTABLE LANGUAGES, LMAO!! So, there you have it. Nator, I had never seen the brisket piercing before and I wonder why they did it. I didn't get a chance to ask. FWIW, the briskets were a bit overcooked, so I don't know if the piercing helped them dry out or if it was truly just that they cook too long.