TheNakedWhiz

I'll have to see what I can find. Thanks!

My English wife (yes, the wife who....) wanted smoked cod just like they had back in England. Cold smoked and yellow. I chose the Komodo Kamado over the BGE for this since the distance between the heat/smoke source and the fish would be the greatest. Plus, I figured the KK's greater mass would take longer to heat up than the Egg. And also, the KK allows me to insert and remove my little fire holder through the lower vent so that I didn't have to move racks to replace the charcoal or add more wood slices. Essentially, I used the same method that I use for cold smoking cheese. I light a few briquettes and add slices of smoking wood on top. Using such a small fire meant that I could keep the temperature low without resorting to a second cooker and a piece of dryer vent hose feeding the KK. In the end, using this method I was able to keep the temperature at the level of the fish at 93-94 degrees when the outside temperature was 82 degrees. (I also put up the umbrellas to keep the sun off the black KK.) In the end, it turned out pretty good except that the end product wasn't exactly what the wife (yes, the wife who....) remembered. I'm working on that part with Clive, my UK culinary advisor. (Clive plays the cello, so Clive must know everything!) Next time, I am going to try putting a little rack beneath the briquettes in the foil pan to improve the airflow. The fire required quite a bit of tending. Also, I'm going to raise the fish using a raised grid to get it higher above the ice pan so that more smoke can get underneath the fish. I had to turn the fish over halfway which meant smoking twice as long.

Naaah, the truly anal among us would complain that it refers to altitude instead of elevation.

Sanny, another thing to try when having company who might like less smoke is Cowboy charcoal. Lotsa folks have observed that it produces less smokey flavor. Good luck!

Just took care of that.

Heck, even my earlier model 22" OTB was stunning in it's quality and all the design improvements over the other brands. I drool when I see the latest models. Dennis, can't you get a shipper to drop one in Raleigh, again?

The wife is heading off to Vegas for a long weekend. That means I can cook all the things she doesn't like, and make a mess of the kitchen as long as I clean it all up before 5:30 pm EST on Sunday! My KK is going to get a workout the next 4 or 5 days!

I think the only trouble I had was getting used to a rotary top vent vs. one where you set the size of the hole visually. I was usually opening it too much and then having trouble keeping things low. It was a "feel" sort of thing I had to get used to. It's no sweat now....

Could you arrange for Chris to use a green one in North Carolina, LOL!

Sniff! I happen to have a black textured 22" OTB and it looks pretty cool. Doesn't look anything like that shiny metal things.

Congratulations! Keep up the good work!

Yes the 10CFM blower has an adjustable damper from 0% ot 100%.

Happy New Year, Tony!

Nice article! thanks for the info!

Dennis, sounds exciting! I can't wait to hear about anything new! Happy New Year and congrats on the house in Bali!

You are going to love your cooker when it arrives! Merry Christmas and may you have a great new year of cooking on your KK!

Damn, today was brutal!! I was walking around with a camera and tripod taking photos of Christmas lights and I'm sweating, LOL! Merry Christmas!

We are spending Christmas week down in Hilton Head and Scooby the Wonder Dog is having a great time! Merry Christmas to you all!

I got a PM about paella pan sizes, so I thought I'd spill what I know here, in case anyone else is interested. Here's a link to my webpage on paella: Paella on Ceramic Cookers The question came up as to the largest pan size you could use on a KK. The question is tricky because, while pans are labeled as 17" or 13", that doesn't include the size of the handles. What's more, different brands of pans have different handles with different measurements. The largest pan I would use on the KK is my 17" pan. Here's a photo: As you can see, you might be able to squeeze an 18" pan in there (if the handles are the same as these handles) but then you would not be able to move the pan around. You will probably want to be able to rotate the pan in order to deal with any slight out-of-level condition (your frying oil may all run to one side) and to deal with any unevenness in the heat from the fire. So, the pan in the photo is the ideal size, as far as I am concerned. Also, the many sources of pans claim widely different numbers of servings for the same size pan. It all depends on a) is the paella the only thing you are serving? how much "stuff" you put in your paella, and c) how hungry are you and your guests. If you are serving only the paella and you have healthy appetites, the 17" pan probably will only serve 4-6 people. Especially if you are serving it in the traditional style of placing the pan in the middle of the table and eating from the pan. (This also assumes you are making paella in the traditional way of having only a thin layer of rice in the pan.) And finally, I have not owned an enameled pan. I was drawn to the traditional steel pan, aesthetically, so that's all I've tried. And the cheap side of me couldn't see buying a stainless steel pan, certainly not until after I had tried paella and found out what size really suits me. So, at this point, I've only ever owned the polished steel pans. They hold up very well. I always give them a wipe with a few drops of oil before putting them away, and rust has not been a problem. But if I were buying my first pan, I think I'd buy a tradtional steel pan, and only invest in a more expensive pan after I had determined the right size for me.

Yes, I am a very happy person, lol. Oh there I go again, lol. And again!!! I can't stop. LOL. OH, AGAIN! SOMEBODY STOP ME, LOL! AGAIN!!

I just got a pepper grinder made by U2PLT and man is it beautiful! I thought you might enjoy seeing a photo of it: This one is made from cocobolo, one of my favorite woods. It is hefty and has a quality ceramic grinding mechanism. Simply stunning, I'd say.

Mad Max Turkey Central is now open. There will be a new tip every day for the next week, and of course, the Mad Max Turkey recipe. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving meal cooked on your KK! Max Mad Turkey Central

BGE charcoal is plain american hardwood lump charcoal. Extruded coconut is a different animal altogether. You might poke around the lump charcoal database (http://www.lump-charcoal.com/) to learn more about it. EC is harder to start and takes longer to get to hot temps. However, it really isn't intended to be the only charcoal you use. It is best for low and slow and moderate roasting temps. It burns evenly and constantly and is great for overnighters. It also has a different taste than hardwood lump. You probably should do a side by side chicken-tender cook over fresh charcoal of both types to see how they differ. But for a ripping hot steak cook, I'd use regular lump charcoal. Good luck!

Whilst taking a boat ride at Hilton Head, I was able to see that one of the 10 million dollar homes had a #9 POSK on its rear deck facing the sound. As far as I could see, it still had most of its tiles attached, at least on the side facing the water. So, there is definitely a market in the high end home market! Just imagine if they had a good cooker! However, do builders often include charcoal cookers? I'd think that most builders would include the safer choice of (choke) gas.

You don't need to dry the extruded coconut charcoal. That was necessary for the charcoal sold by another company because they somehow allowed it to get very wet and moldy. Komodo Sustainable should arrive nice and dry. Just stack the boxes until you need them.