jdbower

The current officially supported release of the Stoker firmware is available at Rock's BBQ website under support: http://rocksbarbque.com/downloads.html It's currently listed as 2.1.3 which was released in August of 2008. Since then Rock's made a few changes and Kaytat has been keeping up. While I wouldn't recommend updating the firmware unless you know what you're doing, they have been adding some neat features and I'm sure a ton of bug fixes. The latest is Twitter support, and the releases can be found here: http://www.kaytat.com/ Once a build migrates from Alpha/Beta to Releases it's a bit more happy to run, but if you like life on the edge go for it! Obligatory warning - firmware updates are often pretty scary and there's the chance you'll need to ship the unit back to Rock if something goes wrong.

Re: Another problem

This isn't a legal site it's a BBQ site. The only Latin allowed here is Pig Latin

Some brats being grilled, part way through I added a Vidallia onion sliced in half. Crappy camera phone says the onions are pure white and lost all the texture Yes, I too use the dreaded Weber "wok" - but I think I have an excuse! Two brats sliced and stir fried with sliced onions and peppers; the rest of the brats left whole. Not much space here - I may need to start using my 23" for some grilling or use another level! The halved onions came out well but I could have left them on longer. Also a spatula is probably a better tool over the tongs - it helps you replace them so you don't mess up the grill marks. Johnsonville Beer 'n' Brats are great!

With at least four able-bodied people to help I wouldn't worry about the ramp, just some 2x4s with a little padding (just in case) and they should be able to lift the cooker off the shipping base enough for someone else to kick the base out from underneath - this'll be a piece of cake! And here's that picture of Cozy's for those who are too lazy to search for it

My thoughts exactly, I think we're going to like her! You may want to download StokerLog 5 - it's a fantastic front end for the Stoker. But even without it the Stoker's not that hard to use - either through the device itself or the simple web interface. And we're always here if you've got any questions.

Re: The Today Show Dry rub Are you saying you need to be a mouse or other pan-dimensional being in order to fully enjoy it? Can't wait until my wife's Thai peppers start producing - she's got a ton of plants!

Congrats! If you're new to charcoal, I'd recommend pretty much any sort of charcoal sporting the words "natural lump" - Cowboy is available in many Lowes in the area and apparently Royal Oak in some Walmarts (but I've had trouble finding it in NJ and MA). You may also want to consider a BBQ Guru or Stoker (probably the Guru unless you like techie toys - the Guru has a nicer out-of-the-box user interface while I like the Stoker better once you hook it to your home network), these devices can really take a lot of the guess work out of charcoal basics if you've never had to regulate the airflow to get the temperature you want. Enjoy!

Re: Wheeling and Leveling a KK First, welcome aboard and warm up that digital camera Especially if you have the larger 23" model I doubt there will be an issue. The casters on the 23" are pretty big and glide easily over most surfaces. The 19.5" casters are a little smaller so you may have to use more effort or go slower but again there probably won't be an issue.

My 23" loosened a bit during shipping as well, it's easy to tighten and if you want you can also grab some Loctite Blue (DON'T use the red stuff or you'll never get them apart again!) which will hold it in place even better. I haven't bothered with the Loctite yet.

Two things are pretty common: 1. Make sure the lid is fully latched. There's a "cracked" mode where the lid is slightly open and unless you push on the latch it won't seal all the way. 2. You can also try readjusting your lid by removing tension on the spring, opening the lid a few times (be careful not to drop it!), and then tightening the spring again. It's normal for a new cooker to come out of alignment a bit during the few few cooks as it settles.

While I don't have it (yet!), Chris Lilly's book is said to be excellent not only as a cookbook but as an explanation as to techniques. Personally I'm more of an interactive learner, I've learned more hanging around here and experimenting than I ever could have from a book. Here's the basic idea: Smoking is very low temperatures (the lower the better) and it's great if you don't want to cook the food. You'd smoke cheese, use the same technique on jerky, use it on preserved meats, etc. BBQ or low-and-slow usually also involves smoke and is done in the 200-300F range (usually 220F gets mentioned). Low and slow is perfect for those tough pieces of meat because it gives the fat and connective tissue time to render away into a tender chunk. Usually the final temperatures for BBQ is higher than the final temps for other cooking styles and the meat is often pulled to pieces before eating. BBQ takes 12-24 hours or so. I call temperatures from 250-400 in the KK roasting. This is the temperature I usually use for poultry to keep it moist. It's also good for low-fat meats like tenderloins. This usually takes 2-6 hours depending on what you're making and smoke is often used. Above 400F or so is grilling - usually I shoot for about 500 degrees for my steaks, sausages and pizza. Here you cook quickly and there's usually a very distinct difference between the outside of the meat (charred slightly) and the inside (rare or medium). High temp grilling is usually too fast for good smoke penetration so I usually skip it. The more refined taste buds out there may offer a differing opinion, of course. You'll note that there's some overlap in the definitions because cooking is pretty flexible. Chemists often make the worst cooks because they try to measure everything precisely and follow a formula - this is useful in baking but not so much in cooking. To me the best way to cook is to experiment, be a little sloppy and imprecise but remember what you did differently. Sometimes you catch onto something you really like.

MSN also published the recipe here, once you try it buying the book is an easy decision

I also wouldn't worry too much about the lump brand for high temp cooks - generally the food isn't on there long enough to give it much more than a generic (but tasty!) "charcoal" flavor - I know I haven't noticed a difference between Cowboy and more expensive brands at those temps - now cooks that take multiple hours may be another story entirely.

I second that (OK, third - was a little slow on the Submit button!). The extruded is great because it's very evenly textured and dense which makes is a great choice for low and slows, but as you've noticed it takes forever to get up to temps for high heat and it's really a waste of its benefits. I'd recommend getting a second cooker and keeping lump in one and extruded in the other. Barring that, it may be slightly cheaper to get a metal ash bucket from Home Despot so you can dump the remains of one charcoal type and replace it with another. Another option could be to ping Dennis about buying a second lump basket to make the switchover even easier. If you do still want to use the extruded for your high temp cooks you can also look into getting a power draft device like the Stoker or Guru. Putting a 10CFM fan into the cooker does help get the temps up, and I think you can even go for a 25CFM with the BBQ Guru.

Nah, that was clearly a passing bird that grabbed some!

Re: Charcoal cost

Very nice! I like the pattern on the cooker and the background ain't half bad either

If the wine stopper starts to burn away a little wad of aluminum foil is also a good substitute. Enjoy your new toy!

A man after my own heart; I've got two silken black beauties myself. Welcome aboard and let us know if you need any help learning about them.

Good for you! Warm up those cameras because pictures are mandatory here Which color(s) did you get?

You've been a member of the family since at least May 19th, but now you're a very happy member! Sounds like you got the new bronze tiles, if you had gone with the ceramic tiles they wouldn't attract lightning so much This is a great time to start brining your first big cook, have you decided what it'll be yet? Enjoy and stay dry and un-electrified! The flamey guy gets used so often I figured I had to use the lightning storm to let this guy out!

Nope, I recycle it! (I hate eBay URLs!) Actually a simple grilled vidalia onion sliced in half across the grain and grilled for a few minutes (turning once) was a big hit. Got the idea from Legal Seafood but I may expand on it with a touch of vinegar or a light seasoning. Very simple so it was imagined, but I'll whip out the Nikon (or at least the Blackberry) next time around. Thanks for making dinner tonight possible and happy birthday Dennis!

I hereby dedicate tonight's sausage, peppers and onions to you!