jdbower

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!

Re: TODAY SHOW - Komodo Kamado Congrats! Knowing how well my chicken came out last night I'm not surprised they invited you back after tasting yours!

Finally, a real pizza! I used the recipe here for the crust, but it did rise a lot more in the cooker than I remember it doing before. Still it was delicious. I made my wife's first and the dough was very sticky so transferring it to the pizza stone was a bit hard on the aesthetics. It also clumped the dough up a bit creating a much more bready experience that she enjoys. I let the stone heat for a little while afterwords as I made mine (and used a little Pam to preserve the looks a bit more). Basic spaghetti sauce topped with a shredded 6-cheese blend, a few marinaded mozzarella balls, and drizzled with hot chili oil and then cooked at 500F until the cheese started to burn a bit. Not quite the NJ-style crust I remembered but mine was nice and crisp on the bottom and very tasty. My wife's was a lot softer both because I didn't cook it as long and from the cooler stone - both customized the way we like them! I can definitely recommend smaller individual pizzas over one large one if you've got the chance.

Made some myself last night and it was great! Very flavorful and probably the most moist meat I've seen.

Pork shoulder Meat: 7.5lb Pork Shoulder Brine: None Rub: Dizzy Dust original Fuel: KKEC Smoke: Jack Daniels Method: Indirect, Main Grill Rotisserie: No Pit Temp: 220 Pull Temp: 195 Time: About 24 hours Draft Control: Stoker + StokerLog Tried out a pork shoulder. The meat came out much more moist and flavorful compared to the loin I tried before. My wife liked it a lot better, I'm a bit torn since I found some parts to be a bit greasier than the loin was. Either way it was still delicious with some more Carolina Red sauce.

Perhaps Prevalent? Possibly Preventable? Pleasurably Predictably Paltry. For those who read out loud you may want to squeegie your monitors. Anyone have a solution for "KK Legs" when it comes to cooking poultry? My usual practice is to slice off a leg and present it to the love of my life, then I turn away from the KK and give it to my wife. The problem with the KK is when I glance at the leg the bone falls out. Needless to say, this level of succulence is a fair trade for an amusingly hollow leg bone. Out of curiosity, anyone have any tricks for keeping the drumsticks intact while carving besides whipping out a scalpel?

Re: Flank Steak Counting this time? Once. VERY impressive for a steak that's burned to a crisp! I'm very glad my wife likes her steaks done about the same I do - compromising to a more medium rare rather than a rare is much easier to do.

I like the progressive color change of the lid. In the first shot it's only slightly yellowed and by the last it's pitch black - good work in record time!

If you're a Costco member (and who isn't on this board?) look for their Formaggio marinaded fresh mozzarella. It comes in a 40oz plastic tub and is marinaded in largely vegetable and olive oil. Not only are they the perfect size for dropping on a pizza and they last much longer, but they're also a bit more firm in texture than good fresh mozz (which I doubt you can even buy in a store!). This means they take a little longer to melt - a boon for you but a bane for me as I like them a little browned and crispy!