jdbower

Today Dave was featured in an ABC7 segment found here: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=6820652 This is at least his third appearance, with one at New Years (sorry, they couldn't get the KK into the studio and didn't want to brave the winter Chicago weather ): http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=6576638 And another a year ago in May 2008: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=6151633 Nice work all around, nice to have a local celebrity here!

I'm most surprised by the number of people who don't seem to use sauce at all - they've got the most votes. Vinegar on pulled meats and molasses on chicken and ribs I think we agree on (I had forgotten about ribs, but a nice dry rub is also pretty good - especially when eating in public without a raincoat ). Steak poses an interesting question. I've used balsamic marinades which turned out very well, but that doesn't count as a sauce. For a tender steak (barring au jus on a prime rib) I don't like any sauces at all, but Legal Seafood has a horseradish butter that they use on their fillet mignon that I may try to make sometime. For the steaks with a more firm texture sometimes I do like pushing them up to a more medium doneness and using some steak sauce. These cuts are also good with a rub for a little extra flavor, but now I'm wondering if the proper molasses BBQ sauce caramelized on them during the cook would also complement them for a change of pace. Of course these are usually the cuts that I buy on sale so they frequently need a little help over a nice premium cut.

Re: Newbie Questions I'm sure there are a lot of variables with this (pork or beef? Short or spare?), but you may be better off searching the forum for pictures of ribs. I'll let others who've loaded up their cooker answer this one. Having both, I'd say they're close. I keep my high temp cooks on the 19.5" these days but that's just because I have lump in there and use the 23" for low-and-slows. The 19.5" will heat up a bit faster because it's smaller and lighter, but I think the airflow is a bit better in the 23" so that helps even things out. I can measure, but the sear grills are about the same height.

When it comes to BBQ, which one is king in your book? Both the Eastern vinegar-based BBQs and the thicker tomato-based sweeter sauces are tasty in their own way, but I've got to lean towards a nice vinegar sauce on some pulled meat as my favorite (at least this week!). However I can also appreciate a thicker sauce on chicken or in some beans. While on a conference call with some fine people from Kansas City a while ago the subject of BBQ came up and I was rather dismayed at how polarized they were against vinegar-based sauces. Is this a sacred thing in the heart of BBQ country or were these people an anomaly and most like all things cooked low and slow regardless of the sauce consistency? I do wonder about one thing; most of the thicker sauces have a distinct flavor of molasses, but what do they do with the rest of the mole?

Just as a reminder for Sanny, arm hair and eyebrows do not make good smokewoods! I tend to do a lot more poultry and find that apple and hickory work well adding a bit of sweetness in the process. Mesquite seems a bit sharper but holds up well against pork and beef. But I guess it all depends on the audience, for example the better the cut of beef the less flavoring I like to use. A sirloin usually gets a dusting of a rub (but generally cooks fast enough not to be able to use smoke), but a thick and juicy fillet mignon or rib roast goes au naturale onto KKEC.

KKEC does take a while to come up to temperatures above ~300F or so but having power draft (Stoker/Guru) does help. For low-and-slows I use KKEC, but for higher temps I do what FM does and use the local varieties of lump. Wally World by me doesn't sell much other than binder-filled briquettes, but Lowes sells Cowboy and the grocery stores sell some more premium brands. Frankly for high temp cooks I'm not sure I can tell the difference other than Cowboy has a bit more of that rather relaxing tinging sound when it lights.

Re: Rosemary Chicken I don't know that "subcutaneous space" has even been used on this forum before

And it's now also on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/watch/72718/nbc-tod ... -4,vclip,1 If you've got an XBox 360 or PS3 you can use PlayOn to watch it over and over again on your TV with PlayOn.

I'm curious about the number unique IP hits for the next few days - hopefully you've garnered a bunch more well-deserved attention and admiration!

I got both at the same time, I have the 23" set up with Dennis' extruded coconut charcoal for low temp (<350F or so) cooks and the 19.5" set up with hardwood lump for high temp grilling. This allows me to do things like this weekend when I imagined (was too busy to take pictures so it didn't happen!) that I had a turkey going at 325F in the 23" while I was cooking porterhouses at 500F in the 19.5". For shipping I'd shoot Dennis an email for a new quote - they change frequently and sometimes dramatically. It will also vary if you need a liftgate (I have a forklift so I could save a bit on that). I special ordered mine and they took roughly a month or so to get to me if I remember correctly. If you find ones you like in the warehouse in CA you can probably get them in a week or two. You can check out the threads here to see if any colors look interesting to you.

Sorry, this cooker's already been claimed by a lucky owner!

Welcome! The only real answer, of course, is that you should buy one of each! I have both the 19.5" and the 23", but if I could only choose one it would be the 23". The 19.5" is still a great unit and has two benefits. One is that it's a bit cheaper, the other is that it's a bit smaller if you need to keep it on a balcony or small patio. You can also see some more comparisons here, and feel free to ask me about any details I'm missing. And if you want to make a trip to Framingham I'd be happy to show you them in person. As for the model, really there's only one that's actively being made and that's the Gen II OTB. Most people think as you do, why skimp on a few hundred when you're already dropping the dough on the best grill out there. There are a few supremes in the inventory list if you want to save a bit and get a rapid shipment, the reality is that they both cook food about the same so it's just a matter of settling for the best of the best instead of the best of the best of the best.

Nah, Dennis uses Macs and they don't always work right so there was a duplicate post you responded to. I've merged the topics.

Welcome aboard, even if you do like your fillets burned to a crisp (they should be shown a picture of the KK and then they're done! ). I've got to say that steak on a ceramic is a wonderful experience. Keep your eyes open, even so often Dennis has quite a deal available locally if you'd care to upgrade. In the mean time feel free to share your experiences with us. Enjoy!

I subscribe to International SOS Alerts and it seems like Dennis has been advertising in the Netherlands:

I think I may have to stop reading your recipes - I'm a Worcestershire sauce fan myself and need to try this out!

RF design is a black art to me still, all sorts of weird things can go into the calculation of getting the best signal. I'd imagine that keeping the antenna mostly straight would be better, but I don't know if you'd be better off keeping the antenna vertical, horizontal, or at some angle (and who knows, maybe keeping it in a coil lets those electrons really build up speed before they shoot out the end ). Chances are your mileage will vary based on the number of walls (if any) you're going through, if they're concrete or wood, if there's metal ductwork, if there are power lines in them, if you've got other RF devices in the area, etc. Trimming the antenna to a precise length may also help, if the transmitter is at 900MHz having a multiple of 6.24" could help isolate the appropriate wavelength. You can calculate the length with a more precise frequency here. Trial and error is often the best way to experiment with these things since there's so much variation from setup to setup. But I'm not an RF engineer - now if you wanted to mount an optical transceiver and run fiber between the transmitter and receiver I could set you up with a sweet multi-channel DWDM system for running a bunch of probes and if you wanted to go more than 50 miles or so I could show you where to put the amplifier

In case anyone's interested, I saw this on TVWBB: http://www.instructables.com/id/Increas ... ermometer/

Probably a pretty small one, I'm afraid. I've got a 12 pounder in the fridge now and I doubt it'll be able to fit. When last I talked to the EZ-Que people (early this year) they said it should be available around now - I'd call to find out when the 8" model will be available. If not, you can try to get one from Viking. I think this one would do: http://www.universal-akb.com/8vikbas30gri.html

For charcoal it's hard to do any real research and *NOT* find TNW's site, but just in case you need it: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm In my large cooker I use pretty exclusively Dennis' extruded coconut charcoal for cooks around 350F or less. In my small one I like it hot, usually around 500F or so, and I use whatever lump's available - often Cowboy from Lowes but a local supermarket has Full Circle. Regarding the BBQ Guru vs. Stoker, I'm a Stoker fan. The Guru is a much more slick-looking implementation and works well out of the box, but I like the Stoker's computer interface and when paired with StokerLog (a free third party application to control it) I feel it's the superior device. The other benefit is that I'm usually sitting too far away from the cooker for a wireless transmitter to function so using Ethernet to talk to it is perfect. If you're not a "techie" and the Guru's wireless range is OK for you (assuming you want the wireless version) that may be the better choice. If you like to play or need multiple cooker support I think the Stoker is your better option - but there's a ton of opinions out there that go both ways.

Heretic! Uh, I mean welcome to the forum. We don't discriminate based on your, um, "lifestyle choice" but we may ask that you only gradually introduce green things into your pictures - some of us haven't seen them before So what kind of vegetarian are you? I've known some that don't include seafood, some that don't go for eggs or milk, and one that even knew enough to stay away from marshmallows (they have gelatin which is a bone meal byproduct). I'll have to dig through my recipe stash to see if I can find any that you can try out. I'm glad to see that Dennis' sense of taste extends beyond the carnivore genre, you've made quite an investment in quality and looks for someone who won't be sampling the animal-based meals. One of my favorite vegetarian conversations (from a British sit-com):

Out of curiosity, can you see the videos here? If so, it may show up here after it airs. The Today Show is also on Hulu (NBC is an investor in the site) but I know Hulu restricts the source IP address to US users only for licensing reasons. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28901249/ Here is the full MNBC link: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/ ... 6#30698556

Congrats! I'm sure you and the Mrs. will be very happy with the choice - a neighbor of mine commented that we should keep ours in the living room so we can gawk at them. It would also help you sleep better at night, assuming you don't need to wake up! However I'm not sure anyone with the moniker "sane"smith will be happy on this forum

Re: high temp silicone plugs I'll save you some trouble since I keep forgetting to mention that I've already got a ton, but I'll start a new thread so the information isn't lost here.