jdbower

Re: Keeping the Komodo Kamado Kleen Mostly I've learned that keeping it very clean is probably not worth the effort Barkeeper's Friend is reportedly pretty good stuff for the exterior trim, but I've never used it myself (I use another stainless cleaner my local supermarket carries). A Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is good for cleaning the tiles when there are drips or buildup near the damper. A GrillFloss is a good tool for a rough cleaning of the grills, I prefer a BillyBar but it's not stainless and using anything non-stainless on stainless steel will cause pitting and rusting. The grills don't need to be spotless, like a cast iron skillet they seem to perform a bit better when they're seasoned. Run it at a high temperature every so often to burn off buildup inside the cooker. I use a small bench brush to clean out the ashes before a cook when they start to build up (assuming it's been long enough that they're cool). I brush them onto the lid of a large container I use for other compostables and dump the ashes in. Like the grills, getting it spotless isn't that important - you'll just be filling it with ashes during the next cook anyway. I've had my eye on a fireplace vac which may be able to get more from the corners and crevices, but that seems like a bit more hassle.

Re: Buying 23 inch versus 19 inch I've also got one of each, but I tend to use the 23" more frequently. Some of that is that I use the 23" for extruded coconut that I use for anything 350F and below and the 19.5" is lump that I use for high temp grilling. I find the 23" to be a bit better proportioned aesthetically, but really fit and finish is excellent on both so you really have to pick nits to make an opinion. The 23" is also just the right size for the Costco pork loins I love to cook You can read my comparison here.

Re: Grill Floss vs Billy Bar I don't, but I also don't clean the grates very well. The Grill Floss does a great job doing a rough scaling, knocking off the crusty bits and drips. A SS brush may help to polish things up a bit better after that, but really it's only about to get smoky and gunky again so I leave mine "seasoned."

Re: Questions for the stoker people All Stoker blowers need an adapter - the blower itself just has a rectangular end plate. For older model KKs you'll want the KK adapter, for newer ones with the Guru-ready tube you'll want the Guru adapter. Where the changeover in port size happened is something better left for Dennis to answer himself.

Re: Questions for the stoker people I can't say with confidence that I've tried, but I suspect Dennis is on the right track. The 10CFM should be able to start things faster, but I don't think there will be an issue with the 5CFM once it's at temperature. Remember, with the lower damper you can get these temperatures without any pressure differentials and 5CFM of airflow should more than compensate for the size difference in the openings. That said, other than perhaps creating a bit of a larger hotspot if you light from underneath (I use the gas starter) or when you're low on charcoal I haven't seen any real issue with the 10CFM on the big boy. About the only consideration that may be worth looking into is extension cables, if you want to go a long distance you'll have better luck extending a 5CFM fan but you can also look into external power and a relay.

Re: It's Almost Here! Maybe the Bud was a tax write-off?

Re: Coldest KK Kook? I've gone down to the mid-teens, but not much further. I've told my wife that below that temperature we risk creating a a rift between the ratios of Gibbs and Helmholtz free energies which could result in a catastrophic fracture in the third law of thermodynamics, but really it's just that I don't want to go outside when it's that cold The KK stands up remarkably well in these ultra-low temperatures, especially with a 10CFM fan blowing frigid air into it every time I want to raise the temperatures. It's also a good example of BBQ vs. grilling. I'm fine with BBQ at these temps because I go outside exactly three times, to light the KK, to put the meat on, and to take the meat off. Grilling, on the other hand, is more active and involves all sorts of flipping and turning which isn't going to get done when it's that cold out!

A while ago I had been working on a program that provided a web proxy into the Stoker using a Linux box that I called stoker_mon. In a nutshell, you install an Apache webserver on the Linux machine, optionally forward traffic from the Internet to it, and it communicates with the Stoker to grab graphs and set the cook parameters - without exposing the Stoker's insecure interface to the rest of the world. It's still got a lot of really rough edges but I think it's largely usable (at least how I use the Stoker). The nice thing is you can use a program like VirtualBox to get it running on Windows or a Mac. Is there any interest in this from the forum? If so I'd be happy to look into adding features or changing things around a bit or making it a bit easier to set up (I've been thinking of just creating a VirtualBox image that's all ready to go). There are some screenshots and additional documentation here: https://www.ebower.com/docs/stoker_mon/ For reference, here's a graph of the temperatures outside while I was away for a few weeks: https://www.ebower.com/stoker/cooks/2010-11-07_20-04_172.16.13.100.json.gnuplot.png[/img:2ussd4w2] I had multiple probes running, even changed the set temperature in mid-cook, what's not obvious is that I was actually monitoring a second Stoker at the same time. Obviously I also support multiple blowers on a single Stoker.

Re: Do I buy a Guru or Stoker? And why... Please vote/comm For me there's no choice, the Stoker wins hands down. The Ethernet interface is a must-have, and apparently the ultra-low temperature (100F or so) handling is much better than the Guru. You can also add infinite probes and cookers off a single unit which is nice if you've got multiple things you want to control. Regarding the service issues, I've never run into any issues and apparently those that have say things got much better once Rock got help. If you like to tinker and you're a techie the Stoker is a clear winner. If you want something that just works without needing complicated network setups, either will do just fine and it's hard to go wrong with either. The Guru seems to have a slightly nicer user interface as a standalone unit, but the Stoker isn't that complicated and does not need a computer to work - it just gives you the option to hook it up to your computer if you decide to go that route.

Re: Viewing Pics It depends on the picture and how it was uploaded. In some cases that's the only picture size available, in others there just is no link embedded in the picture. Do the pictures in this post enlarge? Also note that the last pic of the subway warning should pop out when clicked, but won't enlarge since it's already as large as the original. If it doesn't work, which browser/operating system are you using?

Re: Making decision to purchase We've got a lot of people who are still around even if they're not active, you can send him a private message by clicking here to see if his cooker is still available for viewing. I'm sure you'll love it, this forum's members save Dennis a lot of advertising costs

Re: Elevation and Ambient Temperature - Factors? It may also be in how it was raised, American birds tend to be very breast-heavy with a high water content in the meat. Asian birds (at least chickens) often get a lot more exercise and they concentrate on the legs and thighs so the meat tends to be more dense (a bit tougher but more flavorful). Not needing to heat the large breast may cut down the cook time a lot if that's the case.

Re: Questions for the stoker people Maybe a but late, but my 5 or 10CFM fans both work fine in the 23" - the 5 may be a little more friendly at low temps but not enough for me to care.

Re: Stoker Rocks I've been using my Stoker to monitor the temperature of my house and back yard while I'm away - I'll have to post the graph from my DIY Linux app once I get back.

Re: Ok, so we have a new look... You can add Chrome under Linux (Ubuntu Maverick 32-bit and 64-bit) as well as the stock Android 2.2 browser. I also tried out SkyFire and Dolphin browsers under Android without issue. It also works OK using Lynx under Linux, but the graphics aren't showing up

Re: Not much cooking going on Of course we do! Real Mexican you need to seek out, there was a place called Juanitos in Red Bank and Howell back in NJ that I really miss. Up in MA we've got a choice of Taco Hell or a slew of places like Acapulcos which is what happens which TGI Friday's and Taco Bell have a drunken night together - essentially marginally better than Taco Bell with a few more sides, lots of alcohol, and 10x the price. Fish tacos have been creeping into some of the standalone non-Mexican restaurants so they're apparently becoming trendy up here.

Re: Why the difference in temperature? First off, you can try recalibrating your KK thermometer - that never hurts but it probably won't get them to match. You can also boil the Guru probe just to see if it's accurate, but I don't know if you can recalibrate like you can on the Stoker. It's often all about probe positioning. Placing your probe is an art form, especially in the beginning of the cook. You'll want to place the probe at the level of the meat, when cooking at multiple levels you may want to look into the Guru probe tree to split the different. If you place it in the center and it's surrounded by meat you may read lower since the meat will act as an insulator. If you place it too close to the edge (especially when cooking indirect) it may read too hot since that's where the updraft comes from. If you place it too close to the meat it will read colder, perhaps the KK thermometer is suffering like this now. In short, if you're happy with your probe placement I'd probably trust the Guru since you have no control over the KK placement. For me the Tel-Tru is a trim piece, it nicely breaks up the look of the dome and identifies it as a cooker to others but I rarely use it to measure the temperature these days.

Re: Anyone figured how to double seal foodsaver bags new mod I don't know if it's the same model (mine is about a year old from Costco and upright), but if I remember correctly you can seal once normally, then slide the bag out a bit and when you do the second seal just press the button again when the vacuum comes on. Of course, this is from memory and I've found I don't use it very frequently anymore

Re: KK- Top of Google "Ceramic Grills" search More proof that the KK is at the top of the heap!

Re: Stoker low temp stability I haven't tried that low, but if I remember correctly I was stable to 140F. I've gone lower with a fire, but that was more of an "oh crap, the meat's done and I'm still at work so I should shut down the cooker" situation so I wouldn't say it was a long-term stable temperature. The Stoker seems to "learn" a bit; when I first got it I had a few issues with overshoots but after a few cooks at normal temperatures that doesn't seem to be an issue anymore. On the high side, I've found that by putting just the tip of a pit probe into the cooker I can use the Stoker to drive very high temperatures. The probe itself seems to handle things fine, but anything close to 500F will melt the jacket.

Re: Afire Natural Coconut Charcoal

Re: Hello from Michigan! Glad to see people from places colder and snowier than MA are here, reminds me that things could indeed be worse Looking forward to those pics FM promised you'd post!

Re: Home made beans Any recipe for the beans? I've managed to find a decent red beans and rice recipe which I may have to try in the KK at some point, but now I'm getting hungry for some good old BBQ baked beans.

Re: Stoker low temp stability A while ago Rock was having trouble keeping up with the orders but he's now got hired help and his turnaround time is much better. I couldn't tell you what the lead time is now, but the complaints about it have dropped to pretty much nil on TVWBB since they new guy came on board. What I love about it is that the management interface is now pretty easy with a JSON interface. I'm in the process of building a web-based system to replicate some of the StokerLog functionality - an early version of this is how I generated the graph above.

Re: Say Goodbye to this Red forum Out of curiosity, what flavor of IE are you using? The later IE revs are apparently a bit better.