jdbower

They've also got some posts there about replacing it with a metal colander and having good results. There are also some hints about some Weber parts that are good fits, but I can't remember the details (luckily, I have no need for these fixes myself )

Believe it or not, cheesecake does very well in the KK. I use KKEC and no added smoke, that's all that you'll probably need since it will really soak up whatever's in there. My latest attempt was directly after a pork loin smoke so there may have been a few volatiles left from the mesquite/Jack Daniels I used. The pork was at 220, but I boosted the temp up to 350 for the cheesecake. The trick to cheesecake is even temperatures so let it heat soak a bit at the new temps, cook it indirect, and then there's a little extra trick I use. Put a clean dishcloth into a roasting pan or, as I did, a skillet. Put the springform on the cloth and fill the pan with hot water about halfway up the side of the springform. This was my second attempt, it was a bit smokier than the first (which was a standalone and didn't have the mesquite/JD remnants) but it's more of a lovely smell than a true flavor. It adds a hint of a spicy note to the cheesecake, you'd probably guess it was a dash of cinnamon. Very tasty and a big hit at Thanksgiving. This pic was actually from the first attempt, the foil is to get it off the springform a bit more easily. Once again proving that if it can be done in an oven it can be done in a KK better!

You're a brave man, I haven't been willing to tote my creations around - too worried they'll dry out or the skin will get soggy in transit I guess. As an interesting experiment, you can try LarryR's Roadside Chicken recipe on turkey as well. I do it indirect and it adds a nice flavor, but perhaps not a very Thanksgiving-y one

I'm (un)lucky enough to be the odd man out - I always need to travel for family holidays since I live the furthest away (especially now that I'm in MA). This year's a little different so I'm staying here, but I'm bringing some food for my brother-in-law and his family/friends. I'll be cooking a cheesecake on the KK shortly and I'll be making some sourdough bread, rye rolls, and some Zuppa Tuscana to bring with on Thursday morning. I haven't decided on oven vs. KK for the bread yet, the cheesecake is a no brainer since I just pulled off some pork and it's still warm.

First, congrats on getting ready for your first cook! Personally I find it hard to screw anything up with the KK - and I've tried! I like using my Stoker to control the fire but I'm a gadget guy (nothing beats remote desktoping in from my BlackBerry at work to check on the temperatures!). When I first started with the KK I did the manual draft control thing and it's very stable. Always aim for a little lower than what you're setting (it's easier to get it hotter than to cool it down) and after an hour or two you may need to adjust things once it's heat soaked. There is something to be said for making something you're already familiar with so you can compare results, but I think your brisket will be fine. As for the routine mopping, it depends on what I'm going for. Most meats I'd rather brine and dry rub and leave it sit in the cooker untouched. But LarryR has a Roadside Chicken recipe where I marinade frequently, it adds to the flavor a lot but the frequent openings can make the fire a bit more difficult to control and negates a lot of the moisture retention the KK does very well. Still, it comes out great and is worth the effort. I tend to follow a recipe pretty exactly the first time around and then modify after the fact based on the results. The frequent bastings could bring out some curry-like flavors and textures if done in one way, or could create layers of caramelized flavor in another. Or they could simply be a crutch for the Weber-toting masses who would otherwise end up with a dried out lump of cow and not needed for we KKers.

I'll send my reply to your dedicated thread which should get more attention.

I've got one Italian left and I'll have two Austrian by the week's end. I keep them in 1 quart mason jars with the lid on upside down and lightly tightened. I'm a tad concerned about cross-contamination in the fridge, but that's half the fun I suppose.

I know I've been away for a while, but hopefully I'll be able to weasel my way back. It's nice to see the forums still humming away! I've got a new job (with a new commute into Cambridge - working from home is much better for hanging out on the forums!). I've also been expanding my cooking habits a bit more (details and pics to follow). Cast iron skillets are fantastic multi-purpose things that work just as well in the oven as on the stove. I've also got a more reasonably sized carbon steel wok for inside use, but it does need a stove upgrade to be really effective. A stainless stockpot since soup is good in the cold weather and a huge pressure cooker to can the garden harvest. And I've hooked my Stoker up to a proofing box where I'm currently activating an Austrian sourdough culture that loves rye flour. Hopefully I'll get the chance to share some pics with you guys soon. This weekend it's back to cooking with fire when I make two small pork loins for pulling, a cheesecake, and then gearing up for some bread and other goodies to bring with me for T-day at my brother-in-law's.

And perhaps just as importantly, does it fit in the 19.5" upper grill?

The goal of having the holes on the bottom is to direct the smoke back into the fire where more volatiles can burn off. This smooths out the flavor of the smoke and produces a different effect than letting it leak out the top seal.

Re: Stoker pearls

Also check how you're lighting the fire. If you're using a torch or chimney you may not want to light as much. If you're using the propane burner you may want to turn it off after you get to 150-175 or so, otherwise you'll overshoot and need to wait for the temps to drop down again. Finally, make sure you've got the fan installed correctly, there should be a flap that drops down when it stops blowing. If you look into the fan when it's off you should be able to see the flap and how it works.

A little further research found this model at Jameco which is the same power supply that Rock ships out.

You can try stopping by Radio Shack, they've got a variety of plugs that you can try out to find the right style and they should have a 2A 5V power supply for you. Note that the Stoker is labeled as 2A@5V but the included power supply is overrated and supports 6A@5V. DJ, the reason for the EEPROM is because the Stoker has a bus mechanism that's pretty much infinitely expandable. You can plug the fan in anywhere and use as many fans as you like, so they need to be able to be properly identified by the system before they can be recognized and addressed.

A decent idea, DJ, but I think the Stoker is a 5V system while the Guru is a 12V system so you'd need a voltage conversion for it to work properly. The Stoker uses a 1/4" plug for both fans and probes, but has a proprietary EEPROM embedded in the connector to let the Stoker know that it's a fan and to give it a serial number.

I never have an issue with slow ramp downs - just pop it into the 19.5" at 500F and then transfer to the 23" at a lower temp. You just need to get a second one to get things working properly

Congrats! If they're moving it by hand I'd recommend emptying it out first to make it lighter. You can also remove the lid (both making it lighter and less top heavy). Finally, the crate materials may not be the strongest stuff out there (although Dennis' crates are pretty darn sturdy!) so I'd probably double up on the siderails, if you don't have 2x4s handy use a pair of the side supports on either side for a little more strength. And wrap them in a moving blanket of some sort to protect the tiles - one of our members learned that lesson.

Looks nice! Remember there aren't many stresses that go on other than vibration and worst case if the fan falls out and the fire may die (assuming you've got the top mostly closed) - if it's a snug fit you may be ready for a test run even without the muffler tape. Just keep an eye on the StokerLog graph and if the fan stays on with the fire dying off you may need to check on it. Of course, for an overnight cook a little security may be a good thing

As a temporary fix, I'd probably go to Home Despot or an autobody shop with the fan in hand and see if I could get a short length of metal pipe that fits inside the opening. I'd check plumbing, they should have copper pipe there but I'd probably go for the iron stuff they use for gas lines (seems like it should stand up to heat better). Car exhaust pipe may be even better since it'll be thinner. Depending on how good of a fit it is you may also want to try some muffler tape to keep it in place. This should be a serviceable cheap, temporary fix until Dennis gets back to you.

By the way, for the "fan stuck on" error condition I'd probably recommend the work around - just turn the unit on and off again and it usually clears. Rock's too small for the amount of business he does and it could be quite some time for a replacement. I'm also not convinced that it's actually a hardware issue; Kaytat is now has two priorities - fixing a StokerLog disconnect issue and fixing the fan bug (as per the 27 July post here) so hopefully a firmware update will get things running. My observations: 1. The fan stuck on only happens once in a blue moon for me. It seems to be related to having the Stoker powered on when I apply power, so now I just turn the Stoker off when I'm done and I don't turn it on until after the power strip has been on for a few seconds. 2. When you power on the Stoker make sure a fan is connected. The typical startup process should be that the fans all go on, then they all go off, then they follow the pit probe (usually they'll go on again, but I set my pit probes to 10F before I shut down since I've got two fans). If the fans don't go off for a few seconds you'll want to reboot the Stoker and try again. I usually keep a fairly close eye on things until I'm up to temperature just to make sure nothing funny's going on. As another tip, I've noticed that if my pit probe is touching the grate instead of the little probe holder it reads a much lower temperature so I end up with too hot a fire. This happens when the probe falls out of the holder, when I forget to close the firebox access door after adding smoke wood (only takes once to remember for the next time ), and when I'm using the Stoker for temps above the rated value. For this latter part, I just stick the probe itself through, not the Teflon coated wire that's the weak link. I've had no problems getting to 500-600F with this technique, but I also have a spare pit probe so there's less risk for me.

That's exactly the case here. I did my "naked" corn with chicken, IIRC, at about 300 or so and cooked it a bit longer.

You shouldn't need to worry about Port Forwarding for most home networks, that's only useful if you want to access the Stoker from the Internet (for example, if you have a smartphone with a browser you can access the web page from it remotely or you can check in on the status of a cook from your laptop at a coffee shop). I'd recommend downloading StokerLog here. It shows you a nice graph of the Stoker status and if you don't see the temperature rise fairly quickly or don't stabilize at the right temperature you may want to check the fan - but personally I've never had any issues. You can also see the little flapper in action by letting the fan cycle on and off while it's in your hand (obviously if you're not wearing glasses you could get dust in your eye, have to warn people about these things when there are lawyers about! ). I use a program on my BlackBerry called RDM+ which lets me see my Windows desktop without needing to worry about port forwarding - it lets me use StokerLog remotely which is much cooler than just the HTTP interface I always leave the lower damper fully closed when I use the Stoker. The upper damper I leave open quite a bit when I'm first starting the fire, but then I close it all the way and open it a crack once things get close to temperature. Hope this helps!