BigLazy23

Looks fantastic. What do you serve it with? Never thought of smoke g a shoulder but after seeing those pictures would love to give it a try.

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That roast looks great Tiny. What temperature did you end up cooking it at?

About those clean walls and grate. Time to plan the next cook to get some seasoning on those!

Inquiring minds want to know from those who have done both spatchcock and rotisserie, what is your preference? I've read that spatchcock is great to spread the chicken out to get a more even cook and crispy skin, whereas rotisserie is great as it keeps the backbone which provided a great amount of fat and juice. I think after reading Wilbur's post and seeing those mouth watering pics I'm just trying to rationalize the purchase of a rotisserie...

The splitter would have come in handy on that steak cook of yours. Direct sear, then just slide the steak over to the indirect side to roast to final temp. Easy, Peasy!

We also do burgers indirect and finish them direct (check the AmazingRibs Steakhouse Burger). Delicious and invaluable having the splitter.

That last picture says everything. Clean plate means great meal! You mentioned cooking on the main grate. What temperature were you cooking at?

Our Fresh Market had its Grand Opening yesterday (Foodie Heaven!!) and YES, they have Nueske's bacon. It's in the meat counter and isn't labelled as Nueske's, just "applewood smoked bacon," but the printed out label on your package says "Nueske's" on it.

Unfortunately, their pepper bacon isn't Nueske's, so I think that I know what I'm ordering to get the above freebie! Or, maybe the cherrywood smoked?

Thanks for the tip Tony. Literally headed to Fresh Market now and plan to pick up some of the bacon to go with burgers tonight. Best of all being in Virginia Fresh Market also stocks Dizzy Pig rubs - love trips to Fresh Market! Don't forget to try their mustard potato salad - favorite of mine and the Mrs.

Been away for a little while so a bit belated but congrats Frogs!  She's a beaut.  Hope when I get over to the Cooking Pics forum there are already some up of her in action!

Thanks, BigLazy23! You should know that your posts helped me make my decision. Although I’m not sure what kind of dog is going to match my grill.

Hah! In all fairness matching dogs are great but as far as grill accessories go not a lot of value (the exception being photo opportunities). What we really need is more people to eat the food I cook so that we can move on to the next cook quicker - less leftovers the better!

First pork butt (3.5lb) on the Komodo on the grill right now and bought a roast for tomorrow - pics to come later today or tomorrow depending on when it gets done (was at 162 at 12:30pm).

Hi everyone,

 

I placed an order for a 23†Ultimate this week, which will be my first kamado grill. It’s on the way to the US, after which it needs to make its way to central NJ. My guess is that it will get to me in early October, right around my birthday. Although I didn’t really plan it this way, this will make a nice birthday present.

 

I’m really excited about putting the 23†Ultimate to use. I’ve had a lot of experience grilling throughout my life using your typical round Weber charcoal grill and various inexpensive gas grills, including the one that just died on me after 10 years of faithful service. I imagine this will be like going from driving a Kia (no disrespect to my old grill) straight to an Audi.

 

Now I just have to wait.

Wilbur,

Originally saw your posts on another forum - great to see you found your way here and even more excited to see you have a Komodo on the way. I got a large smile from reading your post as it sounds almost identical to my story.... Ordered a Joe, backlogs with poor communication, etc., and used the extra time to do more research. I have only had my Komodo for a month but can't say how great it is owning a KK and how happy I am that things happened the way they did. Folks on this forum are great and the KK is second to none. Can't wait to see pics of your KK - recommend using the time while you wait to make sure you have all the fun toys, wood chunks, etc that you will want to have on hand when your KK arrives!

I'm right across the channel from you on St Maarten. Anyway I'm new to the forum as a member but like most I've been lurking for sometime. I just wired Dennis money last week and my grill is now at sea. The "rib shacks" on these islands do some amazing things, enjoy your stay.

Michael,

Hope you are having as good of a time as we are! Great food - unfortunately headed back home in two days (taking a ferry back to St. Maarten and then flying home from there). We expected great food on the island but the great rib shacks have been a welcome surprise. You will love the grill - can't wait to see you post pics of it.

John

In Anguilla, BWI for a week on vacation with my wife (missing our dogs and my new Komodo but having a great time). GM at our villas recommended a great BBQ place right on a small, secluded beach. Of course I jumped at it, and at 10am we headed off. It is "low" season here and was dismayed to see that, after walking up and down the beach, the place was still closed. Stayed close by and visited a few other sites in our jeep and about two hours later begged my wife to go back.

Much to my happiness there were cars parked out front and the windows were open. Walked in and I ordered a grilled crayfish/ribs dish and my wife ordered spicy grilled chicken. Had a few rum punch while waiting for the food and then received our food. Can't sing enough praise - best meal we have had in the first three days here. Going to go back before we leave and beg some more for the recipe for the ribs. Not a lot of sophisticate gadgets here but goes to prove that if you know what you are doing you can make a meal great.

Wish I took more pics; hope I am in the right forum but if not Dennis please move this.

That looks fantastic Hector - love fajitas.  The picture of the meat cut across the grain is beautiful.

 

What level was the grate that you cooked the meat on?

Gorgeous bird! Beautiful color!

 

This thread got me inspired, so I whipped up a batch of Cornell chicken marinade yesterday. Will be cooking the bird tonight for dinner. If I can remember, I'll post pics.

 

Forgot to mention. You'll need to use a drip pan for the Cornell chicken, as the marinade/baste has enough oil in it that it will cause flare ups otherwise. I like to put the pan on the lower grate and cook the chicken up high on the upper rack in the dome. Get better heat distribution that way. A good compromise over direct heat. It will take a bit longer to get crispy skin, but with the overnight marinade and basting, you don't worry about the meat drying out.

 

Thanks Tony, will add the drip pan and placement to the notes I took.  How many wood chunks do you generally add?  Oh, and don't forget to post pictures!

Thanks tucker and Tony B.  Will likely try the Cornell chicken next go around when we can let the chicken marinate overnight (cooked the chicken tonight so didn't have enough time to marinade).
 
Cooked the chicken this evening using Coco lump and threw in three chunks of Fruita pecan wood and three peach.  Left exposed in the fridge overnight per Naked Whiz.  Right before cooking mixed together two tablespoons of Dizzy Pig Tsunami Spin and olive oil.  Rubbed this under the skin and then added another tablespoon of olive oil on top.
 
Target temp was 400 and ended up right around the 410 mark (as before wasn't going to start chasing the temperature).  Cooked on indirect heat with heat deflector and the drip pan for about an hour and 20 minutes. When I pulled it off the Thermapen measured 166 in the white meat and 188 in the dark meat (little higher than I would have liked).  Let sit for 10 minutes and then served with potato salad and garlic bread.

Overall turned out well.  Would have liked more seasoning and am excited to try the cornell chicken method to see what it does to the flavor profile.  Liked the peach/pecan mix so probably won't change this, but might also try a different charcoal just to see what it does (have a couple of bags of Rockwood, Kamado Joe, and Ozark Oak that I have yet to try).  I don't usually like leftovers because that means another meal that needs to be eaten before I get to cook again, but in this case it works as leftover chicken means chicken salad - can't beat it for work day lunches.

 

 

Looking to Spatchcock a chicken tomorrow which I have done about a half dozen times on our Weber charcoal grill but a first on our new Komodo.  have used with good results/currently sitting in our fridge per the Naked Whiz website the chicken is currently sitting in fridge uncovered to help contribute to a more crispy skin.  Have lots of Dizzy Pig rubs on hand that we have used in the past along with various herbs.  I read through some of the posts on this website regarding cooked chicken - any updates/additional thoughts from folks on spices/fruit woods to cook with tomorrow?

 

 

Butcher Chicken.pdf

Don't sweat small differences in target temperature. The worst thing you can do is "chase the temperature." The KK, when heated up, is like the proverbial "turning a battleship." All the temperature difference does is change the cooking times slightly, not the results.

 

The other piece of advice that I offer is to cook to internal meat temperature, not to time (exception is high temperature searing). The excessive drawback on your ribs (picture before saucing) says that they were overcooked a bit. The best test for rib doneness is pick up the rack with tongs in the middle, bounce it a little, and see if the meat cracks near the bone. Check out www.amazingribs.com.  It's a great resource!

 

Thanks Tony!  Much appreciated and great advice.  Will do some reading up on amazingribs over the weekend.

At what temperature did you cook the ribs? Wood on outside with coconut probably was used very little...you are right, put some in middle of coals.

 

Oops, left off that helpful bit of information.  The cooker stabilized at 260 degrees and took about 1.5 hours  to get up to temperature.  My target temperature was 250 but being the first time using the Komodo I didn't want to start messing with it at that point.  Probably should have checked the ribs after 3.5 hours or so instead of riding the full four hours.

Nice, especially the pooches! Just curious, did you get that color of tile to match the dogs??

Funny you ask.  Not premeditated I swear - we probably need to consider expanding our color palette (at least when it comes to things outside of the dogs - we love the breed).

 

Really like the Terra Cotta color - gives the Komodo a nice warm, traditional feel.

Cooked a slab of baby back ribs on the Komodo this past weekend. Coated the meat side with yellow mustard and then the ribs were rubbed with a 1 to 1 mix of Dizzy Dust and Red Eye Express.  Set in the fridge for an hour and a half wrapped in aluminum foil.  Used coconut charcoal and threw in a few pieces of apple and cherry wood on the sides of the charcoal basket.  Cooked indirect heat for four hours without opening the lid; then added sauce and cooked for another 20 minutes.

 

First time cooking ribs from start to finish on the grill so all in all the ribs turned out well and my wife and I were pleased.  I think they were a little overcooked and I think I erred by putting the wood solely around the outside of the charcoal basket as the wood didn't burn much.  Next time I will mix it in with the coconut charcoal; fun in learning how to work the Komodo and improve the final result.

 

I'm a little belated in posting - the Komodo arrived on Wednesday but we weren't able to uncrate until Friday.  Even after reading other posts I was still in awe of how big and beautiful the Komodo is.  And man are those stainless steel grates solid.  Moved the Komodo on Friday after uncrating and by then it was dark.  Woke up early on Saturday and did the venting for most of the day.  Let everything cool down from there and then on Sunday tried our first rib cook (baby backs from a local butcher).  Some thoughts on the rib cook and pictures a little later - already started thinking about what to cook when I have more time later this week (some folks in the last picture are also ready for more cooks).

 

 

You guys are killing me with all the pictures as I wait to receive mine. That being said, keep the pics coming! Love the pebble color you selected and can't wait to see pictures of the cooks.

Beautiful KK smokedinthyme! Look forward to hearing about and seeing pictures of your rib cook.

After waiting impatiently our Komodo is within 20 miles of our house. I will be traveling during the week so we won't take delivery until Friday of this week.

One final cook on the Weber tonight was chicken, corn, and bread. All locally sourced but the bread. Chicken was left in the fridge uncovered for 24 hours (per. Naked Whiz - will try this again) and then seasoned both over and under the skin with Dizzy Pig Raisin the Steaks and a coat of olive oil. Cooked over indirect heat with Royal Oak lump and a combo of Fruita Wood apple and pecan.

Overall was good. Chicken skin was more rubbery than I would like but I had trouble with temps and most of the cook was around 350 so at a higher temp I believe will cure the skin issue. Little too much spice as well so next time might season underneath the skin and let the lump/wood take care of the skin.

Looking forward to receiving the Komodo - more pics to come this weekend. Thinking of a pork butt for our first cook using the Chris Lilly's recipe - can't wait!

That looks amazing - I already ate dinner but I think I am hungry again looking at those pictures.

 

At what temp and and for how long did it cook?

Now it's turned into a Viagra joke!

I believe you meant to say "grown" into a Viagra joke...