CeramicChef

Tony - that looks interesting! Very interesting. I'll see if I can find it around here.

Frogs - everybody has to have some sort of hobby, right?

tony - Hope that map does us all some good. I did not know until that tri tip was already in the bath to really back off the species, seasonings, etc. Well, tri tip never goes to waste around here so we shall see what we shall see. As for the Woodford, I've been drinking that forever. My Father was a bourbon man and he only drank really good stuff. Woodford was his favorite and is mine as well. It's actually affordable. And smooth as a baby's butt!

Dennis - I don't have a clue. I've seen people use weed burners, which are long and point down, but as for that specific unit, I have no idea.

From another Forum, I was given the following link that seems to be quite helpful for the budding Sous Vide Chef. It relates time and temperature for delicious sous vide cooks for a wide range of potential cooks, i.e. vegetables, shellfish, fish, tender cuts, fowl, tough cuts, etc. I thought y'all might find this as helpful as did I. Enjoy!

Howdy KKers! in a recent conversation with Dennis Linkletter he was extolling the virtues of sous vide cooking. He told me that the ANOVA Sous Vide controller was now under $200 on Amazon. I've never really been interested in sous vide cooking, but for that price, I'll try just about anything. I mean when you're shelling out the money for a KK, what's a couple of Franklins here or there, right?! LOL!! So I get an ANOVA and today I decided to do a Tri Tip I've had in the refrigerator for almost too long. SWMBOI really loves Tri Tip and so I'm bound and determined to baptize this Tri Tip and the ANOVA at the same time. Let's unpack the ANOVA and see what we have. Here it is as it was delivered. The ANOVA unit itself came very well packed. Here is the ANOVA unit out of the box and on the table. This unit is quite substantial and is very solidly built. Good quality. Now on to the Guest of Honor and the means whereby we will stay hydrated for the duration of this cook! Here is the Guest of Honor oiled up with good olive oil and wearing a nice coating of my Embarrassed Zebra all purpose rub. And now it's into the Belly of TheBeast at 500F for about 3 minutes per side. Now we have to pull the Guest of Honor and seal it using the Food Saver. I added a few springs of rosemary. No big deal. The results of that look like this ... Now it's into the Anova Sous Vide Bath. And here is what the ANOVA Sous Vide until looks like as it operates. The temperature of the bath is 111F on its way to 131F (perfect medium rare) and it'll cook for 44 hours. More to come in a couple of days! I think this is going to be the ULTIMATE tease cook!

Charles - everything you post makes wish I could cook like you do! Don't ever back up from your cooks. They are very well done. Period.

It's 25F here today with Snow, Sleet, Freezing rain and I have TheBeast fired up to sear a Tri Tip and then into the Sous Vide for about 36 hours. I'll post in another thread.

WOW! mk1, that is one gorgeous looking cook!

ckreef - Very nicely done! GREAT money shot! Looks positively sumptuous. KUDOS!

Tony - in my world, beer is like sex! The worst you'll ever have is wonderful! Beauty! and TheBeast are devoid of their thermometers as we speak. Too cold and about to get much older! Thanks.

Hey Tony! I had to do with what I had! Like I've always said --- a little bit of something beat 100% of nothing! Mea Culpa!

We're pushing on to the finish here. Beauty! has quite a bit of insulation of which she is quite proud. You can see it here looking straight down ... You can also see the split firebox and the 6 stress relief just in the refractory. Everyone always talks about how weak or strong the hinge in on their kamado. I'll put the KK hinge mechanism up against any in the industry without fear of looking foolish. Here is a back view of the hinge including the spring that makes opening a KK so easy you can do it with one finger. Here is a side view of the same hinge. While taking this picture, I noticed that the pin you see was not properly seated! I solved that problem right after this picture was taken! Not to worry, Beauty won't flip her lid. Finally, just to give you some perspective of really massive differential between TheBeast and Beauty!, here is a comparison of the main cooking grates. Last but not least, here is Beauty! She is completely unpacked, assembled, and ready to cook. She'll be placed in her cradle early next week and we'll do a cook on her about midweek. Thanks for bearing with me in this rather lengthy post. I hope it didn't prove too boring or pedantic. I apologize for the rather sophomoric photos, but my iPhone camera was all I had. Any fuzzy pictures are due to me shivering while I was out in the garage. Questions?

Okay, KKers and friends ... The next little present that comes out of Beauty is the drip pans to be used on all low-n-slow cooks. On all briskets, butts, ribs, chuckles, etc I always use a drip pan. A clean KK is a happy and safe KK! KK drip pans are really nice works of art. Notice the attention to detail here. Next up is the charcoal basket and the spare parts kit. Here is the content of the spare parts kit. And here are the spare parts laid out ... spare gasket material, spare pebbles in case one may fall off, spare teak nobs, etc. Here is Beauty!'s charcoal basket. More on this in a bit. Now something to give you an idea of the size differential between Beauty! and TheBeast. TheBeast is 32" and he is every bit of that Beauty is 19.5". That is just 1" wider than the basic BGE, KJ, etc. Here is the charcoal basket from Beauty! sitting in the charcoal basket of TheBeast. Next we need to affix the Top hat vent to Beauty! No lady would be caught dead without her favorite hat when she entertains. What you see here is the box that protects the threads during shipping. And here is the top of the Top Hat vent. Finally, here is a photo of the thread and bottom end of the Top Hat vent. That threaded rod is every bit of 5/8" and those threads are square threads rather than the usual tapered threads. We are almost done and my hands are grateful for it! To be continued!

So lets get on with the unveiling, shall we? Here is Beauty! wearing her Princess of Araby headgear. Actually it is the protection packaging for the top vent. Once that protective packaging is removed, what you see is the top vent sans its Top Hat vent control mechanism. This view is looking straight down into Beauty! Now, after removing all the plastic wrap that Beauty was wrapped in as well as the protective styrofoam sheeting we can now open Beauty for the first time. We are greeted by this view. As you may remember from TheBeast arriving in OKC, Dennis Linkletter packs each and every KK chockablock with the internals and everything else he can put in there. After all, it is bullet proof! So let's pull the first package and take a look. And unwrapped we find a heat deflector! Next we look down and see a replacement gasket for the Top Hat vent resting on the main cooking grate. And here is the main cooking grate unwrapped. Here is a shot of the main cooking grate showing the nice t-handle hinge which allows the addition of additional smoking wood or charcoal to the basket during the cook. I've never used it on TheBEast and can't see an instance where I would need to use it here. Always start with a full fire basket and plenty of smoking wood and you're set for the duration of the cook! As we look down into Beauty! again, we see the combo searing grate/grate extender. In one orientation we can use this as a searing grate and in another we can get another level of cooking into the done for multiple butts, ribs, briskets, or we can get our baking stone high in the dome when cooking pizzas. Here is the extended grate position for multiple cooks or for cooking pizza. To be continued!

Welcome back, KKers! I just finished thawing out my fingers, hands, arms and the rest of my body after spending all afternoon in the frozen recesses of my garage tending to Beauty! I took a few pics and its time to get this show on the road. So, here is the crate Beauty has been resting in for I don't know how long. But Beauty is about to be freed! This crate is quite substantial and a friend has asked me to save it for him just for the lumber. The easiest way to unleash Beauty! in OKC is to remove the lag bolts at the bottom of all 4 corners. These are three inch lag bolts and I had loaned my electric drill drivers to a friend, so there was a lot of ratchet wrench exercise going on at ChezChef today! Once all 8 lag bolts are out, all you have to do is lift the cover of the crate straight up and VOILA!, Beauty! makes her first real appearance in OKC! Here is a picture of Beauty! next to her crate. Next we see that the packing list is taped to the front of the grill. And just completeness and to show everyone that nothing escapes the KK mind of Dennis Linkletter, here is a picture of the ubiquitous crowbar that ships with every KK just in case someone has anger issues and wants to rip the crate open. It wasn't needed for this uncrating! But Dennis, I appreciate your attempts to save us time and money doing the psychoanalytical thing. Crowbars are SOOOO much more effective at solving anger issues! Looking closer at Beauty! and her accessories we see this box taped to the side. By this time I'm getting very thirsty. I'm having to work hard and fast just to stay warm. Hydration is important and this is all I had. But a little bit of something is better than 100% of nothing! So what's in the box you ask? To be continued!

Now lets get on to the teak tables I ordered with Beauty! Let me just say that I ordered the teak tables not so much because I make great use of them, but rather they are impressive pieces of craftsmanship and people at parties really love the way they compliment the KK cooker. As many of you know, teak tends to take on a sliver patina if left in the sunlight for any time. I've got enough sliver in what little hair I have left, so it's not one of my favorite colors. Dennis has worked with teak for decades and knows the wood quite intimately. I told him of my concerns with slivering and he was gracious enough to send along a silicon treatment that keeps teak from slivering, even in direct sunlight. Here is the standard box containing the side table. Again, styrofoam all around to prevent damage in shipping. Here is a view of the shipping box with the top piece of styrofoam removed. Notice there is all kinds of styrofoam cushioning the side table. Here is the side table pulled out of the box. Baby Jesus wasn't swaddled any better than this side table. Again. the tons of plastic wrap and inside that is sheet styrofoam. And here is the actual side table unwrapped. Beautiful teak. Turning over the side table, you can see that it will attach to Beauty with a system made from machined stainless steel. Just like everything else that isn't tile, teak, or refractory. Again, notice the attention to detail, the countersunk wood lathes, the covered screw heads. To this practiced eye, this is why you buy a KK kamado. At this level, you expect the best and you get it. Standard. Here is a closeup of the bracket that will attache to Beauty! and which will allow the teak side tables to slide on and off as required for cooks. And just to give you and idea as to the difference in the side of side tables between Beauty! and TheBeast, here is picture of Beauty!'s side table next to and on top of TheBeast's Side table. What I can't show you is the marked different in weight. I haven't opened the shipping crate yet as it's been just too dad blamed cold in my garage. Tomorrow we are supposed to hit a balmy 36F with a 50% chance of freezing rain. Right now it is 24F and I'm getting ready to make a pot of chili for SWMBOI. It's the least I can do after the refrigerator fiasco. Maybe it'll forestall any more of "The Look" being shot my way. I never knew it could get so cold so fast indoors!

Well, KKers, I'm back! I just finished talking SWMBOI out of killing me. Seems as if I left some meat in the refrigerator and some blood dripped out. On the shelves. Some weeks ago. It seeped between the glass and the frame. I have been duly chastised and told this is to never happen again. I keep getting "The Look", you know, the look that freezes boiling water in a second! I'm sure glad this woman likes me in spite of my best efforts to the contrary! I think I'll keep her around. Alright, back to the other Beauty! Here is the assembly of the stand. Several of you have asked about it and I've gotta say assembling this was a piece of cake. There were exactly the right number of pieces/parts. The stainless steel was impeccably machine. All screws were countersunk and fit flush as you will see in a few pictures. So here are all the pics/parts laid out for assembly. No instructions came with the stand, but if you have so much as a room temperature IQ no instructions are needed. Assembly took me all of 20 minutes while dodging "The Look" from SWMBOI. Looking down on the teak shelf, you can now see all the uprights and wheels have been married. I have to say here that you can tell immediately KK is not based in the USA. Every socket used was in metric! Now we seat and secure the actual band that Beauty! will rest upon. This was a bit tricky as it is quite heavy but SWMBOI Held it in place while I quickly spun two nuts and screws on opposite side to secure the band upon which Beauty! will sit. Then it is just a matter of putting in all the screws, nuts, etc and leaving them loose until all are started. Here is a look at the detail of the outside of the band now that it is installed. Nothing to get snagged on here. And here is a detail of the countersunk screws on the inside of the band. Those screws fit absolutely flush. Also notice the weld ... no slag, smooth, very well done. I'm an engineer who built a lot of natural gas treating facilities and my eye just naturally notices those type of things. Here is a flap to help bear the load. There are 8 load bearing points on this band. Four points probably would have been sufficient, but just to be certain and just to make sure there are no accidents, KK has a total of 8. It's been said that the KK is the most over engineered kamado available. Now we have the entire stand completely assembled and all bolts, nut, screws, etc torqued down tight. This thing is NOT collapsing in the middle of a cook! Many people have asked about how you move something like a KK. Given the weight of a KK, that's a legitimate question. Here is a view of the front caster. It's lockable. And the post upon which is screwed the nut to hold everything in place is 1/2" deeply threaded. That is it for the stand. It's as solid as solid can be. This is the only piece of a KK shipment that has not been plug and play. Some assembly was required, but it was not a big deal. I did this on the floor as I don't have a workbench in the garage. I seldom need this assembled so when I do, the floor seems to be as good a place as any. Next we'll take a look at the side tables I ordered with Beauty!

Frogs, I can catch the noon flight on Southwest out of OKC and be at Houston Hobby in 2 hours. What time is dinner? You're gonna need some help with all those great looking ribs and I'm volunteering out of the goodness and kindness of my soul! LOL!!

I'm getting there today! I promise!

Davey - Buddy, you are all over that cook! That is one very fine cook. As for the head and tail, I kinda like it ... I like my food BIG! Kudos to ya ... BIG time! LOL!

Clags - congratulations on your new KK! I'm in the same boat as you. I've got a new 19.5" Hi-Cap that I just finished uncrating yesterday. Beauty!, as we call her, needs her burn in and then we're off and cooking! Tell us about your new KK. How big, name, first cook, etc. We'd love to see pics! Welcome to the KK family! Jump on in and join the conversation! We look forward to your posts and getting to know you.

Tony - you must have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night because, Friend ... YOU NAILED IT! Beautifully done! Kudos to you for braving adverse conditions and performing so admirably! Very nice cook.

She's thinking about rack of lamb. Works for me as well.

jclarkhpa - Geez, Hawaii? Camping on the beach? Oh man! I am so jealous! I've got everything in life except a house in Hawaii. But then too much of a good thing will just spoil me! I can't imagine living in paradise every single day. It must get boring 80F days, Sunshine, ocean breezes, temperate nights.