CeramicChef

LOL!! tony, as usual, you leave me chuckling! THANKS!

Well, TheBeast finally got his own formal wear and he couldn't be happier! Made by Sunbrella, the workmanship of this cover beats anything I've ever seen on any kind of patio get. Heavy duty treated canvas, all seams are incredibly well sewn. The cover is designed to fit like a glove and it does. And like everything KK, this manufacturer has passed muster with Dennis Linkletter. It's also passed muster with all kinds of KK Owners. All I did was hop on the train as it passed by. Of course, the color is black! After all, this is formal wear for TheBeast!

Hey Wilbur - its a good thing you went to med school! I guess that's where you learned the art of successfully extracting your thumb from the eye of those who piss you off, huh!? Nicely done!

Wilbur - you ROCK Buddy! I haven't had as big a chuckle since your last note! LOL! And here I thought this was going to be just another Wilbur-Smaug successful collaboration! Silly me! You never cease to amaze me. Oh, very nice bird too!

Eggary - I've cooked a lot of big birds and never heard that I should be concerned. I generally smoke spatchcocked fowl at 225°-250° and never worry about it one bit. The danger zone is between 40°-140°. You're well above those temps so I don't think you have all that much to worry about. Remember, we smoke all manner of protein and we generally don't worry. I've found that spatched birds cook in about 2/3rds the time that whole carcasses do. At a temp of 225°-250° I would think that this bird ought to be done in something like 5 hours at the most. Give yourself an extra hour just in case. You can always wrap and cooler if it gets done earlier. Save a milk jug to fill with hot water and add to the cooler if things get done earlier. All the best to you for a great Hanukkah party! Happy Hanukkah to you and your entire family!

Parrot - sounds like a plan on that brisket. If your wife likes it, what else matters? I always hated living out of a suitcase. Nothing like your own bed.

Parrot - thanks for the pointer. I do appreciate it. You're Aces!

A BIG Oklahoma Howdy to ya, Dennis!I actually did the smoke phase at about 250°F and it was direct. The fire was on one side of TheBeast and the Starks on the other side. No need for a heat deflector as TheBeast really is big enough so that I didn't need one. As for the 30 minute flip, I didn't do a flip at all. I got caught up in a business call and it never crossed my mind! I will say that the color on both sides was almost identical. No harm, no foul! And you are correct, I did the entire cook on the main. Dennis, I can't get over how temps just rocket up when you open the vents wide open! Talk about responsive .... TheBeast took off like a rocket. I just put both steaks right over the hottest part of the fire in the belly of TheBeast. A couple of minutes later and turn. Turn again 2 minutes later. It was as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. Rest for a few minutes after you pull and there it is! Tasty!

Nah, I'm the old guy who sits next to TheBeast and has the cooler full of beer next to my chaise lounge on the patio!

tony - don't be impressed ... all ya gotta do is live long enough! I used to be the whiz kid in the room ... Now I'm just one of the old farts who doesn't get it that the Whiz Kids grumble about! LOL!

C'mon man! Count Floyd! SCTV.

Wilbur - again, killer kook on Smaug! You know, for a guy who is supposedly learning the art of kamado kooking, you sure know how to hit the pill outta the park! Nicely done! Oh, and BTW, if the only flaw SWMBOI has is liking her steak a little more done than is optimal, you've got the winning ticket!

tony - something tells me you're about a bubble off plumb! LOL! You, like Wilbur, need professional help!

If I remember my anatomy correctly, aren't BREASTS located between the two armpits!?

Medik - Thanks for the feedback on the steaks. SWMBOI - She Who MUST Be Obeyed IMMEDIATELY ... Now I'm not married, but think Happy Wife, Happy Life! Took me 2 divorces and millions in parting gifts to figure that out!

Thanks, tony. I've always said, If you can't have fun doing what you're doing, quit doing it and find something fun to do! Has always worked for me! As for the Wild Hare, numerous doses of Wild Hare seem to be doing the trick. Either that or I'm so smack-eyed I can't feel any pain. Either way, I'm doing the Spunky Monkey Dance!

Davey - thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it greatly.

Howdy KK Kooks! For your consideration, I present a hickory smoked, reverse seared Prime NY Strip. I've been under the weather lately and haven't done a thing with TheBeast. TheBeast was getting a bit antsy, so I went out to the refrigerator and discovered I had 2 Prime NY Strips. More correctly, SWMBOI asked if I intended on letting "... all that meat go to waste"? She also informed me it was taking up needed space in the refrigerator. It wasn't bothering me one little bit in the refrigerator and after all, it IS my refrigerator! But as we all know, happy, ahhhh, happy life! So not feeling too keen about putting' on the dawg, I lit TheBeast and threw in a piece of hickory for smoke. Here he is, getting up to speed: Here are the Prime Strips just on with nothing but salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Just plain simple. And after 30 minutes at 200F, here they are at 120F when I pulled them. Really gorgeous color on that meat. I opened the bottom vent about 3/4ths of the way open and spun the top hat vent 2 full turns. Temps took off like a rocket sled on rails! Here's what 750 looks like in the belly of TheBeast! Here's 2 minutes later at the first turn: Here's another 2 minutes after that first turn: Pulled at 135 internal temp (SWMBOI Likes her steak on the medium side and again, happy, ahhhh, happy life!) I gotta figure out a new saying for SWMBOI! You can't tell it but the pic because the light was so bad and my camera sucks, but it was SWMBOI Medium. Perfect she told me. Whew! Another bullet dodged! And here, finally, is the means whereby I avoided going face down in my cook. HYDRATION! That Shiner Wild Hare died in the service of a great steak and a grateful CC! Pete The Pink Salt Pig gives this cook 4 hooves up! He fell on his a$$ doing so, but Pete liked this cook! Y'all have a great week!

dstr8 - I'd say that you were consistently good on those pizza pies. Really nice cook. Very nice indeed!

BBQ Master - beautiful cabinetry! Very nice craftsmanship. And the KK ain't bad either!

Amir - WOW! Great looking pizza pies you cooked there. And they're just a tad bit different! KUDOS! That asparagus and scallion pizza gets major points for innovation! I'd certainly never have thought of that combination. Congrats on a great cook.

distr. - at first I thought PRUNES? Are you kidding me? But as I read your post, this really sounds pretty goo, dadgummed good in fact. I'm going to give this a try! THANKS! Oh, and btw, those kabobs look delicious! Killer!

EGGARY - sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do! SWMBO likes stepping out about once a week. She likes being waited on, seeing and being seen, likes me picking a wine (at least for the most part). And If SWMBO is happy, that's all that counts in my world. I've been to Lawry's and it's a fine place. You can certainly do a lot worse! I've always said that our KK spoil us. We compare everything eaten out to what we cook at home and at home, we may not get all the splash and dash, but we get EXACTLY what we want and how we want it. Thanks be to KK! And Dennis!

Well Wilbur, you know me. As an engineer, i'll try just about anything once just to see what happens! Most engineers are empiricists deep down. MY favorite questions always start "I wonder what happens if I ..." Got me into more trouble ...

Thanks! I appreciate the pointer.