CeramicChef

+1^ Robert is my go to guy when I have questions about my CyberQ WiFi. He's all over this deal and as far as I'm concerned, if he says it, I believe it. Never found him to be wrong.

I prefer to think of it as Midnight Express! I generally run my corn squeezings thru an activated carbon charcoal filter to pull out all the aldehydes and ketones that make you regret the day your Mother met your Father. I also only run thru the mash once as this also cuts down on some of the carry over. When I was an undergrad we had a Chem Engr course in Unit Operations ... basically the theory behind the major operating units you'd find in any process area. So you know at the end of the semester you always have some sort of project/paper. Out group designed an ethanol distillation column complete with reflux, optimal feed tray, the whole schmere. Well, I did a lot of undergrad research and had an office with a HUGE laminar flow hood. We built that still in the laminar flow hood in my office. It was pumping out stuff almost as pure as your Mother's milk! The best we got was about 92% or 184 proof. One quart of that stuff in a keg of beer and you had a helluva party! Tony, maybe I should consider this beer thing. You have any good simple places to start reading? Thanks in advance!

Dadgum, Wilbur! You just might be onto something! I gotta think about this one .... How do I reincorporate the oils that are sure to separate out if the cheese melts?

Wilbur, not a dumb question at all. Three weeks seems to me to be the optimal time to let cheese cure after smoking. If we ate the cheese right after smoking, it really wouldn't taste as "smokie" as it will in 3 weeks. Right now, all the smoke is on the surface of the cheese. Letting the cheese cure helps the smoke to infuse deeper into the cheese. I wish I could rush the process along. Anyone have a way to cut down on the curing time for smoked cheese?

BRAVO! When your wife likes the Q, Parrot, you're GOLDEN! And Robert is quite right, burnt ends are pretty easy. He'll get you through! On another note - how in the world do you keep your KK so dadgummed WHITE!? If I had that thing down here in OK, it's be sandblasted pink because of all the red dirt we have flying around here in the mild breezes! How do you keep the smoke from turning the top brown? Beautiful Kooker, Parrot, really beautiful!

Tony - I've thought about learning the art of making good beer, but I'm much more of a whiskey man. And YES! Hell Yes I do mix up a batch of corn squeezin's now and again. Being a Chemical Engineer it just seems to come rather naturally! You've got one gorgeous looking brew house there! Congrats!

So today is a nice cool day here in OKC and after Jerri smoked cheese right after Thanksgiving and my ne'er do well Brother gigged me to smoke some cheese for him, I decided to do some smoked Tillamok Medium Cheddar Cheese today in TheBeast. This is my first attempt at smoking cheese in the belly of TheBeast, so we're into unknown territory. So, we shall see what we shall see. Open up both manifold wide open to get plenty of airflow to make certain the A-Maz-N-Tube Smoker performs as designed. Here's a pic of the A-Maz-N-Tube 6" smoker resting on my lower grate in the beast. It's been lit and has been burning for 10 minutes. Blew out the fire as per instructions and it's now smoking away. We're using hickory pellets today for our smoke component. Here is the Tillamok Cheddar cut into slabs for better smoke adsorption. I used a veggie tray since the holes will allow for good smoke contact on all sides of the cheddar slabs. You probably can't tell from the picture, but I have the upper cooking grate to get the cheese high in the dome of TheBeast. The upper cooking grate is sitting on the main grate which is above the lower grate. So we have the lower grate holding the Tube Smoker, the main grate, and the upper cooking grate holding the cheese for smoking. Here's a picture of the top vent. I've opened this more for this smoke than it's ever been open for a cook, even high temp pizza cooks. The reason for this is that Tube Smokers are notorious for not staying lit in kamado cookers. This isn't going to happen to me today! TheBeast's top vent is 3 full turns open at this point! If you look right under the top vent in the lower right hand quadrant you can see the gasket. Here is the cheese after 2 hours on smoke. The cheese doesn't look as if it has adsorbed much smoke, but believe me it has! You should have been in the kitchen 5 minutes after I brought it in .... smelled like a BBQ joint! Go figure! After a trip to the Food Saver, here's what you get ... Note that Pete The Pink Salt Pig approves! Also note that I've put the date I smoked this cheese on the bag. It'll be ready for consumption in 3 weeks, just in time for Xmas hors d'oeuvres! The reason the bag is so dadgummed crinkled is because I got distracted by Skippy, the Sous Chef cat! I"ll let y'all know in 3 weeks how this turns out!

Tony - I feel like I'm in an episode of "Dude, You're Screwed!". Do I mess with God's servants, the KofC? Not in this lifetime! Just plain bad juju and I'm already about to max that scale! Do I tell SWMBOI's Mom no way Jose? Not in this lifetime, especially when she could very well be my last M-I-L? Again, a career limiting move! SWMBOI's Mom already had the "She cries .... You die!" talk with me. My motto has become "Dude, You're Royally Screwed!". But then I'm 60, I'm retired, what the hell else am I gonna do? After all, I got TheBeast to use, right? Just gives me more excuses to drink more Woodford Reserve!

And I'm not even going to comment here on those two dead ducks hanging next to the bird houses! I'll let other point out the massive incongruities!

Wilbur - Doc, you just tore that cook apart! KUDOS! And as for fine china, nothing works better! Or at least that's what both ex-wives will tell you! They got all the good stuff and I got plastic! LOL!!!

Parrot! Absolutely NOTHING wrong with that! Kudos!

Tony - Do you have any leftovers? I'm a betting man and I'm betting NOT! Pretty tasty looking!

Social - I'd say you must have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express the night before you cooked that bird because .... YOU NAILED IT! Kudos!

Here's a few pics I was about to post: I just HATE it when I can't hit a temp! This was supposed to be a 350F cook! The Guest of Honor and THE TURKEY ROLL i spent hours trying to tracking down! This is just prior to their smokey encounter. The turkey roll is in the upper right hand corner. Here is the cook about half way through the cook ... And now here is the Guest of Honor and his little buddy at the end of their smokey experience. And now the Guest of Honor about to be wrapped up and going Over The River and Through the Woods Grandma's House. Notice that Pete The Pink Salt Pig, approves greatly! His little buddy, Turkey Roll will be smoked turkey enchies later this week! Everyone RAVED about how tender and moist the Guest was. In fact, no good deed goes unpunished .... for Christmas the whole famn damily wants me to do both a turkey and a ham! I gotta talk to SWMBO about her volunteering my time! This cook was brined 24 hours and injected with a butter, garlic, and Maple Syrup. Cook temp was 350F over pecan smoke. It took 2:15 to do this 17# bird.

Get a little heat hiding in there! You are one sneaky dude, Tony! I like your style.

Killer chops there Tony! Very nicely done. Kudos to ya!

Tony - absolutely killer cook! You must have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express Wednesday night because Tony, YOU NAILED IT! I make a cranberry relish quite similar looking to yours. I'm stealing your secret ingredient and this coming Christmas my family is gonna,go wild. It's my Mom's recipe and she would have approved! Again, great cook and I hope you, your family and your friends had the happiest Thankgiving ever!

EGGARY - just saw your post. Sorry for that! In answer to your questions, there is plenty of smoke at 350°F. Between the pecan wood smoke and the grapeseed coating, the skin is perfect, at least in the estimation of my guests. After all, that's what's important, isn't it? I like pecan on fowl. It doesn't overpower the birds like a hickory or a mesquite. I have been know to use fruit wood for smoke. Oft times I'll use apple and in conjunction, I'll stuff the bird with apple slices, aromatics, and some cranberries. That's just killer! For a very lite smoke I'll use alder for the smoke component. It's a very light smoke and people ask, what did you smoke this with? It's just a hint of smoke ... what is it? I love a maple syrup brine. I always brine and inject my birds. My injection is butter, garlic, some powdered thyme and rosemary, and maple syrup. Leaves your guests wanting more and saying its the best turkey they ever tasted. I've even been known to baste the bird with that injection liquid the last 30 minutes of the cook. That adds a richness to the color that is amazing. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends! Oh, BTW, I'm with you on the Traegers.

Parrothead - that 275° you saw was on the way to about 500°F. As for time, I'm going to have to give myself a "Bad Dog! No Biscuit!" because I never really time burger cooks anymore. I love burgers and used to own a restaurant that specialized in burgers. I go mainly by color. I've cooked so many burgers I know exactly what exterior color gives me a Medium center. TheBeast, my KK BB 32" does such an incredibly on something so prosaic as a burger it's not even funny! If people only knew!

Dennis - I'm glad you've successfully met these challenges and I hope and pray they are permanently behind you and your family. I know this was a wonderful Thanksgiving for me personally. TheBeast, that KK BB 32" that you sold to me was my best use of funds this year! Why I ever waited is beyond me. That said, Dennis, you and TheBeast are killing me. People who have tasted the cooks that come off TheBeast want me to cook for them! I'm starting to run myself ragged, and it's all your fault! LOL! I'm really looking forward to you new website, the new products, some of the new products I've heard you have in the pipeline! It's been my great pleasure getting to know you! You're aces. All the best to you and your family!

I've used Cast Iron skillets, Dutch Ovens, Griddles and not so much as a hiccup. I use them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner cooks. The CI griddles makes a nice surface for breakfast ... eggs ... while I'm bringing TheBeast up to temp for a Saturday rib cook. Bacon works very well on the main grates. There is really no need to do bacon on the griddle except for the fact that you may need/like a little bacon grease for the eggs on the griddle. I've used Dutch Ovens for just about everything imaginable ... cobblers, cakes, stews, chilis. Very versatile piece of CI. I've been known to use a skillet for deep dish pizza. CI lends itself very well to the KK, IMNSHO.

jmagaram - as I tell my friends "Welcome to The Addiction!" I take extra portions to the local Police and Fire Stations. Those guys kill for Q. I also have been known to take care of my butcher! I'm always bugging him for special cuts of better cuts or deals and I always make sure to take over a mess of ribs or pulled pork by 10:00 AM. The guys LOVE it! They take care of me and I take care of them.

Thanks Frog! I appreciate the kind words. KKer's, on another Forum, I posted this cook. There the other BBQ fanatics told me I should have pulled the popups and cooked the birds the way I wanted and then put the popups back in the bird after dipping them in hot water to get them show done. I told them that my Mother, having been President of The Altar Society for years at out church, would know immediately something was amiss. So too with the Altar Society ladies where I now attend Mass. They would know and start asking questions. I spent years in Catholic School. Never lie to a Nun. Don't ever lie to the ladies of The Altar Society! They are connected with a MUCH higher power. Even the priest can't forgive that sin! LOL!! It's so good to see that the KKer's are much more honest and so much less duplicitous than those others. Of course, we're KKer's and we don't roll that way, RIGHT!??? LOL!!

LarryR - everytime I see this vid I learn something new. I really like icing the breasts before putting that bird on the grate. Smart. Thanks for all your videos. In fact, it's because of your vids, and the rest posted on YouTube by KKer's that I bought TheBeast! Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

KKers and Potential Customers of all stripe - Well I just got off the phone with Dennis Linkletter, the gentleman who owns KK. I sent Dennis an email this morning about a problems I thought I might have with TheBeast, my KK BB 32". I attached pictures. Dennis knew I was doing some cooks over the next couple of days. No more than 5 minutes later I get a call from Dennis. Dennis could have easily replied by email. Would have been absolutely fine by me. Remember, he's half a world away in Indonesia. That's 13 hours ahead of my time here in OKC! It was late at night in Indonesia, WAY beyond anything normal business hours, and I get a call in response to my email. Kamado Kookers, I know that there are a lot of good kamados on the market and Kamado Joe, among its devotees, is hailed for its customer service. But when the owner of the company personally calls you in the middle of his night to make certain you know there is no problem with TheBeast, that's the single most impressive customer service experience I've ever had. I had heard the tales of very good customer service from KJ. And it is well deserved. I like the KJ product line. But nothing in my experience has prepared me for the level of service I've gotten from Dennis Linkletter and his company, Komodo Kamado. It is so far beyond anything posted here I just had to post this. I built 4 companies based on excellent customer service and that made me quite comfortable. But as good as my companies were at taking care of customers, I NEVER went the lengths Dennis does to make certain we Komodo Kamado owners know we count above all else. KK owners know how valued they are by KK and Dennis specifically. I can recommend KK without any reservation. What's amazing, each and every KK owners has a story just like mine. To any potential KK customer, your KK will come with a level of customer you won't believe! Buy the KK you're looking at and you'll never regret it one iota.