CeramicChef

Ah Tony, my friend! For the turkey cook last weekend we had Bass, Guinness, and made Black and Tans! Tony, I'm a TIGHT sumbuck. When I've got a big time gathering, I'm buying and serving and drinking Miller or Bud or Coors lite. When I'm alone or at a small party, I'm drinking Bass, Guiness, etc. That's when I crack out the Woodford Reserve, Glenlivet, etc. Heck fire ... I'm not really as dumb as I look, all evidence to the contrary! I promise! LOL!

LIAR?! Wilbur, you've got that mushroom thing going on in your cook! I'd have never thought of doing that! But then, I'm not a big mushroom kinda guy ... I would never think of ruining a burger with a fungus!

Wilbur's post of his Portobello Burgers reminded that I didn't post a recent burger feed that I did. While mine is nowhere as impressive as his, it still was pretty dadgummed good. This took place a few Saturday's ago while watching American College Football. So here is that burger cook ... I'm not wanting to do a grand cook just for my fat rat backside, so I decided Simple Is Best. Just a couple of grilled hamburgers on The Beast will do just fine! I found a new brand of Miller named "FORTUNE" and decided to give it a try for hydration purposes. The bottle is black and could be hard to see against The Beast, but it's a pretty good tasting beer. I prefer Miller Lite, but this is a good start. Here is the total extent of the seasonings I'll be using on this cook ... salt, pepper, and essentially garlic. Sometimes Simple Is Best. Finally, here are the hamburger steaks resting until The Beast is heat soaked and ready for the cook. I love a plain old every day ordinary classic hamburger. Mustard, dill pickle, a thin slice of onion, and some good cheddar cheese. Wait, I guess that cheese makes it a cheese burger! Ok KKers, here's the rest of Simple Is Best, but with an undocumented but true twist! So The Beast gets up to temp and on the burgers go! Here's another view to show you how small half-pound burgers look on The Beast ... Things are doing well. Run inside to get the fixin's ready ... As I said, simple is best and this is one very prosaic cook. It doesn't get any simpler or prosaic than French's Yellow Mustard. I grew up on it and I love it! Time to flip the burgers. I'm wearing my welder's gauntlet because it is dadgummed HOT in the belly of The Beast! The feast is ready and I'm so hungry my stomach thinks my throat's been cut. Let's get these bad boys assembled and on a plate! And as we're ready to sit down with a cold beer and a balanced plate of grilled goodness ... My dadgummed doorbell ring! Blast it all anyway! I open the door and it's my dear middle brother who lives just around the corner, not 125 yards away. "HEY, whatcha eating'?" he asks. "I thought I smelled you cooking! When do WE eat?" "We?, I asked. "Hey, what kinda beer you got there?" he asked as he walked on by to the table. Oh well, once the camel's nose is under the tent, he's gonna eat and drink. And so fellow Gurus, a sumptuous feast was had by yours truly and his feckless brother, now fast asleep on the sofa! And what did the fearless Sous Chef Skippy do during all this commotion? Where was he? Sitting on his cat tree watching the whole thing go down! And so they lived happily ever after. The End!

I've got the baking stone for The Beast, my 32", and I can tell you it works out great! There is no cycle time when cooking multiple pizzas. I heat soak the stone as I"m heat soaking The Beast. Pizza after pizza and not one hiccup. Best stone I've ever used.

Geez, WIlbur! That looks like some kinda great burger! Kudos to you. Grinding you won burger from chuck ... you continue to amaze. I always have my butcher grind for me ... I guess I'm too lazy or too cheap to buy the grinder attachment! tasty looking burger you've got there! CONGRATS!

Looks very interesting, tony. I think I'm going to have to try this recipe. we have a few Middle Eastern markets around OKC. I'm on a mission to find Zattar. Sounds very interesting. Thanks for the recipe.

tony - dadgummit all anyway. I was hoping that I could buy one of those hangars. That is some beautiful iron work that was made for you! tony, you should patent that thing. It's the best looking cooker for kabobs, etc. that i've seen. really a nice rig. I'll find a metal worker and have him make a duplicate for me. Where do I send the royalty check?

Thanks, Amir, I appreciate the sentiments. Those of us who have a KK know full well what we had before and what we now have. This post if mostly for those that will follow and help them make that decision that takes their cooking talents to a whole new level!

dstr8 - thanks for the compliment. This wasn't really much practice for T-Day. This was a friend who was given a bird and said if I'd smoke it that he'd donate the bird. So we had a few folks over and had a good time. Practice for T-Day comes about on Nov 21 or 22. I've got to roast a dozen birds for a gathering at my church. I got a CyberQ WiFi for that event and this was the shakedown cruise on that piece of equipment. It went off without a hitch. All in all it was a great experience and we all had a helluva lot of fun, conversation, and adult beverages!

tonyb - That is one very intriguing rig for doing kabobs that I see. Where did you get that vertical roaster? How much if I may be so bold as to ask. Thanks in advance, I appreciate it!

Hey Wilbur! That's once good looking plucked duck! For a first time out, I'd say that you did pretty dadgummed good on this duck. I've never done duck on a kamado before and learned a lot from your post. I think I saw a lot of pin feathers on the before the roast pic. Did you pull those or does the roasting take care of them? I always spent way too much time plucking those little beasts with needle nose pliers. That's why I switched to only cooking duck breasts. All in all, Wilbur, that is one very nice looking duck! Kudos!

Hi Frog! Thanks for the nice words. Yeah, The Beast is huge, but he's very agile. Hope your horned Frogs fare better against the Wildcats today than my Sooners did against the Bears! Talk about a SPANKING! OUCH!!!!

I think that's the word of the week in My Weekly Reader! Armamentarium - now use it in 3 sentences .... Dadgummit, I feel like I"m back in Catholic School!

tony - that's absolutely wonderful! Thanks for the pointer.

So that's all folks. If you are a current owner of a KK, what goes before you know so well. If however, you are contemplating buying a KK from Dennis, I will tell you the following ... You may have apprehensions sending the kind of cash overseas that you're going to send. Forget about it. Dennis is as solid a man as I have ever met in my life. Like me, his word is his bond. I'd do business with him on a handshake and never lose a minute's sleep. As for the Komodo Kamado itself, It's now a couple of months that I have been using The Beast as I call my KK BB 32". Simply stated, it is the best cooker I've ever used. Why I didn't purchase one earlier is beyond me. You can sit down and look at pictures all day long. The attention to detail, the engineering, the construction, are all stunning, and I'm an engineer and I know all about this stuff. However, what pictures and words can never hope to get across to you is how much better the food is when cooked on a KK. I've been cooking on kamados for over 20 years. Most recently I had a Primo XL, arguably the best of the mass market kamados. I was a very good cooker. But the KK is in a league by itself. Pulled pork is pretty much pulled pork ... EXCEPT when cooked on a KK. Same with brisket, ribs, ti-tip, loins, etc. What comes off most kamados is better than you'll get off a kettle or gasser or stick burner. What comes off the KK is so much better than anything you've ever tasted. Pulled pork, brisket, etc. is more moist, more tender, and the taste if indescribable. All this is because the KK is so efficient that you never have to worry about dried out, over cooked meat. You know why you spritz cooks? You know why you always had to put a water pan under the cook? It was because your cooker leaked air like a sieve leaks water! Not so with the KK! So if you're looking at buying a KK, get on the phone, call Dennis, and talk to him. You'll be joining the KK owners club shortly! PS - I'm not getting paid a thing for one word of the above. It's just the truth.

Here is a view of the empty KK BB body looking straight down ... Here is a pic of the bottom vent air flow controllers. I'm amazed by what I found when I go everything unpacked! Im not amazed at the teak handles. I knew about that. What amazes me is the craftsmanship and fore thought that went into this air control manifold. Look at the teeth that help you calibrate your airflow. Those are on the left side of the controller. What is amazing and what I've never seen on ANY kamado is to be found on the right hand controller. See those holes? They allow you to fine tune airflow down to the Nth degree! The above pic shows the right hand side controller fully open with about a 3/4" diameter hole. Notice that the controller has holes that get progressively smaller down to about 1/8" in diameter. Talk about being able to dial in any temp you want! No wonder Dennis talked me out of a BBQ Guru and said just try manual control! WOW! Here's the 1/8" air control flow hole ... If you can't dial in an exact temp with this manifold, you're dead from the neck up! Okay, no KK is complete without it's signature top vent control. So here we go! Here is a view from the front of the crate looking straight down. I think this was posted a bit before. You can see the damper top encased, what else, in cardboard. The yellow band are run thru slots cut in the crate floor so that this top can't move at all during shipping. Here is a side view once the straps were cut on the top sitting on a box. Notice the small box ... it's there for a reason that will become readily apparent in the next picture. Here is an end on view of the bottom of the box ... That box is there to protect the threads of the top during shipping! Here is the top totally unwrapped and unboxed from the bottom ... ... and from the top ... Notice the distinctive "ears" that allow you to spin the top and set airflow. And here is the Komodo Kamado Big Bad looking like all its brethren and sisteren ... Finally, here is my KK's serial number for ever and always ... And as Bugs Bunny always says .... Tha That That's all folks!

Continuing on with the grates ... The lower grill has an access port for adding more smoking wood to your charcoal basket during a cook. Here are a couple of pictures. Notice the hinge at the right of the picture .... Here it is with the access door open .... Further down into the KK BB is the other heat deflector. It comes in two sections and after considerable hacking and slicing, this is what you get ... Here is a photo of half of the Primo XL heat deflector sitting atop of the KK BB heat deflector. Notice the gap around the Primo heat deflector. IT's about 1" all around. Here is a photo of the upper or searing grill. It sits on either a 2" handle or a 4' handle, depending on how close you want your meat to the charcoal. The next goodie is the stainless steel drip pan. And Gurus, it's a beauty! Notice the machined swirls all around the outer edge of the drip pan. NEWSFLASH! Dennis is planning and even better drip pan to help preserve those oft time precious drippings that can be used for gravy! Ok, we're getting close to the end, I promise! All we have left is the spare parts and the 2nd charcoal basket. As you can see, Dennis threw in a second pair of teak handled grill grabber. Beautifully made! The charcoal basket you've seen before, so let's take a look at the spare parts kit. Here's its packing slip. And here it all is in the charcoal basket ... The thing that impresses me is the completeness of the spare parts kit. There is a spare gasket, not one of those cheap felt gaskets that lasts about 10 months, but an honest to goodness high temp silicone food grade gasket. Also included is a tube of the elastomeric compound that attaches and surrounds each pebble on the KK BB and a good supply of extra pebbles. This is just in case one falls off. I have talk to people and given this elastomeric compound's properties, I don't think I'll need this. There is also a replacement for the upper gasket on the upper vent. Finally, a few ancillaries such as silicone plugs for running probe wires thru. Only one thing left to unpack ....

Now we have to attack the front of the crate to get to the lid's latch. This is an experience I'm REALLY looking forward to ... opening the lid for the first time. KKs are supposed to open effortlessly. Automatically, if you will, once the latch is released. Given the size of the spring we just saw, it dadgummed better! After a few whacks with the hammer and a few tugs at the pry bar, this is what we see. THIS IS THE VIEW I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! Hot dignity, damn diggity! And there she is folks! Looking straight down, this is the view ... There is the top vent damper! See those yellow cross straps? Well they are run through a couple of slots in the floor of the crate to make certain it doesn't move around! OKAY! Enough putzing around ... let's get this BB open for the first time in OKC! I pop the latch, and the lid lifts slowly and majestically into it's open position without so much as a hint by me. Talk about smooth. Just as smooth as a baby's ... This is a family Forum! Here is what greets me ... This KK BB is stuffed full to the gunwales with GOODIES! Moving the wrapping cardboard aside, I am greeted with ... A Heat Deflector in two pieces! It's a finished piece made from the same refractory that the KK's body is made from. Here's the other half ... There is another type of heat deflector that I'll show you later. This heat deflector is designed to let heat circulate around the sides of the KK instead of blocking most of the heat. What's next as we move down into the lower regions of the KK? It's the half main grate and as is usual, it's encased in plastic wrap! Time to break out the knife and start hacking! I don't have and end-on view, but this grate weighs more than my Primo main grates together, or so it seems to me! On the next level down is the main cooking grate. I forgot to get a pic of it wrapped in plastic more carefully than King Tut was wrapped by his embalmers, but my now you get the point. Here's the main cooking grate ... Sorry I don't have anything to give you a sense of the size of this, but just imagine 40#s of stainless steel rod. That's this grate. 40#s of steel! How the heck you could over overload this bad boy is beyond me, even at high temps > 750F! Next come the lower grill for searing and another half-moon.

Now let's uncrate this beast and see what we have inside the crate. First off, the crate is virtually impregnable. Talk about one VERY sturdy crate. This thing came all the way from Indonesia and there isn't a scratch to anyone on the outside. Simply impressive. After talking with Dennis Linkletter yesterday, he told me that it's easier and cheaper to make absolutely certain things are packed correctly than to have to replace a KK. Geez, Ya THINK!? In a previous post, you saw the crate with every option stacked on top of it. And you saw what those items were ... bread stone, coffee smoking wood, extra charcoal basket, etc. Now we have to break into the crate, and the KK BB itself to get to the rest of the ancillaries. So ... here we go! Dennis uses the top of the crate for a ramp to move the KK BB from the crate to the floor. Here is a side view. Notice that the support piece, lighter in shade than the ramp, is chamfered to the exact angle that is needed between the floor of the crate and the floor the bb will be moved onto. Talk about thinking of every detail! Here is view from the side of the top of the crate after the top/ramp has been removed. The top/ramp was affixed with 15 word screw 2" long! Here is a top down view. The circle of styrofoam is the top of the KK's lid where the top vent screws in. Notice the cross members to keep everything secure. I've done everything I can, so its time to get the included crowbar into the game. Normally one would just undo some carriage bolts at the based of the crate's pallet and lift the crate off, but that was not an option. My shoulder won't lift that much and the garage celling was too low! So, time to use a little engineering education for fun and profit! Let me tell you that is one very stout crowbar and I used that to great effect! What you're going to see next is the crate's back panel and the two cross members at the top removed. IT was a hot humid day and I had to stop a couple of times for some liquid refreshment. The temperature was exceeded only by the humidity and I had to stay hydrated, so it took about 30 minutes to remove the back of the crate and quaff down 2 Miller's! What you are looking at is the back of the KK BB, in essence its spine. I had already slit the plastic wrap when I remembered to take this pic. You see the top of the spring there about half way up the pic? The material used to make that spring is about as big around as the big old fat pencils you used back in kindergarten and first grade! That is one huge spring. It has to be big to lift that top on the KK BB! Alright, lets look at the top vent, sans its cap piece. What you see is the top vent fully exposed. to give you and idea how massive this beast is, here is a pic with a measuring tape across the orifice. I dare say no other cooker on the market has a 6" diameter vent, a 9" diameter gasket, and an almost 10" edge to edge vent! Wait until you see the vent top! KK packs everything it can into the body of its cookers, grates, heat deflectors, etc. Here's a shot looking straight down into the KK BB throughout its vent. If you look closely, you can see at about 5 o'clock the cardboard wrapping of a KK BB component.

Well Boys and Girls, Ladies and Gentlemen, Sports Fans, and Komodo Kamado Gurus of all ages, let's see what we shall see! A quick side note ... my friend made it through the night in good shape. She has a tumor in a very delicate spot, the medial tear duct closest to your eye. It took a specialist's specialist to finish the original operation os many ancillary structures were involved. Thanks to all you Gurus for your kind wishes. They were relayed to the family and they asked me to thanks all of you. So .... thanks from Rose and Steve to each and every one of you wonderful people! Onward and upward. Jack, This next set of photos are expressly for you and I think you'll figure out why in just a second! Sometimes I just can't help it! I tale against bimetallic thermometers and here I spend all kinds of money on a cooker and I get a bimetallic! Jack, Cheers! ole Buddy! (But it's a very good bimetallic!) And here is my very good bimetallic in the dome of the BB! So much for thermometers!

That's about it for the unwrapping today. But I want to leave you with the idea that the attention to detail, the deep thought, the craftsmanship, and the "friendliness" of this Komodo Kamado so far has left an really lasting impression on me. In an earlier post, Robert, who has a KK OTB 23" down in NOLA asked me if I knew how to uncrate this beast. Yeah, I do! Dennis sends the owners manual which is amazing! Talk about trying to control temps and don't know what to do?! Its right in the book. Uncrating? All you have to do is look at the crate itself! It's self-explanatory! Dennis even adds a crowbar for guys like me! It's Ken-Proof! Dennis sends the most complete user's guide I've ever seen, and then there are guys like Robert and other KK Owners who have graciously taken me under their wing and given me their time, guidance, and help. Robert, thanks ever so much! And I thought the Primo owners group was tight-knit! More to come. I've got a date with SWMBOI and its' time to get cleaned up. Netflix here we come!

Let's take a look at the two teak side tables I ordered. Most side tables are essentially useless to me, they're too dadgummed small to be useful, but Dennis Linkletter convinced me his were different. We'll see here. The box seems hefty enough, so let's get to cutting and hacking! A wood liner on both sides of the box! Talk about overkill, but for what these side tables cost ... Time for more cutting plastic ... After an eternity cutting plastic wrap and styrofoam sheeting ... WOW! These things are really big and really hefty! The teak wood is 1 3/8" thick! Here's an end-on view. Here's a view of the back end. Who cares about the back of this thing? I do and you should too! The craftsmanship is amazing. Countersunk screws, lathes, etc. I have done some woodworking in my past and this side table is so incredibly well made! Don't forget Linkletter has a custom teak furniture background and it shows. But after seeing the craftsmanship so far, this shouldn't surprise anyone.

All-right. We're working out way through this puppy, and I think we're about to take a look at the Baking Stone for the KK BB 32". I've been saving this; I recently had shoulder surgery and I need to be careful here. IT's at shoulder level on the crate holding the BB 32" and that can be a problem. Ok, here we go. But WAIT! It's a hot and very humid day here in OKC< so we have to take a break and stay hydrated! That Miller Lite is an attempt to keep my youthful jock's figure. A futile attempt, but an attempt nonetheless! Don't worry, it didn't linger long in the heat; it died a swift painless death! Again, the way in which Linkletter wraps and protects his products is just stunningly amazing. I hack my way through the cardboard and what greets me? Here's what ... What the ...? A wood box with wood screws! This is getting serious! Time to break out the power tools! I'm feeling like a fill in for Tim Allen on Tool Time! Okay, 16 wood screws later (Thanks Dennis, my supply of wood screws was getting low ... I'm good for another decade!) and more having and cutting, and this is what Awaits! Yeah ... MORE styrofoam and plastic wrap! I'm beginning to feel like Indiana Jones on one of his crusades ... always another twist or turn! FINALLY! Here is the BACK side of the baking stone. Talk about thermal mass! This thing weight 40#s if it weighs an ounce! Here's the front side with a nice polished surface. I've included a pic of 1/2 of my heat deflector from my Primo to give you an idea of the size of this baking stone. It's HUGE! But then, this is the BIG BAD 32"! I don't think I"m going to have to worry about having enough thermal mass to cook several pizzas in a row!

I purchased a second charcoal basket with the KK BB 32" as it was suggested to me it made shifting between coconut and lump charcoal MUCH easier. Why switch? Linkletter pointed out to me that using coconut charcoal for anything other than low & slow cooks was throwing money away. High heat, i.e. searing steaks, burgers, etc. was just as easily done with regular lump and the quality was just as good as using coconut char. Hence, the second charcoal basket. Again, the box. Notice the yellow strapping? It came on every box! Take a look at the quality of the tape job. Like I said, Dennis ought to hire these guys out as packers for moves! Once I get through the packaging, tape, and the styrofoam, here's what hit me. Okay, no big deal, it's a charcoal basket, right? WRONG! It's the massive size of this thing that overwhelms and simply doesn't come through in the picture. Here's a picture that hopefully makes this a little more evident. That's the largest size bag of Kingsford Charcoal Briquettes made, 20#s, and there is still room for more! For those who need a tape measure such as myself I give you the following. And as if that weren't enough, how about a comparison with my Lodge Hibachi? My Lodge can sit entirely in the charcoal basket of the KK BB 32"! Talk about BIG!