Jump to content

CeramicChef

Super Moderators
  • Posts

    3,246
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    29

Everything posted by CeramicChef

  1. tony - certainly looks good from the cheap seats here in Oklahoma City! What time is dinner? If I leave now, I think I can get there for leftovers and dessert and the cleanup. You have an extra chair?
  2. LOL!! tony, if you saw my waist line that I'm trimming, you'd understand the Miller Lite! Don't fear, I'm not completely given to the dark side, or the Lite side, if you will. I've always got a few bottles of Guinness at the beck and call! Thanks for looking out for my health! LOL!!
  3. nolan8v, thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it. IT's easy to put out great looking cooks when you have the finest and most versatile cooker in the world!
  4. Hey Dennis - when can we order one of these drip pans? Is the pan for the KK BB 32" double walled? Thanks in advance! Hope all is well with you and yours!
  5. Dennis, I cook everything in The Beast! Your designs are so dadgummed good that the KK lends itself to every style of cooking. Slow cookers (i.e. crock pots) are all the rage (again) here in the States. Well guess what? I've got the worlds most versatile slow cooker sitting on my back patio! Dennis, I've gotten excited again about cooking out in my backyard because of all that The Beast allows to be done on it. The Beast rocks! Thanks!
  6. WIlbur - you must have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express recently because YOU NAILED IT! Very nicely done. Very nice indeed!
  7. Well Good Sunday Morning KKers! As promised, a follow up on yesterday's cook with respect to charcoal usage. Here is a pic of the charcoal basket before the cook ... And here is the same charcoal basket after the 17 hour cook of the 10# pork butt at about 245F and a 3 hour burn at 400F for the beans ... As you can see, only about 1/3 of the CoCoNut Charcoal was consumed in the cook ... Here is a photo of the ash left behind in the firebox ... Here is a pic of the amount that was swept up in the dust pan ... I have to say that I am quite surprised that I could get a 17 hour low-n-slow and a 3 hour burn at 400F and have so very little charcoal consumed and such a small amount of ash produced. In my experience this is about a third less ash than I would anticipate from a 17 hour cook at 225F never mind the 3 hour burn at 400F. This is a lot better than I had anticipated. People who have used the CoCoNut have said it produces less ash and lasts longer, but I'm a skeptic. No longer. This stuff more than lives up to its billing. I'm glad I bought 800#s (40 Boxes). I'll be doing all my low-n-slow cooks over the CoCoNut charcoal. It has little if any detectable odor compared to my regular lump, and burns more efficiently. Linkletter and others suggest using the CoCoNut for low-n-slow because above about 350-400F the heat burns off any volatiles left in regular lump. Besides, regular lump is cheaper! SO, there it is KKers. The first public cook on the Komodo Kamado Big Bad. I'm one happy camper! In fact, this Beast more than lives up to the hype!
  8. Well Sportsfans ... It was indeed a very dark and stormy night. The Big Bad came through with shining colors. We had an 11:00 AM pull for a 1:00 pm feast. Pics follow ... Here is the Big Bad when I put on the beans on to join the pork that was cooked overnight ... Beans consisted of chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, chopped hatch chilies, garlic, onion, bacon and bacon fat, and ham hock. CIlantro floats very well! Here's the pork butt pulled at 11:00 CST. 17 hours in the 250F heat of the Big Bad. It's about to be wrapped, toweled, and coolered. Here's the butt safely ensconced in the cooler and about to be tucked in for a 2 hour rest. Here's Kitty Cat guarding the resting pork butt ... Here's the final result of a couple of days of hard dadgummed work ... All in all a very successful cook! Everyone took some leftovers home with them ... all except my strictly vegan brother, but what the hell does he know, right?! When all is said and done, I'd have to give the KK Big Bad an A on this cook. Never had one lick of trouble. Temp was rock solid at 235F - 245F all cook long. I'd get up in the middle of the night expecting trouble from laying in the charcoal as I did. That was wasted effort ... the Big Bad was as solid as solid gets. I'll take a 10F deviation and walk away happy and doing the Spunky Monkey Dance every step of the way! When it came time to crank up the temp to cook the beans, just a quarter turn of the Top Hat Vent and opening the bottom airflow manifold to the next largest hole, about 3/16ths of an inch, sent the Big Bad to 400F in about 10 minutes. The Big Bad never ceases to amaze me. I don't use a BBQ Guru or any other puffer. There is no need for such on this Beast. The wind was all over the place last evening, rain coming down hard all night, and not one temp transient worth mentioning ... 10F is nothing at all! My brothers were over and couldn't get enough of the Big Bad. They just stood back and looked it over. I told 'em go ahead and open 'er up and take a gander in the inside. They were very hesitant to do so ... If you're looking you ain't cooking ... but we had the top open for about 3 minutes, buttoned the Big Bad up, and they watched the temp clilmv right back up to 400F in under 3 minutes. Both were amazed at the thermal stability. Thermal mass is a great thing for cooking! So, it was a very successful first public cook. The Komodo Kamado Big Bad rightly deserves all it's positive press. This thing is easier to control than any cooker I've ever had. Hands down. The KK BB simply want to cook and it wants to cook the way you tell it to cook. I'm convinced that anyone can successfully cook on this Beast from day one. There is simply real no learning curve. It's almost intuitive how to cook on this Beast. The airflow manifold makes cooking low-n-slow on this Beast a no brainer. Even I can't screw up this deal! Anything that CC-proof is something that anyone can do! Oh, my alma mater, THE University of Oklahoma beat texass! It wasn't pretty, but the Boys in Crimson and Cream put it to the poor texass shorthorns wearing burnt orange. That made the pulled pork taste that much better! BOOMER SOONER!
  9. in OKC when CeramicChef put on a 10# bone-in pork butt for tomorrow's feast during the OU/texass game.. It was the first public cook on his new Komodo Kamado 32" Big Bad and the world waited with bated breath ... Ok Gurus, here are pics of the first public cook on the Big Bad. And YES, HECK YES, it is cold and wet here in OKC. Here you see the basic setup for all my low and slow cooks ... heat deflector, ALWAYS a drip pan, cooking rack. As an aside, note how much room is around that drip pan. Drip pans of that size almost filled the Primo XL. Here is the 10# pork butt about to go on the grill. Note the first shot of courage in the left foreground. Woodford Reserve OTR. Smooth as a baby's touché. Here's our cooking temp ... a bit over 225F but I'll live with it at this point .... Time to button up the KK Big Bad until tomorrow morning. You can see a bit of the coffee wood smoke coming out of the Top Hat vent .... Another closer view of the smoke coming out of the Big Bad .... Gurus, that's about it until tomorrow morning when we'll probe for tenderness. You guys know the drill, all the action takes place out of sight and very slowly. I just went outside to check the temp. I've got the Top Hat cracked 1/4 turn on top and the lower vent is using the 1/8" diameter hole on the air control manifold down below and we're holding rock steady at 235F. This is my first time using the Coffee Wood for the smoke component of the cook. Dennis Linkletter was gracious enough to send 2 boxes and I've gotta say the smell is absolutely incredible! This is gonna be fun. I'll see all y'all in the morning. Right now, it's time for another 2 fingers of Woodford OTR.
  10. Okay, where did we leave off in this cook? Oh, yeah, polishing The Beast. I"ve said it before and I'll say it a hundred times again, it's vitally necessary to to stay properly hydrated: It's also important to match the proper fluid to the cook. Here we have, left to right, poblano peppers matchsticked, the hydrating agent, chopped cilantro, and chopped green onion tops. Here at Chez Chef, we have a new Sous Chef who was instrumental in this evening's cook. Guru's, I'd like you to meet Skippy. Skippy was only supposed to visit for a week, but you know how that goes ... Here are the onions and poblanos sautéing and ready to join the smoked chicken breast ... Here are the smoke kissed chicken breasts at 165F ... Here is the assembly station moving from right to left ready to start making the smoked chicken enchi's ... The enchi's back in the belly of The Beast at 375F for about 30-45 mins ... And finally ... smoked chicken enchi's leftovers ... Sorry there is no money shot, but with these chow hounds, there are two types of diners .... the quick and the hungry! These enchi's went down fast. We had homemade salsa, guac, sour cream, beans, and rice. If SWMBO wasn't demanding leftovers, she'd be a hungry gal tonight. I risked my right arm getting those off the table and spirited away for SWMBO. The things we do for love! There's no big mystery to this cook. Basic spices used in Mexican food, basic Mexican sides ... rice and beans, and basic salsa, basic fresh guac, cold beer, etc. Any of you can do this. You all have eaten chicken enchi's many times. Just take the basic ingredients, change 'em to your tastes, and make this simple dish yours! Have a wonderful evening! I"m going back to SWMBO and the Chow Hounds!
  11. Well KKers, I've been wanting to do some smoked chicken enchi's since The Beast landed in OKC. Today is the day. Found a nice package of chicken breasts on deal at Sam's this morning and decided I don't care if it causes the world to stop, I'm doing chicken enchi's for tonight's dinner. I've got friends coming over and I'm not one to put on the dog and try and impress anyone. They've all been here before and have never walked away hungry or complaining. So this is going to be one quick, simple, and wholesome dinner. Here's the set-up: Chicken breasts well trimmed and seasoned with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and garlic. That's it. I've made this dish a thousand times so I didn't stop to measure the amounts of each. Sorry about that. We'll be using pecan wood as our smoke agent. I've got a drip pan above the heat deflectors. The Beast is idling along at 225-235F. Here's the pic: I'll be sitting near The Beast drinking a little liquid refreshment to keep my strength from flagging. Chicken breasts will be pulled at about 160F or so. Oh, almost forgot! Before I get to far into the cups, some of you have asked about what I use to keep The Beast looking ship shape and shiny. As I alluded to in a previous post, it's Meguiar's. Specifically, here's a pic that should help: Which reminds me that the lawn guys just left and The Beast is a bit dusty! Time for a wipe down and then some adult type beverage. More to come.
  12. 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 KKers, 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!
  13. Well KKers, my OU Sooners thankfully have the weekend off, SWMBOI is away for the weekend, OSU is getting their clock cleaned, and I'm hungry. 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! More to come as the cook continues.
  14. Wilbur - GREAT looking cook! Your first pulled pork is an unqualified hit. Very nice cook, very nice indeed!
  15. amir - welcome to The Club and welcome to The Addiction! Your KK and you are going to have a wonderful time producing the best food you ever tasted! Jump on in and join the conversation. Glad you're aboard.
  16. If anyone is in the Oklahoma City, OK area and would like to see a Big Bad 32", contact me via email or private message. I look forward to meeting you! Ken CeramicChef
  17. OK! I see that my KK BB 32" cover is coming! Winter is coming on and I'd like to make certain that The Beast will be safely covered at night. Ducati - thanks for the pics. It's appreciated greatly. Dennis, thanks for staying on top of this!
  18. Hi Wilbur - what was the orientation of the KK lower vent with respect to the wind. I wouldn't worry so much about the top vent as the bottom vent having air blow into the KK by a rather stiff breeze. If the bottom vent to face into the wind, that can change the amount of airflow into your KK. I think these KKs are so efficient, any increase of air in the presence of fuel and heat can give a spike in the temp. If the wind is relatively steady and you set your vents based on a different set of conditions initially, it could very well be that just a little bit more air, on a sustained basis, could get an increase in your internal temp. As you know Buddy, I'm not much more experienced than you. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night and I am a chemical engineer! The guy who we really need to answer this Q is Dennis or some of the old hands around here.
  19. KKers - I'm new to the world of the KK, but I throw my 2¢ in at this point. I light my ECC with a MAPP torch. I pick one piece of ECC in the middle of my charcoal basket and light 'er up with a blast from the MAPP torch. I only use ECC for my low-n-slow cooks. You should understand that my KK is a 32" BB that I call The Beast. It is unlike any kamado I've used in a little over 20 years cooking on kamados. The air control manifold that Dennis has designed for the KK BB is the most unique vent system I've seen on a kamado. It makes controlling temps so incredibly easy it isn't even funny. The left hand side is something that most of us can easily relate to - a dial type of vent with indentations marking various levels of the vent being open. It's the right hand side that is so very unique. It's a dial, but with a real twist: 5 holes ranging from 1/8" in diameter to about 3/4" in diameter. It's those 5 holes that are shear genius on Dennis' part! When I light the single piece of ECC with my MAPP torch on a low-n-slow I close the lid, open the manifold to the smallest hole, i.e. 1/8", and open the top vent about half a turn and that's it ... voila! In about the time it takes to grab your cook from the refrigerator, do the final prep, grab your smoking wood, etc, you're sitting right at 225°! And all that on one small piece of ECC lit with a 20-30 second blast of MAPP gas. I've lit lump using cotton balls soaked in 90% isopropyl, oil soaked paper towels, starter cubes made from parafin, and MAPP gas. I know how MAPP gas works and I frankly don't see any reason why any standard method, alcohol, oil soaked paper towel, etc. wouldn't work on ECC. Lighting ECC had me worried at first. It IS much more dense than lump. I haven't found it any more difficult to light than regular lump. Once lit, it stays lit. ECC produces much less ash than regular lump. There is a consistency to ECC that you don't find in regular lump. That means that cooks go smoother than they do when using regular lump, especially at lower temps. I'm a convert to ECC. I'll never use anything but ECC for my low-n-slow cooks. Easy to light, easy to get to temp, easy to control! What else could you ask for in a lump charcoal?
  20. daveco - looks for the pics you posted that you did that chicken quite proud! Nice cook you put together. And I bet there weren't a lot of leftovers, right? Very nicely done. Kudos to you!
  21. Wilbur - WOW! Great post that had my mouth watering! Very nice cook. And great photography too! Kudos!
  22. Eggary! What's up, Buddy? Good to see another friendly face! Maybe not quite as busy, but you are oh so right! There are indeed a ton of bright people here. I've found out that cooking on a KK is a lot different than any other kamado I've ever used. The versatility of the KK takes it into another realm altogether! I look forward to learning from the old hands here! As for my OU Sooners .... geez, I think they spent too much time reading their own press! The defense has taken a vacation ... no pass rush and can't stop the run. The offense seems to be lackluster ... no run blocking, inability to sustain a passing game, and incredibly stupid mistakes! Yesterday the kicking game took a vacation. Taken together, it means a 31-30 loss to K-State! There goes any hope of a Big 12 championship and whatever slim hope for an invite to the four teams selected to vie for the National Championship. Oh well ....
  23. I have to order mine in bulk. Those boxes stacked that orderly in my garage is the sign of one very sick and twisted mind! All I'll need is one good cook and things will be back to normal ... utter and complete chaos!
  24. CeramicChef

    Chicken

    Beautiful oak, Chris! Simply beautiful! That looks so good I'd carry a pic of that in my wallet right next to the wife and kids!
×
×
  • Create New...