ckreef

What I was referring to (just my theory and what I've noticed from other people joetisserie cooks) KK's firebox is setup so all the incoming air is forced up through the burning coals. This allows less airflow and thus a smaller bed of coals to maintain a particular temperature. The firebox and super insulating qualities of a KK both contribute to a smaller bed of coals. That smaller bed of coals is a cooler fire. This is compared to other ceramic Kamados where some of the airflow bypasses the firebox. That coupled with less insulation properties means a larger bed of coals to maintain that same temperature. With a larger bed of coals being a hotter fire which means a slightly drier air. The drier air tends to cook the chicken faster and it's not as moist. Way better than an oven but not as good as a KK. Now that is just the conclusion I've come to after seeing lots of other chicken rotisserie cooks.

That was the problem. Only about 1/3 of the edge had burnt cheese. Probably why I couldn't coax it out of the pan. I'm going to blame this on Mrs skreef. She's not a big fan of burnt cheese. In an attempt to please her I was going for crispy not burnt cheese which is why I used the Bake-right strip. Won't make that mistake again.

Started with a deep dish dough spread on the bottom but NOT up the sides. Added a double layer of sliced mozzarella on the sides and floor. Added an extra thick layer of meat. Italian sausage, pizza seasoned ground beef, and small diced ham. Added a full 14 oz. Of pizza sauce. I subscribe to the less is more concept for pizza but not with deep dish or pan. A little shaker cheese. In it goes. I put it on a cold, thin pizza stone to assure me the bottom didn't burn. Also a soaked Bake-Right Strip. After 15 minutes I pulled it and brought it inside. Added some shredded mozzarella and pepperoni. Back on it went. After 15 more minutes I took a peak. This made me laugh. I'll name this picture "Ooey, Goey, Goodness". I guess I need a taller pan - LOL It wasn't quite ready so I opened the vents a bit and let it ride for another 10 minutes. Looks good now. I brought it inside and let it rest for 5 minutes then trimmed it up. After trimming it continued to rest for another 5 minutes. I'm usually really good at coaxing these out of the pan. This one wasn't going to come out without mangling it so I served slices from the pan. This was really good but fork and knife only. Very, very filling. Next time I need to get a taller pan and don't use the Bake-Right Strip. Only a section of the cheese edge crisped up the way I wanted it to and that was because I used the strip.

I started my kamado experience with an Akorn and used it maybe 3 years before buying my KK's. Akorns have their quirks but are a very capable kamado and can run 24 hours at 225*. Getting it to nuclear temps should not be an issue. I've done 800* pizza on an Akorn. I would say if there is a problem getting it up to temp something is wrong. Hard to say what that could be but I never had an issue getting it up to temp. There are a lot of Akorn owners on the Kamado Guru forum. You should send them over there, somebody will sort it out.

I've looked at your previous posts (which seem legit) but this post seems like spaming or something. What gives?

This didn't start out as an experiment but ended up being one. The Idea: because of the way a KK's firebox is setup it burns a cooler fire compared to other ceramic Kamados for a given temperature. I've noticed this looking at other people's cooks compared to mine and the size of the bed of coals for a given temperature. Because of a cooler fire it is a more moist cooking environment. The Experiment: at what point can I dry out a chicken done rotisserie style using my 19" Komodo Kamado. The Setup: 19" KK with built in rotisserie. 400* direct but with an infrared heat diffuser. I used the same brand chickens that are free range, no antibiotics (I'll post the name brand next time I run the experiment). Washed and dried the chickens. Cut the wings off for later use. Coated with a mixture of oil and seasonings. Note: since this didn't start out as an experiment I don't have pictures for my first 3 tests. (sorry) Test One: cooked for 1 hour 10 minutes (1:10). Although cooked through the skin was not crispy enough. Dark meat was so moist it was smushy. Test Two: cooked for 1:20. Skin was nice and crispy. Dark meat was just a little smushy. Test Three: cooked for 1:30. Skin nice and crispy. Proper texture on dark meat, tender and juicy. White meat still moist and tender. This is the cook Mrs skreef liked the best. Test Four: cooked for 1:40. Super crispy skin. Dark meat still tender and very juicy. White meat tender and moist but probably can't take much more time. This is the cook I liked the best. Cutting into the breast. Still moist and tender but not leaking juice. I mangled the leg quarter pulling it off the chicken. Dark meat has a good texture and extra juicy. Well haven't killed the chicken yet. Where do I go from here? 1:40 was getting close to the time limit to still have moist and tender white meat. Maybe next round I'll go for 500*. Stay tuned I cook a rotisserie chicken once every week or two.

I'm thinking once everything gets going you might be able to close your vents and unhook the air pump. The KK sucking air through the cold smoker keeping the smoker going along with the KK temp.

Nice setup. 1st time I've seen a picture of how the cabinets ship. Can't wait to see the pizza cook.

I totally agree. If I had a cold smoker I would have already figured this out. One day I'll order one.

I think you could add the smoke pot just after lighting. That would allow the smoke pot to heat up and get going. I get about 4 hours of smoke out of my 1 quart smoke pot. Meat only sucks up smoke the first couple of hours so if I loose an hour of smoke pot time while everything is heating up no big deal. Will try this next time I use it. Also cooking your low-n-slow at a slightly elevated temperature will help.

You can setup a personal time line activity stream in your menu under activity. Then set that to the default. Then it will work like what you are use to. I generally go by unread but I also set up a time line stream which I use on occasion.

Is the pot actually sitting on red coals. I had it not work once and I found that although the pot was sitting above hot coals there was a few unlit lump pieces keeping the pot from actually sitting down on the coals. If the pot and the wood inside doesn't get to a high enough temperature the off gassing of the wood will not occur. Not sure what that exact temperature is and it's probably a little different depending on the type of wood inside.

I believe if you just set the top on without any holes the wood inside will off gas. Eventually there will be enough pressure inside to force the smoke out the top. The problem with this is the smoke is now above your fire so none of the volatiles gets burned off and you have the nasty white smoke instead of the thin blue smoke you're looking for. Forcing the smoke out the bottom sends it into the fire to burn off the volatiles before it comes in contact with your meat. I too have a homemade charcoal retort in my backyard which works on this exact same principle. Wood burned in an oxygen starved environment makes charcoal. That's why you end up with lump in the smoke pot.

I rarely do a reverse sear. Hot and fast is how I like to play. Steak looks delicious.

I think all Dutch ovens are slightly different even within the same brand. If your lid is a fairly good fit the foil should work to form a gasket. If it's a loose fit the flour paste will give you a better seal.

To be honest, even though it makes sense, I hate that situation. I mainly use the unread content stream. When I reply to a post I then have to switch to a timeline stream to reread what I posted and then switch back to unread content. Sort of a pain in the rear.

I haven't seen this problem. If you reply to a post it counts as having read the post so that particular thread will not come up in unread until somebody else posts in it.

I went to that link. Tissue paper has those such chemicals in it. When I followed the tissue paper link that refers to facial tissue, toilet paper, paper towels etc.... So basically you are already exposing yourself to those chemicals on a daily basis. I don't eat toilet paper, I won't eat the kraft paper and I don't live in CA.

I don't know about that link. Seemed more like an advertisement in the end with no real facts in the body.

For this use any flour you have plus a little water. I made it a really thick paste. My lid was loose enough foil just didn't do the trick.

It's not a question of money, more a question of availability where I live without mail ordering it. I can get brown kraft paper just about anywhere.

What about plain brown kraft paper. I know it's technically not "food grade" but it doesn't have a coating. I just can't see where a minute amount of other chemicals left over from the manufacturering process is going to get on or in a brisket especially since the brisket is expelling liquid not sucking it up. I use this as a larger disposable table cloth when eating crab legs and I'm sure I've dropped crab meat on it then ate the said crab meat. Not dead yet - LOL Any thoughts on using this for a brisket.

Might have to give that a try but will probably do a substitution for the dry rub.

That just might have been. Never had a butt even come close to this long of a cook. Going to try one again soon. I'll use a wet thicker marinade and only mop every couple of hours or so and see what happens. Sort of takes away the set it and forget it aspect but the best butts I've done to date was with a wet marinade not a dry rub.

The 280* temp is the reason for no stall. That is the big advantage for cooking at an elevated temperature - meat tends to power through the stall.