ckreef

Shrimp and Grits anyone? A different take on a southern classic. A massive U5 Shrimp stuffed with grits covered in parmesan cheese. Served with a bit of zucchini noodles and a tomato cream sauce. Cooked in my Pizzaioli Wood Fired Oven from

Authenticpizzaovens.com 

Great looking pie. The last picture is a testament to its greatness - LOL 

3 hours ago, LK BBQ said:

One other question - to get a "raging fire" do you keep the KK wide open or do you just open up the vents all the way?

Top vent 3 turns, bottom vent fully open. You never want to keep the dome open for an extended period of time. 

28 minutes ago, LK BBQ said:

Thanks, all.  This is very helpful.  Believe it or not, the reason for at least some of these questions is that I was living for years in a condo that didn't allow charcoal - so with DL's help, I converted it into an electric KK.  I recently moved and am now learning my way through charcoal.  I would put the heating element right under the main grill, so I've never had to deal with the lower grill and even the firebox before.  

I've cooked a few chickens without a rotisserie and had delicious results.  Spatchcocked and even just whole.  The thing that hasn't worked for me is getting a crispy skin.  It's always been a bit too moist in there.   I've tried drying the chicken off and putting a little baking powder, but it didn't really do much.  Will experiment with higher heat.  

 

 

 

 

Chicken IMHO needs 400* minimum to get really crispy skin. I've tried to kill a chicken on the rotisserie with higher temps and progressively longer times. I never did dry out and kill the chicken. Search out the thread. 

I have a large freezer drawer (1/6 of my freezer) full of frozen peaches and Ranier cherries for use this winter when I'm missing the summer fruit. This syrup/peach topping is another source of summer later this year. Don't worry I ate my share of peaches and then some along the way. 

3 hours ago, jonj said:

I just measured my Guru port and it is 31mm in diameter.

Awesome. If I'm understanding all the pictures correctly it should fit without any adapter. 

@tekobo  there is an optional ingredient that I left out of the recipe. It's a trick I've learned about canning/boiling fruit.

If you add 1-2 Tbsp butter to your boiling mixture it helps reduce foaming. Doesn't do anything for the flavor but does help with foaming. 

I don't have a smartfire but....... 

Looking at the adapter pictures (links above) neither have anything to do with a KK/Guru port. But looking at those dimensions if the inside of the Guru port is 31mm it should work without an adapter. I'm not at home so I can't measure. 

I've had a 19" TT for a couple of years now. 

1) I've gone both ways. Main grate is easier to deal with and the 19" TT isn't that tall so with a direct raging fire you can still get a decent sear on the main grate. 

2) rotisserie chicken is basically high heat direct cooking. The rotisserie keeps things from burning and somewhat self bastes. I prefer rotisserie over Spatchcock. No big advantage doing a low-n-slow rotisserie cook, probably more pain in the rear than it's worth. 

3) definitely use a drip pan. Butts expell a lot of grease and water during a cook. Don't want that mess in the bottom of the KK. 

1 hour ago, Alohapiggy said:

 

1 hour ago, MacKenzie said:

They do provide you with the tape.

1 hour ago, Alohapiggy said:

Haha yes I feel the same.  Who’s supplying the tape?

Sticky tape on a $5k SS vent. I don't think so.............

1 hour ago, Alohapiggy said:

I’m not happy with their answer.  I really wanted an adapter to work with the fan port on my KK. I really don’t want to take apart my vent and use tape.  The cyber Q is looking really attractive now. 

I have to agree. I thought it was a bogus response. Tapeing vent holes - I had to laugh. 

23 hours ago, tony b said:

While likely cost-prohibitive, I'm envisioning 22# bags, 2 per 44# box - best of both worlds! 

That would be the best scenario. I just received Eucalyptus lump like that. 2 bags in a box. 

Glad you got it worked out. Once you get up in temperature with a good bed of glowing coals you can usually shut the top vent a bit to trap the heat. You'll use less lump.

2 hours ago, tekobo said:

Great, thanks!  I thought you had forgotten this request.  Now off to find some peaches to do the recipe justice.  

I didn't forget just wanted to wait until I opened up a bottle to make sure it was as awesome as I thought it was going to be

16 minutes ago, tony b said:

Here's where I get reasonably priced binchotan for my yakitori, if you're interested.

https://www.korin.com/grillware/binchotan-charcoals-and-accessories

I've looked at that page before. Which version have you tried? 

I'm going to try some one of these days but at the moment I'm sort of overflowing with lump including 4 bags of Marabu. 

On 8/12/2019 at 2:45 AM, tekobo said:

I like your recipes!  Please post when you have refined.  We don't get your lovely Californian peaches out here but I will look out for some good Mediterranean ones as the season progresses.  

Opened my first bottle from batch #2 - OMG !!! 

Big improvement from batch #1 and that batch tasted pretty good. I figured I better type this up before I forget what I did because this was mostly off the top of my head. 

You'll need 15-20 peaches  depending on size. Cut them in half, remove the pit, and Grill them hot and fast. 

Remove peaches from grill and put in a large bowl. Cover with saran wrap and let them steam/cool down for 20-30 minutes. This will make it easier to remove the skin. 

Start peeling and chopping the peaches. Put in a blender. Puree the peaches until smooth. You need about 5 cups peach puree. 

In a large pot on the stove add the peach puree, 1 cup sugar, 1 to 1 1/2 cups pure mapple syrup, 2 cups water and 2 Tbsp Real Lemon lemon juice. Do not use fresh squeezed, we want a consistent acid content from the lemon juice and the acid content in fresh squeezed can vary. 

Turn on stove to get it boiling. In the meantime peel and cut up the remaining peaches in small chunks. Hopefully you'll have about 3 cups of chunks. Add that to the puree mixture. 

Bring to a full rolling boil. If it looks too thick add another cup or two of water. After it comes to a full rolling boil simmer rapidly for 5 minutes. 

Jar it and water bath process for 20 minutes. Let jars sit until cool. You don't have to let them sit 24 hours because this has no pectin so it's not going to set. 

This will yield 6-8 12oz jars so be prepared. They should have a 6-12 month shelf life. Shake before using and refrigerate after opening. 

If you give this a try let me know what you think. You won't be disappointed. 

Boxes stack/store better but bags are easier to manage out at the kamado. 

2 hours ago, lemisfits said:

I am also new to this KK thing and I can't get it blazing hot.  

I've used a MAPP torch, blow dryer, and also Weber paraffin cubes.

As for fuel, I've used Fogo, Rockwood, and Dennis' coco char.

I've been dying to make pizza, but I can't really get it about 450.

Yes, I have cleared out the smalls, aligned the coco char to maximize airflow.  

Help!

Something is not right. Can you explain what your vent settings were. I have a theory for your problem but would want to know what you did with your vents first. 

I've never had a problem getting a KK to go nuclear and I highly doubt it's the lump as long as you had it totally full up to the lump basket handles. 

7 hours ago, tony b said:

Whoa, Dude! I was born in South Carolina - just because I live in Iowa doesn't make me a Yankee - bite your tongue! 

Oh that made me laugh a good one. 

LMAO FOTF - falling on the floor - that is. 

Hey, I was giving you credit for being a Yankee with good taste. Truth be told I'm a Yankee, I just knows better - Hellman's be damned............ 

@MacKenzie better watch out or I'll send her a bottle

I too use a MAPP torch but I'd use that even if I had a KJ. I would start with the same procedure you use for the KJ and tweak the process from there. 

In a KK the top vent can go up to 6 turns open. With that said I never open more than 3 turns and usually top vent 1 1/2 to 2 turns open is more than a sufficient starting point for whatever you're trying to achieve. 

6 hours ago, Alphonse said:

...... began to ponder how to measure density.  So I spent a little effort in researching a practical way to measure density of various lump but have not come up with an easy way to do so. 

How much weight per cubic foot is the easy method I came up with. Not a real scientific method but gives a reasonably repeatable process that's probably good enough for comparative purposes. 

At this point I can look at a bag, see how much weight is in the bag and have a good idea about density. 

And one really needs to become a lump whisperer. Bang two pieces together and listen carefully to what the lump is trying to tell you. The softer North American lump makes a dull "thud" almost hollow sound. The more dense the lump the more of a "clink" sound. There is a binchotan video where they hit two pieces together. It sounds like two pieces of glass. Marabu is the only sound that comes close to that. 

Hi - my name is Charles - I'm a lump nerd - I need counseling or at least a good 12 step lump program - help.........

6 hours ago, tekobo said:

I have only ever used cocoshell briquettes in my KKs and they have been great.  Looking to get a new grill soon and was in the market for "ordinary" charcoal.  I happened to see a TV programme that included this company showing how they make charcoal sustainably in the UK: https://www.oxfordcharcoal.co.uk.  When I rang them up they mentioned the fact that they have some Cuban Marabu too.  That sparked (tee hee) my interest because I remembered seeing you folks talk about Marabu.  I was going to go all in and buy some for the KK as well but I now see from your earlier posts, @ckreef, that you think Marabu charcoal is too sparky for the KK.  Oh well, I might buy a bag of Marabu to try out in the konro and will also try out their locally made charcoal.  I've paid no attention to your recent char burning experiments Charles because I thought I was all set with my cocoshell but I am now on a mission to  try these single species charcoals.  Hard to imagine how alder char differs from wild cherry char but that will be the fun of exploring.  

So far I've tested 10 different types of lump. I have 3 more I will test, KK CoffeeChar, Jealous Devil, and Fogo Brazilian Eucalyptus. I now have those 3 in my possession but it'll take a few weeks to get through the tests. 

My opinion (so far) using the normal lumps available:

All the lumps tested worked reasonably well under all circumstances but some worked better for different situations. Most people don't really care but some of us do. 

Marabu is a really hot burning, very dense lump. It's best used for extended high heat cooks such as multiple high heat pizzas especially if you were having a large pizza party. It is sized properly for use in a Konro grill and is probably the only reasonably good substitute for Binchotan. Used for normal cooks in a kamado can be problematic befause it's hard to light and takes a little bit more airflow to keep it going. 

South American hardwood trees are denser, harder trees so they make a harder lump compared to North American trees. South American lump burns better and lasts longer. When I finally get through burning all this extra lump I have laying around the house (I have a good bit leftover from all these tests) I will NOT be buying lump made from North American hardwoods. 

Most people just measure lump by cost without taking in other factors. The cheaper the better, but....... If lump B costs twice as much as lump A, but lump B burns twice as long as lump A did it really cost more? There is more to lump than initial cost. You have a KK so paying a few dollars more for better lump is probably not an issue for you. 

One thing to note is none of my tests took the flavor profile of lump into account. It was simply how well it burned under different circumstances. 

3 hours ago, ckreef said:

 

The only mayonnaise worth buying. 

 

2 hours ago, tony b said:

I forgot to add - it's a southern thing. That and Yankees who are in the know (Yea me and @tony b are in the know)

Mrs skreef has been in the know since she was born - LOL 

49 minutes ago, MacKenzie said:

I'm going to break down and ask, what is Dukes? 

The only mayonnaise worth buying. 

7 hours ago, tony b said:

Agree. It's Dukes or nothing! 

Yes, please. I'm on my last jar. 

No worries I'll get you a couple of jars this weekend