ckreef

Awesome Aussie. I have a few items gathered up to send your way too.

I've found the biggest factor for stunning pictures is lighting. It's the difference between an awesome picture and a good picture. That pretty much holds true regardless of camera. A decent camera with great lighting will produce better pictures compared to a super high end camera with crappy lighting.

@sfdrew28 great looking Chicago pie

Another butter alternative would be clarified butter/ghee. It has a higher smoke point than plain butter and since the milk solids have been removed you have removed the biggest component that makes butter taste like butter. I've replaced the oil with ghee in my latest personal pan pizza cooks. I like the results.

Good sale. I've tried some recently. Decent, hard, South American lump. I would defiantly buy it again.

Totally agree with this and 7" would be better.

I'm looking forward to the coffee lump. Mrs skreef would much rather have the Coco char.

Very tasty looking.

Point 3 is full internet access. Point 2 is you have a smart device but no internet access Point 1 is more of a final backup incase something happens to point 2 or 3. Yea I agree even my 16" would be a bit heavy to take on vacation. I solved that problem by getting a Primo Oval Jr with GO cradle.

I got my CyberQ yesterday and gave it a 6 hour test last night. At 250* it held with +/- 4* tollarance. More than acceptable. I do believe how much it varies will depend on how dense the lump you used is and where the grate probe is located compared to the fire. (that will hold true regardless of controller) 5v would be slightly more convenient. With that said I did purchase a relatively small car jump starter for when the CyberQ goes on vacation. I'm quite certain with a good bit of research I could have bought a much smaller 12v supply. CyberQ having a bunch of extra wires (that's what it sounds like they were implying) is just not true. They all have a power cord, a pit probe, and at least one food probe. The CyberQ has only one extra wire, fan power. The CyberQ does not have Bluetooth - that is true. What it does have is three different modes of operation: 1) stand alone using the built in screen/menus. 2) wifi hot spot. No router/cloud needed. Your smart device will connect directly to the unit through a web browser. They say range is about 50'. I didn't test the range. 3) full connection through a router to the cloud software. Worked well for me without dropping off. One of the biggest advantages to the CyberQ (although not really for KK users) is it has multiple adapters for a large selection of grills/smokers. Also has a larger fan option when you want to use it on a really LG grill/smoker. With all that said if the Smartfire fan plugs straight into the KK Guru port you probably can't go wrong with either unit.

CyberQ Cloud arrived today. I had a touch of Marabu leftover in the Oval Jr so I'm running a test. Rock solid burn at 250* with only a +/- of 5*. I want to get this all tested and tried in the Oval Jr. Taking it on vacation to my sister's house on June 8th. When I get back from vacation I'll have the KK drilled and cold smoker ready. Then I'll play with that setup. @tony b the jump starter is for going on vacation with the Oval Jr. The KK's are sitting on my porch and I have plenty of electricity for that.

That's my vote.

Oh I'm following along alright. Just leaving it alone on that front. I had ordered the Meater Block. Eventually the offered me two Meater+ units instead. I took them up on that. I gave one of the Meater+ units away. The other one I've only used a handful of times. Really the only cook I would use it on in the future would be rotisserie prime rib or similar beef cut. I've cooked enough rotisserie chicken at this point I don't use a probe of any kind for it.

In the WFO 5 minutes before the end I pull a bunch of coals forward on the deck and put the pan directly on the coals for 5 minutes. Works great but next time I'm going to rotate 2 or 3 times in those 5 minutes. Last week I did the socarrat for 10 minutes and burnt it. This week I did 5 minutes. Most of the socarrat came out perfect with only a couple burnt areas. The rotating during socarrat phase should solve the burnt area problem.

This is actually the second paella I've done. Last weekend I cooked one that came out okay but was more a learning experience on how to do this in a WFO. This weeks version, although not perfect by any means, it's getting better.  Chicken and asparagus paella. 

The ThermaQ Blue is the sturdiest unit I've ever owned. Really well built. I doubt it would break if you dropped it on concrete. It's also water proof so if a surprise thunder shower popped up, no worries. Also their K-type probes aren't cheap but the best probes I've ever owned. Like any wired unit you have probe wires but it runs off of AA batteries so you don't have a power cord. I'm still on my original batteries and it's still reading full battery bars. That's with using it a lot and even leaving it running for 24+ hours on a couple of occasions. Blue tooth range isn't bad but they also make a wifi version. Unfortunately they only come with 2 probe ports. Can you tell I really like the unit for what it is

I snuck that video in over at the Guru on the disguise of a sanitation (washing hands) mention. I just liked seeing the SBB in action.

If I'm reading all this correctly - bottom vent closed, top vent just barely open (way less than 1/4 turn). Just open enough so it comes off the gasket. Balconysmokin recommends pit viper throttled back to 25%. Give that a go and tell us what happens. Mine should arrive on Tuesday. Can't wait to play with it.

I don't use black pepper anymore (I guess there's still some in the house, somewhere). Almost exclusively purple crack berries. It does bleed a little purple color into your dish so I do have some white pepper corns for things like a cream sauce if I want it to remain bright white.

Stumbled across this video and thought it was pretty kewl.

I ended up buying a car jump starter to use as a 12v power source. I'm sure it's way overkill but it does double as a jump starter - LOL. You also started answering my next questions about settings. Specifically you answered my question about the CyberQ valve. My other question is what about the top vent? 1/4 turn?

Near Macon GA. Google maps says 3:55 away.

Well I live 4 hours away. I have a 19" table top KK and a 16" table top KK. I'm sure there is someone closer than me that has a freestanding KK. (that would be more in tune to what you want). If push comes to shove I'm sure I could give you a resonable demonstration of a KK in action.

I have numerous devices for remote monitoring. I'm not thrilled with the Meater +. I'll use it for rotisserie cooks other than that I have other options. I've used a Maverick 732 in the past. Two probe, clumsy menu, and crappy probes. Anything from Thermoworks is decent quality. I currently use a Smoke on my KK's. Decent two probe unit. I also have a ThermaQ Blue that I use on my Wood Fired Oven and Primo Oval Jr. Very high quality. Uses K-type probes so there are lots of different probe options. The unit itself and individual probes are not cheap but a high quality setup. Just ordered a CyberQ Cloud. We'll see how that goes once it arrives. Stick with anything from Thermoworks - you can't go wrong.

It's a bit more than just distance. The extra insulation a KK provides means you are running a much smaller fire and less air is flowing through it for a given temperature compared to other ceramic Kamados. Less air flowing for a given temperature means less moisture is loss in the air flow. The biggest immediate indication of this is the temperature of the dome on the outside. When fully heat soaked at 400* you'll burn yourself putting your palm down on a BGE dome for anything but a second or two. On a KK at 400* you could keep your palm down on the dome for an almost indefinate time without burning yourself.