DennisLinkletter

Re: Does Extruded have a shelf life? I'm surprised to hear that someone was put off by coconut charcoals taste/profile because while it does impart a flavor, it is what I'd call extremely neutral. Here in Asia the street sate vendors use coconut shells because if the intense infrared heat they give off and sweet profile. I'd say you would only be able taste it without rub and only on fish and chicken. Did your wife ever taste the rubs you were using alone? Maybe it was something else she did not care for and was blaming the charcoal on. When I did my burn tests for ash content, the smell in the house was so nice, sweet and subtle, I'd almost be tempted to use it as incense. For everyday cooks I'd stick with standard lump charcoal.. but for times when you want control of your smoke profile or want to have almost no smoke profile as with bread, pizza and some fish, the coco makes sense. Nobody wants mesquite flavored sour dough bread. Also if you wanted to smoke with a wood or material that has delicate/light smoke profile, the lump's flavor/profile might over dominate your target flavors. This would be very common with the stronger flavored charcoals like mesquite for example. If you use the coco as your charcoal you could then use any material that smokes to impart flavor on your meat.. I've even heard of people using garlic and basil for smoke. (no stems and seeds that you don't need;-) Another great feature of the extruded coconut is the consistency in which it burns which makes it great for low and slow cooks.. it's very much set and forget. I just found a shipper that is offering better rates for mixed cooker and charcoal shipments, so I will start sending different charcoals that can be bundled with the coconut so one can get a mixed palette at a greatly reduced price. I also have some ideas for charcoals that will be cutting edge and completely different from what's available.. and of course KOmodo quality

Re: forum format for charcoal I understand that, what you might want to do is always use the "View Unread Posts" search to read what's interesting to you. Once read, use the "Mark all topics read" feature to clear the unread charcoal posts.. This will delete the unread charcoal posts from your member's cache. I'm sure as the charcoal business grows it will get a linked forum and website of its' own. I hope the method detailed above will eleviate the problem in the meantime..

Over 1,000 lb volume to Madison, WI The trucking rates to a Madison, Wisconsin terminal or business with loading dock or forklift is 32¢ per Lb for the 46 box / over 1,000 lb volume I'm picking up the palette, shrink wrap and in out charges.. Just because I can The charcoal 46 boxes @ 22 lbs each = 1,012 lbs @ .95 = $961 Delivery 1,012 lbs @ .32 = $324 Grande total $1,285

Re: Welcome back Heylo Tom, I'll send you an Email but there is no reason we can't send the charcoal with your new Gen 2.2 That will bring the rates down.. first box is already over 600lbs!

Trucking Rates The trucking rates to a Cleveland terminal or business with loading dock or forklift is 44¢ per Lb for the 28 box (over 600lb) volume. Please write and ask to get a quote for other volumes.

Trucking Rates The trucking rates to a Annapolis terminal or business with loading dock or forklift is 46¢ per Lb for the 28 box (over 600lb) volume. Please write and ask to get a quote for other volumes.

Trucking Rates The trucking rates to a Seattle terminal or business with loading dock or forklift is 26¢ per Lb for the 28 box (over 600lb) volume. Please write and ask to get a quote for other volumes.

On the Road.. I forgot that I had taken these on the way down before the batteries died.. This guy takes rice cracker delivery volumes on a motorcycle to a whole new level.. Looked up and saw this prehistoric looking volcano.. Then caught it a little closer up too..

The terrible life I aspire to live in! That's not the terrible life I live but the terrible life I aspire to live in! It was really beautiful.. Loved coming home everyday, sitting in the oversized couch and doing nothing except an occasional tilt of a wine glass.

I'm beat but back... It's been a long week both frustrating and fruitful. Sai and the kids had never driven from Surabaya in East Java down to the ferry and over to Bali, so I decided to drive there ourselves.. We packed up the big Land Cruiser and left last Monday morning about 6:45. Eight hours later we were at the ferry.. driving here is much like a video game with goats, chickens, horse pulled carriages, cow pulled carts, overloaded top heavy trucks, speeding bug busses with weaving fearless motorcycles thrown in to pick up the excitement. Solid white lines (same as our double yellow) don't seem to deter the busses from passing.. problem is they will still do this uphills and on blind turns using some kind of ESP. It's terrifying to say the least.. Last time I made this drive ten years ago, I swore I'd never do it again. It's just as bad now and I'm swearing I'll never do it again now.. We waited only about 20 minutes for the ferry and I slept like a rock the entire hour across.. Four hours later we were at the Villa in Kerobokan. It took a total of 13 hours to get there.. only tinkle stops for the kids.. I was more than beat... An old friend set us up at an amazing large villa for only $160 per night.. Sai's niece and romantic interest from Thailand came down and split the villa with us.. The place was the best value of my life.. and made Sai VERY HAPPY. take a peek here if you like.. http://www.BaliMaja.com That's what living in Bali should be but it was only lacking the ocean or rice terrace view. We found a great school with great facilities which was just built last year, the Gandhi Memorial International school. Built for 750 students they only have 150 so the classes are small. No danger of it closing as it's owned buy the Gandhi school in Jakarta with 2,000 students. Nong will only have 10 students in his class http://www.gandhibali.org It is high season and every available house is pretty much rented or so terrible and poorly designed a westerner could never live there. We're not going to rush into anything so we've decided to stay at some serviced apartments at a older resort until we find something. I had my driver take a buss down to bring the car back.. we flew back.. only 30 minutes late last night... Ok enough about last week.. Got home by 10:30 by 1:30 I had almost caught up on Emails and booked 9 deliveries from the container that cleared customs last Thursday.. New record.. 9 KOmodos pre sold in one container. The CoCo charcoal container arrived on Saturday.. Now the US customs and homeland boys will futze with it.. I'll get out the newest shipping quotes to those who are chomping on the bit.. Don't worry it's not going anywhere guys.. Ok.. done with my first blog type report. Gotta keep you up do date with what's going on with myself and KOmodo..

Trucking Rates The trucking rates to a San Francisco terminal or business with loading dock or forklift is 19¢ per Lb for the 28 box (over 600lb) volume. Please write and ask to get a quote for other volumes.

Trucking Rates The trucking rates to a Chicago,IL terminal or business with loading dock or forklift is 29¢ per Lb for the 28 box (over 600lb) volume. Please write and ask to get a quote for other volumes.

Trucking Rates The trucking rates to a Huntsville, Alabama terminal or business with loading dock or forklift is 35¢ per Lb for the 28 box (over 600lb) volume. Please write and ask to get a quote for other volumes.

Trucking Rates The trucking rates to a Sparta terminal or business with loading dock or forklift is 48¢ per Lb for the 28 box (over 600lb) volume. Please write and ask to get a quote for other volumes. I'll also get a Fairfield quote..

Trucking Rates The trucking rates to a Wichita, Kansas terminal or business with loading dock or forklift is 24¢ per Lb for the 28 box (over 600lb) volume. Please write and ask to get a quote for other volumes.

Trucking Rates The trucking rates to a Madison, Wisconsin terminal or business with loading dock or forklift is 39¢ per Lb for the 28 box (over 600lb) volume. Please write and ask to get a quote for other volumes.

I'm off to Bali for the week, so I won't be online quite as much. I'm going to move the family and ultimately KOmodo south one island. I hit 20 years in Surabaya this month and it's time for a change. I was waiting for my ducks to get all in a perfect row and move to Thailand but you know how ducks are.. They are never in a perfect row... So sometimes you just need to grab the horns and make things happen.. It's only an 8 hour drive and 30 minute flight but it's a world away as Bali is Hindu and Java is Islamic.. That's why I'm always fillin' my suitcase with pork when I go there.. I'll eat some roasted pig for you all...

I'd just like to wish you all a happy 4th.. In the old days, pre-9/11 the American Consulate here would always have a big party but it would be a bomb magnet these days.. Life in an Islamic country is sadly not what it used to be.. Hope you all have a great time.. Please eat some great Q and watch some fireworks for me..

I gotta get this out of his garage.. I gotta get this out of his garage.. This week.. Anybody want a KOmodo below cost? $850 Best offer? Won't happen again! Remember it's uncrated..

Got a little carried away taking shots of the new rib rack.. What can I say? I have a beautiful rack! Unsigned Stainless copies now available for $78. plus UPS ground. And the top view..

Fines - Great for Low n Slow But save those fines as after you fill your bowl with standard sized chunks you can toss in a hand-full or two and jiggle the basket just a tad.. As they fall down into the mound, they lodge here and there between the larger pieces connecting/bridging them together. This will ensure an even steady burn from piece to piece. If the lager pieces don't quite touch they might now light each other. Just my 8¢

My boxes are 10 kilos / 22lbs My boxes are re 10 kilos / 22lbs and loaded just a bit over. There was no way I was going to short anybody. My guess is that when news gets out that the real deal is available again we will have a gentle migration of coconut charcoal enthusiasts coming over here from everywhere.. Hopefully we can put together some coco co-operations..

More information later this week.. I've re-contacted some trucking firms for new quotes as fuel surcharges have changed the game. My plan is to sell by the pallet but will be selling single sample boxes by UPS at a greatly reduced/discounted price so my customers can try it before buying a pallet.

A proud member of the KOmodo family! Not completely grouted and no handles but still looking like a proud member of the KOmodo family! These were shot together and cropped to be closer.

It's well known online fact that in 2003 Kamado Corp of multiple locales imported and sold a container of high quality extruded coconut charcoal that was very well received by the public and when tested by the Naked Whiz charcoal review site burned long and created very little ash.. Subsequent shipments seemed to go downhill steadily. The problem is that most producers and exporters were selling and shipping extruded charcoal mixed with large percentages of starch binder. Regardless what anybody tells you, ALL coconut charcoal is mixed with a starch binder before being extruded. The best uses 3-5% some almost 50%. The volume of ash is in direct proportion to the volume of starch added. In the last few years the demand for activated carbon for water filters has driven the price of the raw material up. I tested and cooked with many samples from around SE Asia. They all sang the right song but ash testing always told a different story. I've been offered extruded coconut charcoal from as little as $260 a ton and as much as $580 a ton. Last June I was told about a charcoal seller/agent in Jakarta who had supplied Kamado with the 2003 container (here is the BOL) as well as a couple of container afterward which word on the web was were never paid for. (more BOLs) I contacted these people and was told I could get the high quality 74% fixed carbon, 3.4% ash. This was late June of 2007, I immediately sent them a deposit to secure a container and UPS'ed stickers to the factory for the boxes. I asked for a current MSDS and was sent one that read 57% fixed Carbon and 19% ash. I immediately called and told them that this was not what we talked about and I was not interested in sending 2nd or 3rd quality charcoal. Time went by and there were excuses followed by excuses until they finally sent me a MSDS with 64% fixed Carbon and 10.70% ash. November 30, 2007 he sent me a proforma invoice offering 57% and 67% both with low ash.. I requested and received my deposit back. From the test information I was able to track down the original factory. When I asked the Jakarta Agent for my stickers I learned that they were sent to another charcoal factory.. Classic bait and switch. It's been a long road but this last week I sent a container of top quality 74% fixed Carbon, 3.5% ash extruded coconut charcoal from the same factory as the now legendary 2003 shipment. (Anybody who wants copies of documents to confirm any of this please write me.. I have them all;-) The container is scheduled to arrive in Long Beach July 12th. More information soon..