DennisLinkletter

Time to admonish DJ.. Yes, them pictures of your meat cooked over your new fangled, multi holed heat defuser/fat smoker looked great in the KK... BUT where are the chopped/pulled pictures which ensure we are all salivating over the post? Never forget the power of saliva!

I went to Lotus, a gourmet hotel and restaurant supply warehouse in Bali on Tuesday and I found these medium sized ribs and was initially puzzled as to what they were.. I was very pleased when I heard they were veal. (something new) I'm guessing this would be called prime rib. They were sub-zero, very rock hard frozen, so I just wrapped them in a shirt and shorts in a plastic bag and hand carried them back on the plane to Surabaya. Put them in a cooler to defrost and then marinated them overnight in Newman's balsamic vinaigrette (DJ's idea;-) and misc rubs and a hand-full of chilies of course. Here it is just out of the marinade. Going on with dueling probes @ 215º with mostly apple with one lil hickory chunk. Smoked slowly up to 118º pulled it out and opened up both ends letting it climb over 500º tossed it back in on the lower for about 90 seconds per side. Put the drip pan back in and dropped the ribs down into the pan and shut down the cooker.. Pulled it at 125º and wrapped it for 2 hours Very moist.. in fact juice was running out onto the table in these shots.. It was not bloody tasting and although she usually shies away from very rare meat, I persuaded my wife to taste it and she loved it. This is really melt in your mouth meat. Two votes for veal.. These are going to our best friends just to show off what I can do on my Komodos! Damn, I did it again..

Re: Burnin' burnin' hunk-o-cow With a chunk of meat that large you need to plan ahead and really fill your bowl with large, then medium, then small, then smallest... that will give you 25-30 hours. I'd use an instant read thermometer and take a couple of readings as you might have different temps in different areas of that beast but I'd pull as you come up on 190º You can also almost chock off the burn at 186-188º this will prevent you overshooting your target temp. Please next time you cook a 23lb monster PLEASE take photos! I'd love to see how big it is in your KOmodo.

Today was the first day the forum was up and running two years ago. I just pulled up and read "Thanks everybody for 5,000 posts!" which was Sept 06. and remembered how pleased I was at the time.. We now almost 19,200 posts, 268 users. Our all time most users ever online at one time was 193. Our most unique IPs in one day was 625. We are averaging about 300 unique IPs a day in both January and February which is almost twice where we were last year dead middle of winter. I definitely feel like a proud parent! The forum has become Komodo's primary sales tool. Potential buyers spend time on the forum and now write ready to purchase.. It's really become a great resource for ceramic cooking. I'm soo pleased that we now have chiefs that cook on all types of cookers and it is what I always hoped it would be, a truly open ceramic forum. When I lost my father this last December, I also learned that I had a new group of friends, who were truly supportive and whose thoughtful notes helped me through a most difficult time. I'm looking forward to what will surely be Komodo's most successful season. I've hired some new staff and am actually trying to step away from the woodworking factory a bit to be able to spend most of my time on Komodo. I will also soon be introducing on the Forum, Komodo hand hewn floors and doors as well as a line of stainless outdoor furniture and cabinets for Komodos. Just last week, I shipped flooring for the first time to a Komodo customer and will be offering great factory direct prices to forum members. I've been dreaming about Komodos again and will have tweaks and be bringing out new accessories and models this year. Thank you all soo much for your contribution to this forum and more, the cliché it would not be what it is today without you applies..

Chomping at the bit I do remember you having a pretty severe case of the week before Christmas blues yourself.. I'd say the phrase, Chomping at the bit was relevant!

Re: Rack of Lamb Just remember to cook by watching your probes/meat temp. Thinking in degrees and hours can get you in trouble. Identical cuts of meat can take considerably longer.. Decide on a target temp to do your drop and sear not a predetermined temp and time. Remember you can make punctures with a small knife to later fill with the herb paste. I made about 10 holes.. about pinkey size. This gets the flavor down into the meat I used Fresh rosemary, mint, Coriander, basil, thyme, garlic, young onion shoots, lemon zest, sun-dried chilies, lemon zest and juice, balsamic vinegar, lil splash of worcester sauce, olive oil and salt all chopped up.. Smelled amazing.. really special using fresh herbs. Enjoy it.. I just had a lamb sandwich from that cook.. really good!

bombs and tsunami's really get the phones ringing.. But do they call you in the middle of the night and then say, "Oh are you asleep? What time is it there?" It amazes me how many people forget about time zones.. Big ones... But the bombs and tsunami's really get the phones ringing..

Did not even know about it.. That was about 3 hours north by plane, your post led to a Google search of course and that is the first I heard of it. As this is where multiple tectonic plates come together we have all the fun here.. Volcanos, mud flows, earthquakes.. you name it.. Thanks for asking!

probably not enough brain in there My guess is that they would be easier to stomach if you removed their little heads first. I even prefer my chickens headless (they leave them on here) and I'd much rather have a chicken looking at me than a rat and there's probably not enough brain in there to warrant cracking it's head open!

Really liked the first leg of lamb I did a while back and lots of people wrote they followed suit and loved it too.. So when I saw this big fat leg, it was time to do it again but throw in a few new twists.. First a few slits thru the fat.. Then I made many punctures with this small knife to later fill with the herb paste. I made about 10 holes.. about pinkey size. Fresh rosemary, mint, Coriander, basil, thyme, garlic, young onion shoots, lemon zest, sun-dried chilies, lemon zest and juice, balsamic vinegar, lil splash of worcester sauce, olive oil and salt all chopped up.. Smelled amazing.. really special using fresh herbs. Was not sure how to cut it off the bone and sorta a made a lot of scrappy lil bits.. I'm sure there is a better way but it still tasted great.. It ran with the beef ribs at 225º with hickory to almost 4.5 hours.. pulled it out at about 140º.. It could have been a lil earlier for me but everyone here wants it more on the medium side...

Well it was not the produce I found the first time I stumbled across extremely marbled beef ribs from the land of Oz but the large specks were still there and I just could not leave it be.. It had a layer of muscle on top and a thick relatively hard layer of fat below it.. I of course asked myself, "What would Dave do?" So I cut and peeled back the top layer of muscle.. And then cut the thick fat layer in half and removed it.. This shot shows how thin it was.. (Yes I was a bit proud of myself) Then I rubbed it down with beef bullion cubes, a lil' Worcestershire, some balsamic V and my beef rub.. Then threw the thin layer of fat on top to ensure it would not dry out. When I went outside my Akita stole the fat off the top.. so I never found out how that would have worked but in hindsight.. it did not need it at all.. A couple of big chunks of good old hickory, 5 hours at 225º.. Pulled it at 150º top layer and 130º above the bone.. The photos say it all.. The most rare pieces were so tender they fell apart in your mouth.. with warm gush of what seemed like beefy, buttery pudding, as rich as foie gras. Damn.. I've eaten more good Q in the last 4 years than in my whole life! I've never tasted anything like this..

Wow 82º here too.. Yah, yesterday I was playing with my Maverick and noticed it was 82º outside. I thought WoW 82º... only because it was 11pm. Must have been because it was cloudy and rainy here too..

never kill a tree for charcoal I like it.. Yes, my business plan is to never kill a tree for charcoal. This is very do-able too..

Re: Valentine's Dinner - bragging rights Commercialised.. Why? If she cooked it and it was good.. how can it be pretentious? I say never apoligise for buying great produce and treating yourself, ever.. Life is too short not to.. whenever you can!

Charcoal Target ship dates.. As shipping charcoal dead winter just does not make sense, I've set end of April- beginning of March as the target date to begin selling charcoal. Why pay storage prematurely?

Don't need to pull the new ones very tight at all.. We now have a better jig for exact positioning of the shaft when it's cast into the damper top and the top is paired up with the cooker when the stainless collar is installed. This insures a perfect fit, so there are no irregular fits and extra play like yours seems to have.. The threads are over sized and not only permits expansion when heated but also makes sure that when tightened it always makes a perfect seal.. even yours Tony.

Perfect size portions? Well Big Stew that's really "special", I'm with Mike here.. that looks ahh, yea..Ok And I must add not something I remember ever seeing in the land of Thai. Although I did see a basket of "deep fried wild jungle rats" in Indonesia once. I must no be going to the same markets as your wife.. Or did you trap them yourself? I'm guessing you should have left the tails on.. They must be all cartilagey crunchy like chicken's feet, wouldn't you think? Last but not least.. no shots of the finished product on the plate? Inquiring minds wanna know also how were they and will you ever eat/cook them again?

Re: Chicken Parts & Stinky Beans for the Kids.. They are usally opened first their grey skin peeled to reveal the bright green bean. They are then boiled and then fried and eaten as a side dish with spicy sambal and rice. I really like them in my curried dishes.. Especially curried beef brain! I ate it and liked it before I knew what it was.. Same with tongue. The though of what they are is still somewhat unsettling but they taste great so what's one to do?

Saisuda bought two chickens and cut them up to cook and then did not have the energy so I brined them in Dr Pepper, dried chiles and kosher salt for 2.5 hours. Then rinsed, dried and slathered them in a lil sesame oil and litely coated them with rub. Placed them on the grill in the kitchen to ensure even spacing then put them on at 285º with some apple for smoke for about 2 hours and then pushed it to 350º and slathered them with a little Dr Pepper and Ketchup to give them some color.. pulled them off at 155º-160º. The smallest pieces of breast without skin were not moist but not dry either. The thighs (my favorite) were great. I used SS turkey pins to hold the skin down and tight on the thighs and legs. The Indo petai beans or sataw beans in Thailand were tossed in pod and all. First time for this on my Komodo. It was pretty cool that some of them blew up like a balloon and were then really easy to open. They actually had some smokey tones to them and were extra good. They are about the size of US quarters and have a strong smell. I read them explained as being a bit like garlic with a hint of brussels sprouts and pumpkin seeds. We (two adults, a 10 and 2year old) ate all but two pieces.. I love apple smoke with my chicken.

Indo chuck.. only 12.76lbs most of the fat trimmed off. I cut a few strips off where it was about 2 inches thick. Cut these up into little strips, then punctured the large muscle areas with a small parring knife and filled the slits with these pieces of fat and rub. About 12 to 15 of these. Slathered it all with French's mustard, then rub and home grown, ground up sun-dried chiles. Put the still cold meat in at 200º with lots of coffee wood for smoke. Once the meat hit 135º I cranked it up to 350º until it hit 165º when I dialed it back to 225º where I kept it until the meat was 188º when it was wrapped and put in a pre-heated cooler. The cook was a little over 19 hours. The bark was soo good and I ate soo much of it while pulling it that I almost could not eat any dinner. Everybody loved this chuck. I had a lightly toasted whole wheat with Best Foods/Helmans, warmed pulled chuck with just a little slightly melted shredded jack cheese sandwich this morning.. Awesome! Wanted to have another but am still trying to loose some of the lbs I gained in the States in Dec. I'll be giving away most of this cook to people at the factory who always want my Q but can't eat pork.

Low and slow cookin' Always remember that you control your Komodo's temperature by regulating the volume of oxygen to the charcoal and that you want to muffle it from the top rather than restrict it from the bottom because you want to keep that cloud of humid air in the dome. Low 200º's are only about a 1/4 turn from closed and a 1/8"-1/4" sliver opening on the dial. and when your close to your target temp, make mini adjustments. Another thing is that when you open to peek (a no no) the additional air/oxygen that enters will cause your temps to climb, if your temps were ok before you opened it up,don't do/adjust anything.. It will stabilize back to where it was set. Have faith here.

Have no fear.. No the white material is there for cosmetic reasons only, it's a simple plaster applied so that you don't buy a cement colored cooker. It is applied by hand and if it's too thick it can comes off in large chips sometimes early sometimes after a few years.. If you see a loose area, feel free to encourage it to fall off. This is not the refractory material and adds nothing to the cooker's durability. I'm scouring Indonesia and Singapore for a source for black iron oxide to mix in with the refractory material so I won't have to use this plaster. Always remember that you control your Komodo's temperature by regulating the volume of oxygen to the charcoal and that you want to muffle it from the top rather than restrict it from the bottom because you want to keep that cloud of humid air in the dome. Low 200º's are only about a 1/4 turn from closed and a 1/8"-1/4" sliver opening on the dial and when your close to your target temp, make mini adjustments. Another thing is that when you open to peek (a no no) the additional air/oxygen that enters will cause your temps to climb, if your temps were ok before you opened it up,don't do/adjust anything.. It will stabilize back to where it was set. Have faith here.

7°20'13.93"S 112°43'27.14"E Benefits of being just a lil' bit south of the Equator..

the best full feature cookers possible Komodo's philosphy is to always build the best full feature cookers possible, I'll never stoop and offer seriously stripped low feature models to try to get into lower price brackets. So yes, it will have a rotisserie system and be Guru/Stoker ready. I hear your vote for a camping size/weight.