DennisLinkletter

You might want to try covering the top with rock salt, just pack it on and put it in the grill.. it pulls moisture and transfers heat to the skin and makes great crackle..

Using my welding gloves, I grab a medium-size chunk of lump charcoal and smack it against the wall of the grill to break it into little tiny pieces. I carefully pile these in the middle of the grill on top of the charcoal. These can be lit using a lift lighter or the heat gun-type lighters a map torch or a wax starter. Because the pieces are small they light almost instantly. Now you want to hit the small burning pieces with a blower.. this could be a cheapo hair dryer or even a bellows. I personally use a Milwaukee shop blower. It's lithium powered and has a variable speed trigger and is about 30% the size of a standard leaf blower. Great tool. When the burning charcoal gets the increased airflow it glows madly and immediately lights all the charcoal below it, which immediately glows madly also and in 90 seconds you have a grapefruit volume raging and you are off to the races..

It's more about the results.. burn less fuel, create less airflow, less evaporation, and BINGO more retained moisture.. the holy grail of low and slow!

I sell a coffee wood lump charcoal with a wonderful flavor profile that I often am unable to keep in stock because if shipping/sea freight issues, nothing to do with coffee. That being said, coffee grounds will impart some flavor.. not sure what it would be like.. I'm guessing most of the oils/flavor has been extracted. I've smoked chicken with rosemary leaves.. Less is more!

Yes, all Komodo Kamado grills used to come standard with heat deflectors.. I've learned it's easier to give people what they want than to educate them. I supply them because people coming from the glazed-pot Kamado world think they're very important. Glazed pot Kamados are basically uninsulated and when the ambient temperature changes/drops their temperature can crash. Having a heat deflector reflecting heat back into the firebox gives these grills thermal mass/ a heat sink to help stabilize temps during these ambient temperature swings. Their deflector and firebox are the only components that are not exposed to the changing ambient temps. The thin glazed pot walls are unable to hold and give off heat the way a big thick cement hot face that is also insulated can. Because KK's are so well insulated, this is not a factor. The heat deflector requires you to burn more fuel, creating more airflow, more evaporation, and less retained moisture in your meat. I suggest preheating the grill empty and then putting foil on the lower grate, the size, and the area you want to be indirect. You only need the foil to be large enough to block the infrared radiation coming directly off the coals from hitting your meat. Put your drip pan on top of the foil, install the main grill, and put your meat above the area with the foil. Put the upper grill on top of that and more meat. You're off to the races. The foil is much higher above the charcoal than where the heat deflectors sit and will not trap/reflect as much heat back into the firebox. That being said, I have not used the heat deflector in one of my grills for probably 10 years. Your results will be better using foil to create an indirect area. You will burn less fuel, create less airflow, less evaporation, and will have more retained moisture in your meat.. Will the forum family please chime in how they feel about using foil or the deflectors so I can use this post as a reference..

Amazing ribs are not paid reviews.. I know I sent Meathead grills to play with. Here are a couple of links ref. Kamdo Joe being bought by a Private Equity Group. http://vrapartners.com/news/vra-partners-advises-kamado-joe-majority-recapitalization-dominus-capital/ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dominus-capital-invests-in-kamado-joe-300717060.html

I don't want to sound judgemental but do they sound a little confused here with where to cook what? "Place the grate in the lowest position for a gentle heat, ideal for smoking “low-and-slow” barbeque," LOL

I use that large "T" tool that ships with your grill.. It's about a foot long and has an allen key welded to 1/4" SS rod. I slide it into the feed tube when it's cold and can chip out the stuff that builds up.. the pull-apart and soak works of course too.

I always suggest putting an ad on Craig's List.. Best way to sell KK grills if you don't have the original shipping crate.

That's dedication to good food that I respect.. My wife used to discover roadside stalls that served something special and then get a craving for what they have. I'd be driving 45 min each way to go eat something special. But we would always get another 5-6 portions bagged up to take home also.

And remember you can always call me if you have any on the spot questions..

I’m flying back from Bkk, and will be back taking calls again if you need me tomorrow.

First I’d like to thank everybody for the outpouring of love, prayers and calls from literally around the world, we were touched. We saw a specialist in Bangkok today who was able to clarify things and make us understand what probably happened. She was diagnosed with a group of conditions lumped together to describe “a myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary arteries” known as MINOCA. We were able to reduce them to a vasospastic angina.. She will take a three-month course of anti-spasmatic meds among other things and we’ll come back and see him. So looks like we dodged a bullet and of course she will have to make some lifestyle changes.. i.e reduce her workouts to an hour or two a day etc.. LOL Thanks again..

I've been offline for a bit recently.. My wife was put in the ICU for three days following a heart attack last week. Completely unexpected as she trains 4+ hours a day, six days a week. We just had a cardiac angiogram expecting to put in a stent but the Dr said her arteries have no reduction or blockage and are perfect.. This is both good and bad news.. Yes clear but we don't know the cause of the original heart attack now.. Looks like I'll be taking her to Bangkok for more exploration. Hopefully, she will be released here tomorrow and we can go Wednesday to Bkk. I'm still online a few hours a night if you need me.

If you want to duplicate a 900º pie in your KK, I suggest using a baking steel. A 1/4 or 3/8" carbon steel plate will transfer heat to your crust at the same rate as a more porous stone at 900º. The leopard-ing on the bottom of the crust will be identical, and it's much safer. https://slice.seriouseats.com/2012/09/the-pizza-lab-the-baking-steel-delivers.html

These shots clearly demonstrate the size difference between the 32" and 42" grills. As you can see I cut the actual 32" mockup and slipped 10" in the middle and then pulled the molds. The fence of the splitter is on two 3/8" SS rods and can be moved to any position. Because you only need to heat the grates above the charcoal for grilling it comes to temp as quickly as any of the other sizes. In the smallest setting it's about the same volume as the 23" Ultimate with the splitter at 50%. But when you need the real estate.. The 42" SBB has got ya covered.

To clarify.. Leaving the top open ongoing at high temps can damage the acrylic jacket which holds the tiles. Easy enough to close her up when you are waiting for that minute and a half. The gasket issue is leaving the grills latch in the first position causes screaming hot air to run over the gasket and will eventually damage it. When latched in the second position, there is zero airflow over the food-grade silicone gaskets and they don't deteriorate. Pretty much everybody who second latches all the time still have their original gaskets. I think we are at 9 years now. You don't get airflow thru the charcoal until you close the lid.. once closed, the air leaving causes vacuum and forces the air thru the charcoal.

Better safe than sorry.. Are these just standard galvanized chains or stainless?

Is as 44 lbs box better/easier? Would protect the charcoal a bit better and can have some punch in holes for handles?

Love it.. Soo Happy to have you back DJ Most of you won't recognize ThreeDJ16, he was the forums first moderator as Drunk_J and took delivery of the 2nd 23" OTB, my father got the first. Hurt his back and had to give up many things but he's back and is a great resource..

😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

Cooking direct.. the outside area where the firebox is without charcoal will never have the same heat as the areas directly above charcoal. The uniform heat comes into play when you cook indirectly and use more of the heat from the walls. I remember seeing someone placing a strip of foil dead center over their charcoal to reduce the heat in the center.. I think they even put a bunch of holes in it to distribute the heat the way they wanted it.

My condolences Bruce..

As we all know every species has it's own unique flavor profile, oak tastes much different than mesquite. I'm surprised nobody mentions these charcoals flavor. Is it strong like mesquite or light like apple? My problem here in Indonesia before I started making my own charcoal was not knowing what it was going to taste like because it was mixed or species unknown. Mystery charcoal makes it more difficult to get repeatable consistent results. If I was going to smoke a chicken with applewood, I would not want to use mesquite because you would never taste the apple. The reason I fell in love with the coffee char was because of how it tastes.. there are many much more dense woods here but I also personally refuse to cut trees to make charcoal. There are great mangrove charcoals but I feel you are either part of the problem or working on the solution. The coffee trees are cut every 15 years because their yields go down. The tamarind charcoal I buy is only trimmed branches, and of course, no trees are cut to make the coconut shell char. Just saying