Syzygies

Welcome!

I had been using a BBQ Guru where possible for close to a decade. Then, last year, it broke and I didn't like any current feature set (I want an oven dial, period) so I didn't buy a replacement. I'm very happy with all manner of cooks, including overnight, flying manually. This is coming from someone who was hooked on automation, so I do know what I'm missing. One does have to think more about manual control; I like that. It takes time for fires to stabilize, and this involves a predictable drift, so one has to be around to make adjustments for a few hours. The Guru is great if one would rather run errands, go to bed, etc., but it isn't necessary. I've been playing with ways to fix the air inflow, to make the outflow adjustments more understandable and predictable. For example, to heat soak my KK several hours at 400 F for bread (this acts hotter in the actual bake because of radiant heat), I use just the empty Guru port as my only air intake, and count half turns for the dome hat. It takes me three or four half turns to reach 400 F, then fewer, ultimately one half turn, to maintain 400 F.

I remember stories of a Florida Hurricane followed by an extensive power outage, and a ceramic cooker ran 24/7 preserving the contents of the neighborhood chest freezers. In California, we have an on-demand water heater, and a KK. In the worst case (an earthquake drops the neighboring red states into the sea) we plan to trade fire for water.

We fire up our KK as often for bread as anything. Always try to use what's left of the fire somehow; here, a great way to blacken a red pepper for bean soup. Tonight, a ribs snack to go with fresh corn and rocket pasta, with our neighbors.

I was a screen/parchment paper pizza guy, but we ditched all this on our most recent recipe revamp. There's a knack to developing some skin (not too much or too little) on the outside of each dough ball as it rests. YMMV as this depends totally on dough recipe, house humidity. But get this right, and use the skin as the underside, and one is in a different world for transferring pizzas on peels. Second tip is to use generous flour on one's board. I had thought this was an amateur move (and parchment paper isn't?) but I see it everywhere. I was just in Istanbul where they make the most astounding pizza and calzone equivalents (Pide, Börek, etc. Thin crusts with stellar fillings), and they might as well have been assembling in a kid's sandbox filled with flour. Far from a beginner move, it allowed use of a supple dough that beginners dare not try. I do use pizza screens as an emergency maneuver, both with pizza and my regular bread baking. If the stone turns out too hot (radiant heat is at best loosely links to air temperature) I can always quickly switch to a screen, and put it on the upper grill. Now I'm closer to the dome walls, and too much radiant heat from above becomes my new problem. Juggling act...

http://komodokamado.com/forum/topic/2453-everyday-misc-cooking-photos-w-details/?p=45500 I used metal hose clamps.

Yeah, I've never been very good at subscribing to conventional wisdom. These are hardwood briquettes from the Lazzari warehouse in South San Francisco. They're the same wood as their hardwood lump, same source. I'm not sure what they use for binder but it's unobtrusive. The lump on the other hand varies radically in size with a high proportion of crumbs too small to easily use. The lump burns smokier, and is far more likely to leave a sooty taste on food. The briquettes burn very predictably (their geometry induces a consistent "sphere packing" with nice airflow), which is what I need for high heat cooks such as bread, pizza, or chicken. I use exclusively KK extruded lump from Dennis for low cooks. I've priced better conventional lump charcoal for high cooks, and the conclusion is to either stick with what I'm doing, or to just buy charcoal from Dennis for everything. Even if the top Naked Whiz recommendations did ship to California (will this become an issue for Dennis?), they price out similar to buying from Dennis in quantity. To present my "fussy" credentials, my only low & slow smoke source is a "smoke pot" consisting of a two quart cast iron dutch oven with a few 1/8" holes in the bottom, filled with wood chips and chunks, and the lid sealed on each time with flour paste. I tried the REI stainless steel pot with clamping hardware, and I could taste the difference; I threw it out. Open wood tastes like a house fire to me. So if I claim that I prefer the taste and performance of a certain brand of briquette over their equivalent lump, ask yourself why you believe what you believe? BBQ is a religion, but one doesn't have to take all the scriptures literally. Honestly, I pride myself in always being able to take either side of a debate, but I can't even remember how the other side goes, anymore.

My old torch was looking pretty ragged, so I replaced it. I ended up keeping both, and attaching hose clamps to each, for each in a "dueling banjos" (has anyone else seen Steve Martin use two banjos as a slide rule?) approach to quick lights.

Yeah, my ancient BBQ Guru finally failed, so we've been going jungle too. I'm leaning BBQ Guru again, as much as anything so I can standardize the yard (deck LED lights, etc) on 12 volts. I'm sure the 5 volt Stoker would manage just fine on a 6 volt battery, but I don't want the multistandard hassle. So good to know 10 cfm is a nice choice. However, my main concern is freeing myself to go off for hours of errands while holding the fire at 400 F to 450 F to heat soak for bread. Saying 10 cfm is plenty for 225 F is far from the same thing. Stoker probes are rated to 450 F, BBQ Guru probes to 475 F, so worrying about cfm at the hot end of the range is a reasonable question. Does anyone have direct experience maintaining a fire at 450 F with a 10 cfm fan, either brand?

I don't get flare ups. It took me several reads to confirm that no one on this thread is reporting actual flare ups. Are people using drip pans as a precautionary measure, or do they find it necessary and prefer the effect on the bird? I cook direct, no drip pan. I sometimes spatchcock, but more often spatchcock then separate the legs, for a chance to cook the legs longer than the breast. This depends on the proportions of the bird. What temperature? Ah, there's the rub. We all have an astonishing reliance on a single number to describe the state of our cooker. This reasoning is appropriate while driving: How fast am I going? How much gas is left? This reasoning is less appropriate while cooking. The current temperature of the air inside a KK is only a partial description of the KK's state. The temperature history over the past several hours, together with a sense of how the fire is doing, is a more complete description of the KK's state. Food cooks in the KK through a combination of the effects of hot air, and the effects of radiant heat. The "why" in why food tastes better from the KK than an indoor oven is largely the radiant heat effect. The "why" in why a KK is worth several times its competitors is largely how well it enables cooking with radiant heat. Cooking indirect, if one ignores the radiant heat effect and starts as soon as the air reaches the desired temperature, one might as well be roasting in an indoor oven. Cooking direct, the radiant heat at this point is mostly from the fire below, and one might as well be broiling in an indoor oven, while hanging upside down. On the other hand, if one starts a fire as early as possible, and cooks on the trailing edge of a viable fire, one is cooking mostly with radiant heat, coming more evenly from all directions. The air temperature will make no sense; it will mock our desire to believe in a single number. But watch how the food cooks. I'm used to cooking both bread and chicken at air temperatures of 450 F to 500 F. Lately we've moved to holding the air temperature at 400 F for several hours, till the fire is waning, then baking the bread. Last weekend, I then removed the bread hardware (a stack of baking stones, cast iron skillet filled with SS chains for initial steam) and baked our chicken. 400 F under these conditions behaved nearly like 475 F with a younger fire, only better. The bread had a thicker crust without burning, and the chicken had a crispy skin while cooked perfectly through, with no need to turn the pieces to avoid burning. So why do we believe in air temperatures? Certainly, hardware such as a BBQ Guru depends solely on air temperature. And I used my KK thermometer, holding it steady at 400 F for hours, to achieve the effect I'm describing. But that's with a mental model of the interaction of air temperature and time. I'm told that when one plays a pipe organ in a church, the sound comes out at various delays, many seconds later. One adapts, but one can't simply walk up and play as if it is an electric piano. Same with a KK?

By coincidence I just did this with a hunk of sirloin. My butcher called it Chateaubriand but they were liberally using the classic not modern definition, the sirloin closest to the filet, tougher but more flavorful. Some customers should feel hoodwinked, but this was exactly what I wanted. We made a marinade of bruised rosemary, smashed garlic, and olive oil. Next time we'd add some lemon zest. We warmed the packet sous vide to 138 F for 2 hours, then briefly grilled at high heat to establish the exterior texture and flavor. Using some fat in a sous vide packet is an updated version of the classic French "confit". One can reproduce duck confit this way; the only difference is the fat doesn't taste rancid. Non-traditionalists prefer this modern twist on a classic. The effect was like a great steak, almost tender like stew or prime rib. There are those who theorize that more than an hour is too much, because the meat goes to mush. With tougher cuts one wants this effect, at least a bit. Be aware of the issue, and tune each cut separately to taste. 138 F is also a matter of taste. This was medium rare, but unquestionably cooked through. Plenty of people would pick 134 F, some would go even to 140 F.

!!! Was this bossly influence, and/or did you bribe them with ribs? My BBQ Guru finally died, and I'm on the fence whether to go BBQGuru again, or Stoker. Anyone know both well, first-hand, with a strong opinion? The 5 volts is nearly a deal-breaker, though it would help if the Stoker recovers with all settings intact after a middle-of-the-night power outage. Or, if it will accept 6 volts as a proxy for 5 volts. I like to run off a battery, as California power is flaky in the summer.

So I have sous vide equipment in addition to my KK cooker. A marriage that works well: If I"m already using the KK to bake bread, crank it up afterwards. Meanwhile, have steak in the sous vide bath at 134 F or 136 F (to taste) for an hour or more. This really helps challenging but flavorful cuts like flank steak. Now briefly risk incineration in the KK at a high temp to sear, for perfect quick steak dinner. Another marriage that works well: It was actually Laurie's idea to spend the money on the KK. She saw how we loved our first crude approximation. No convincing needed either way.

Thanks, Johnny. People don't realize the hot/cold issue. It has percolated into the dogma of how one "does" sous vide. Yes, but only because one must protect one's equipment. The same plain (not textured) chamber vacuum bags work spectacularly well in a $30 impulse sealer if one has decent manual dexterity (as cooks tend to have), and there is enough liquid in the bag. I routinely put away stock and tomatoes to freeze this way. I'd gladly participate in a $1,000 stakes race putting up thirty packets of stock this way; no one can keep up with me on the impulse sealer, waiting for a chamber vacuum packer to cycle. It's a great bonus that one can transition from conventional to sous vide methods in the same cook while hot, using an impulse sealer. Of course, I still crave a true chamber vacuum packer, with oil pump. It can do things no other sealer can do.

I believe Surly Table only carries stainless steel pans. One can buy carbon steel pans in larger sizes from other sources such as http://www.spanishtable.com/. True paella should be fairly thin (think Italian pizza rather than Chicago pizza). I own four sizes of carbon steel pans, and only use the largest, for which I had to saw off the handles in order to close the KK. Spanish technique would be over an open fire at the beach, and good only if very well executed or there is lots of wine. I saute ingredients with the KK open and guests enjoying the outside with me, then bake. Purists would cringe at the "bake" part but in the case of the KK it works better and contributes more fire flavor. Like all things this affects the amount of liquid to use, which one can't possibly explain in a post, one has to just learn. Bomba rice is different, etc. etc.

Read these comments: http://vacmaster.aryvacmaster.com/vacmaster/VP215C.php I too have long eyed this unit, affordable for oil pump units. For long freezer storage I'm fine with my two Cyclone 30's, but for sous vide a chamber machine can do more. What struck me was the cost of return shipping if one does encounter problems, with the unit just over shipping limits for affordable rates. This might be that rare instance where buying with a service contract from a local restaurant supply vendor might be worth the extra expense. Do restaurants worry about shipping these things for repairs? They're too busy, but also too broke, so I don't know.

Re: Heat/Ash Shield -- which way is up? Yeah, I had the same question new. I tried all four ways, and decided which way I wanted it. This approach has interesting unintended consequences. Do KKs still ship with that pair of funny metal grabber things? Many of us concluded that they were for grabbing and lifting the main grill when hot. Apparently not, but they work great for that purpose. And I can't recall for the life of me what they're actually intended for.

Re: Heat Deflectors I've always used a 16" unglazed terra cotta plant saucer from Home Depot, lined with foil if there will be any drips. I could imagine lighter, but so far the weight hasn't bothered me. It is possible for even unglazed terra cotta to turn out to contain lead, though I doubt it through major channels.

Re: Baking Steel I have their thickest steel in an apartment oven in NYC. I didn't get much time to experiment with it before heading out to CA for the summer, where my KK resides. It does add lots of thermal mass, e.g. under a large cast iron pan the combination yields commercial-grade bread baking steam, as advocated e.g. by the Bouchon Bakery book. I wish that the walls of my oven were this solid and thick. The steel is optimized for very fast pizzas, and will be inappropriate for other applications. Different stones vary in the rate at which they return stored heat; Dennis has thought carefully about this in designing his pizza stones. A baking steel returns heat way too fast for most purposes. There's a lunatic fringe that prefers aluminum to steel, even faster, but this is in the service of "blink of an eye" pizzas, nothing else. One can google for ways to prepare one's own baking steel, far less expensively. There's a coating that needs to be removed (not easily), buying from a metal yard. I've considered getting a round disk for my KK, but to increase the radiant heat above bread or pizza (ceramic cookers all have a "from below" heat bias), not to directly bake on the steel. Putting in a cast iron pan cold is an entirely different story, there's no stored heat. It's the difference between picking up a cast iron pan and having one fall on you from a second floor window. However, to continue that analogy, by weight steel retains far less heat than water. That's why steam burns, and why it takes so much steel to create small amounts of steam.

Re: Charcoal choices? I use two charcoals: KK coconut extruded for low & slow or anything truly critical, and Lazzari hardwood briquets for everything else. I just returned from their yard near SFO with a car full of 20 lb bags at 10.34 a bag. They use natural binders; I can't taste a detrimental difference. I however find that lump sparks, and burns sootier and less cleanly. Of course lump eventually settles down, but that takes longer, at which point it is nearly spent. A good thing the KK has so much thermal mass. I used to buy into the idea that true purists use lump; I don't buy into this any more. Actually, purists know how to use green wood. Then there's properly aged wood, prepared in a separate fire. Using charcoal at all is a few reading groups down from there, and one shouldn't avoid the briquet category just because some briquets are evil incarnate. I cook better with better fire control, and Lazzari briquets are entirely predictable, unlike lump. Yes, lump takes skill, a skill I have learned. Anything that behaves unpredictably takes skill, but why bother?

Re: More like survival training than a holiday.. Dear friends of mine spent the year on the Mediterranean, and debated this same question with me. I flew home with 44 bottles of wine for them, which made for an interesting delay at customs. (Two checked boxes; I'm the master packer.) They ended up having some double-walled cardboard boxes made up that were exactly the maximum dimensions for checked luggage, and they checked 12 such boxes. This was actually the least expensive way to move this much stuff home. I met them at JFK in a rental truck, that got some stares. But you ship KK's around the world, surely you can manage this also by boat.

Re: Turbo Lighting a Ceramic Grill Then there's this video dating to the dawn of the internet. George Goble be the man!

Re: Everyday Misc Cooking Photos w/ details Molly Stevens is a cookbook author.

Re: Everyday Misc Cooking Photos w/ details Another typical Fourth of July around here... A good day when I get to use my weed burner twice!

Re: Cleaning Stainless Steel -Burning?