Jump to content

Pale Rider

Owners
  • Posts

    42
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Pale Rider

  1. I hear ya. It gets pretty windy here (as it does at many tropical places full of umbrellas), and I expect to watch this thing carefully. What we don't have here is tornados or anything like real hurricanes. I have it sunk below the patio on a four foot concrete post base. It was delivered with two 90-pound steel plates (which are supposed to help it withstand 50mph gusts), but my builder estimates we more than tripled its mooring weight. I am under no illusions about a severe storm though, so we try to practice the habit of cranking it closed every week in the summer (when it almost never rains) and every day we use it in the more unpredictable months.
  2. It's pretty big. It's 14 feet wide by 10 feet deep.
  3. Yep. House was pretty run down when we bought it [divorce, constant refi and withdraw money, no maintenance, etc.], so got quite a deal, but the tennis court and basketball court were salvageable. The pool, sadly, was not. So we ripped it out and started over, and we added the pool house.
  4. Pics of the new 19 inch and the new cabinet under the umbrella. As always, the workmanship is just superb. These sit right outside the pool house where the flooring has been installed [but is currently covered up for final painting].
  5. We are making progress on our flooring. We were fortunate to get a real "old world/old school" fellow named Ivan to install it. The tongue & groove construction is especially tight and requires a lot of work to get it right. The hand-hewn construction means that slight variations in pieces require attention to detail and keeping a straight line. Because we are installing the flooring "across the horizontal" of our pool house, it means that there is a wide optic into the floor line. All this makes careful workmanship valuable. Walking on this floor barefoot feels so good.
  6. Can't wait for the cabinet to arrive. It looks just beautiful. Flooring goes into the pool house next week. Will have some updated pics shorty thereafter.
  7. Couldn't have said it better. Top shelf quality all the way. Will post some pics of the installed floor, and then the 32 and 19 with the new cabinet Dennis is building for me once they are all set up together.
  8. I know there aren't a lot of posts here about Dennis' teak flooring. I thought I would post some pics of the flooring that he supplied me for our new pool house. This stuff is incredibly gorgeous, and Dennis's pricing is very fair. The flooring arrives in crates that are well suited to protect it for the voyage. Hard to describe just how beautiful this stuff is, or how good the deep grain feels.
  9. The financing is a great option that will hopefully spread the fire further. I didn't use the financing, but I did take advantage of the Dark Image Blowout to add the 19-inch tall Autumn Nebula to the stable. Excellent deal.
  10. I know this is an old thread, but i thought I would add my assessment experience. After years of declining quality in the FoodSaver models [it almost seemed that the more expensive the model, the less reliable it became], and repeated lost seal/vacuum, we decided to look into the vacuum chamber models. Although I really like the DMC models I discovered at Pleasant Hill Grain, I eventually narrowed my chamber choices down to the Vacmaster VP215 and VP120. I liked the oil-maintenance motor feature of the 215, but chose the 120 for its lighter weight [still robust at 50+ pounds], and thus more pragmatic maneuverability in our home, as well as its one-touch operation. Webstaurant delivered it one day with free shipping and about $160 less than Amazon/Ary. We will probably still add either the Vacupack Eite or LEM MaxVac extraction style sealers to replace our aging FoodSaver for those items where this style works well. What I like about all these models is that they offer some level of user serviceability and parts replacement. We shall see.
  11. Thanks Robert. Makes sense. So, clamp down harder earlier in the warm up phase, so I reduce or eliminate the risk of overshoot?
  12. Hi All: Cooking some baby back ribs today. Tri tip yesterday was wonderful. I am having a bit of a challenge maintaining a heat below 300, and I wanted to seek advice from the forum members on best ways to do so. Not worried about it today, because ribbing at 325 is okay, but when it comes time for the butts, I will want to be much colder than that. Today, I am using a mix of coco and coffee wood char. I did not start with a blazing fire. I have a heat deflection stone sitting on top of the charcoal fire.I have the firebox SS separator set into the firebox on the right side, so the right â…“ of the box has no charcoal or fire. Started the fire with a Wagner heat gun, and let it rise slowly to about 325. Just for fun, I tried to turn the heat back down closer to 250, and even though the top and the bottom dampers are closed, she does not want to cool down. On my old RJK7, I had no trouble maintaining a temp of 190 and lower for sustained periods. But am wondering if the 32BBKK is so massive, that it is difficult to stay that low, or if it just takes a while to stabilize that low. Any insights or suggestions most welcome. Even guffaws. When I am drinking beer, I don't care if folks laugh at me. TIA! Greg
  13. I have video and pics of mine, and I think you are right Bosco. This sort of graphic info could help new owners recognize what to look for and how to handle it properly. Heck, k could start a new thread with that stuff myself.
  14. Thanks! I have an old can of the Watco that I have had for years, and used on my interior teak. But I plan to try this stuff, which receives good reviews on Amazon. Just trying to decide between the light or the dark.
  15. You pretty much hit it on the head wilbur: the amount of grout, the irregularity of the tiles, etc. One thing I found curious about the grout is that it serves as both adhesive and grout. I have a bunch of tile projects going on around the house right now, and of course, on regular tile, grout is not the material used to adhere the tile to the subsrtrate. Here, the grout that Dennis supplies, at least for the pebbles, is both adhesive and grout. I haven't seen any of the square tile models, so I don't know how they differ. In any case, this tends to increase the likelihood that groups of the pebble tiles will delaminate [like the bubble you describe], rather than the right angle tiles which tend to pop up, if at all, individually at their corners. My second burn produced significantly less delamination, and only one spot of solvent outgassing. I only had to grout one tile to replace a tile that popped and broke in two. One more burn, and I will start patching the little razor creases and nail holes I made to assist the outgassing. The entire surface cooled nicely in place with almost zero sign of unevenness. Plan to do first cook tonight, likely a prosaic combination of sausages and bratwurst due to time constraints. But I did go to the butcher shop today and picked up some TriTip, ribeye, strips, ribs, and bone-in butt for later this week. I've seen a lot intriguing TriTip recipes and need to pick one.
  16. Sale price still appears to be good. Thanks for the tip. Now to order the basket, the only accessory I did not order before!
  17. Bosco, no doubt. I am on the fence right now between 19 tall or Table Top. And the reality is that I cannot make a decision until I get the outdoor kitchen lans done. We shall see. In the meantime, second burn produced much less swelling of the acrylic hide, and only the most minuscule of venting. One more burn, and I am probably done with that process. One more question: I have the teak side tables for now, until my 32 gets moved over to the outdoor kitchen. I have used a variety of oils and protectants for teak over the years, and I have seen reference to something Dennis might recommend. Any favorites here for the side tables, given their exposure to unusual heat levels? Cheers!
  18. You said it CC. Each is endearingly unique. As I first posted when I joined, I have nothing but affection for my old RJK7, and could not cal it a POS, even though it is nowhere near the 32BBKK in quality, design capability, etc. I still enjoyed several wonderful years cooking on it and, more importantly, the fellowship of good food and company it helped to produce. I expect many more years of great company and food with the 32BBKK. I am already contemplating the possible addition of a 23 and perhaps even a 19 or 16 table top, for those times when it's the two of us, and all we want is a small meal, or maybe just a couple of steaks. Damn straight, Poochie, though I confess to being an Amazon devotee over HF, with which I had some unsatisfactory experiences. On some items, just have to be clear on who the real seller is, and make sure one is familiar with local prices. The convenience for me is beguiling. When I was still in the immediate Bay Area, they were cranking up same day delivery. And while I have moved a bit away, I still get 1 and 2-day for no extra charge. Hard to resist. Flame on!
  19. Agreed on that last part especially. Dennis and I had a good discussion around this same issue. Although I burned for almost three hours at a very steady 510-520 range, and had a fair bit of outgassing, i may not actually be done with the process yet. So, I am doing another sustained 510 burn right now. Dennis also shared some specifics about the acrylic hide of the pebble tile finish, and how it behaves a bit differently from the square tiles. He also shared some additional detail on the steps they take in Indonesia to cure the inside and outside, and how, despite all their efforts, there is a part of this process that ultimately can only be finished when the destination owner conducts these burns. While it doesn't offer me much guidance when someone says "never had a problem,' the reality is that these are handmade products, They are made to high quality standards, but like any human-made device that is subject to varying times of making, shipping exposures, storage conditions, etc., the outcome of their first user is likely to vary a bit. Dennis has given me sufficient guidance that I feel comfortable with the outcome. Tony B is right: our respective experiences will vary. The fact that Dennis tends to get all this feedback, and gets a chance to apply it to his learning/making curve, and then issue rather detailed guidance about the problems, suggests that they are neither unique nor universal. Just as important, they have the CEO's proper attention. BTW, on my second burn today [no burn yesterday; it was 106 outside], I used a Wagner Digital Heat Gun, rather than the Looftlighter. Fire was underway in two minutes, 5x faster than the Looft. Ergonomics of the Wagner are superior as well. Because users of each have reported long-term reliability issues with both products [though substantially less with the Wagner], I plan to keep trying both. My Benzomatic 8000 arrives today for more torch fun.
  20. Thanks Poochie, and I interpret "later" to mean "when cooled down." I think it would be good to clarify optimum grout conditions. I am expecting the correct answer is "cool." Also, I did not receive a bag of grout. I received a tube with a cap, that contains a substance that is similar in color to the grout of my KK. Like everything else, it is [excellently] product coded to my specific KK. Sounds liker another QC improvement. I experienced a fair bit of venting around the firebox girdle of my KK. Most behaved exactly as expected, but right in the front, two tiles, both with extremely thin lines of grout between them and the adjacent tiles, actually popped out when i pressed nearby tiles back into place. Most of the KK's grout is at least â…›" to 3/16' though it naturally varies because of the tile shapes. but these two tiles have grout around a large part of their circumference of less than 1/32". I think that could make them more prone to popping. I haven't yet inspected all the tiles post-burn, but will see this morning. i shared some photos and a short video with Dennis last night, and he replied very promptly. We have a call scheduled later today. I just want to make sure that nothing about the burn, or how i re-grout some of the tiles affects the integrity of the acrylic "hide."
  21. On my burn-in, I have a fair bit of tile bubbling and vapor venting. It doesn't appear to be having any trouble escaping, but it does look as though I will have several creases to repair with grout. I assume I want to make sure to press all tiles back into place prior to cooling down as the manual states, which I have been doing. But when is the ideal time to grout? I would expect that to be when the grill has cooled down.
  22. We were discussing that over dinner last night. While I am a low & slow guy, we are thinking of a combo chicken & ribs, or a TriTip for a little more instant gratification. going to do the burn-in/vent this morning. Speaking of which, do folks do their break-in burn with or without the grills?
  23. Thanks. The KK team sent me the manual yesterday. All good.
  24. My uncrating yesterday was almost identical though I did not take the crate apart. I got someone to help me lift the crate off once the 8 lag bolts were removed. But all the pics here are great. One note I would add, that I believe I saw elsewhere, is that the Beast ships on a pedestal. In addition to all the wrapping and strapping and wood traps, the body sits on a pedestal that prevents the wheels from making full contact with the wood floor, and thus making rolling almost impossible. I believe one approach was to remove the lid, and then get help lifting the bottom off the pedestal. This didn't make any sense to me, unless you specifically want to save the bottom pallet base intact. Like another member, I cut the pedestal down so the KK could make contact with the base and then be rolled onto the ramp. BTW, that ramp, built into the lid of the crate, is just ingenious. P.S. Anyone have easy access to a 32BBKK owner's manual they would be willing to share? I still haven't received one yet.
×
×
  • Create New...