Baby Huey

I have been doing a ton of cooking on my KK the last few weeks, but since it doesn't count until I post pics here I decided I would post last nights cook. I piked up this little 2.55 lb bone-in ribeye from my local Fresh Market (a grocery store that tends to have good quality meat). Just so you can get a better sense of scale, below is a pic next to an empty bottle of Dizzy Dust... I love that stuff. I got the grill up to about 400 degrees and then threw on a sweet potato for my wife and a regular potato for myself. I cooked them for 15-20 minutes per side and then bumped the temp up to about 550. At this point I moved the potatoes to the back, threw on the ribeye, and let it sear for 2 minutes. I then rotated it 90 degrees and let it sear for another 2 minutes. Next I flipped the ribeye and repeated the above process on the other side. Here is what it looked like after the flip. I then closed the top and bottom dampers and let the ribeye bake until it reached an internal temperature of about 138 degrees (my wife likes things more on the medium side than I do, I prefer medium rare). Here is what it looked like after taking it off the grill and letting it sit for 5-10 minutes. With the ribeye ready it was time to add our side dishes and enjoy the rewards of being a KK owner!

Gotta love a happy ending! In the chance that any people that are new to KomodoKamado come to this forum, read this topic, and start to have any doubts whatsoever about the quality of KomadoKamado (the cookers or the company itself) I can help put those to rest... I love to cook; however, my budget did not allow for me to purchase one of the new model KK's. As a result I purchased a 2006 model at a discounted price (this was several weeks ago). Although there have been several improvements made since 2006, my cooker is a wonderful piece of art that happens to be the best vessel I have ever had the pleasure of cooking in. I have had no major issues whatsoever with my KK, only one small issue with my lower draft door handle being slightly loose. Despite the fact that I bought the "budget" KK, Dennis has always treated me like I am his best customer. He quickly answered my email and told me exactly what needed to be done to correct the problem. A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to buy the KK referenced in this post (for my brother, who happened to live locally). http://komodokamado.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2428 This KK was sitting at a customer's house and it needed to be removed ASAP, and Dennis had to get rid of it for at/below his cost. As with my KK, there were no major issues; however, this KK was even older than my 2006 model and it was textured instead of tiled (which Dennis eventually stopped doing because he decided he couldn't keep the quality up to his incredibly high standards). At any rate, even though Dennis made no money on this KK, he admirably handled my barrage of email questions. The bottom line is that KomadoKamado will always take care of its customers, and it will always have a fan in me. -Ben

That is gorgeous U2PLT! Is that for grinding pepper or spices or what? I think I'm going to be ordering something from you in the future.

Congrats on the cooking, it looks great. I really like your Thermapen dome thermometer, I did the same thing because I had to wait about a week for my TruTel to arrive. -Ben

Those mats work great, I have one (that I bought from Lowes) under my Chiminea.

That sounds fantastic Syzygies, I wish I had something like Golden Gate Meat Company down here in Huntsville, AL. I have only made one brisket so far on the KK, it was a 7ish pound flat that I cooked at 235ish for about 8 hours. It was definately delicious, but it didn't turn to pudding. -Ben

Thanks for the recipe Sanny, I think I may attempt this tomorrow. One question though, as this will be my first turkey cook ever, you said the breast will be 165ish and the thighs will be 175ish after resting for the 20 minutes. What temperature did you pull the bird off the heat at (I'm trying to figure out how much carry over there will be). Thanks! -Ben

Anybody want to go in on a pallet in these areas? I'm up for a bit of a drive if anybody else is. -Ben

I just replied to your email.

My KK arrived as planned and I'm loving it. I know, I know, I need to post some pics of it, but in the mean time here is a link to my first cook: viewtopic.php?p=23428#23428

I have had my Classic KK for over a week now and I have finally gotten around to putting some pics up . For my first cook on the KK I decided to try and cook a brisket (having never done a brisket before). I was unable to find a packer's cut of brisket, so I ended up with a 7 pound flat that fortunately still had a decent amount of fat on the bottom of it. The night before cooking I gave it a very healthy application of Dizzy Dust (thanks to everybody here for recommending the fabulous Dizzy Pig rubs!). My goal was to cook at about 230 degrees for however long it took, I was in no rush. Unfortunately, my dome thermometer did not arrive by the time I was ready to cook (mostly UPS' fault), and my meat thermometer only has one probe. Therefore, in order to check the dome temperature I would periodically insert an instant-read thermometer, this was of course less than ideal but certainly not a show stopper. I did have a hard time keeping the dome temp under 300 degrees (the top damper was barely cracked and the bottom damper was only open a sliver). I was a little worried because the meat got through the 160-170 plateau point much quicker than expected. When the internal temperature reached 185 I decided it was time to see how it was looking (I had managed to resist the urge to open it up until this point). Upon inspection of the meat I realized that I had angled the thermometer probe more than I should have and it was not in the middle of the meat. After re-adjusting the probe, and taking a few samples with my trusty Thermapen, I found the temperature to be about 166 degrees. I was quite relieved about this because as it turns out I didn't miss out on the magic plateau! In the end it took about 8 hours of cook time to get to 190 degrees. At that point I quickly wrapped it in foil and put it in the fridge covered with ice packs (thanks to Drunk_J for the idea). While I was waiting for the internal temperature to drop to the 160's I grilled several ears of corn still in the husk on the grill (the corn had been soaking under water for about an hour). Not to toot my own horn, but the brisket was absolutely fantastic! Next time I think I will cook it a few degrees less, but the [hickory] smoke flavor was wonderful and it was still plenty juicy. As a side note I ordered a DigiQ II today Unfortunately, I didn't take an pictures of the prep work, but here is the finished product: Look... my first smoke ring Here is a pic of some chicken I cooked a couple days later. I used the Dizzy Pig Tsunami Spin rub and it turned out smoky and delicious.

Oh man this sounds great! As soon as it is available you can count me in! -Ben

Are there any new pictures of it? If it has been sitting outside in somebody's driveway for a couple years it may not be in the best of shape anymore.

I'll ask my brother if he is interested. He just bought a new house an hour or so from there and could definitely use that thing of beauty.

Ron, Yes I have seen the information about moving the KK in the 411 section, thanks for the heads up though. As far as tracking goes, Dennis did send me a tracking number from Roadrunner Transportation Services. Dennis also wanted my cell phone so that they [transportation company] can get in touch with me. Fingers still crossed for Thursday

Thanks Naldo and Drunk_J, Wally World Royal Oak sounds like a winner! Naldo, the first week of July is not very far away. Hopefully you will get it in time for some 4th of July cooking. I'm having my KK shipped to a terminal and I have a couple of friends lined up to help me get it out of the truck. They are computer programmers [read not very strong] so I'm sure it's going to be a bit of a chore. If all goes well I'll be grilling something a week from this moment! -Ben

Looks like my KK should arrive by Thursday, I can't wait! I have gone ahead and ordered some rubs from Dizzy Pig: Dizzy Dust Tsunami Spin Swamp Venom Raising the Steaks Cow Lick There are not a lot of places around here that I have seen lump sold; however, there is a BGE dealer close that I can get some BGE brand lump from. Do you guys mail order your lump? I know that the Naked Whiz has lots of wonderful reviews, but I don't have the stores around that he got them from. I would love to hear what people here recommend in this regard. -Ben

Naldo, I explained my order situation in a post titled "KomodoKamado on its way to Bama" (which is currently one thread down from this one) but the basics are that I ordered a Classic Supreme with Cobalt tiles. I got in on the Returned Lost Inventory sale because that is what my budget [read wife] currently allows for. Jeff, I'm pretty sure that mine is currently in CA just waiting to get shipped to AL (it was hung up in warehouse legal issues since 2006). I hope yours got on the most recent boat though! -Ben

Happy Birthday Dennis! You are going to reach 50 twenty years before I do

Welcome Ron and Rena! I'm waiting for my KK as well, and like you I can't wait. Cheff Jeff, thank you very much for all of that pizza cooking information, I can't wait to try one on the KK. -Ben

Wowza, those look pretty much perfect. That might have to be my first cook on the KK.

Thanks for the welcome everybody!

Hello everybody, Looking over what I wrote below, I realize that it may be a tad long-winded for some. For this reason I have created an outline of what I have said below for those that are topic skimmers. 1) Saw a friends BGE and wanted one. 2) Started to research ceramic cookers and almost bought Kamado. 3) Wanted to buy KomodoKamado but it's $$$ 4) Decided to save $$$ 5) Returned Lost Inventory Sale --> 2006 Supreme Classic on its way! I have been a lurker on these forums for the past few months and have learned quite a bit about ceramic cooking thanks to the wealth of knowledge of the people here. Like many of us here, my first experience with ceramic cookers was seeing a friends BGE. Naturally, I decided I needed one and began to research them. Early into said research I came across the Kamado and thought about buying one during their Christmas sale, boy am I glad I didn't pull the trigger on that! After reading all of the horror stories I quickly ruled out the Kamado and became committed to buying a KomodoKamado; however, I encountered a serious case of sticker shock. I have always been a gasser and had no idea that charcoal grills could be so expensive. I considered just going with the BGE since it was so much less expensive, but after a significant amount of thought I decided that I would rather save my money for what I really want instead of settling for what I wouldn't be 100% satisfied with. I'm glad I waited because thanks to the "Returned Lost Inventory Sale" I am the new owner of a brand new 2006 Supreme Classic with Cobalt tiles! I know that it doesn't exist until I post pictures, and I will just as soon as it arrives (I just sent the payment a few minutes ago so it's going to be just a bit). I look forward to being a part of this wonderful community. -Ben

That is the best looking paella I have ever seen. I have never made it myself; however, I have ordered it several times at restaurants. I'm now inspired to make it myself.

Thats a great looking album!