jonj

I smoked / grilled a 7.5 pound turkey breast(s) for Thanksgiving. Kind of a strange cook as the outside temperature was in the 30°s F and getting the KK temperature up took longer than I anticipated*. I dry brined the breasts overnight then basted using melted butter with Simon & Garfunkel rub. I put it in the KK23 with apple wood chunks while the temp climbed from 200° to 320°F over about an hour, then cooked it for another hour and 15 minutes to 159°F beast temperature. Rested for 20 minutes before carving. I used the new ThermoWorks RFX wireless probes / RFX Gateway just to try them out and also used them to control the Billows fan (again, just for fun). The RFX stuff worked very well, but the ThermoWorks app had each probe and the pit on a separate screen, which is different than when using the wired Signals system. They all show up on one screen but to adjust the individual device (probe/pit) settings means clicking on its own screen then returning to the "all devices" screen. It turned out to not be a big deal; just different. Very good connectivity. I'll probably reserve the RFX for those occasions when wireless probes are beneficial or when I need more probes than the 4 available on Signals. The turkey turned out great, very moist, tender, and with excellent flavor (according to those eating), so I was pleased with the results. Turkey with and without probes: Plated with potatoes, dressing, Brussels Sprouts, and green beans; accompanied with a 2019 DuMOL Finn Pinot Noir. *The temperature issue was my fault because I had the Billows fan choked down too much. I had last used it for a long 225° smoke and didn't adjust its damper so I wasn't getting sufficient volume of air to get the KK up to 325° quickly with the cold external temperature. Lesson learned.

Nice teamwork! Happy birthday to Sharky!

I very much agree with @5698k on this. No offense intended to anyone, but I've been smoking baby back and St. Louis-style ribs on various devices for 40 years and have yet to wrap them (except to keep them warm after the cook). I'm sure the 3-2-1 and 2-2-1 methods work for folks, and indeed may work well, but I've never felt the need to use them. YMMV. 🙂

I’m in the ThermoWorks ecosystem for probes so I use Signals and the Billows fan. Have had no problems with it. I have a set of the wireless probes on order, which integrate in the ThermoWorks app with Signals and Billows fan control.

I’m using one of those Singer bases under my router table.

Duck fat, yum!

Beautiful work. I especially like the attention to the grain patterns throughout the piece. Do I see a little craftsman mark above the top shelf in the upper right?

I just use these rubber furniture stops: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LD7GZES/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Very nice! Looks delicious!

I made prosciutto-wrapped figs with goat cheese and chicken taquitos with Hatch chile pesto last night for dinner. Turned out pretty tasty. I seared the prosciutto figs on the grates then transferred them to a mini roasting pan to finish. Plated with lettuce, cheese, red salsa, and sour cream (for the taquitos, not the figs...)

@Saucier, as the comments of @jeffshoaf and @tony b note, I didn't need an adapter to use the guru port for the hot/cold smoker. I think Jeff's modification would work well with the Billows fan (which I use as well), and I have thought about ordering another air intake plate to adapt it. That said, I think the main benefit of doing the retro version of the dedicated smoker port is to get the benefit of securing affixing the hot/cold smoker cylinder to the KK body. While I haven't had any issues with it moving around (and neither has Jeff, apparently), I very much like the elegance of Dennis's design of the new dedicated port and attaching points for the hot/cold smoker. At some point, I'll overcome inertia and make a decision on which method to use...

On older KKs without the new retrofit kit, when using the hot/cold smoker in the Guru port, it is unsupported. On mine, at least, the bent smoker tube is under enough tension with the weight of the smoker cylinder to resist rotation. That said, I believe some affix a support through the smoker cap handle to ensure it remains vertical (wire to the side table, for example). I need to talk to Dennis to get the retrofit adapter kit and actually fix mine correctly.

looks great, @Tyrus!

I saw the announcement yesterday and am intrigued. I have a couple of Meaters (1st & 2nd get.), but think they are too fussy to use.

I was surprised to see a jar of Brer Rabbit molasses in the background. Rabbits travel far...

They look terrific!

4th of July grilled chicken for Caesar salad Ready to go

I'm making a grilled chicken Caesar salad for the stated 100th anniversary. @tony b, I plan to join you in a few beverages this afternoon...

Or perhaps just keep the "warding off evil spirits" project separate from the "cooking food" project...

@PVPAUL, good to know! I've been hoarding my remaining stash as carefully as my coco char.

Welcome to the group, Dennis.

There are quite a few of us here who need to buy @Troble a beer!

I have a KK23 and a few years ago smoked two pork butts for 23 hours with one basket of lump. It was mostly an experiment to 1) try out the ThermoWorks Billows fan, 2) cook the butts without wrapping, and 3) it was a rainy night / day, we had guests, and I didn't want fuss with the cook. I documented it in the Pork section (23 Hour Pork Butts Using Billows Fan) if you are interested. So, I know a KK23 can run at least 23 hours at 230°F with a single load of charcoal. I don't remember if I used coco or regular lump (when I use regular lump for low-and-slow, I use large pieces - baseball to softball size). I use a wax starter for low-and-slow, placed near the top of the charcoal pile with a just a few pieces of charcoal over the top, and with the dome shut, top and lower vents open. I shut them to the 225° position when the grate temperature is about 175° to let the KK heat sink at the desired temperature. Similar to @tekobo's description above.

Pretty sure it was tiles

After the multi-week below freezing period last month, we have been rewarded with several days in a row of high 50°s - low 60°sF temperatures. I waited a week for yesterday's unseasonably warm weather to unwrap the wood oven to make pizza. A couple of 14" New York style pizzas, one artichoke, mushroom, and goat cheese; the other pepperoni, mushroom, and black olive. Today's job is to clean and re-cover the oven and store the associated paraphernalia for a few more weeks until Spring. Oh well, the pizze were good!