mameola

@tony b My mistake, the charcoal I bought from Loews was not their store brand. It was a brand called Vision. I looked for it on Naked Whiz's database but could not find it. It was my first time on the site so I could be missing something.

Thanks for your input @DennisLinkletter I did forget to include the charcoal type so Just for the record, the charcoal I used was a hardwood charcoal. I think we figured out where I went wrong. I was burning at a higher flow rate and releasing the excess heat out to the dome to keep the temp down. I'll be make the adjustment during my next cook.

Wow...Pretty awesome. I bet the waiver you likely had to sign was just as intense.

Great job and one very lucky Hubby! Those steaks look better than what I've seen served at some of the best steak houses I've frequented.

Wow, this looks so incredible. I bet it tasted even better than it looks. I'm learning so much on this forum. Is there anything you guys won't cook on a KK? So impressive. All I want to do is run home and fire up my KK.

I like your setup. It reminds me of cooking on cast iron. I've never heard of smashburgers? Are they what it sounds like? Your favorite burgers flattened out really thin and cooked quickly at a high temp?

@HalfSmoke Based on your last post, I'd say we got this figured out. I did pretty much exactly what you said you and got the same result. The problem was, I didn't understand want was going on when the temp stared to drop and in comes the rookie mistake. I started opening the top again to stop the temp from doping causing the higher flow rate you mentioned earlier all the while burning through the charcoal faster than I should have. Thanks for your help. I think it will go a long way in saving me on charcoal.

@HalfSmoke This sounds logical and I was wondering the same thing watching the heat escaping from the top. The temp overnight was around 16-degs F and about 34-degs F when I started heat soaking so she was cold. How long should it typically take to heat soak a BB 32 that cold and how soon do you start choking things down?

@HalfSmoke I had the lower vent opened about 1" and the top opened about one turn. Sounds like I match what you typically do when you're cooking at 325. That is, unless your lower vent is opened less then 1". I'm just wondering if I bought some garbage charcoal.

@DennisLinkletter Thanks for your 8 cents! I guess it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks but I'll take your recommendation and run with it moving forward. I added the hard cider to the pan for the taste not the moisture but it didn't really make much of a difference and the skim was anything but crispy. Ed, No drip pan makes me nerves but like I said, this was my first ever komodo cook and it was loaded with what I've mastered prior to owning this fantastic piece of art!!!l. Saying that, I will definitely try your idea because the skin was delicious but not crispy at all. This was also probably due to putting liquid in the drip pan and that also seems to be a no, no as well. @tony b and Ed, I love the color and I'm very happy to me a member of your elite group You both get a style point from me!!! Now to a question I have. I loaded the charcoal basket to the top and needed to add more charcoal in the final hour of the cook. That means I got about four hours out of the load while cooking at a steady 325-degs the whole time. Does this sound normal? The charcoal I used was bought at Loews so it was their store brand. The packaging looked awesome so I bought it. That's how it's supposed to work right I've never used their brand before so I don't know how it well it was rated. I bought a load of charcoal from Dennis when I purchased my grill but wanted to use this up first.

Bruce, Thanks for the comment. The color is Dark Autumn Nebula.

Well, I finally got back from Vacation and was finally able to work through my first cook. I had lots of idea on what to cook but I thought I'd keep it simple and go with a beer can chicken but with a slight twist. I went with an 8 Lb. oven roaster. I thought that would be a nice size for five adults and two small children. I also wanted to end up with some leftovers that could be enjoy later in the week. At the end of the day, that worked out perfectly. Now on to my first cook. As I always do, I brined my bird overnight in a saltwater, spice and aromatics bath. This goes a long way in enhancing the flavors, while also producing a very moist bird as long as you don't overshoot your targeted internal temp. I always pull my poultry when I hit an internal premature of 160-deg. I also give it a good 20 to 30 minute rest before I go cutting into it. The results are always spot on for me. Okay, now on to the cook. This being the first time I would ever fire up my KK 32, or any Komodo style cookers for that matter, I started about three hours before my scheduled cook time. I should also add in that it was a brisk 34-dergs outside when I got started. I gave myself three hours because the one constant in everything I've read about Komodo cooking is to take it slow and at all cost, don't overshoot your cook temp or you will have a long wait getting back to where you want to be. I loaded the basket full of hardwood lump charcoal and hit it in three or four places with a propane torch. She fired right up. With the dampers wide open and the dome three full turns opened, things started heating up fairly quickly. By the time I was 30-mins in, I want to say I had the bottom damper opened about 1" and the fine adjustment on the smallest setting. The top was opened to maybe 1 1/2 turns at this point. The temperature was still climbing but very slow now. At this point I knew I had control over everything and would have everything dialed in shortly. I left the bottom dampers where they we set and started closing the top maybe an 1/8 turn at a time until I hit and held at 325. I was shocked at how easy it was to dial into my desired temperature. In less than an hour, I hit my 325-deg mark. Still being nervous and unsure, I intensely watched that dial thermometer for the next two hours. With a slight tweak or two, she held steady the entire time. Wow, was I impressed. Things went exactly as everyone on this form said they would go. I was very impressed. I should also mention that I also monitored the temps with two Maverick 73s. I attached a probe to the grate and one to the KK dome thermometer. I would eventually use a third probe to monitor the internal temperature of the meat. I was very impressed to learn that the KK’s dome thermometer was dead-nut-on. I've never had any grill thermometer I’ve ever owned be worth a crap. Again, I was very impressed. Next, I loaded my beer can chicken onto the top grate with a drip pan underneath and let the KK 32 do the rest of the work. I planned on cooking my bird for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours at a temperature of 325-degs. As mentioned above, I would be shooting for an internal meat temperature of 160-degs. Two hours and 45-mins. into the cook I hit my targeted internal temperature and pulled the bird off. Needless to say, I was very happy with the result. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the "Twist" I mentioned above. Instead of using a regular old can of beer, I decided to go with an Angry Orchard cider beer. I also poured 1 ½ cans of Angry Orchard into the drip pan. I complimented that with apple wood chunks for smoking. Man oh man did that turn out to be a good idea. You could smell the cider and wood smoke aroma coming out of the dome of the KK. It was awesome to say the least. Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure:

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, but in all reality, not very long at all, my KK 32 showed up in my driveway two days ago! There was no damage to deal with and to top it off, the truck driver was fantastic. He was instrumental in helping me get it to where I wanted it to be for uncrating. Once we got it under my pavilion and the truck driver went on his merry way, I began to uncrate the Beast. I quickly found out that some of my hard earned money went into some serious packaging. This thing was crated so well, it would have taken an act of god to move it off of its temporary resting place. I mean, this thing was very secure and locked down. Well done @DennisLinkletter. Over the years, you've obviously figured out how to do this the right way. As instructed, I removed the eight 14 MM lag bolts and then removed the crate from the pallet. Not easy to do by yourself but I got it done. Once I did that, I removed all of the plastic wrap and took my first look inside. Wow is this thing sweet. Tons of room, lots of SS grates, drip pan, Pizza stone. Just lots of goodies in there. Once I got over my excitement of seeing the inside for the first time, I then removed the straps holding everything in place. With the supplied pry bar, I then preyed up the wood that was put in place to prevent everything from moving around during shipment. I removed everything from the inside and then put the supplied ramp into place. How ingenious is it creating a ramp from part of the crate’s roof? Doing this was so helpful. Without much effort at all, and all by myself, I moved the grill down the ramp with ease. Once I rolled it to its final resting place, I started putting everything back in place. I mean the whole process took me maybe an hour. KK can't make it much easier for us when it comes to receiving there grills. Things couldn’t have went any smoother for me. Now for the hard part, I'm leaving for vacation Friday so I won't have any time between now and then to fire this baby up. That will have to wait until I return in about a week and a half. What a bummer I've included some pics for your viewing pleasure but since it’s winter time here in the US Northeast, they are kind of gloomy. I'll be sure to start a new post of my first cook while also including some better pics.

Pretty awesome. I'd say you nailed that baby...You should be proud.