tekobo

hi @Cheesehead_Griller Chicken shawarma on a vertical spike Chicken shawarma on a rotisserie spit I have found it much easier to use the vertical spike. Manoeuvering a container under the rotisserie rod and cutting away over the fire is not quite as easy.

Adam is very clear in his book that you need to get to the stage with hot coals, create a level bed and blow off the ash just before putting the meat on. I want to try pork chops this way as I hope it will reduce smoking. Some articles that came up on a quick google search: https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/clinched-strip-steak, https://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/meat-clinching-a-revelation-in-grilling and https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/may/27/dirty-barbecue-dirty-steak-clinching

Johnny, your post reminded me of an experiment that Charles did many moons ago. Discovering it freed me from the shackles of sweeping out my KK after every cook. He went 15 cooks, just sweeping the ash towards the back of his KK. And he only had a 19! See below for link. We haven't heard from him for a while but I am sure he is out there enjoying life. Cheers @ckreef, wishing you and Mrs SK well.

I love Adam Perry's approach to layering flavour. I always have a jar of his four seasons blend to hand - it is easy to make up and is great universal seasoning. I have only "clinched" or cooked direct on coals a couple of times. Sounds like I should try it again as that steak of @C6Bill's looks awesome!

Beautiful @sihb001. You are helping to cement my love affair with tile. And with lamb. Gorgeous looking cooks. I never use the "official" heat deflectors. It sounds like you have worked that out through trial and error. For low and slow cooks I only light a small fire in the centre of the KK and I sit my smoke pot on top of the fire. That acts as a shield against direct heat and I have never had any problems with dry meat in those circs. That said, I would normally put my short ribs in a pan with stock or some such liquid. Others put a small deflector under their pizza/baking stone but I don't and I don't remember when or why they do that. Hoping someone else will come on and explain that configuration. All that said, you look like you are having lots of fun. Bravo.

That looks delicious. Thank you for posting the recipe.

You are soooo right. Wings and drumsticks are my favourite. Wrong in that I don't eat turkey, just chicken and quail and duck and all the tastier birds.

I stubbornly went for a 21 and 23 when I bought my first KKs. A couple of years on, I finally bought a 32. I wish I had bought it at the start. My husband calls it the "multi-tool". As others have said, the 32 is very versatile and will meet and exceed your expectations. As for your Primo XL? I would keep it to a) compare it with your KK and b) see if you find a use for it alongside your KK - good information for deciding whether to buy a second KK in the future!

@Cheesehead_Griller the 32 is a great choice. It has a lot of room and the ability to split the firebox down to a quarter of its size means that you can cook very economically if you only have a small cook. If you are even thinking of it I would go for a second KK - now or at some point in the future. I thought it was a mad idea until I tried it myself. An example is being able to grill at high temps in one KK while the other is still going low and slow. Not having to wait or juggle cooks is a nice luxury. And you could order your second KK in pebble and settle, once and for all, the argument about which cooks best - tile or pebble?

Stop right there! My view is that you should not start your KK journey with regrets. Get in touch with Dennis and ask for a change if you really want pebble instead of tile. A month or two's delay, if any, will be worth it. I think the 32 is a great cooking machine and you have made the right choice there. If you want extra versatility I would get a second KK while you are at it. I have three and I love having the ability to cook a whole meal outdoors, using different temps in each grill as necessary. Your KK, your choice, my two penneth's worth.

Hi @Scott.W, when you say you have the large basket do you mean the rotisserie cradle? If so then my advice would be to remember to tighten the prongs as the cook progresses and the meat shrinks. I suspect you only have to do it once or twice during the cook but I do know that you end up with your food starting to rotate within the cradle if you don't take this simple step. Don't ask me how I know that to do otherwise will likely leave you with a rather ugly looking result. 🤭

Welcome @Durangutan. I was once a new useless girl checking in who had never used a kamado and had only rarely barbecued. I now love my KKs and use them whenever I can. Get stuck in. Half the fun is in the deciding and waiting and then, when you finally get a KK (or two) of your own ALL the fun is in the cooking and looking.

Hi @RokDok, I usually dry cure my bacon. Works well every time. I buy the cure from Surfy's in the UK.

In my fantasy world I would make fresh pasta every week. It is so simple, and therapeutic, to get your flour and eggs on the table, knead them and turn them into beautiful home made dishes. That said, it is messy and time consuming and it is much faster to open a packet or grill a steak. Only two bits of advice from me: 1) don't go hand cranked. It is so much easier to have an electric roller helping you. Leaves you with two hands free to handle the pasta. I went to my local Kenwood outlet store and got the roller and cutter attachments at a good price. 2) find a local class with someone who has made a lot of pasta in their life. Having them show you how easy it all is and the tricks for particular types of pasta is worth a lot in time spent on trial and error on your own. Above all, have fun!

I am not sure what all the fuss is about turkey. I never eat it if I can avoid it - too much else that is much nicer. I want to make a fuss about your bread. It looks great. Like the Incredible Hulk ripping out of his shirt! How do you get that effect @C6Bill? My sourdough does not come close.

I refuse to laugh at your awful jokes @Poochie but I am sure I would enjoy a road trip with my two amigos!

A nice looking cook @jeffshoaf. Good for getting close to the food you are griling. Your work looks like it is coming along well @Basher. I think you will reach a good balance between your ODK and IDK, particularly since the latter will include your new dry ager! I find that I rarely use my Argentinian/Parilla grill. Mainly because I find the KKs so much easier to light. That said, I want to do a lot more experimenting with fire cooking a la Lennox Hastie and others. Winter will see me bundled up and outdoors I hope, trying out stuff on the KKs, Argie Barbie and Solo Stove. What fun.

KKs are inherently very efficient. I have a 16, 23 and a 32 but not yet a 42. What I have noticed is that the larger the KK, the quicker your fire forms. I am guessing that is because the volume of air through the fire box increases with size of KK. Once I have the fire going I have not noticed any significant difference in use of char between the KKs but I have to admit to not having done any direct comparisons. As @tony b said, I would not base your choice of KK on use of char. You will be surprised by the efficiency and the basket splitters help you turn a big KK into a smaller, focussed cooking machine. Have fun making your decision.

Lovely looking bacon @MacKenzie!

@Mcjudsten, shiny new KK and good looking cooks. Congratulations! I particularly like the fact that the grates are split - much more manageable than I imagined 42 grates would be.

I am sooo excited for you @johnnymnemonic! KKs are great in the flesh aren't they? Looking forward to seeing your KK in all its glory and to seeing your first cooks this weekend. Don't put too much pressure on yourself though - you want your first experiences with your new friend to be good ones.

I recently bought a 16 and Dennis said he does not fit them with rotisseries as standard. I see that you have a 22" HT @Sharon. Do you have a rotisserie set up for that? I imagine it will be a better bet to use a roti in the 22 as you have greater distance between the food and the fire. Even cooking for one I find the roti to be easy to use and clean up after - no grates to clean and you can put as much or as little on the rotisserie rod as you want.

Beautiful @Mcjudsten! Seriously jealous of that combo. The perspective on that picture makes the 16 not seem quite so small but we know the difference between the two is MASSIVE. I am curious about these two pans. What do they do?

Looking very pretty so far!

Oh boy, that brisket just pops on the screen @BOC!