tekobo

Congratulations @Troble! That is a really gorgeous KK in a lovely colour. It is close to the vibrant blue that I liked but The Husband vetoed. Lucky you. It 's like getting this year's model of your favourite car. Looking forward to seeing it all set up in its new home. Now, that box you had packed up to send looks lovely. My guess is that it will be super expensive to send to me in the UK so feel free to cut down on what you send me to save on postage. USPS folk can be weird but I looked on their website and it says perishable goods are fine to send internationally. It is just at your risk and subject to customs at this end. Once again, congratulations!

Very cute pooches. Deserving of their very own runway.

Hi there, yes, that rack comes as standard. It is part of the holy trinity - lower grate, main grate and upper grate.

@BOC, @GrillnBrew what an amazing coincidence. I look forward to when GB gets to meet BOC's KK. I am guessing that BOC is keen to meet his KK too. Soon come.

That brisket looks awesome @Bruine

Hi Pequod, my success using a chimney is very hit and miss. I have found starting binchotan easiest in a KK, interspersed with a few cocochar briquettes. The fact that the pieces of binchotan are long and stay whole makes it relatively easy to lift them out of the KK and into the konro using a set of fire tongs. The things we do for our stomachs.

Hi @GrillnBrew. Welcome again. @RokDokand @tony b are likely to be interested in your grill and brew combo. The 32 is a no brainer for the level of use that you describe. Like @buzilo, I learned my lesson the hard way. In spite of advice to the contrary I went for a 21 and 23. I have since sold them and now have a 32, 23 and 16. Whatever you do, don't become a one kamado/one grill household. The versatility of cooking at different temps on two different cookers can't be beat, particularly when you don't want to have to keep dashing into the IDK to cook some parts of the meal.

That's funny, I have a similar use case. I use my KK to heat up the coals needed to create an even bed in my Argentinian barbecue. I just put the amount I need into the KK fire basket, light it and come back when they are glowing. The Rapicca gloves have made the transfer of the fire basket to the Argie Barbie much less perilous!

Welcome @Bruine! Pix!!!

Tee hee. You do have a lot to use up! Nice looking dinner Tony. Thanks Mac, and Tanya. Looking forward to trying this out. The concept of "crumbled bacon" is super odd to this non-American. Pancetta or lardons make everything better so I will ride with that. I am very pleased to say, Forrest, that you won't need that chimney configuration to light your KK. I look forward to your delight when you learn how efficient it is at acting as its own chimney.

Hi there @KidCactus I usually only have the top vent just cracked open to maintain 110C. 1/8th on my 23 would be too much to achieve maintain that temp. I do have the bottom vent open on one of the larger right hand holes, with the left hand bottom vent closed. Do get there I start with all vents wide open, hit about 80C and then wind back to the settings above. I always start with a full charcoal basket at the start of each cook. In fact, that is part of my routine once the KK has cooled down: sweep out if I have done a few cooks, top up the charcoal basket, open up the top and bottom vents and cover up with Sunbrella cover.

I've been meaning to come back to this post Tony. The point of posting the story and the picture of all those truffles was to illustrate the opposite. Well, not quite. It was indeed a lovely gift. The point is that, in season, truffles are abundant and accessible to many more people than would even dream of buying them elsewhere in the world. Black truffles are relatively cheap in season and our friends had the equivalent of a chilli cook off, but with truffles.

That was fun to read Pequod. Hero worship or what? As for being cool? I always thought that "cool" required a level of insouciance that is hard for an obsessive or a nerd to fake. Maybe one day I will be a cool aunt. In practice I think I will always be a mad aunt.

So pleased that you are getting a cover @jeffshoaf. Our Argentinian barbecue was not as well made as the grill that you are getting and when we spent £600 on it 11 years ago we thought that was a fortune to spend on a bbq. Sadly the lack of a cover did for it and I wouldn't have wanted you to go through the sheer frustration of having a piece of kit that isn't worth keeping after too few years. I am planning on all the stuff that I buy now outlasting me.

Hey @Laurie, I wouldn't fess up to adding the chicken fat. Just say it tastes extra good for some other reason 🤪 @Syzygies, we are quits. The Netherton Foundry was recommended by @Sir Bill. A lovely place to go to just look at stuff. So well made. I have a paella pan from them too. All good. I get that a food processor probably won't be up to it. The Husband walked by a minute ago. Not impressed with the thought of a new piece of kit that he thinks I don't need. The Stone Wet Grinder is on my wishlist. Will do more investigating before i dive in.

I love you and I hate you @Syzygies. The good news for me is that I have gone far enough down this rabbit hole myself to be able to stop myself diving headlong into your side burrow, yet. So far I have found: Flour tortillas can be very good. I roll them with a rolling pin and am trying different variations. The most recent one included chicken fat from a roast chicken and tasted finger lickin' good. I cook them on this Indian chapati pan. It heats up well enough and, after a quick flip on this pan I sometimes place the tortilla direct on a gas flame. Helps give them a bit of puff and a bit of char. For corn tortilla I use the standard masa harina. I get that Mexicans weep at the taste of home when they get the real stuff but I have never had it and so can console myself with the fact that what I make will taste better than if I bought pre made tortillas from a store. I am not in the market for a press because I have these two. The first is a brutish piece of kit that I picked up in a local Mexican store in Houston, Texas and the second is a fancy pants press made here in the UK. I follow your method to avoid sticking and to get even pressure but I use waxed paper squares that I have for wrapping apples rather than a plastic bag. With all of that said... I am still very interested in trying to make my own masa. I had previously followed the trail of the Nixtamatic, found some unfavourable reviews and was relieved not to have to contemplate figuring out how to get one to the UK. I will look up your other recommendations. The Macienda site that you posted earlier does describe doing this at home with an ordinary food processor. There is also the option to do it manually using a matate. Have you tried one of those? How did we get here from a pizza stone post?

For the uninitiated, see above for @Pequod's post about the Chicago Thin. I can just taste that fennel sausage now. One to make very very soon.

Congratulations @buzilo!

And anatomically correct i.e. square cut. I have not followed your South Side Thin recipe in at least a year, if not more. Mouth watering. On the to do list.

Nooooo, don't drag me down this rabbit hole @Syzygies. I spent some time investigating nixtamalisation and found that getting a decent piece of kit to grind the corn properly is a fool's game unless you want to buy an industrial machine from Mexico. Please tell me that it is the Masienda flour that you buy and that you haven't found a way to nixtamalise and grind the corn yourself. If it is the former then I will calm down and think about getting the flour when I next make it to the US. If it is the latter I would like to know how you do it and then I will worry about how far down this rabbit hole I want to follow.

You got really good marks on that chicken for an IDK cook @MacKenzie. Best baked beans you have ever tasted? They must have been good. Can you wangle a copy of the recipe for us? That looks like a lovely Valentine's Day spread @Troble.

Chicken schawarma over Jollof rice. Delicious. We ate way too much. I put a casserole into the KK afterwards, to cook slowly for supper. Now not sure I can eat again before tomorrow. We were out of pineapple so I topped the schawarma with a half red onion and half of a quince. The latter made everything smell like Christmas.

A multi kamado home. My sort of place. Welcome @Will

You're right. I usually only light one spot, maybe for 20s, but I keep the leaf blower on for longer (maybe up to a minute) and return to do a follow up blow about ten minutes later. Never fails.

I think your logic is sound. There is really not that much difference between the 21 and 23 so, if you are going to size up I would definitely go for the 32. See how you go. If you do get the 32 you could use it alongside the 21, space allowing, to see if there are benefits in running both sometimes. I certainly find having more than one KK very useful when cooking outdoors in the summer. Cuts the number of trips back into the IDK and is just more fun all round.