tekobo

So far so good.  I was not brave enough to put the aubergines directly on the coals.  Wanted more control over the cooking process so put the upper grate in upside down so that I was as close as possible to the fire.  Cooked at about 200C for about 40 minutes, turning regularly.  The flesh came out nice and easy, scooped it with a spoon.

Here are the cauliflower quarters before the chilli butter was applied

Into KK to cook for an hour and ten minutes at about 180C

We had a big storm in the UK yesterday and today was meant to be dry.  No such luck, it is pouring with rain.  Thankfully the rain started after I had cleaned both KKs out and refilled with charcoal/cocoshell briquettes.  Today I am using the 32 and have the following sequence of cooks:

1. Roast aubergines on the coals for a dip for tomorrow's dinner

2. Bulk bake my favourite cauliflower and harissa dish with my Auntie who loves it too

3. Low and slow some lamb shank (an opportunity to test how fast I can get the KK to cool down)

4. Bake a carrot and pistachio cake for tomorrow's dinner

5. Roast some potatoes and a spatchcock chicken for tonight's dinner

I have listed all of these now so that I can't opt out and run for the Indoor Kitchen (IDK) when the weather gets too bad.  Timing should mean that I should be able to keep the KK going all day without having to re-light.  

Wish me luck!

So glad you are enjoying your dry ager @Basher.  A lot of meat at once is difficult to process.  The restaurant I visited in Wales who dry age for a long time use tallow and also vac pack some of the longer aged items and also wrapped smaller items in butcher paper and then vac'd them to stop them drying out.  I wasn't sure how/whether you were genuinely ageing something if it was in a bag so it would be good to learn from your experience.  

On 10/27/2023 at 3:10 AM, Syzygies said:

Oh, he's ahead of all of us. This will be his second masa grinder!

Yeah, after I posted I thought, "hey, you've got cheek, telling a man with Mexican heritage how to use wet masa!"  That'll teach me.  

Dome cooking works for me.  I heat soak for up to an hour so that the dome is good and hot before I put the chicken on the top grate.  I then only cook for about an hour max at 220 C.  Will check the timings next time I do it but I tend to cook chicken hot and fast - keeps juiciness and you get crispy skin.  That said, I usually dry the chicken skin out for a couple of days in the dry ager before the cook. 

On 10/25/2023 at 1:46 AM, PVPAUL said:

Yes, I’ll buy it. Please send me a email!

Thanks

I have the standard grinder and it works really well for me.  You won't regret this choice.  Wet masa is the way to go!  Don't forget though, that when you grind wet, it is usually too wet to use and you need some dry masa to firm it up.  

What is better than one flat crispy KK cooked chicken?

From KK to table.  Delicious!

Hi @BalconySmoken, good to hear from you.  Your description did not say anything about what you have done with your vents so I will ask the obvious question about how you have set them. For my part I close off the bottom vents and open the top vent/hat.  My logic is that this means the air has to flow through the smoker attachment.  It works for me...

Sometimes I see a recipe and I think "really, what mad person dreamed that one up?".  So it was with this Italian fish recipe.  It was entitled Orata mezza cruda e mezza cotta - Half raw and half cooked sea bream.  

You take a whole fish, lift one fillet off the fish.  Cook the remaining half of the fish on the bone on the KK slowly for about 30 minutes.  I used a heat shield and kept the temperature below 150C.  Slice the raw fillet thinly and marinade it in oil, lemon and season for ten minutes and dress the top of the cooked fish with the raw fish.  Weird concept but it was good to eat.  

That all looks very yummy.  No danger of me becoming a vegetarian any time soon.  @Troble that lamb looked good and moist.  I'd eat it any day. 

🤪😛😄 Beaner schnitzel. I can't stop laughing!  Looking forward to hearing how your sister and her family enjoy your Al Pastor.  It's been another great contribution to the forum from @Troble and, once you have sourced and mastered the achiote, it is a doddle to make. 

That does look like a great plate of food @PVPAUL.  And I wouldn't have minded a taste of that tequila!

Soo..given you are of Mexican origin you must know more than any of us about how Al Pastor should taste.  Was this authentic from your point of view?  I see that you put a stone underneath the pan.  Was that to keep the meat tender?  I usually try to get the base as hot as possible towards the end so that the meat that I have cut off, crisps up a bit in the pan.  Is that what you did too or should I be doing less of that and taking the meat off sooner?  Thanks. 

Looking forward to seeing the results @PVPAUL and hearing about how it went.  My hope and expectation is that it was a hit.

Just to close this out.  I did use the meat hanger to hang the bacon for cold smoking.  I took @jonj's advice and dropped a hot coal in amongst the pellets in the cold smoker unit and it burned for hours on end.  The only problem is that I chose the windiest day of the year and it appeared to disrupt the flow of smoke into the KK.   I gave up after about 8 hours and only had a slight hint of smoke.  You live and you learn.  Next time!

Here is a shot to prove that it happened.  

Petite tender.  That looks interesting and, never having heard of it before, I can see that there are lots of references to it on the web. I hope it was tasty @Tyrus!

I have some bacon curing just now.  The meat hanger is going to be ideal for cold smoking the bacon when it is ready for that stage. 

Yes, Dennis is the one to ask.  His tile size is very specific and, having hunted everywhere, I found that the only company in the UK that had the right size tile was a swimming pool company.  Good luck with your search and welcome to the KK family.  

9 hours ago, David Chang said:

@tekobo you have three KK's? 16, 23, 32?

Yup.  I have owned five KKs in total.  Sold my first two - a 21 and a 23 in blue pebble - and bought these three in tile.  I am therefore fully qualified to say that tile cooks better.  I sought advice from the forum before I bought my first two KKs.  I was right to get two but wrong not to have got the 32 in the first place.  I thought that the "go big or go home" rhetoric was just that, macho rhetoric.  I should have listened.  The 32 is the ideal KK and does most everything I've ever wanted to do.  

I just wanted to refer to the post above.  I ditched these extra bolts.  

I ordered side tables for my 23 Ultimate and they arrived today. Thank  you to @Komodo_Kamado_UK for the home delivery service. 

@MacKenzie was more impatient that me and sent me a message to check if I had opened the boxes after waiting patiently for precisely 3 hours and 8 minutes for an update.  

So, I opened the boxes.  Meat hanger for the 32 Big Bad and side tables for the 23 Ultimate.

I was worried when I approached the 23 Ultimate.  I have the grate hanger permanently attached on the left and the rotisserie motor bracket on the right.  Was I going to need to take both off because they would not fit with the side tables in place?  Happily the answer was no.

On the right hand side we fitted the rotisserie motor bracket over the top of the side table bracket.  I texted Dennis a photo while I was doing this and he suggested the rotisserie motor bracket should go under the side table bracket.  Wouldn't work for me because of the small vertical screws on the rotisserie motor bracket that you can see in the right hand side picture.  I will see how things work but I may need to size and cut a new shaft to go between the rotisserie motor and the KK to take account of the extra depth introduced by the new side table bracket.  

I took off the old accessory hanger on the left hand side and installed the new one under the side table here:

So, I get to keep all the functionality that I used to have AND I have new side tables.  Very happy.  Looking at the time stamps on the photos, we went from unwrapped table tops at 18:10 to fitted tables at 18:40.  Not bad. 

How do I know that Dennis is NOT going to insert a post telling me that I have the tables the wrong way round?  Because I already got that from him on WhatsApp and fixed it before posting.  So there.  

10 hours ago, Tyrus said:

Judging by the size of your bunny it appears he was quite large as bunnies go, did he come from a nearby farm?

Thanks @Tyrus.  The rabbit came from our butcher in Italy.  I brought it back frozen and only just had the courage to cook it.   Difficult to buy rabbit in towns in the UK.  

@C6Bill, I guess I am not as sentimental as you.  My very first pet was a white rabbit with pink eyes called Jane.  We didn't eat her but I did keep chickens that we eventually ate.  A funny feeling I will have to admit.   

That looks really robust @Tyrus.  If you have built it right it should outlast you!

Common themes here.  Italians make simple ingredients taste great and food like rabbit is common place on the continent but is generally seen as old school in the English speaking world.   It is a little bony and lean but I look forward to trying it in different recipes - low and slow on the KK for instance or braised in nice stews.  

I am not keen on lean meat and could never see the point of rabbit until we had a wonderful meal at Filippo's in Piedmont, Italy way back in 2017.  It included rabbit, cooked slowly over fire right beside you in the dining room.  It was a memorable experience.  I don't have Filippo's experience or skill but my 32 Big Bad gave me a leg up in the tools department.  Here is Filippos set up:

Here is my husband's job of getting the rabbit attached to my KK spit. 

Here is the rabbit, cooked at 150C in the KK.  Took under an hour and I took it off at about 70C.  My father-in-law had fond memories of eating rabbit in post-war England - a source of protein when meat was still heavily rationed - and came round specially to try some.  It didn't disappoint.  Nice, moist and tasty.  Served here with fennel forward sides.  Eating the front leg was not dissimilar to eating a chicken wing.  

Lovely looking space and set up!