tekobo

What can I say??? I like the idea of living hard and dying young but if I get to be your age I hope to be in a position to have just as much fun as you all seem to be having in your retirement.

Hi there. Did you get the desired crackle?

Oh yes it is! I want some....

Wow! I had somehow managed to persuade myself that a 42 was a sensible choice until I saw you standing next to it @Wahoo. She is indeed beautiful and you are definitely not sensible. Well done for jumping in at the deep end. Looking forward to your cook.

Happy Birthday! That pig looks devilishly good. I was born in '68 too and finally feel I can say that I am grown up having reached the grand old age of 50! Welcome to the club.

I used to be in with the beetroot haters but I grew some on my plot this year and made myself eat some. Sorry @Aussie Ora, I am still not quite at the point where I can bring myself to put beetroot in burger but beetroot rosti and beetroot peeled and baked whole and then chopped up and dressed with vinaigrette and wilted beet leaves are both very tasty. Best of all is an awesome smoothie with ginger, carrot and apple. Gloriously pink and delicious! I went away on holiday and came back to find my beets had grown to massive proportions. I think you'd need a monster burger to take a slice of one of these!

@Pequod, there are two ways to play this life thing. There is what your mother/father told you: " if you can't say anything good, don't say anything at all". That might be good advice for me but I much prefer the other route. More interesting and you would be soooo bored if we all just said "welcome back Pequod, you're wonderful!".

And...? Looking forward to your results.

You're nuts, but in a good way. Good to see you back. I like your bread but I won't be milling anytime soon. Going to do a Chicago Southside thin pizza soon though. We've got friends who are very fussy about the particular sourdough pizza that they like. Not going to try to compete. Just aiming to shake their world with a bit of square cutting.

Sometimes the simple things are best. Tonight we started dinner with rocket (arugula to the Americans) and three different types of cured meat: KK smoked cured goose breast, proscuitto and capocollo. Followed by grilled quail. They look so small and vulnerable being cooked but they are so so so tasty! Shout out to Movida Next Door in Melbourne for introducing us to how wonderful the quail can be.

Oh yes, we are... It is the UK, so I have to talk about the weather. It is absolutely chucking it down where I am. I hope you are having better weather for your burn in/first cook!

Wings and corn. Can't go wrong! Making me hungry!

Woohoo Wahoo! I am soooo excited for you. I think uncrating AND doing the burn in on such a monster all on the same day might be a bit ambitious but I am all for ambition. My ambition would be to be eating something off your KK by the end of today. However given I can't be there (and haven't been invited!!!!) I will make do with you eating something off your KK today. Looking forward to the pics.

Disclaimer: I don't drink coffee. However, The Husband is a coffee nut so I sent him a copy of @DennisLinkletter's post above. For those of you looking to do some comparative shopping here is his response: "He into coffee too! I like my Mazzer Mini Electronic - 64mm flat steel burr, 600g hopper, single dose ground to order. Around $1000 X" The X was for me, obviously. Just wanted you to know that The Husband loves me in spite of me.

Hey @Wahoo. Your 28 days is up! Did I, perchance, miss the post with your delivery and uncrating photos? Heaven forfend!

That's great, thanks Aussie. The link to @churchi's cook is v helpful and I will also look over at the links on other forums that others in that post referred to. My main concern is with the fat burn off. A porchetta is a loin (like churchi's cook) with the skin taken off and then wrapped in a belly. I live in a built up area and subjecting them to the fat burning off during the high temperature phase makes me a not so good neighbour. I will be interested to see how you go with the smoke and the cook.

Tee hee. Does that mean I am now a proper, grown up KK owner now?

I am still keen to hear from anyone who has had success with crisping up pork skin in their KK. Would be good to know how you achieved it. The meat on this last cook came out very juicy and tasty. You just can't get that smoky flavour in an indoor oven so I'll be trying a few more experiments to see how I can minimise the smoke from the burning pig fat while maximising the flavour in the meat.

I just went for it. Cooked the pork at about 225C with no water in the drip tray for the first half an hour. It was really really smoky. Swapped out the fatty drip tray once the crackling was nice and crunchy and put in pan with a bit of water to keep the smoke down. Came out really nice. We have munched up a fair bit of the crackling and the meat is now resting. Will have some corn while we are waiting and will accompany the pork with some beetroot, currently lurking in foil on the OK. The crackling turned out OK but I am not sure if I really want that much smoke in my life. I suspect the KK is not the best tool for cooking fatty pork at high temperatures...

Great description, gummy bears. I don't want upside down smiley faces at dinner today so I may just do this first trial on my indoor oven rotisserie. Will do a KK practice with a smaller, more receptive audience (=bribed with drink) at a later date. Thanks Bruce, it was v tasty but was lacking that crunch that we all look forward to in a pork roast.

Hi folks. I am planning an Italian Christmas feast and one suggestion is that I make porchetta. The plan is to roll a pork belly around a loin and cook on the rotisserie. The only problem with that is that I have not had good success with getting pork skin crisp in my KK. I have no trouble in my indoor oven - cook at high temp (220C) for up to half an hour and then lower temp to about 170C for the rest of the cook. Reducing the temperature rapidly in the KK doesn't seem like a practical option and I suspect the fact that KKs keep meat most might be acting against me here. Grateful for any advice. Planning on a trial with a de-boned pork leg later today. I cooked the below pork joint a few weeks ago: Looked good but just didn't manage to get the skin as crispy as I would like.

I pooh poohed the idea of a MAPP torch when @tony b first mentioned it. I also resisted the Milwaukee blowy thing and even supported @Bruce Pearson in his decision to step away from the till and leave the leaf blower in the shop. However, I have since succumbed myself and am so pleased that I did. I use dense coco char in the KKs and it is difficult to light. To get things going I put a small pile of catering grate charcoal in the middle of the pile of coco char and light the pile with a MAPP torch. I then blow with a Matki leaf blower (brand available in the UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NLXXQXQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ). I walk away and come back for a second blow about 10-15 mins in and I now never get that cold coal feeling. I have learned some safety lessons too. The catering charcoal sometimes sparks when you light/blow it and a small ember flew up at my eye once. No damage done but I now where safety glasses and a long gauntlet when I light the KK. Looks ridiculous but better safe than sorry.

That is really cool. So glad that this 42 made it to a good home where it has a sibling to keep it company. Soooo looking forward to seeing your cooks.

Of course I would love the 42 if for no other reason than it exists and, as @pequod reliably informed me, it comes with a goat. The 42 was an option when I made my choice and I still think having two KKs is more versatile than having one great big one. I know it sounds mad to say this but I would only have a 42 alongside at least one other cooker.

Tee hee, I have to say that I agree with @Tyrus. Where IS the beef @MacKenzie? Tyrus, thanks for asking after me. I have spent the summer doing a little consultancy work but am now about to start more full time work again. First day back in an office turns out to be in the week leading up to a party where we will be feeding 100+ people. Lots of planning and procuring to do. Am finding time to grill and eat but no time left to post!!!