mguerra

Re: Syzygies's pork butt: what went wrong? It's not that complicated. You don't need to keep it at 170, let it go through the plateau on its own schedule. A pork butt will come out PERFECT at any cooking temp between 200 to 275ish. Just remove it when it hits 185 to 200. It's dead simple, no mental masturbation necessary. I've done at least 100 of them, believe me.

Re: To Rotis or Not To Rotis One of our members sells silicone plugs. The Guru comes with a silicone plug. I don't know if John has one for the Stoker or not, or if Dennis supplies one or not. Creative minds can rig something.

Re: To Rotis or Not To Rotis The blower fan just shoves in and out the port, takes about one second to put it in or take it out.

Re: To Rotis or Not To Rotis When you finish a cook with either device, you should remove the fan unit so you can fully close off the port to snuff the fire. Although the Guru fan, with its' slider door shut, and the Stoker fan, which closes its' draft door, are fairly airtight, they are not 100% airtight. We have a number of folks here who have experienced the inability to snuff the fire if there is even a tiny airleak anywhere in the system. Guru and Stoker also both state the fan is not waterproof. Yank the fan and plug the hole. For cooking in the rain, we have rigged a few rain covers for the fans and control boxes: http://gallery.me.com/mpguerra#100119 You can also use zip lock bags and any other creative solutions; there are a number of ideas here on the forums, perhaps folks will repost.

Re: To Rotis or Not To Rotis The Guru buttonology is easier but the Stoker more accurately controls the temp. Navigating the menus and entering inputs is a weirdo process on the Stoker. The stoker shuts off the airflow completely when its' fan is off. The guru sliding draft door stays open. You have to figure out how open to leave it to maintain your desired temp. DON'T leave it wide open for a cook in the 200's!!! I prefer the stoker, but have to relearn it every time I use it.

Re: Anyone hear of this Komodo cooker? When we getting the KK Portable?

Re: First run with the Auberins controller Maybe the round roast would benefit from a sous vide cook. You could precisely control the temp. Then do an Alton Brown smoke in the KK using a hot plate and some wood chips for a low temp smoke.

Re: First run with the Auberins controller The piece of meat they use in the linked article is chuck. Chuck can be cooked low and slow to 190 and come out awesome! Search the chuck roll posts here and at the Weber smoky mountain forum in particular: http://virtualweberbullet.com/chuckroll.html Cook sirloin to 190 and you will regret it. Brisket, pork shoulder and chuck are all tough cuts that benefit from a low and slow to break down the connective tissue. The more tender the cut, the less you want to use a low and slow. That's not to say you can't SMOKE a tender cut. They make an awesome smoked tenderloin at our local grocery store. My guess is they do this at something well under 200, but I am not an experienced smoker so I can't say with any authority.

Re: First run with the Auberins controller How did it turn out? Sorry I did not see your post yesterday. I think that with that particular cut, you would want to cook it to the same temp you would finish a steak, 120 to 140, depending on your preference for doneness. When I first got my KK, I thought a low and slow to 190 was good for any big piece of meat. That is not correct. For any big roast that can be cut in to steaks, you want to cook it to steak finish temp. And of course we found that a round roast will be tough as a shoe cooked at a "normal" cooking temp even if you do finish it at steak finish temp. Who was it that figured out to cook a round roast AT the finish temp all the way UNTIL the finish temp? Kind of a KK sous vide concept.

Re: Mega Meatloaf IF it will cook OK swimming in its own fat, and IF you have dogs, don't poke the holes. Save all the juice and drizzle a little bit on the hounds chow. I save all the fat and drippings from my cooks in the fridge and each day warm a little bit in the micro and put a tablespoon or two on the dogs kibble. They go insane for it! As I have oft said, you can get a load of juice from a brisket if you foil it at the 160ish point.

Re: Bronze Behemoth Game On! 2 Just made a luscious spur of the moment meal. Two racks of St. Louis with a heavy brown sugar/ fall spice rub, but the real kicker was the corn. I put three whole ears on the uppermost rack, with all the husks on, above the ribs. This was your standard four hours at 250 rib cook. After about two plus hours I took the husks off and returned the naked ears to the top grill to pick up some smoke. I melted some Irish butter in the micro, and then mixed in some garlic powder, fresh cracked pepper and smoked paprika. After taking the ears off the grill, I cut all the kernels off and put them in a bowl and slathered on the herby butter. Absolute heaven there. Everyone raved, all three of us! Me, Penny and one of my sisters. That is a serious keeper corn technique!

Re: Bronze Behemoth Game On! 2 We made our first pizza in the KK today...sort of. It was about 102 degrees here today. The KK sits out in the sun. Penny put the dough out in the KK to rise.

Re: Costco Kobe Beef Patties Texas is absolutely on fire this summer. The hottest July on record. We've had plenty of 100 plus days. But it's not global warming! That's the biggest crock of shit hoax ever foisted on a gullible public. I digress... Susan, always use a full basket of lump for any cook. You may only wind up using a little of the top layer, but fill it up. For a grilling fire, I fill a charcoal chimney about half or two thirds full, shove a wad of brown paper bag in the bottom, and light it up. The partial fill gets going faster and more evenly than filling the chimney. Now dump your lit coals out on top of your basket of lump, and spread them around. Be sure you have shaken all the ash out of your basket prior to any of this. You need good airflow. Don't use briquettes as they don't burn as hot as lump. This will get a good hot fire going right quick. Open the daisy wheel fully, or even pull the door out a good way, and with the lid open you will get an inferno pronto. Now you can use your inferno several ways. I prefer to grill up high on the main grill, which takes a little longer, uses more fuel, but results in an evenly cooked product. And I do it with the lid closed after getting the inferno going. Once the fire is raging, I open the daisy wheel fully and close the vent door, open the top vent fully off its seat, and shut the lid. Then I cook the meat, turning it over once, to my desired finish temp with a thermometer. If you like a rare inside, cooked outside kind of deal, cook it down closer to the fire with the lid open. And of course for a sear, put it right down on the sear grill for a minute. None of these machinations require any use of the TelTrue. Just your eyes; you can see a "good hot fire".

Re: Costco Kobe Beef Patties Plus you could throw in a pizza at that time!

Re: Sylhet Red Chicken Curry (sous vide and grill) A friend of mine has a Primo, and he has just got interested in sous vide. I will forward some of your posts about this, Syz, he will appreciate it.

Re: Costco Kobe Beef Patties A few comments about searing. Your dome temp is only a very indirect indicator of the temperature down at the actual sear level. To sear you just need what I refer to as "a good hot fire". The actual measured temp is not too critical. You will get a raging hot searing fire in just a few minutes by simply leaving your KK lid open. There is no need to close the lid and wait for the temp to come up. The blazing fire will come up faster with the lid open. You don't need a heat soaked KK to sear. Searing is done with the direct fire, not the radiated wall heat, with the lid open, in just a few moments. So, when you want to do the reverse sear, take the meat off, leave the lid open, put the sear grill down there, wait a few minutes til the fire is blazing, and sear.

Re: Costco Kobe Beef Patties OK Slu they better be good because I just ordered a box!

Re: Robust and Hearty Meat Loaf My grandmother used to make Calabacita con Puerco. Squash with pork. You cook up some pork and then cook the squash with mexican spices and the pork juice. Probably it is Cuban, or there is a Cuban version. Absolutely delish. We cook squash on the KK exactly like you would in the oven, any kind of squash or pumpkin. Just do it exactly as you would inside, keeps the heat out of the house. I forgot about the Calabacita until your post. I will make some with KK smoked pulled pork! My grandmother cooked the pork on the stove, I don't recall the cut, but I will make make a little modified version of it using the KK. The main spice is comino, cumin. If you want to try it just cook some squash, pork and comino any way you want to get an idea of it. There are many recipes for it all over the net, they are all similar but different. http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=c ... con+puerco

Re: Robust and Hearty Meat Loaf Raisins go great in ground beef dishes in general. My Mom makes a picadillo that is ground beef based and has plenty of raisins in it. They really make the dish.

Re: Robust and Hearty Meat Loaf Best meatloaf I ever ate we made on our KK!

Re: Robust and Hearty Meat Loaf Reluctant?! Pas, that's what these forums are for! We're not all pro's, just KK enthusiasts. Please post any and all random thoughts, precision ideas, and everything in between. That goes for all of you, by the way. POST!!!! The worst that can possibly happen is we might annoy someone. Everybody has something positive to contribute. Great meatloaf idea, BTW...

Re: First and second cooks. You can get gloves like these locally, or online. I use them to handle hot meat and to move and remove hot grills and thermometer probes: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XA ... B000XAL1QE These aren't leather, but some kind of cloth lined silicone.

Re: First and second cooks. Also, when you go to take something off the grate, use a big metal spatula to free it up first, just slide it under all around until it is loose, then remove your meat. Most fat cap down butts and briskets will stick, no problem though if you use the above trick.

Re: First and second cooks. Start every cook with a full basket of lump. Even a quick grill. It's amazing how forgiving a pork butt cook is. I too have had the fire go out, and find this out in the morning. You just re-fire, finish the cook, and it comes out fine! Once out of curiosity I put on a frozen pork shoulder. Came out perfect. It's just impossible to goof this up.

Re: Bronze Behemoth Game On! 2 Got a pork butt and a brisket going simultaneously. The KK is set at 250, with some hickory smoke wood. When the brisket hits 160, I'll foil it. It's not a hot fast, but a hybrid cook. The brisket should finish before the pork butt, so the butt is on the middle grill level and the briskie up on the main. I injected the shoulder with Goya brand Mojo Criollo; and the brisket with Butcher Barbecue Brisket Injection. I have found that these really benefit from a LONG hold time prior to serving. I'll foil the pork, and along with the foiled brisket hold them in a cooler, wrapped in towels until tomorrows big six way family birthday bash. One thing I've noticed is that when you hold several pieces of meat in the cooler together, they stay a lot hotter, longer. Makes sense of course. Regarding the injection, we commented before about using end hole needles versus side hole needles. If you use the side hole needles with the little round side holes, they will clog up if you have any solid particulates (spices) in the injection. And they are hell to clean out. So we use the end hole needles for these types of injections. But I bought some Tony Chachiere injections that come with a cheap plastic syringe and a needle included. These needles have elongated side holes. You CAN use an injection with a little particulate in it with this needle. To be honest, these injectors work just as well as an expensive chrome/ brass injector, better if you factor in the above mentioned. So if you want a perfectly functional injector, even if you don't want the Chachiere injection itself, get one. The injection, with included syringe and needle, is a fraction of the price of a nice syringe and needle system.You can clean it and reuse it easily. Anyway you will like the Chachiere injections, there's bound to be one that suits you. On the other hand if you really appreciate handling and using quality equipment, get a nice chrome/ brass injector! http://www.alliedkenco.com/pump-brine-4 ... style.aspx