mguerra

Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg were uncertain whether they preferred pork butts in energy state 1 or 2. It was related to the wave/particle duality of the porky goodness quanta. Ultimately, they just wiped the BBQ sauce off their chins, shrugged, and figured Tesla could work it out, because "he is the oldest."

I don't understand the short nuclear force, either. I'm a scientist. I think, Syz, you are too; at least you seem to be a mathematician. Don't try to understand it. JUST DO IT! Once. It will take 5 hours to decide you like it. And just for fun, get the cheapest, nastiest looking brisket you can for this experiment.

Come to think of it, the coyotes probably hear all that ruckus all the time and steer well clear!

It's BBQ OK you hairsplitters, the hot fast briskie comes out like the best traditional low and slow you have ever had. The first two hours, plus or minus, in the smoke gets you the bark, the smokey flavor, and smoke ring you want. Especially if you throw it on nice and cold. The two hours, plus or minus, in foil denatures the proteins and gets you the tenderness you want. It doesn't come out like something from Grannie's oven, or a pressure cooker, or a pot of boiling water, it's BBQ!!! You can try it in one afternoon, then come back and brag on it like I do. Just follow the directions in the sticky.

You ever heard 5 coonhounds at full bawl? Holy hell, that's a sound! Well, every time a possum or armadillo or skunk or deer or jackrabbit or turkey or raccoon or porcupine or crow or buzzard comes wandering by, we get an earful! So, that's basically all the damn time here in the Texas Hill Country. Actually, I have not seen a coyote. But I know they are out there.

concepts Go buy a cheap brisket and practice a fast, high temp brisket per the sticky post in the "Techniques" section. I get consistent, super moist and tender results this way. Did one Saturday, the whole cook was about 330 degrees. Took 4 1/2 hours. You will NEVER dry out your flat with this trick. The fat cap melting does not penetrate the dense cellular structure of the meat, that is a myth. Put your fat cap down during the first, unfoiled part of the cook, to protect the flat from the "direct" heat of the indirect heat! Sounds funny, I know, but just adds to keeping the flat moister. The fast hot trick exposes the flat to hot air for about two hours, until you foil it, compared to the traditional low and slow, unfoiled technique that exposes the flat to air for 10 or 12 or 14 or whatever long number of hours.

measure You will get the best, most reproducible results on your steaks by measuring the finish temperature , not eyeballing. Use the same thermometer every time. This applies even more to chicken, for safety.

I actually took off the vertical extensions because the thing was unsightly at full height. Well, it's just plain unsightly anyway. Not a bad idea on the granite top, if I keep this set-up. I would much prefer to keep everything enclosed and out of sight, in a cabinet. The fence? Coyotes out and Coonhounds in.

Aluminum from the Home Depot. The 24" model. They have different sizes, and plastic ones as well. Amazon has them also. http://www.amazon.com/Oatey-34078-Alumi ... 841&sr=8-2

One of ya'll recommended the water heater pan to clean your grill. That's a great place to set your grill, also! I have been struggling to get a nice, neat, clean solution to where to store and place my grills, heat deflector, roti basket and such. You need a place to set down hot, filthy, greasy, charcoaly stuff when using your KK. The stainless cabinet I want is over $3,000.00. So for now, I got one of those freestanding wire shelving units and a couple of water heater pans and set that up out by the KK. It is not my aesthetic ideal, but it works! As you move all your equipment around, you have a nice, easily cleanable pan to put stuff in. If Dennis had a cabinet that was 100% stainless or stone on top with no wood, I would prefer that. Ultimately I will probably get the stainless cabinet, but this is an affordable temporary solution.

Howdy Hello, and welcome! You will love it. Sure can't hurt to peruse old forum threads, tons of good info there. So, what color and when do you expect delivery?

slide to Communism That's what we need, the government seizing and controlling natural resources. The egghead ruling class are bound to manage the oysters better than those whose lives depend on them. Right.

tasty Texas is famous for the Fredericksburg peaches, which are ready NOW. That looks too scrumptious for words! I did some just plain grilled peaches before, which were super, but this looks like a winner. Thanks for the recipe.

eco friendly grill cleaner I put my grills down on the porch after they cool off. The 5 coondogs clean them right good. I figure that clean up, plus the heat from the next cook is sufficient. My wife and myself are in robust health and suffer no ill effects from this method.

do it! I love making stuff like that! It's not necessary, but cool and fun. Make one and show us the photos. I mean, if you are going to sort anyway, and lots of Q'ers do, why not have a cool contraption. They use screen sorters in lots of industrial applications.

Thank you!

delegating Will someone put a pin for me? Kerrville, Texas, 60 miles northwest of San Antonio on IH 10.

probes If I recall, Guru says not to expose their probes to direct flame. I never do. For a "hot" cook, I was thinking a hot indirect, as for a fast hot brisket, or an indirect turkey cook. Say 300 to 375. The probes easily handle that if protected by a heat deflector. For a hot direct cook, I never measure the fire temp in any way. I just eyeball it.

suggestion for relaxation I suggest you get a Guru or a Stoker, Pas. Others here disagree. All you have to do is program the temp of the fire, crack the top hat open just enough so smoke can waft out, and you are going to have perfect fire control. You don't need it for a "hot" cook, but can use it for such. It's real use is low and slow. Here are the pearls you need for success in using the Guru temp controller for a low and slow: First, there are two start-up methods, one in which you can hang around and monitor your start-up; and the second is when you need to start the fire and leave right away. If you need to get the fire going and get gone, do this: open the blower vent on the Guru to about 1/4 open, or a little less, and NO MORE. Do this by looking into the opening, don't use the little diagram on the sliding door. Set the actual fire temp you want. Start only a small central few pieces of lump. Crack open the top damper just enough that some smoke comes out when the fan is not blowing and a little more comes out with the fan on. Of course the bottom damper should be shut, only the blower is acting as the bottom damper. This should get your cooker dead on the temp you want. If you open your Guru blower vent any more than this, you will get a temperature overshoot that takes forever to correct. Now, since the above described method works, you don't need this next method , but here it is. Spin the top damper quite open, open the Guru blower all the way, start a small amount of lump, set the fire temp on the Guru to 180. Sit there and watch it. When the temp hits 180, shut down the top vent to just cracked as previously described, as well as the Guru blower vent to 1/4 or less. Re-set the fire temp on the controller to your low and slow desire, typically 225. This gets the fire going a little faster but prevents overshoot. No matter what, you will not get a stable low temp fire if you open the Guru blower vent more than about 1/4 or less. All the above pre-supposes a 10 CFM blower.

Semper Fi Congrats on the graduate, we had a nephew graduate Parris Island March 09. Got an AF nephew fighter jock training now at Wichita Falls. Fortunately you can use the same cook temp for the butts and the ribs. A good workable technique for the ribs is actually a formula; 4 hours at 225. We don't use timed formulae like this generally for other cooks, but this seems to work for ribs. Your butts will cook well at 225 also, and probably take a lot longer. Trying to get them both done simultaneously would be pure guess work. I would put the ribs on 5 hours before serving time, rest them in foil for an hour while you finalize dinner. Plan to have the butts done well before that, since you can foil, towel, and cooler them for many hours prior to serving. Conservatively, figure 2 hours per lb cooking time, they might not take that long. By being done with both well before serving time, you can relax a little. Since they both cook at the same temp, you don't have to dork around with the fire, or use 2 cookers. Since the ribs will go on after the butts, put them on the top rack above the main grill. That's the rack with the legs, that rest on the main grill. Butts on the main, indirect cook with the heat deflector. Tell your Marine the Guerra family salutes her and her service and sacrifice for our great nation.

forgiving cook Anywhere from 225 to 275 works pretty good. Unlike the fast hot brisket, which comes out super tender, the pork butt comes out more tender when cooked a little longer. A "fast hot" pork butt done around 275 to 300 does come out acceptable, it's just more tender and easier to pull when cooked a little longer. They taste about the same either way, though.

Woops, I see my link was simply to the previous page of this very thread. Sorry.

can't accurately plan it Cook to an internal temp of 185 to 200. Ball park 1-1/2 to 2 hours per lb. at 225 degree pit temp. That number is NOT 100% accurate, pork butts are variable. Some I did only took 1 hour per lb.

nuanced flavor I use Royal Oak exclusively. It is a great base charcoal. Add any other kind of wood you like for smoke flavor.

I have made paella on the KK using the stainless pan that is meant for the heat deflector. Works like a champ! I cook it hot with the lid shut. Photos and story here: http://www.komodokamado.com/forum/viewt ... 54&start=0