mguerra

Here's a deflector. A pizza pan, 18", fits perfect, with just enough clearance around the edges, on the charcoal basket handles! $10.00 on Amazon. Lightweight and easy to handle. It might warp but so what. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EAXW8AI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 After I try it I'll report. I might abandon the stone one...

I always say the pork roast cook is the highest purpose of a KK. When I do picnics, I just leave the skin on and take it off after the cook, it's MUCH easier. Honestly I don't prefer the Boston to the picnic or vice versa. I just grab one that's the right size. One thing I harp on about the KK is the non critical nature of temp control, especially with a pork shoulder. Your 180º to 275º cook demonstrates that. I laugh when I remember my very first cook. It was a Boston butt, done in the driveway after the guy dropped off the KK. It was mid afternoon and I knew my wife was going to be pissed as hell I spent the money. I had been planning this for weeks, get the KK, take the afternoon off, smoke a pork shoulder and feed it to Penny the day of delivery, just to shove that wonderful smoky goodness down her throat before she could rage at me. Well, it wasn't done when she pulled in the driveway and had to park in the grass because this giant Bronze Behemoth was sitting on a wooden crate smoking away in the middle of the drive. After giving me a tongue lashing, she grudgingly admitted it was pretty good after I finished and served the pulled pork. But all day I was staring at my Maverick having a shit fit if the temp crept up to 230º or 240º from what I assumed HAD to be a constant 225º every second of the cook! I was diddling those vents like an idiot. Only with experience did I discover that temp control is not very important at all, at least for a lot of things, Maybe some few cooks demand it, but not many.

Don't knock it til you try it...but I'll probably do up a batch in the PC this week just cuz we're talking about it

I don't typically clean my grill grates except to scrape off big crud with my grill floss. But just to try something new I have my main grill in a water heater pan, bagged and sealed with ammonia. I'll break it out tomorrow and report.

That's pretty cool.

It may seem heretical, but if I have a hankering for red beans and rice and don't have time to make it, I just run down to Popeye's. Not bad for fast food chain stuff.

Were you in manual mode, or one of the priority modes? Did you pop the shutter with your finger, or a cable release? One thing every photog should have is a remote shutter release, either a cable or a wireless remote. The wireless remote is really useful for a picture you are in! It has other uses too. But in any case these remote methods nearly eliminate camera shake that occurs when you use your finger. Most important at slow shutter speeds and high zooms. Those are really good pics for such a high iso!

Metal pans are useful for hot grates. Hot heat deflectors. And washing. Very cheap and readily available. Use the plastic for washing only.

I assumed so. Good.

billg71 You know about the wire brush intestinal perforation and death thing, right?

I just made up a batch of pressure cooker chili roughly along the lines of the recipe above. It's a very quick and easy way to get some chili done "right now". I used frozen diced onions for even faster prep. Excellent use of the PC. Sans beans.

tiny The electric and stovetop pressure cookers have their pros and cons. The electric ones are programmable to go off at a pre set time. You can put non perishables in there and have the thing fire up say, six hours from now. This is good for beans, oatmeal, certain veggies and all sorts of other foods. Not poultry! If you are cooking in real time, once you set the cooking time, you push a button and go do something else. The thing will cook, stop cooking, depressurize, and kick itself in to "stay warm" food safe temperature mode. They are super convenient. They don't cook at the highest pressure a stovetop model can achieve, but it doesn't make any difference to your outcome. It just takes a few more minutes to cook. The electric ones also have a browning mode to brown meats, a slow cook mode to cook like a crock pot, and a few other modes. I have not perceived any limitations at all to my electric Secura 6 in 1.

It's not an auto part kind of thing. It's for a house water heater. Hardware store. Although any metal pan large enough would work so if the auto parts store have an oil change pan of the appropriate diameter that will work.

Okay!

Well, how did it go? I would have just left it out in the driveway, built an ODK around it, and called it yard art!

Beans in chili. Well, it should be a quilt lifter tonight.

http://komodokamadoforum.com/topic/7396-numbering-posts/?do=findComment&comment=83716 It took 9 steps to put that link in. 1- Click on wishbone. 2-Click inside "link to post" 3-Click Copy 4-Scroll down to new post box. 5- Click in the box. 6-Click the chain. 7-Click inside the url box. 8-Click paste. 9- Click "insert in to post" Yep, that wishbone is the way to go alright...

The water heater pan has shown up in a few threads lately, in reference to cleaning the grill grates. It is also useful as a handy place to put a hot and/or dirty grill, a hot heat deflector, greasy tools, and so on. It is not terribly elegant nor attractive but quite functional in this application.

Food always tastes better when you eat it off an ironing board.

Oh Syz, you're so sweet! Thanks.

I'll take one gratis from anyone who wants rid of it!

Another thing about cooking with the ceramic deflector is that you don't need a very precise coal distribution for even cooking. With direct cooking you have to be much more attentive to very even coal distribution. And by cooking with the deflector in place, I can get steaks, roasts and all sorts of things done with a temperature anywhere between 250º to 400º. The meat will be evenly cooked; it just finishes quicker at higher temps, slower at lower temps. I don't worry about temp control or chase it. Most of my cooks start cooler and finish hotter as I just let the KK go with moderate vent openings. If the meat isn't done when the temp gets to about 400º, then I dial down the top a bit. It's a VERY relaxed way to cook. If I did want to sear, it would be easy enough to do it. The only thing I remember cooking direct was those dogs the other night! Here's an idea. If you want to cook direct and it's a quick grill, use briquettes for an easier time with even coal and heat distribution. Or you can hand sort your lump but what a PIA.

The hairdryer trick is super fast. I use it often. These Walden starters are so fast I may not need the hairdryer as often. One thing to get a fire FAST is to use Royal Oak as your starting fuel. You may have noticed I used a 1/2 chimney of Royal Oak for starting and dumped that out on to a bed of Fogo.

Just saw and read this thread. You'd fit right in with Quinn and Hooper and Chief Brody in that scar scene from Jaws! I had a hand injury like that once and it was big fun. Ouch. Excellent looking repair. I'm guessing you'll get 90% or better return of motor and sensory function. Ask for a quick blast of Propofol when they pull the pin...