mguerra

So? Well, what color did you get, where do you live, do you have any other ceramic cooker already, how much grilling or barbequing have you done, are you getting a Stoker or a Guru...? Anybody else want to interrogate the newbie? Oh yeah, WELCOME!! Get your digital camera ready, too.

simple 2 Also, you can use the Alton Brown method. Cook your steaks til done and then throw them directly on the charcoal for a few seconds to sear. He blows the ash off first with a quick blast from a hair dryer.

The sear grill IS the lower grill. You guys are making this way too complicated! I gave you the cheap metal grill method, apply it to the KK. Cook your steaks direct on the main grill till done. Move down to the lower or sear grill to sear. That's it.

make it easy See my post "Finney on a Meco" in the Hi from North Carolina thread in the Forum Members folder. A simple method for excellent results. You can do it on a cheap metal grill or a KK.

Finney on a Meco For grilling I never actually use my KK. Since day one my only KK cooks have been low and slows. My old Meco grill is easier to use for grilling. I get a whole load of lump going in a chimney, throw it in the grill with the vents barely open. I put the steaks on the grill at the highest level above the fire and cook at about 350 til done. That's about four or five inches above the fire. I flip them once when they are half way between starting and finishing temp. I call this a "steak low and slow". I takes about 15- 20 minutes. Then open the vents, get a hot fire, drop the grill down closest to the fire and get a quick sear. That's about an inch above the fire. Easy.

permanent fix If you are bold, and handy, do this: put the Stoker fan housing right up against the Guru faceplate on the KK. Minus the nozzle of course. With a pencil or a Sharpie mark through the holes of the Stoker housing on to the faceplate. Drill the holes on the faceplate and attach the Stoker with self tapping sheet metal screws. Figure out how to weatherproof the fan, since this is a permanent mounting. Look at my post "Stoker Raingear" for a solution. Get the sheetmetal screws first and use the correct size drill bit, that will cut stainless!! It's possible you might want to put a small piece of gasket material between the Stoker fan housing and the KK faceplate. You can get it at an auto parts store. This is all assuming the Stoker fan faceplate is the same size or smaller than the KK Guru faceplate. Otherwise this won't work. As I don't have my Stoker fan right now, I can't check on this!!!!

quick and dirty option To use the Stoker right now on a Guru sized port: Remove the Stoker nozzle, tape the flat plate of the Stoker fan housing right on to the Guru faceplate on the KK with some dryer/ AC duct metal tape. That should work temporarily.

Idea OK, here's a thought. The Guru and the Stoker are similar in that the round nozzle is a separate part that bolts on to the fan housing. It's possible the Guru nozzle may bolt right on to the Stoker fan housing. As soon as I get my Stoker back, I will check on this. It might take a little mod to do it, we'll see. If I can get it to work, then we would have to see if BBQ Guru would sell their nozzle assembly as a separate part. You would expect they would for customers who damage theirs occasionally. I still have not been able to ascertain whether Dennis intends to make some KK's with the standard 1-3/8" port, which the Stoker fits, and some with the smaller Guru specific port. It's true the smaller built in Guru inducer port is a nicer, cleaner look aesthetically, but the larger port gives the customers more flexibility in their choice of Guru vs. Stoker. Of course the whole problem could be obviated if either John or Dennis would make a Guru sized Stoker adapter to bolt on to the Stoker fan housing. This is going to be an easy fix ultimately.

adolescent pout Of course you had to buy it, these bronzies are beautiful! I'm just being petulant. Enjoy.

Exclusive NOT! Dad blast it, is EVERYONE getting a bronze? I thought I was getting a one-off, they are a dime a dozen!

It's a tall lift Although you can remove the lag screws to lift off the top of the crate, you will need at least two people to lift it as high up and straight up as necessary. It's not too heavy, however.

Rock's BBQ feedback Just spoke with John. He admitted he has poor customer service, that he is an engineer, he works the business solo with occasional help from his wife. At present he can't afford to hire a customer service person. He was very apologetic and admitted he can't always answer the phone or emails. He was quite sincere in his desire to help me. I'm satisfied. He offered to throw in a few freebies because of the long delay in servicing my unit. He also reported he is aware of the posts all over the various BBQ forums regarding his customer service and is doing his best as the sole employee of the company. Being an independent entrepreneur myself, I am accepting this level of service for this product. Others may not. It's true I get immediate, happy, helpful service from the BBQ Guru folks and I appreciate that, but I am not quitting Rock's.

Crab Boil Pork I did a standard low and slow pork butt yesterday and rubbed it with Zatarain's Crab Boil. It tastes great, and not like seafood at all! Give it a try. Another note: after the plateau, I took the meat off the KK at a temp of 175. My thought was, the plateau is over, the collagen and fat should be rendered, the meat is at a temperature well above what is recommended for pork to be "done", why run it up any higher? Well, the meat was just as perfectly done as my usual 185 finish. I was just curious. From now on I know I can pull the meat off the grill anywhere between 175 to 200, once the plateau is over. This could be handy for party purposes. Also if golf runs long! It gives tremendous time flexibility to cook at these low temps, it's hard to overcook.

fix Also, I have posted a fix for the Stoker door hanging open problem: http://www.komodokamado.com/forum/viewt ... sc&start=0 Scroll down through the posts and see both pages. Rock's has said they will incorporate a version of my fix on future production, whether or not that has happened yet, I don't know.

2 different problems If the door sticks, it won't cause the fan to run too much. It just causes your effective bottom vent to be wide open. I have found that if you just barely crack the top vent, this isn't really a problem. Close the top vent and when your fan cycles on and starts blowing, crack the top vent just enough that smoke escapes freely. That is open enough. If the top vent is open more than that, you can get runaway high temps if the Stoker door hangs open. The fan running non-stop is a separate problem. So far as I know, the only fix is to have Rock's replace your unit.

risk I've left for twelve hours at a time and never thought twice about it. Unless there is an earthquake or a direct lightning strike on the KK, nothing inside of that beast is getting out!

summary Briskets can cook a little faster than pork butts. Over on the Weber Smoky mountain forum they have found you can cook them at 275 or more and get moister results than longer cooks at 225. I also discovered this by accident myself! There is some flexibility there. You can do them with or without a rub. There are a billion rub recipes floating around on the internet, and several here in the KK forums. Here's one we'e been talking about recently: http://www.komodokamado.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2935 The finish temp is also flexible. Anywhere from 180 to 200 are recommended, when you remove it from the grill, foil it. Some advocate an immediate chill down with cold packs. I just wrap mine in a big beach towel and leave them til serving time. They are often wrapped in towels and put in a cooler to hold til serving.They can hold like this for a long time, and still be served with their original cooking heat, which is best. However you can certainly reheat in the oven and it's fine. You want to be done earlier than serving time! If you do a 10 lber, a start time 18 hours ahead will give you adequate lead time to finish and hold the meat. It's really hard to screw this up! If your brisket is a flat and a point (two different muscles), separate them after cooking so you can slice them correctly, across the grain. And read this: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/brisket.htm

Guru or Stoker EVERY time I always use a Stoker or Guru on every long cook. The reason is I want to go do something else, golf, sleep, work, visit family etc. It's so quick to do a Minion method start with a torch, put on the meat, crack the top vent, plug in the temp controller; and leave. If I was going to hang around the house, then I might do a manual temp set. My guess is that would take about an hour of temp checks and vent twiddles. When the weather gets too bad to go golf, or fish, or fly, or it's not a workday, I might just do that! But if you have a busy life, these temp controllers free up your time. I have one hour for lunch. I can come home, prep and rub some ribs, throw them on the fire, set the Stoker or Guru, grab a PB and J and haul ass back to work, knowing the ribs will be perfect after work.

other thermometer The Oregon Scientific AW-131 is working very well for me, with excellent transmission range. Others have tried the AW-129 but say the transmission range isn't that good.

better solution Remember that the nozzle in these photos is an adapter that you order (purchase for $35.00) for your unique application. Dennis, you can make your own adapter that fits directly on the fan housing, just like this pictured one does. That way you wouldn't have to make an adapter to this adapter! And then we wouldn't have to buy 2 adapters! When I get my Stoker back, I will post the details of the 4 bolt spacing that attaches this adapter to the fan housing, and you can make your own. Here's a picture of the fan before you order any of the various adapters for all the different cookers: http://www.rocksbarbque.com/10cfm_small.JPG

It's August 9 and I still don't have my Stoker, or a replacement, back. That's over 40 days. Sigh. So, have ya'll seen the new Guru Nano? http://secure.thebbqguru.com/ProductCar ... _q_web.jpg It is billed as the replacement for the Pit Minder. It is simply a pit temp controller, that's it. There is no display screen. Check it out.

one concept I take the skin off so the smoke can contact the meat.

inducer I'm using the bulkhead inducer tube, because it is easily removable. Why would you want to remove it? If you also use a Stoker. One minor issue some of us have had is that the last, or farthest, snap ring groove isn't far enough out to allow the snap ring to fit it. It's not a problem. The wall of the KK is so thick, none of the snap ring grooves will be outside the KK when you put the threaded nut on the bulkhead inducer tube and push it through from the inside. The solution is simple. Put the threaded nut on the tube just enough to secure it. Remove the snap ring. Push the tube through the wall of the KK from the inside until the nut comes up against the inner wall of the KK. The tube will stick out, but none of the snap ring grooves will. Put the snap ring on the tube, flush up against the outside of the face plate. It won't be in a groove, but it doesn't matter. It grips the inducer tube fine with just its' spring pressure. Works fine. No need to machine a new groove, or try any other machinations. Just leave it like that. However, if you like, you can mark that spot on the tube and have a machinist machine a groove. Don't try this without snap ring pliers. Here are two photos. You can clearly see the snap ring is not in a groove, just firmly purchasing the tube by virtue of spring pressure. It's totally secure. I suppose we could ask the manufacturer to machine one more groove distal to the current outermost one. This would allow snap ring placement in a groove, on the "thicker" KK's. http://gallery.me.com/mpguerra#100173

Mallard Reaction The Mallard reaction?! Mount your Benelli to your shoulder, aim, lead, shoot, collect duck.

ribs So, that worked out super! The instructions from Chris Lilly were to cook at 250 for four hours, but I knew I would be gone longer than that. So I set the temp at 220 and the ribs cooked for about 4-1/2 to 5 hours. They came out perfect, tender, moist, not dried out. That rub is great on ribs. I'm going to be using cardamom and ginger and cinnamon a lot!! I'm steering away from pre-prepared rubs because I can't control the salt in those. My guess is that there is far more salt in them than necessary. It's cheap, and always the first ingredient on the list. What I'm doing is just putting a light dust of salt on the meat, to start drawing up the moisture, and then a few minutes later, the rub. My guess is that a rub with too much salt will draw too much moisture up the surface of the meat, and then it will cook off. Yesterday's ribs, with my light salt, were moister than any I've cooked with a pre-prepared rub.