mguerra

Another problem I'm getting a little peeved with my expensive Stoker! It runs non-stop. The pit temp probe seems to be working, but the fan will not turn off. Example: Target Temp for the pit set at 225. Pit temp gets up to 270 and fan still running. Power on and off, no help; change ports for the fan and the pit temp probe, no help; reset the target temp, no help. I actually had to go old school and use my vents to control the temp, oh the humiliation! Anybody experience same?

pull temp OK, I did a center cut shoulder roast. It is a part of the chuck. Anyway you do not want to slow cook it to 180 or higher! It comes out way too dry. So the second one I cooked I pulled at 150, it was much juicier and probably 140 would be OK for this cut. U.S. Wellness meats again. Apparently, different parts of the chuck need different cooking methods and a low and slow to 180ish is not needed for this one!

latch Definitely put a drop of blue Loctite on that nut.

reheat Hmm... steam it, eh? OK; I'll do it tonight. Sounds excellent. As far as unbridled enthusiasm, do some of ya'll find you are asking people to cook for them just so you can play with your toy? It's gotten to the point I'm asking folks to bring me briskets and pork butts to cook for them. I guess it's a newbie thing, sigh. Probably wear off after a while.

2nd try OK, I re did Manjula's naan, with the correct all-purpose flour. Holy Schmoley that's good!! Fresh, hot, yeasty aromatic bread; nothing beats it. Manjula lets the dough rise several hours, I gave it one hour and it worked perfect. As a contrast, tonight I tried a boxed foccacia mix from Firenza, (the company, not the town). Nowhere near as good. I did a 15 hour pork roast and then jacked the fire up, baked the bread while the pork was resting in foil. Pulled the pork just as the bread was done, scarfed both. This is the plan, man.

just do it Just buy it, sight unseen. You will NOT regret it. C'mon, everybody's doing it!

sauce Basically, I use no sauces on my meat at all, just marinades or dry rubs. This in my vast experience of 6 weeks of KK cooking! But... if you are like me and cooking way more meat than you can eat, because of "unbridled enthusiasm" (remember Billy Mumphrey?), then you might do this: put a little something like Sweet Baby Ray's on pulled pork that has been in the fridge a while. It moistens it a little, and does not seem to cover or hide the taste of the meat at all. Same for any other meat you made too much of. Enjoy it au natural off the grill, maybe sauce it a bit after some fridge time.

note to Sanny I re-read my note and see I worded it improperly. I did not mean Sanny should give her KK away. My thought was anyone who does not like the smokey flavor in general should not be cooking on charcoal. Not you personally, Sanny! Plus it wasn't you yourself you referenced, but one of your guests. Just to clarify.

one man's opinion Some people don't like their food too smokey, I prefer it strongly smoked. Give your KK to someone else and cook it in the oven if you don't want smoke! At my autopsy, I want the pathologist to say, "This man had KK mesquite lung disease."

Rosemary Chicken I roasted a chicken thusly: Get some butter and soften to room temp. Mix into it garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. I got a split whole chicken, made a little slit in the skin of both halves, and worked my finger around under there to loosen the skin and make a space. Put the butter in that subcutaneous space and squoosh it around. I cooked on the main grill indirect at 350 til thigh joint was 180 degrees. Pretty dang good!!!! Photos: http://gallery.me.com/mpguerra#100165&v ... lack&sel=1

moisture Easy, pardner, tcoliver is not offended, just being a little light hearted! Yes, the food retains its' moisture because of the extremely low airflow moving through the cooker. The KK radiates a tremendous amount of heat inside once it is up to temp. It requires very little fuel to burn to maintain its' temp, so very little combustion air is needed to move through it. A metal bodied unit radiates away a tremendous amount of its' heat, therefore requires a constant larger amount of combustion to maintain temp. And thus a lot more airflow which carries away the moisture. You can cook a piece of meat for 12-24 hours in a KK and it will be moist.

evidence Here's the finished product. I did not use any smoke wood at all, just rub. Next time, smoke wood. They are juicy, tender, succulent, but I want more smoke flavor. http://gallery.me.com/mpguerra#100150

first ribs Well, because of that thread about Chris Lilly and the Today show, I decided to do my first ribs. Made the rub per the recipe, and have them on there now at 250. Baby backs. They are on the top rack, indirect, with my lava rock deflector down below. Problem is, I'm hungry now... Remember last year I was trying to flip my wife to "our side"? She gets home from work tonight, sees the wisps of smoke from the Gold Monster and says, "Man I'm exhausted, I'm really glad you got that thing." Pics to follow when done.

again Did two chuck roasts for Mother's Day. Marinated for about 30 hours in Allegro Marinade, then cooked at 200 degrees for 13 hours. It came out spectacular, again. I'm thinking there is no need to cook this to 180 degrees or higher. My guess is that once you pass 6 hours, then pull the meat any temp of 140 or higher. I'll try this and report back. I have a feeling it will be tender enough after 6 hours. Stand by...

Yep, you can roast coffee in a KK. By using the rotisserie. I have not done it, my Gene Cafe roaster works beautifully. But you would make a cannister to put in the roti, get the temp up to between 450 and 500, and figure out a way to monitor the roast progress. That would be the one problem, that you monitor the roast by watching it. But you need to keep the lid closed on the KK to keep the requisite temp. If I figure out how to do it, I'll post it. You CANNOT roast by time! If there was a way to reliably keep the effective temp at roti level with the lid open, that would do the trick.

bronze beauty I call mine the Bronze Behemoth, but the wife calls it the "Gold Monster", because for the first few days it scared the hell out of one of our coonhounds.

appreciate it Thank you Larry!

You can make naan, with uh, cake flour... http://www.komodokamado.com/forum/viewt ... c&start=15

details So, let's hear some K tales of woe. Got an airplane? Ever thrown a bug at a tarpon?

pix The fragmentary remains: http://gallery.me.com/mpguerra#100142

high temp silicone plugs OK boys and girls, I have found a source for high temp silicone plugs for the thermometer wire hole and the fan port on our KK's. I'm not sure how to slot the plug for the thermometer wires, but I'll figure it out. Minimum order is $50.00. At lunch I will go home and measure the exact diameter of these holes, order some and you can buy them from me. More details after lunch...

Hmm, there is a little hunk left. Oddly, the end result of this little misadventure was quite palatable. In fact, I will offer the following: go ahead and use cake flour in a naan recipe. Mix it with an implement, NOT your hands. Don't try to knead it with your hands, keep your hands OUT of there! Let it rise just like the naan recipes say. Don't make little balls or try to roll it. Pour out the mix onto a greased cookie sheet and let it flow out as flat as it will. Cook just as Lead Dog says. You might like this!

Pics Well, this is the pics forum, so...?

"Non-Bread" Say you are at home, alone, and your wife is not there. It strikes you to make some naan. And you go to the cupboard and get out "the flour". You follow the recipe, and wind up with the weirdest, stickiest, pasty glue like substance that in no way resembles the you-tube video dough that Manjula made. Half of it is stuck all over your hands, and the wax paper you thought you could roll it out with. You've got wads of this stuff stuck to the cabinets, and counter top, and in your hair and on your face and shirt and the door knob to the porch. So you just flop whatever you can in a big pile on a cookie sheet and throw it on the fire. It cooks up into a giant lump of bizzare I don't know what the hell it is. A little run around the internet educates you to the fact that there isn't just one thing called "flour". In fact, it seems that "cake flour" is quite different... and in no way suitable for naan! So, gents, if you don't know your flours, and the Mrs. isn't home, don't go off on some wild ass naan adventure, or you will wind up laughing your ass off at the inevitable hilarious result!!!! Plus you better hustle to clean up the kitchen gluey tornadic nightmare, before she gets home.

inquiring minds... What is Mojo Criollo?