RandyS

I also have the 32BB. I use a large plastic concrete mixing tub, about $14 U.S. from Home Depot. I am sure Lowe's, etc. would have a similar tub. It works fine, wish it were an inch or two wider.

Yep, Tyrus, that is our balloon and I am the pilot. We got the balloon in 2002 and have been flying since - slowed down since my four girls who were my crew went and grew up, went to college, even got married! (What's up with that?) That profile picture was taken by the event photographer at the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival in 2008. We thought that was pretty good - a picture of our balloon by itself four inches off the Rio Grande, with 500+ balloons in the area but none in sight. I did touch the surface of the water for a nice Splash n Dash. That picture was actually used as the icon to open the photo gallery on the event website that year.

I mostly watch the forum and marvel at the wonderful things that come off the KKs of the experts, but this turned out really well. It is Meathead Goldwyn's stuffed pork loin, with some minor spice variations because his onion and spice level is a bit heavy for my taste. The pork loin came from Costco. I cut it in two pieces, sliced it out into a sheet, prepared the stuffing and rolled it into the pork loin, then cooked at 225. It took about three hours. It looks and tastes great, a bit of ham flavor that went great with the stuffing. It also makes enough to feed an army, or a large family, so it is great for gatherings. Next time I will try to slice it thinner so it is more of a roll. I got no complaints.

I have used foil on the lower main grate when cooking indirect. What does everyone use for heat deflection when putting meat on both of the main grates?

I will say that I cooked my first brisket ever on my BB32 KK and my son in law declared it the best brisket he had ever had, including some in Texas.

I listened to similar advice when I bought my 32 a year ago with no regrets. Most of the time, I am cooking just for me and my wife, and firing up the 32 is not a problem, even for two of us. It certainly gives a lot of versatility for two zone cooking, and has the capacity for the occasional cook for a group. I recently cooked six Boston butts for a group of about 50, all on the main grate. Either one will be great. We have had gas and charcoal grills for decades and we recently noted that our grilling quality had taken a quantum leap up in the last year, seemed to coincide with the arrival of the KK. Our old gas grill is gathering dust. I wouldn't get the gas attachment either. Charcoal is too easy, and so tasty, but you do what you gotta do.

Also as a new CyberQ Cloud user, I can vouch that the pit viper fan opening is large enough to run the temperature to at least 250 degrees F without the fan running. I am going to do as others have suggested and close the damper on the Guru fan at least half way and just crack the upper KK damper, with the bottom KK damper closed.

Boy, that takes me back to college chemistry days (that's a long time ago now). Our suction in the lab was based on Bernoulli and Venturi effects, using running water as the fluid - that also means whatever was being pulled into the suction was also diluted in large volumes of water.

I recently bought a BBQ Guru CyberQ with a pit viper fan. I initially brought the BB32 up to target 225 with its own dampers, then closed the lower KK damper. I set the Guru to 225 and closed its damper about a third, and set my upper KK damper where I normally do for a low n slow cook. The temperature dropped initially as expected but was taking a long time to recover so I opened the Guru damper and opened the top damper a little more. The cooker ended up running about 250. I was cooking two packer cut briskets for a church related gathering and they were done much earlier than anticipated because of the increased temp. I would appreciate any advice on how users manage their Guru and KK dampers. I think I just got antsy (and wanted to go to bed) but should have left the damper settings where I initially put them. Thanks.

All over except the important part. Hopefully the guests at the event will let me remain in the state.

The pork was from Costco, which has been consistently good. It is boneless, which means I have to tie it with butcher's string to keep it together. I think I could tie it more firmly and set the butts on their sides to put even more on a single rack. The meat is currently at 190 degrees, on schedule. I have temp probes in two of them and they are within a couple of degrees of each other at this point.

Well, I'm at it again. I "volunteered" to cook the barbecue for a couples wedding shower for the son of some close friends. I salted six Boston butts, 45 pounds of pork shoulder, yesterday, and rubbed them and put them on the BB32 this evening for tomorrow's event. It isn't anything particularly creative, but I thought so much meat on one rack of the KK deserved a shout. Per my usual, no real backup plan. The KK, Kooter, hasn't let me down yet!

Thanks, high praise coming from all of you with so much experience and expertise.

Weekend, daughter coming home from college..... got to have pizza, right? Well at least an excuse to have pizza, if we need one. Medium thick crust, supreme style 15" pizzas with sauce, mozzarella cheese, green peppers, onions, pepperoni, crumbled bacon, black olives, a local smoked sausage. Crust edges painted with garlic butter. Heat sink the grill for a little over an hour. About seven minutes with the stone on the upper rack and dome temp about 550F. Turned out just how we like it and plenty of leftovers, which is also how we like it. Easy and much better than retail.

For low temp cooks, I use a starter cube. I place it on top of the full basket and put some smaller pieces of charcoal around it. The chips from last cook's smoke pot work great. For higher temp cooks, or if I need the cooker up to temp faster, I use a chimney with just a few pieces of charcoal and pour the lit charcoal on top of the full basket. I use empty charcoal bags as the tinder under the chimney. I have never had the charcoal not start. I think it works best to close the lid and allow the top and bottom dampers to draw air through the charcoal.

That's my attitude. Even if the meat was not good (and it was very good - probably not me, credit the KK), with pie and ice cream following, everyone gets up happy.

Everything went really well. I cut the 4 pound roast in half and it got to medium temp in about 40 minutes. I kept it warm about an hour until supper time. The sourdough rolls actually had a perfect soft crust - mine are often too hard. One guest commented it was the best meal she had ever had that started as a chuck roast. The vanilla ice cream was (always) an excellent addition to the blackberry pie.

Yep, that does happen sometimes. I have noticed, though, that somehow the sun still comes up the next morning, and friends, close to home or far away, are still friends.

Planning yet another new (for me) cook for Labor Day, prep already in progress. Four pound Alabama Wagyu chuck roast rubbed and ready to go. I plan to cook it this afternoon in time for the last college football game of the weekend. BB32 (Kooter) is loaded with charcoal. Sourdough is rising for the sandwich rolls and I'll make a horseradish sauce to go on them. The only other project is the blackberry pie for dessert. Hopefully it will all be tasty (and Roll Tide)

I am very pleased to report a rousing success all around. I wrapped the brisket about 1 am when it hit 160 F, and pulled it off the KK at 203 F around 7 am. It went faster than I expected (about 11 hours at grill temp 215 F overnight) but that was good. I wrapped it in a towel and placed it in a warm cooler. We ate it for lunch, with a homemade Texas style sauce on the side, with fresh fruit (plums and tangerines) and angel hair coleslaw. It was delicious, juicy, and tender. There was almost no bark, and I like bark, but there were also no overdone areas. It was so tender we cut it with a fork. No one at the table used a knife. My son in law said it was better than the brisket he had at bbq joints in Alabama and Texas. Even our 4 year old granddaughter cleared her plate. I also made a cake for Carla's birthday - fudge cake with chocolate butter cream frosting. The pork was done about 3 pm. I pulled one butt for freezing in bags, and we ate the other for supper, along with more of the brisket, which was still juicy and tender. Great day, thanks for all the help and encouragement.

And so it begins. I put the brisket on a little while ago after a rub and injection. I think I will wrap it at 160 F, whenever that is, then return it to KK with a target temp of about 203, or sooner if it jiggles. Hopefully it will be tasty and tender. I appreciate all the help. I also put a couple of Boston Butts on with it because...... Wait, does there have to be a reason?

Will do. I suspect that what the meat temperature is when I wake up, which is always early, will have some bearing on the wrapping decision.

Thanks for the help, all. I plan over time to experiment with wrapping with foil and butcher paper, and with no wrap. Wrapping seems "safer" for a first attempt. Wrapping it later, as you suggest, may be better. Hmmmm.......

Planning to cook my first beef brisket Friday night. I have a 12 # USDA Prime in the refrigerator now. Planning to salt it tomorrow night and put it on the BB32 Friday after a dry rub and beef broth injection. I'll wrap it around 150 - 155 degrees and hope to take it off late Saturday morning. I am making a sauce to serve with it. We'll see how it goes. I don't seem to learn. I am cooking it for my wife's birthday with friends coming over and no real backup, although so far the experimentation for critical events has gone rather well.

With the 4th of July close at hand, Mrs. Carla and I decided to get a head start. Alabama Wagyu rib eyes reverse seared on the BB32. Only a little olive oil, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. Turned out just how we like it. Served, by the way, with green salad, grilled fresh corn on the cob from a friend's farm, and fresh blueberries. No need, or room, for dessert, but I did make each of us a good cappucino. Now I have to figure out what's for tomorrow! Happy Independence Day from The Colonies!