LarryR

Sorry, I'm in central Cali., down the 5 then 99 freeway from ya.

I've had my KK for about a month now and I've got to tell you it's more than lived up to the "hype." Until you get in front of one and see the quality of these cookers you really don't appreciate how great this cooker is. The quality, materials and attention to detail that goes into making one of these is amazing. Dennis couldn't have been more helpful in answering my MANY questions and was extremely patient as I made my decision. Even called the evening I received her just to make sure I was happy. Talk about customer service. I've done a lot of grilling and smoking and I can honestly say the Komodo Kamado is the best piece of equipment I've ever cooked on. Just when I thought I'd had some personal bests off the grill/smoker along comes the Komodo Kamado. If you're reading these posts trying to make-up your mind on moving forward with a purchase my advice is DO IT, you'll never look back. Here's a slide show of a few of my favorite pictures, I'll be sure to update as I go alone my KK journey - SLIDESHOW

Greetings from down the 5/99 freeway, As Jeff said the Stoker is pretty easy to setup. I have the 5 cfm fan on my 23" and it works great. Regarding lump, you're in luck, there's a place just outside the City that sells direct LAZZARI I've used their Oak Lump a couple of times and had good luck with it. I wish I could get it locally but Bevmo only sells the Mesquite. Lots of good info here on cooking with the KK, I've only had mine a few weeks and it's been pretty easy getting up to speed.

Re: First KK Rib Cook, EXTRAORDINARY That's actually the post I was thinking of when I wrote that. I've foiled many a rib in my day for guests who want "fall off the bone" doneness. In my opinion, unless foiling is something you do on a regular basis it's very easy to ruin a rib with foiling, eg. mushy or meat that won't stay on the bone when slicing ribs. Maybe I just got lucky on my first effort with the KK but these ribs were far superior than any foiled rib I've done and had the tenderness and pull off the bone quality that I like and I think will satisfy my guest who want "fall off the bone" ribs. If not I'll foil a rack or two just for them but keep mine out of foil please (at least until I lose my teeth lol).

Fuel Clean-up today and noticed I only used about 2/3 (if that) of the Weber chimney of Rancher I started with. Hard to tell depth from the picture but between 3 and 7 the fuel was barely touched. I'm no BBQ expert but as I mentioned I've done my fair share of Qing and I can tell you it would have been damn tough to reproduce these results on my other cooker, especially with the lack of effort required on the KK; I put them on and took them off, that was it, are you kidding me LOL. Funny, SO just walked in and the first thing she said to me was, "I still can't believe how good those ribs were last night." I also really liked Chris Lilly's technique of dredging the ribs in vinegar and water then dusting with additional rubs for dry ribs. This really allowed the great rub I used to come through (it's in the recipe section and I HIGHLY recommend) vs covering it with a sweet sauce. I've been a dry rib fan for years and this method kicked dry ribs up just a notch in my book.

I just finished my first KK rib cook and I've got to say I'm impressed. I've done many rib cooks, most of them great but nothing like this and this easy. I'm so impressed. Rubbed, threw them on, went to my son's baseball practice, came home and opened the KK for the first time to check on them 6:20 into the cook (this was the first and only time I opened her) and they were perfectly done. Are you kidding me? Perfectly done, meat came cleanly off the bone with a gentle tug, moist, tender, excellent smoke flavor. Sauced 1 rack with Sweet Baby Rays, dredged the other in equal parts water and vinegar then dusted with rub (the later were for me). So easy and so good. Foil, who needs foil LMAO!! Here are a few pictures and a SLIDESHOW Dry Rack Sorry for the poor lighting

Looks great, what color is that,?

Felt like a Sunday evening pot roast. I've done this before on my WSM, first time on the KK. It's "Stogie's" recipe, ranch dip/dressing mix, brown gravy mix and Italian dressing mix. Just finished the cook and the pot roast was out of this world. The beef shredded with a fork, had a nice hint of smoke and veggies were perfectly done. A great Sunday comfort meal KK style SLIDESHOW Seasoned 3 Hours in and ready for foil 4:30 in Veggies on Done Served

I use about 2/3 chimney of lump and let it burn down until no flames are touching the grill. If memory serves me correctly I sear about 90 seconds each side. In terms of burgers or wursts I think it may be a bit too hot. My 8 yo son loves it when I do one of these cooks as he'll roast marshmallows after I'm done with the coals.

Pleased For my first KK thighs cook I was very pleased with the results. Next time I'll rotate the pieces from the back to the front as I seem to have a hot spot in the back. Very moist and the flavor was great. We don't miss the skin at all. Thanks for the tips!

I went direct on main grate

Pork Machaca Next to Pulled Pork Nachos this has to be one of my favorites:

A little more info . . . The thighs will be skinless and I'll be splitting them into roughly two 6.5 lb batches for grilling. So fire, you'd recommend doing them on the upper grate with a foiled deflector on the main grate for catching drippings? Would the skinless change anything here?

I'll be doing about 13 lbs of chicken thighs tomorrow and I'm looking for some advice/recommendations on my setup. I was thinking of going direct on the main grate in two batches. I suppose I could go one batch but I don't want to drip grease on the sides of my new KK, I'd prefer to keep the drippings over the firebox. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Re: WSM

Did you say BUTTER?

Are you goin' to Scarborough Fair? RECIPE HERE

A buddy of mine with a Big Green Egg (BGE) recommended I try this recipe from the BGE Cookbook and damn am I glad did, it was great! It had been awhile since I'd spatchcocked a bird and forgot how great they are, the rub was great, very "earthy" and a nice departure from Pappy's. Here's a SLIDESHOW too:

I ran her in the low 200's and if memory serves me correctly she was done in about 3 hours, maybe less. I also let her sit on the counter for a couple of hours prior to cooking. Hope this helps.

After a week of travel I couldn't get wait to get home and cook on Hestia. It's my bachelor weekend (SO goes to her mothers one weekend a month) so it was cooks choice and I didn't have to worry about anyone bitching about when the meal would be done etc. Decided to go with an 18 oz CAB ribeye, and I nailed it! Took the Hestia to 600 dome with a mixture of lump and Rancher, naked sear for 2:00 first side 2:30 second side (seasoned on turn) then moved to the side and dwell'd for 8 minutes. I did end-up opening 1/2 through the dwell to flip her, don't know if others do this but I thought I'd try it. Very pleased and oh so easy. The only thing I was disappointed about was how short the cook was. I ended-up letting her warm-up very slowly, drank some wine and listened to some music and just took her in at the beginning of my cook . . . come on, you know you did the same when your KK was new Here are a few pictures or if you prefer a SLIDESHOW: Hestia's Warm Glow Sear Flip Impromptu Plate Warmer Dwell Location Plated Pre-Blue Cheese Topped Ready to Eat!

First KK Tri-tip Undershot her just a little bit but better than overdone I suppose. Loving the KK! Had to slice her thick to keep the stuffing in place:

Man am I having fun with the KK. Tonight's cook was a quick weekday cook. I had a piece of salmon in the freezer from a cook that never happened two weeks ago and SO picked-up a piece at the local market. Unfortunately the piece she brought home wasn't the greatest, had to be farm raised. Regardless everything turned out great, very moist, nice cedar flavor. A little olive oil, salt, pepper, dill and lemon juice direct at about 325 for 20 minutes: SLIDESHOW

Trying a tri on my new KK So I've done hundreds of tris in my lifetime, however, this will be my first attempt on a KK. I usually do these on a Weber Kettle like this doing a reverse sear at the end: In the KK I was thinking of doing her in-direct on the top grate with a foiled pan under her, probably around 300 - 325ish. Then remove, remove the pan, crank the heat-up and reverse sear her. Any thoughts, suggestions, tweaks or just a better process? Thanks in advance, cedar planked salmon tomorrow night

Dionysus? Haven't decided on a name just yet, I'm leaning towards Dionysus but I've been calling it a "her" so this could create a problem. At 26 hours I shut her down and removed my equipment I was tired (hungover) and it looked like I could be out there late shutting down. I opened her up this a.m. and it looked like she had enough fuel to go another 5 hours. Very impressive, especially since I ran her for the first three hours with the lid slightly open (first latch position) DOH!. Running her without the Stoker was a piece of cake. It is interesting to see how she did on her own throughout the cook. First cook, pulling off a 23 hour cook only adjusting the damper three times the entire cook is quite remarkable. I'd like to add that one of the three adjustments was due to the fact that I'd run her for 3 hours with the lid partially open. Once I completly closed her it required a single adjustment. Not bad for a maiden voyage huh? I'm thinking this weekends cook will be a high heat brisket and will probably get a chicken and pork tenderloin cook in during the week.

Absolutely! I've used this rub countless times and never enjoyed the bark like I did this cook. This was due to how moist/tender the bark was.