LarryR

With T-Day fast approaching I thought I'd bump this. I did a trial run last weekend and it turned out great as always. I'm ready for the big day!

My understanding is the letters have to do with the yeild and numbers have to do with marbling with 8-12 being excellent. Other than that I just know it's tasty melt in your mouth goodness!

Damn, that sounds good. I've been jonesing for a good brisket and a meat market in town has Wagyu Australian Brisket AA9+ for $8.98 a lb. So tempting . . . enjoy those babies!

Love experiments, some of my go to cooks started out as experiments, e.g. reverse sear tri-tip, high-heat brisket and "dry" ribs. Looking forward to some pics!

I'm back! Got my temporary cooking area ready to go, landscapers will finish Saturday morning so I'm feeling a nice look cook. Going to do four pork butts as I have some hungry boys here for the next week or so and I need to gift some pork-butt to a neighbor who allowed my contractors to use his vacant lot during construction in my backyard. Love a nice long smoke on the KK and weather in Vegas this Saturday should be idea for hanging by the smoker, drinking ice cold beer and getting in and out of the water. Anyone else cooking this weekend?

In terms of temp you're right. My driveway is pavers and when we were making our decision we walked on it barefoot on a relativly warm day (not 105+ like we often get, proably closer to high 90s) and it was just way to hot. We didn't want to be tracking down flip flops all the time by the pool, also we have one grandson and I'm sure we'll have more grandchildren down the road and worried about them running around on scortching pavers. For us there was no question the pavers look better, lower longterm cost etc. but living in this climate there was only one choice for us.

Ah, I understand. It was a two step process 1) After concrete had been down a week they came out and sprayed a texture layer down 2) Came back a day or two later and layed down the color. First step was done using a machine that spit out the texture material and then guys went around with hand tools and spread it around on the decking. Second step was almost like painting. And yes, it chips, I've already had them back to fix damage done by my landscaper running wheelbarrows over it. Man was I pissed when I found out they'd done that when they were supposed to use a bobcat around the decking to distribute the rock. Unfortuanatly we were out of town when they did the landscaping so we were not here to supervise. I have about 1/2 gallon of the color material left and I ordered a gallon just to have on hand so I can stay on top of any chips as they arise. We really would hav preferred pavers, so durrable and if you have an issue with one you pull it out and replace it. This stuff I'm planning on having to redo at least every 4 - 5 years to keep it looking nice. Hopefully staying on top of any chipping will help.

Excellent idea, don't know why I didn't think of that, too close to the project I suppose.

I think I have the 5 cfm fan (I'll confirm) as I originally bought it for my WSM. Works great when I use it. Rarely use it anymore as I find once I get my KK heat soaked and dialed in she just sits there. I do still break her out on overnights though. My approach with the Stoker is I bring my cooker-up manually to temp and once she's at temp I'll turn Stoker on and let her run it from then on. I'll confirm which fan I have. Confirmed, I have the 10 cfm, workk quitel nicely with my 23"

Been fixing my damn yard LOL! Kidding of course, just hated going into the backyard so I didn't do much cooking over the past weeks. It was sprayed on a week after concrete was poured. Color is called Baja Sand.

Thanks guys, actually did what they call an "owner/builder" by passed the pool company and served as my own GC. Had pool designed, plans drawn-up, structural engineering done, permitted and then I hired subs for the excavation, plumbing, steel, electric, shotcrete, tile, plaster and decking. Subs were all subs that do work for the major pool companies in town. In-fact, often times they'd be heading from my job to pool builders job. Had my ups and downs but overall good experience, saved quite a bit of money and didn't have to deal with a pool builder whenever we wanted to make a change on the fly. Also saved a lot of money on things like umbrella holders, installed 11 on the decking and four in the pool. Who knows how much a pool builder would have charged for those. Also upgraded all our equipment vs. what pool builders were quoting us. First picture is taken from a pad I had poured for a gazebo, that's our next project. Going to go vegas style - misters, couches, fridge, fan, speakers maybe a TV. Taking a break for a couple of weeks to enjoy the pool and not have contractors in our backyard everyday. Outdoor kitchen will be installed to the right and behind where the KK is now. I have a good size side yard over there, probably about 2,000 + sq ft. that right now is just grass that I have to water/waste. I say waste due to the drought and the fact we don't go over there. Water company will give me a credit if I remove the grass and put something else in, can you say outdoor kitchen and putting green! Now that the backyard is in I'm going to get back to doing some cooks and will definitely record them. Honestly, prior to finishing the backyard I wouldn't go out there, hated it, it was just dirt and some garbage landscaping the previous owners put in prior to selling trying to get more money out of the house. It was so bad I just had my landscape guy come in and remove it all. Honesly, I'd paid them more money not to attempt a DIY landscape hack. Anyway, will be doing a pizza cook shortly and will do some others. Remember, they're raw and I can't always promise great quality at the end of the video of you know what I mean

Just wrapped-up Phase I of our backyard in the new house - Pool, simple landscaping (more to come next year), 22 tons of decorative rock and 2,200 sq ft of concrete sprayed with spray deck (similar to Kool Deck). We wanted to do pavers but in the Vegas sun they' just get too hot. Travertine was also an option but too slippery when wet. Does anyone have kool deck or spray decking and have placed their KK on it? Other than the rubber wheels marking it which I think will fade in time under the sun I put a rubber mat in front of mine so any sparks coming out from lump wouldn't damage the cook deck and three days later when I pulled the rubber mat up it left spots of black rubber all over the area it was covering. Decking guy had to come out and scrape it and reapply the spray deck. What are others using under their KK's on spray decking? This is a temporary solution as next spring we plan on building and outdoor kitchen that will house the KK. Thanks in advance for any feedback you can provide. I've attached a picture so you can see what I'm working with. In one of the pictures on you can see my KK and the area I'm going to keep her temporarily. EDIT: Not sure why the pictures are so big when you click on them, maybe it's my browser.

Ha! Yea, we've been known to have a fun (safe) time around the Kooker. This Thanksgiving will be no execption. Good friends, good drink and a GREAT bird off a supurb kooker.

Thanks guys. Been pretty busy and my cooking has really dropped off. Also moved into a new house and we're just getting ready to start on the landscaping/pool so it looks like . . . well it looks like the Nevada desert, not a great backdrop for cooking videos. Glad to hear it. Great trick that I swear by now, no more breast done, thighs not. I'll be doing a pizza video soon. Did one the other day but had a few too many adult beverages and the ending didn't turn out that great so I need to re-record.

I'm partial to my Jack Daniels and Maple Syrup Brine found here - http://komodokamado.com/forum/topic/2336-jack-daniels-and-maple-syrup-brined-turkey/?hl=%2Bjack+%2Bdaniels+%2Bmaple Video of the cook here -

Thanks for your post Cookie. I'll have to try the dough recipe. I'm still searching for the right one. Just did some pizzas last weekend and recorded the cook. I'll be posting the video soon. KK is an amazing pizza oven. It's interesting that your post calls for 550 - 600 degrees for cooking as that's where I've settled in. I've tried the higher heat cooks and far prefer the range you list.

I order from Smokinlicious or another spot that escapes me at the moment. My go-to woods are, pecan, cherry, red wine oak cask staves, red oak (tri-tip) and a little apple. Hickory and mesquite are a bit strong for our liking.

Haven't you guys heard about the zombie apocalypse LOL? On one had you could say I'm hoarding, on the other, it's an interesting guessing game for me, or somewhat of a calculated/educated guess I suppose. Believe it or not I've actually counted out how many pieces of ECC I used, then I counted how many were left over . . . then I lost the damn notepad I put it on!!!!! If memory serves me correctly someone ran their KK for 80+ hours on a 16 lb box. So I'm thinking I'm going to shoot for 2/3 of a box just to be safe. Also, it's so damn hot here anyway. Just sitting on the patio my KK registers over 100 internal, how much energy will be spend bringing her up another 115 degrees . . .

Wife wants ribs for the fourth, we're out of frozen vac-sealed pulled pork so I figure after I pull the ribs on I'll throw on 4 large butts. I'd prefer not to have to reload fuel after the ribs and the only fuel I know of that could pull off about a 30 hour cook (not including warm-up) is Dennis' extruded coconut. Anyone have any idea on how much I should load? I'm thinking a full box would be too much, but then I don't want to undershoot either. I'd fill completely however I like to hord my ECC for longer cooks vs. my shorter (even ribs) cooks. Outside temp will be 105/80 during the cook. Thanks in advance!

I agree w/@mguerra; In the beginning I would cook at 225 religiously, would stress out if I went above 225. Then I started experiencing with around 250ish with equal or better results so I’ve moved up to that temp. What’s interesting is I had an appliance guy here replacing a sensor in our ovens and I was watching him temp them, major temp swings, in-fact I thought they were broken or needed to be calibrated. He told me most home ovens, even the higher end units have huge temperature swings. Point is, there’s less temp swing in my KK than my kitchen ovens LOL so don’t worry about a couple degrees one way or the other. It’s taken me a long time to get here btw . . .

@firemonkey When I use Stoker to bring KK up to temp I typically open the top hat about 1 full revolution. With the 10 CFM fan I'd try 1/2. Interesting that Stokerlog is crashing on you, she's solid as a rock for me. You might want to visit The Virtual Weber Bullet form and post on their ATC forum. Lots of info over there and Amir used to poke his head in and answer question others couldn't. Stoker is pretty cool isn't it. Now you've got me Jonesing for an overnight cook LOL! Have fun!

A little late to this party but wanted to throw in my .02, I have the 5 CFM on my 23" and it definetly does a great job. However, I don't use her to bring my cooker up to temp. I really prefer to let her come to temp naturally the old fashion way. Also, while I'm a huge fanboy for Stoker I really don't use it that much on my KK. Only cooks I use it on any more are overnight butt cooks. I love being able to let her run unattended over night, view my graphs in the morning etc. On my shorter cooks ribs, high heat briskets etc. I find once I get my KK dialed in, she just sits at that temp for hours without me touching her. I also want to try this with an overnight cook, maybe use Stoker as my back-up; get her dialed in at 250 for an overnight cook, set Stoker to 225 just incase she doesn't maintain 250 on her own over night. This would also allow me to view the graph and see about when she dipped (if she does). Not discouraging anyone from buying a Stoker, highly recommend and I've had mine for at least 4 or 5 years, just find it interesting how my usage has evolved.

@smokydave - Mine is probably the least impressive (but damn good). Large Pork Shoulder or Pork Picnic, stab the hell out of it with a paring knife, marinade 24 hours in Goya Mojo Criollo Marinade. Cook at 350 to 155ish basting with Goya Mojo Criollo Marinade once an hour. At 155ish crank up to 450 to about 165ish. Remove, then foil and rest for 10 minutes prior to slicing. Slice and serve. I think traditionally they call to cook at 450 for the first hour, however, have you ever tried running your KK at 450 for an hour then dropping the temp 100 degrees once that baby is heat soaked LOL. Personally I prefer reverse sear anyway so it works out for the best. Oh, I let the roast sit on the counter for at least an hour prior to cooking. I do this while she's still in the 2.5 gallon zip lock bag that she marinaded in. Giver her a shot sometime, you'll fall in love with this cook.

Had a craving for Pernil so did some this weekend. Traditional calls for pork picnic, I went with shoulder, for my taste much better results. If you haven't done one I highly recommend! The Komodo Kamado is a perfect machine for this cook. I went about 3.5 hr at 340 then cranked her up to 450 - 500 for the last hour. Used mixture of Rancher Briquettes and Royal Oak Lump for this cook.

Posted my review but it's not appearing.