BARDSLJR

First two photos- meat at start, after trimming some of the hard fat off; and same cuts, seasoned with coarse salt and pepper. More to come.

I know, I am sorry....the chicken was beautiful. But I had tongs in one hand and a glass of an insouciant chardonnay in the other....no hand to take pictures.....

Tyrus, I completely agree about the temperature range. In the past, with my babybacks, I've tried to stay in the 225-50 range, and I was trying for 250-75, but had some unwanted temperature creep and as you know, the KK is SO well insulated that it is hard to get temperatures to fall once they reach a level. As for wrapping or not, I think that is a matter of personal preference: I've always wrapped my babybacks using the 2-1-1 method, and they came out nearly perfect every time. I was following the method Aaron Franklin demonstrated in his Master Class on barbecue- and Franklin is, as you know, no schlub when it comes to barbecue of any sort. On a different note, I spatchcocked a whole roasting chicken last night and fired up the KK to use it as a grill, using about 50/50 charcoal and hickory wood, applying my own recipe barbecue sauce liberally in the last 15 minutes, flipping it about every 5 minutes. I hadn't grilled over natural wood in a long time- it was magnificent.

We held back two racks after giving the rest to to the neighbors. Ours was rather dry and crispy...I have another one in the fridge for later use, so we will see how the second one goes. The neighbors all had good reports on theirs. More later...

A few photos from yesterday's cook...first time doing St Louis style ribs..... Pre-cook....slathered and dusted with Dizzy Pig Southern BBQ-style rub; halfway through cook (the smoker is maybe a little crowded with 9 racks) and then two pictures of the finished product. The rack Daneta and I kept for ourselves was smaller, thinner, and maybe on the outside and more exposed to direct heat: it was a bit dry and crispy in places. My neighbors all report that theirs was juicy, fall-off-the-bone and delicious. We kept another thicker one for ourselves that we will reheat tomorrow night, so more reports then. I would say the taste was pretty good: nice spice, nice smoke. Lastly, two photos of the finished product. I cooked this batch at 275-300 for three hours ( I was not trying for 300...I find I still fight temperature creep with my 32"KK and obviously still have much to learn about using the KK effectively), spritzing with a 50/50 cider vinegar/water mixture 3-4 times. Then as I wrapped them, spritzed again and a light slather of diluted (with water to thin it out) barbecue sauce. The sauce largely disappeared in the second phase of the cook, which lasted 2 1/2 hours. Next time I will probably try for 2 hours for the second phase and do something to keep the temps between 250-275. The wood used was 2/3rds apple, 1/3rd pecan. smoke flavor was good.

Looks delicious!

Yours looks exactly like mine. You are off to a great start. If you get the teak side tables (quite helpful in my experience) and I would get some Danish Oil or Tung Oil or some other sealer-protectant on them right away.

Yup, the mustard (lightly) slather goes on tonight with the Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust. I love these guys....the ADD anal-retentive, purity-obssessed rub developers. I have been with them since they made the jump from the amateur bbq circuit to opening as a business. LOVE their stuff. If you don't know them, well worth exploring. Great on-line service, too.

That is a really good point about using the KK versus an offset. I traded off my Lang offset (dual 36") to return to the Kamado style. I think the airflow and turbulence is completely different between the two. Hmmmmmm.

Let me say my neighbors have been, and are great: my nextdoor neighbor Keith even risked a hernia helping me get the 32" Big Boy up a ramp and back onto the new patio...coming through in the clutch, as we say. I want to keep them all happy, too!

Well, in these times when we need to be cautious about social distancing, it is more a matter of delivery, door to door, than cookout. I've used the 2/1/1 method on babybacks for maybe ten years to near-perfect results. It wasn't always perfect: way, way, back, when interest groups and chat rooms on special interest projects formed, I had joined one of the very early generation barbecue forums. I was told at the time that the "perfect" rib recipe was the 3/2/1 method - three hours in the open, 2 hours wrapped, 1 hour open to finish. I tried this at least three times using babybacks and they turned to toothpaste-level mush. Finally, I wrote back on the barbecue forum and asked what I was doing wrong- the answer came back: "Aw, man, that is the recipe for ST LOUIS RIBS. For babybacks, it is 2/1/1. " I switched and the ribs have been somewhere between very good and near perfect since. I will probably start them dry-marinating in rub the night before. I usually use Dizzy Pig's Dizzy Dust as my go-to.

Hey, peeps.....we just finished a long week of two concurrent home improvement projects: new quartz countertops, (and Wolf cooktop) and on the side yard- about 15'x75' - turning an ugly dirt yard into a "New Orleans-style courtyard" (according to my wife), and have thus been torturing the neighbors with plumes of concrete and quartz dust, noise, workmen running in and out, parking our cars on the street in front of their houses, and generally being pains-in-the-butt for all the neighbors. So, to make up for it, I am cooking St.Louis Style ribs for everyone on Saturday and could use any recommendations or suggestions y'all have from your KK experience. I will be using my 32" Big Boy, which seems to get better and better each time I use it. I am thinking cooking them about 250-275 using the 3-2-1 method, spritzing with cider vinegar, lightly saucing them before I wrap them (Aaron Franklin's method) and finishing them kind of moist. Probably using a combination of oak and apple wood for this one. SUGGESTIONS?

Interesting, I will have to look for New Zealand lamb....you are correct, lamb is an afterthought here in the US, lagging far behind beef, pork and chicken, and closer to bison and elk in popularity. Thanks for the reality check, also, I wasn't aware that there was so much variation in the taste. I understand that mutton has a much stronger flavor but is also typically tougher (there is a region in the state of Kentucky where mutton is the preferred meat for barbecue, and it is smoked and slow-cooked. I've had some really great fresh baby lamb (was that redundant?) from the Cache Valley (Logan area). I'm guessing we will have some good locally raised Colorado lamb here - will have to start looking for it.

Well, I think when you get the hash part mostly cooked, you just crack a couple of eggs over the top , put the cover on for 5 minutes and you achieve the same thing as poaching.

Well, the suggestion for using balsamic vinegar for the marinade was a good one. I used a 50/50 blend of the balsamic and some open red wine (syrah...."shiraz" to my Aussie friends), and some granulated onion and garlic. Marinated for about 2 hours, cooked in the Kamado for about 3 hours at 275. It was quite good, though, as my wife observed, "it doesn't taste a lot like lamb". I have to agree but I think it was this particular cut or this particular lamb. So, since I started with 6 lbs of lamb lag, I still have quite a bit left over, and suggestions would be welcome. Last night I chopped up a pound or so and reheated it with onion and bell pepper, and added some (Maya Kamal....all her products are really excellent) tikka masala sauce and finished reheating it with the sauce. It was quite excellent. Next, maybe lamb hash with onions, bell pepper and potato, finished perhaps with an egg? As we are all sheltering in place here, we have taken to finishing our day on the front porch, supervising the sunset with a good glass of wine or other pleasing adult beverages, hoisting a toast with the other neighbors out on their front porches doing the same thing. (Thank you, Herman Story vineyards and Helen Keplinger wines.). The other night, at 8PM just as it was getting really dark, the neighborhood was filled with wolf-pack-like howling, a tribute to our healthcare workers. It was quite a moment.

Great idea.

So, any suggestions for lamb boneless leg? I am thinking of marinating it this morning to start with- wine, garlic, rosemary, shallots. 6lbs.

Gorgeous. I scored a 6 1/2 pound (Australian, of course!) leg of lamb yesterday at Costco. I was going to cook it Sunday for Easter, the way my Greek-American friends in Salt Lake taught me: slits stuffed with fresh garlic, rosemary, and brushed and basted with olive oil and lemon juice. But......if you can believe (it is 70 and warm today) it will be 22 and snowing almost 5" on Sunday, so I think the cook will be for tomorrow. Will take pictures and let you know.

Lovely and very helpful! I knew my Aussie friends would have opinion on lamb. 😃

So here I am, with all this extra time on my hands, looking for things to do other than rowing and running (truth to be told, walking, because I have teensy little back problem at the L4....but nevermind, this is not the orthopaedic forum) , watching insanely good programming on Netflix and Amazon, and drinking far too much good wine.... And Easter is coming up. And I have this insanely well-designed and preposterously well-built smoker....Okay I've done lots of pork shoulders in the past. TONS of babyback ribs. Some VERY good brisket, after I got the hang of it. So I am thinking...how about a roast of lamb shoulder or something? I know I've seen it at Costco. If it's anything like pork, it should be near impossible to screw up on the Kamado. Any recommendations for methodology, temperature, cooking time, technique? I would think that if I can do serviceable brisket (I can, now after totally destroying four or five) , I can lamb.....surely. PS...I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Kamado. Thank you, Mr. Linkletter.....

I let it dry to three hours and put on a second coat, just for safekeeping. It added a little more depth, but the most striking change was with the first application. I think we're good until maybe late summer, now.

And here's latest, after applying some of Boo's Block Cream, which has really made a significant improvement. I think maybe one more application after this is thoroughly dried....

Here's the before and after, using a natural Dutch oil application. I was pleased with the results, and the wood should be protected now for a year or so.

Nice! It will be interesting to see the side by side when done. I see you are replacing necessary vital fluids, too. Always a good thing to stay hydrated!

Wow, that's beautiful! I hope mine turns out as well! Hope to be able to post results Sunday...today it's 29* , sleeting /snowing and overcast. It will be 70 and sunny Sunday....typical Denver April!