BARDSLJR

Okay, lots of conversation to catch up on and a few questions to be answered: First, to recap the problem (which no,SWOFF1, I don't think is in any way "over-analyzed"): When I did the first cook on Wednesday, I used both the KK temp dial, meter, or whatever you want to call it, and the Fireboard temp probe. The temp probe I placed right up with the KK probe in the dome, looping the cord around the inside bracket to the KK temp dial, so that the working end of both (the pencil-type things) were within 1" or so of each other. So they should have been experiencing the same temperature, or very close to it. I don't know if this image helps or not. But during the cook, I was getting WILDLY different readings, with KK dial reading much higher-approximately 335 on the KK to 197 on the Fireboard..

Today, I am going to fire it up again and wire in one of the food probes and hang it next to the temperature probe inside the KK dome, and see how closely- or not- the three probes agree on temperature. It could be that the Fireboard probe is defective and just needs to be replaced. Stay tuned…..

Not sure where you are getting the idea that there are two probes. There are just, as pictured, the reading from the FIreboard2 and the temperature gauge that comes with the KK. In any case, I plan to use a second probe today- one of the meat probes that comes with the Fireboard 2, and hang it up on the interior bracket that houses the KK temp dial, and be able to compare the three readings. Of the six spare ribs that were "cooked" yesterday, the larger ones were still adequate for serving, but the smallest one, which may have also been subject to more direct heat, was a crispy critter (see photo), and I could only recover some of the meat from the center of the rack, which got used in a pork fried rice (which was yummy). The bigger ribs were dryer than I would have wished, but as I said, still, according to my neigbors/testors, still pretty decent. Stay tuned for today's calibration tests.

Here's the really weird thing: on the way down after the cook, I disconnected the fan but left the Fireboard 2 on: a couple of hours later, the two temperature measures are in synch, reading almost exactly the same on the way down......WTH?

Of course, there's always this:

Like this:

Temp dial on my KK reads 300: Fireboard reports 185. Fireboard temp probe is wrapped up around the inside bracket of the KK heat probe, near the top of the dome. Ideally, they should be exactly the same, more or less. What's going on? Who do I believe?

So, in follow-up, I did adjust the latch again, and checked the seal by trying to raise and lower the lid while it was closed. So far, I see almost no movement, so I am optimistic that I have a good seal. We'll see tomorrow when I do a batch of spare ribs. BTW, so far I am very impressed with the Fireboard: versus the BBQ Guru, is it maybe not as intuitive to use, but once you get the temp settings established, it is MUCH easier to monitor, as it uses WIFI instead of Bluetooth (which has limited range) and gives much more detailed temperature tracking if you are interested being really granular about tracking your cooking progress.Also, it is built like a tank- very tight construction and most impressive. It works just fine with the existing fan unit I had from the Guru. Fingers crossed.....

So actually, this haw been VERY helpful. I went out and checked the clasp before starting in on a full scale gasket replacement, and to my surprise, it was a lot looser than I thought. I could almost turn the nuts by hand. So I loosened it up, reset the position of the bottom clasp, tightened it, and it looks, like from what I can test, that I have a good seal.So maybe I have put off the gasket replacement for a while? I am going to make hash and chili out of the toasted brisket and count my blessings. Thanks, y'all. Stay tuned. Doing spare ribs, probably on Wednesday.

Okay, long story short: my wife, requested to bring home a prime brisket from Costco, returns with a mammoth nearly 20-lb brisket! Wow, I've never seen brisket this big, much less cooked one. Anyway, I prepared in the usual way- trimmed the hard fat off it, slathered with French's yellow mustard, generous application of coarse salt (Maldon) and pepper. Plugged in my brand-new Fireboard 2, made sure everything was working, and preheated the 32" KK to within 10 degrees of the desired 275*. Put the brisket on about 10-11PM or so. Woke up at 3 and checked the temps- KK was about 282, quite acceptable. Went back to sleep. Got up at 8, thinking this would be about time to spritz and wrap, and checked KK temp.....335!!!! WTH???? quickly checked the meat temp and it was 202, so pulled the brisket off immediately, Wrapped it and let it rest. Tried it a few hours later and the bark was excellent, the flavor pretty good, but, unfortunately, quite dried out. There goes the return-from-holiday meal I was planning on providing for my daughter's family of five. And approximately $60 worth of really nice prime brisket. Arrrrghhhh. So I think I have found the problem- see attached photo clearly showing air leakage, or in this case smoke, from the around the lid/body seal. I have a gasket kit that I had previously ordered from Dennis, so that is now on my project list for later this week, when the weather turns nicer again. My question is this: does anyone have any experience with replacing their main gasket, and any tips or words of wisdom I should know? (BTW, yes, I have already adjusted the clasp for the tightest seal possible.) Thanks, y'all!

My 32" KK, which is now 4 or 5 years old, came with a port for the fan prepared in it. And yes, the BBQ Guru fan (which, BTW, works perfectly with the Fireboard 2), fits perfectly.

The rest of the story to come later.

I got it all set up with the app and such yesterday. I will be cooking a 20-lb brisket, so I am estimating an 18-hour or more cook, starting at 275* and going up to 300 for the wrap. First impression- I had been using the BBQ, which was really easy to use- this is a bit more complicated and not as intuitive. Also, this is much better built than the Guru, which I had issues with. I could, like my Dad, say "this is built like a brick S***house!", but I'll just say it is built to military-grade spec. Very impressive.

Planning on it. This brisket is a monster.....This evening I plan to trim, slather, salt-and pepper, bring it to room temperature, preheat the KK to at least the high 100s, put the brisket in around 10 PM. First time using the Fireboard controller....wish me luck!

So this is actually excellent, and somewhat similar to other thoughts I have had about the difference between cooking on a 500-1,000 gallon fashioned firebox-style smoker as opposed to the Kamado. In the KK, you don't dry the meat out from the air flow, but neither do you get as much smoke per sq.inch moving across your meat. GREAT tip on the 275*, though, it makes total sense. Thanks SO much !

Posting this in a different format hoping for more response. My wife brought me home a 20 lb prime brisket from Costco. I've never seen, much less cooked one. Aaron Franklin gives guidelines for cooking a 12-lb brisket in 12 hours. Does this scale? Should mine take 20 hours???? Any input as to temps and times welcome. Also, using Fireboard for first time: tips? Anything I should know? Jim

That is a good point. I have thought frequently that the difference between the 1,000 gal propane tank/ firebox style smoker that most of the Austin type bbq masters use, and us, is that those large offset smokers rely on a lot of fuel to be consumed, a lot of smoke to be generated, and a lot of turbulent air passing over the meat: with our KK smokers, we have wonderful consistency of temperature, but we have to choke down the air flow to keep the temperature within the desired range. also, I will be using my new Fireboard2 for the first time, instead of the BBQGuru.

Sorry 'bout that, I should have rotated it,but you can still read it, right?

My wife returned from Costco today with, as requested by me, a prime brisket. But a HUGE prime brisket, 20 lbs! (see photo). I've never seen a brisket this big before, much less cooked one. Mine in the past have run 12-16 lbs or so. So.....in his guidelines, Aaron Franklin recommends starting out a 12lb brisket at 255, and then going through a few other escalating stages to finish it, wrapped, at 300, in 12 hours. Does the 1lb/hour ratio hold through for this mammoth brisket? Does anyone else have any weight/time ratio guidelines or recommendations? BTW, not the cost: six months ago, they were $2.69 or $2.99 /lb.....I'm just sayin'....

True, but I will probably just do what I have been doing with the BBQ Guru, run an extension cord over to the KK and plug it in from there. Mar 18, 2022, 2:56 PM CDT

I wrote the nice people at Fireboard and got this response back within an hour: Alex Hurtado (FireBoard) Mar 18, 2022, 2:56 PM CDT Hi James, Thank you for your question! The battery by itself will not be enough to power the fan for a cook that long, you will need to keep the FireBoard plugged in with the supplied charger. Also, while we know that other fans will work with FireBoard, we do not do any sort of tests with them, just our own drive blower so we cannot verify or confirm any specific functionality, etc. Thanks, Alex FireBoard Labs

I am giving up on BBQ Guru and replacing it with Fireboard 2: long story that I will get into tomorrow. In the meantime, let me verify with the gang again: The Fireboard 2 works off a battery charge. The BBQ Guru works off a direct electric connection. The Fireboard will have enough juice to power itself AND the fan through a good 16-18 hour cook? Please reassure me....

Bill, I think they may end up in some green chili stew, a staple dish here in Denver, where the temps are warming and sun is finally out again.....

So...my wife came home with two packages of pork loins (two each) and requested that I smoke them. I didn't want to fire up the smoker just for the loins so went looking for some other decent pork on sale to throw in with them. No ribs (I refuse to pay $4.99 /lb for babyback or spare ribs) but I did score a nice pork shoulder on sale, so there was that. Then I started thinking about adding in some thick-cut bologna, as I remembered some members here, or perhaps on the shows I watch, talking about smoking bologna. It sounded good to me.... But finding a whole role of bologna, uncut, is part of the challenge. I remember when I was growing up we could get them in the grocery store- no more. I had to go to the deli section and ask the counter person for a foot of bologna, unsliced, so which I got a curious look and explained that I was going to take it home, cut it in thick, 3/4" slices, and smoke them. More curious looks. And oh, that 1' of bologna was almost $15. So- as you see from the attached photos- the pork shoulder and loin went in together at 275*, and I wrapped the loins after two hours and proceeded with them. I added the bologna and smoked it for about an hour. The bologna turned out EXCELLENT- kind of like the very best hot dog you ever had- and we had the loin for dinner. My wife commented that it had good smoke, but was a little dry and overcooked- even though it had spent the last couple of hours in foil. "It shouldn't be", I said, "pork gets cooked to 203* and that is just what it was." She fiddles on her cell phone, summoning information from Google. "Nope, she says, "pork loin is 145 to 160." Oh-my-holy-hell....she's right. What kind of brain fart was I having? SHOULDER is 203*....not LOIN. OOPSIE...... Anyway, as you can see, the shoulder turned out good, as usual- I think it is a pretty forgiving cut- and the bologna was excellent. I've Google'd some local sources now where I can procure a whole roll of bologna and not pay the price of good fiilet mignon for it, so it's all good. Live and learn. Or live and remember to check your temperature target before you start cooking, if you haven't cooked that particular cut for a while.

I'm in Denver.