El Pescador

The video, the music, the meat on those ribs!  My favorite part had to be when, after stuffing a pound of succulent delicacies into his mouth, he proclaims, "its time to eat."  

Amazing.

I want to party at Flemming's place.

Probably not the right forum to ask what you plan to do with that rib (fava beans and a nice chianti...?)

Bad jokes aside, that sounds painful!  Wishing you a successful surgery and a speedy recovery!

Weather this weekend was spectacular, so we took the opportunity to have some friends over for dinner and to show off Darth Vapor's intergalactic 'Q skills.  I've had a hankerin' for lamb lately and had been looking forward to seeing what I could do with all that Big Bad real estate, so I loaded him up with a boneless leg and a couple Santa Maria style tri tips.  Its almost laughable how small they all look on the grill!  Dialed it up to about 275 and let the lamb cook for around three hours - the tri tips went on for the last 45 minutes or so.  Then I raised the temp, dropped everything to a lower grate and let it sear.  Couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome.  A great way to end a great weekend.

Deep dish - a pizza or a casserole?

Who cares? - looks fantastic!!

+1 on the Lloyd pans

Thanks, all. 

Pequod, It seems you aren't the only one who's confused!  You nailed it - I put the foil over the lowest grate.  Worse yet, I completely covered the grate with the foil.  And yes, I guess I was cooking on the middle.  Still trying to sort out which of the 300 lbs of high grade stainless grate to use, I suppose! 

All in all, a total success for a first cook.  This thing is really an amazing and beautiful cooking tool.

In hindsight, I could have done a couple things differently, I think.

I started the fire using a torch and got a tennis ball size clump lit up and glowing.  I don't think I gave it enough time to get hot before placing the grates (bottom grate, with foil to deflect heat, and top/main grate) into the KK.  As a consequence, airflow seemed to be a little restricted (? by the foil covered lower grate) and it took longer than I expected to get up to target temp.  My bad entirely - trying to rush things as I was a bit jammed for time (never good when cooking low and slow, right?). 

Because I was a bit rushed, and targeting a specific feeding time, I put the ribs on before reaching target temp.  Maybe not so bad if I had more time, but all it really did was delay things further.  I was a little paranoid about overshooting the temp, so I didn't open the vents quite as much as I think I could have.

I popped one small chunk of hickory in with the char on the front end.  Seemed to work out pretty good (good flavoring), but got me thinking even more about making myself a smoke pot.

Last observation - ribs are good dessert.  And, I'm thinking, will make a great breakfast tomorrow...

I like ribs, too, Tyrus.  And these turned out to be pretty darn tasty.

It took me waaaaayyyyy longer than I expected to do this, but Darth is fired up and the first cook is on...

Fingers crossed!

Hot damn, MK!  That looks delicious!

Thanks, all -  really appreciate all the kind and encouraging words.  I've been away on business the past few days and have yet to put Darth through his cooking paces.  I thought I'd get the burn-in out of the way before I do my first cook.  Just finishing that this evening (took a while longer than expected, but that's a whole other thread...)

Wow - looks amazing.  Love me some lamb.  That's on the short list now!

Wow - looks amazing  What time should I plan to arrive?! 

Its California -beach weather every day of the year!

Not.

Yesterday happened to be the first day we've seen sun in weeks.  It was as if the clouds parted for the occasion! 

Thanks Charles.  With all of the gorgeous colors out there, it was a tough call, but I really dig the matte black and the way it makes the stainless pop.

I was prepared for an upgrade, but this thing has far exceeded expectations (and I haven't even fired it up yet)!  The quality of the build and components is outstanding.  The spring mechanism for the lid is something to behold - pics don't do it justice!

Lord Vapor (aka Darth Vapor) has arrived.

He's still got a little interstellar debris, but nothing a good wet rag won't take care of.

The Smoke is strong in this one...

The sun is shining (for the first time in a long time here), the birds are chirping and I've got big wooden box outside my house.  More to come - I've got some work to do!

Love this!

Thanks and congratulations, Jim!  Its a beauty.

Mine was supposed to arrive yesterday, but there was a hiccup with the carrier and the crate never made it onto the truck.  So much for my weekend meal plans!  Good things come to those who wait, I suppose.  Now scheduled for arrival on Monday - fingers crossed...

Congrats, Adventureman!

I know the stalking of which you speak.  I'm sitting at my computer, combing the board and anxiously awaiting the arrival of mine (scheduled to arrive sometime in the next few hours)!

10 minutes ago, Pequod said:

Mostly has to do with two zone flexibility with sufficient real estate in both zones.

Pequod nailed it - that was the deciding factor for me.

Big box scheduled to arrive tomorrow - my Ouija board unconsciousness is downright giddy...

ckreef - I wish I could blame it on the kids, the dog or a belt too many.  Caffeine (or a lack thereof - it was early on a Monday morning), may have played a role, but the sad truth is that it was totally operator error.  I cut the left turn too close and rolled over an old plastic drain grate in the patio.  The drain cover gave way under the weight of the Egg and that was all she wrote. You can see the hole in the patio beneath the caster in the photo.

Needless to say, I don't plan on rolling the Big Bad around too much, but plan to replace all the plastic drain grates with brass, just in case!!

tekobo - I went with the matte black squares (which I think is sexy as all get up) and added the basics - basket splitter, stainless side tables, grate grabbers and a cover.  Some of the other goodies will have to wait for Fathers' Day!\

MacKenzie - pics for sure.  After all, how many other times do you end up with some gigantic crate in your driveway or back yard?!

More like dumptied the egg - big time!

After perusing options, speaking with Dennis and covertly surfing this forum, its looking like I'll be getting to know y'all a bit better.  Big Bad is on its way and I couldn't be more excited!

So, this happened a couple weeks ago, as I tried to find shelter from the rain on an early Monday morning...

What a way to start the week.

I'm guessing a few people on this board have some ideas as to what I should do next??