PVPAUL

All, just wanted to chime in on this topic. I understand @Tony8919 comments. Before I bought 2 KK’s I was in the market for a Pellet grill. Part of my buying decision was……is the company going to be there to service me years later? In this buying decision I already owned an electric (non-Pellet) smoker that I did have issues with and was able able to fix it because the company was still in business and this really pushed me in this direction on my Pellet grill purchase. It’s also important to understand that I’m not a handy fix it type guy so I rely on this. Fast forward to my KK experience. On my first KK purchase (32”) I ended up having problems and Dennis was true to his word and took care of me at no additional cost to myself. I ended us purchasing a second KK 21”. I have to say if you own a Cadillac or a Rolls Royce they still break down and you will eventually have problems…..in the case of the KK a wearable part is the gasket. When shipping out KK’s Dennis is great in including spare parts etc. I think the big question here is when our Kids all inherit our grills will they be able to get parts and service??? This is especially important to us owners that are not handy / fix it type people. Does Dennis have a succession plan in place??? I think this is the big question here and what @Tony8919 is getting at. In my purchasing decision I decided to take this risk and have not looked back…….but it is there. All the best, Paul

Hello @tekobo, unfortunately my Mexican heritage is not helping me with Al Pastor, a slightly non-politically correct comment here…My father is Mexican and my mother is German……so I sometimes jokingly refer to myself as a “Beaner Schnitzel “ HaHa!!! I honestly loved the flavor of the Pastor. I was concerned with the quantity of achiote paste but decided to go with the recipe as outlined in the video @Troble posted. I think any bitterness that may have been present was offset by the pineapple in the tacos. I decided to put the patio pavers (haha) under the Trompo King as I thought this would make the base heat more consistent. I really didn’t know if I was going to leave the meat in the pan base as the rest of the pork cooked. I did stir it up the cut up meat in the base now and then and decided to leave it in there for the balance of the cook which worked out fine. We had both crispy and tender pieces in the mix. A couple of years ago we were in Sayulita Mexico and had Al Pastor tacos from the guy (Talivan) in the video……while the tacos were small they were only about 80 cents each!! If you watch the video after the guys slices off meat straight into the taco he knicks off a small piece of the pineapple into the taco too….Kind of like going to Benihana’s. I’m planning to cook Pastor next week when my sister and her family come to our home for a long weekend vacation and will post anything worthwhile to this thread. Today I’m cooking up 4 Pastrami’s with some corn beef briskets points I picked up on sale after St. Patty’s day!!! All the best, IMG_2290.mov

So the Al Pastor cook was definitely a success and enjoyed by everybody. I did one pork shoulder so about 7lbs and we had 8 adults and could have probably fed 16-20 persons easily. This was fun to make and will definitely be in the rotation for parties. One of our amigos brought over this tequila from their last vacation to Mexico and one of the best we’ve ever had and it complimented the meal. Tacos made with Nixtamalized blue corn along with cilantro, onions, radish, pineapple, homemade salsa and Pico de gallo along with Mexican street corn salad and some Spanish rice. All the best,

So tomorrow is the big day for my first Al Pastor cook. Made the Marinade about a week or two ago and divided it in half and froze it. Just got the pork marinating in the Pastor tonight so it should be marinating for about 18 hours before the start of cooking. Made the Nixtamal with blue heirloom corn masa today so fresh tortillas will be ready also. I will get some piics of the cook and post them tomorrow or Friday (maybe a few Margaritas deep during the cook tomorrow). I really appreciate the inspiration from @Troble, @tekobo and @Syzygies . Cheers, Paul

I’m doing my first ever Bacon smoke early next week. Following Meathead’s “Simple Bacon Recipe”. A friend of mine shared some with me and I thought it was very good so going to try this one out. Picked up a 8lb pork belly and started curing it yesterday. Before this I’m looking forward to smoking 3 racks of ribs on my 32” KK. Will use both the smoke pot and cold smoker until the ribs are cracking nicely on the bend test! Going to dry rub with Oakridge BBQ Dominator Sweet rib rub. Once cooled down going to vacuum seal and reheat via Sous Vide for a quick easy meal when in Canada on a fishing trip! If I think of it I will send pics to the KK forum. All the best,

Thanks much @tekobo . I have all of the ingredients so I’ll post results and pics to the forum / thread once I make this. All the best,

Hey @tony b, yes it is a shit ton. We have a family recipe that we multiply X10. We used a total of 14lbs of dried chiles (3 types) along with a bunch of other ingredients. A lot of prep work leading us to cook day. We started at 9am and finished up at 5:30 and pretty much worked straight through. We use mole in a number of recipes including enchiladas, tamales, pozole and chicken and mole. I make this with my cousin and we split it in half and this last us about 12-18 months. It turned out a little sweeter than previous batches and I’m attributing this to fresher sweeter currents than in the past. We package it up in hermetically sealed barrier freezer bags in 2&4 cup sizes. Mole works great for saucing up chicken wings cooked with sunny side up eggs! Adios,

So, after sitting on the sidelines for at least a year I’m getting ready to jump into making “Al Pastor” tacos. While I understand that taste is a preference and that coming out of the gate one will likely be tweaking the recipe. For this post. .I’m questioning the quantity of “Achiote Paste” in this specific recipe. I see that “Troble” in his initial post mentioned adjusting the sugar on future cooks. Also, I researched the quantity of “Achiote Paste” on a pretty large number of recipes on the web and I don’t see any that use as much as this recipe. In researching the flavor profile of “Achiote Paste” I see peppery and bitter associated with this. Like making beer there is a balance between sweetness and bitterness. I’m wondering if any of you out there who have made this recipe have decided to cut back on the Achiote paste or have increased the sugar content to offset the bitterness? If yes I would appreciate your feedback. My plan is to cut back on the Achiote Paste to start with and to just taste and adjust until it seems like I have the flavor profile that is pleasing to me. Thanks, PS, just including a picture of the meal we cooked ast Friday - Chicken and Mole Enchiladas, Cheese and onion Enchiladas, Mexican Frijoles y arroz…..everything is homemade including the tortillas and mole (made 9 gallons of mole the weekend before). The plates are simple peasant type my dad had made in El Salvador in 1976…..I treasure these.

Would this cooking technique “slow poached in chicken stock” work well with the Vermicular Musui? I’m guessing yes……just got mine on Thursday but am out of town so another week or so until can open up and start having fun!

I’m very excited to receive my Indoor “K” as Syz calls it. I think the sale pushed me to make my purchasing decision…..along with the post by Syz on making Court Bouillon. It’s funny as I have been making Emeril’s version of Court Bouillon for years which after some research (prompted by Syz) i figured out Emeril’s is a Cajun / creole version of this classic French dish. I’m pumped to do a salmon in the classic version. It’s funny that I started this thread and it’s taken me 3 years to make the purchase. I’m glad that some of you have jumped in and are sharing pictures and information on your cooks. In any event I look forward to the experimentation with this Slow Cooker on Steroids! Cheers,

Same here, $570 total (no tax or shipping) and BTW I love their frying pans!

Hello All, if anyone is still on the fence about purchasing the Vermicular Musui-Kamado they are having a sale now through 1/27 offering $100 off. Think I will finally take the plunge! Cheers, Paul

My sister brought over Duck Carnitas and I made some fresh Nixtamal Blue corn tortillas! Also fresh tamales with homemade masa as well. Feliz Navidad! Paul

@tony b what are your favorite rubs from Oakridge? I’ve never ordered from them but plan to place as order as you are suggesting. Thanks for the heads up, Paul

So for my birthday this year I received the “Masa” book by Jorge Gaviria of Masienda. I must say there is a lot of great information here should you also be climbing down this rabbit hole. Also at the suggestion of @Syzygies I upgraded my premier grinder which the new Stainless steel stone holder. I made masa twice this past week. On Tuesday (for Dia De Muertos) I made a batch of Pozole with Nixtamal that was not ground into masa and then I also made masa for tortillas to go with the Pozole. For the tortillas I ended up using the original grinder as I didn’t realize there was some assembly required that had me taking apart the grinder more than expected. So with the original set up the grinding process ended up being somewhat difficult. I wasn’t sure if this was related to the nixtamal I used? From the book I learned that in many cases it is desirable to leave some of the pericarp in tact as it acts as a binder and provides some elasticity (similar to gluten in pasta) which helps in certain masa end applications. Previous to this, my experience was mostly washing off most if not all of the pericarp. In any event Tuesdays masa experience was a challenge at the least. On Thursday after speaking with technical assistance at Melangers (distributor and upgrade manufacturer for grinder) I was able to get the new stone placement in place. On Friday with a new batch of nixtamal with an approximate 50% of pericarp left in place (same as Tuesday) the grinding went very smoothly (pun intended). Tomorrow for the Sunday football game I plan to make freshly cooked tortilllas served with overnight brisket that I just made. I hope that I can achieve the famed “Tortilla Puff” when cooking!!! In the book they talk about in old Mexico that when a woman has achieved “Tortilla Puff” she was worthy of marriage. I still have not achieve this so my wife may be divorcing me soon!!!! All the best, Paul

Probably to late for any suggestions for this cook, but i do have some thoughts here. Wouldn’t setting up a rack with a foil pan underneath the bird also create and indirect cook? Years ago I was looking for alternatives to the deep fried turkey, I’m sure this method is also fun to cook (maybe a little more dangerous) and I’ve heard it taste great as well, I just always thought the oil requirements would be a waste as I wouldn’t likely reuse etc. I came across a High Temperature Roast turkey recipe / technique in Cooks Illustrated. The basics are spatch cooking a 12-14lb bird, brining first in a simple water / salt brine, air drying in cold space for a day or so, making gravy separately from gizzards & Neck and making stuffing separately. The spatchcocked bird is than placed on a broiler pan that sits on top of a large disposable foil pan that is filled with your stuffing. Cooking in oven at 450 degrees F and is done in about 75 minutes. This has been my go to for years, even though I own KK’s! In writing this I’m thinking if you use a foil pan to deflect the direct heat at some point you could also put a foil pan with your stuffing underneath the bird to collect all of those great drippings…..Maybe sort of a marriage of cooks illustrated and KK. In any event I wish success to Cheesehead griller and and Happy Turkey day to everybody on the forum. I know Thanksgiving is always my favorite holiday of the year!!

So about 10 or more years ago I picked us a set of Demeyere SS cookware which is produced in Belgium. I love the styling and function of this cookware, my only complaint is this stuff, especially the frying pans are very heavy. Within the past year or so I picked up a couple of Vermicular frying pans. These are highly engineered Japanese light weight cast iron frying pans with a non-stick technology. I absolutely love these pans. Good luck in your search Braindoc! Paul

So my son is home after his 6 year commitment with the US Navy. He sees my new KK grills and notices that I like looking at the KK forum and sends me this link to the YouTube video. While I’m not someone that watches Family Guy I think this video is hilarious and very spot on funny for this forum. I hope you all think so too! Cheers, Paul

I use one of these. Works good enough, no electricity. Cost about $6.50. Cheers, Paul

Hey Chanley1983, I’m in Southern WI and I may be interested in the side table set up only as I already own pretty much the same exact grill (terra Blue 32”). If you end up interested in breaking this up please send me a PM. Good luck on your future endeavors! Paul

Hey Jim, this may look like a weird response but below is a response from a different thread from Syz. I copied and pasted this to my notes in my IPad for future reference. IMHO I think this is the best response I’ve seen on this subject in the KK forum regarding Brisket cooks. I have done larger Brisket cooks ( probably in the 16lb range) at 225F that have lasted 25 hours. If you read SZY’s response below I think for a large Costco brisket cook you want 275 - 325F cook. Good luck on determining length of cook! Send Pics!!! Paul Brisket cooking info szygies It always helps to consider the source, and how their requirements are different than yours. Thomas Keller calls for quick 10% salt brines for seafood? In a restaurant kitchen there isn't room for an overnight "equilibrium" 0.5% brine. At home that same brine lets you buy fish for several days. Most recipes are really dumbed down, and most people spread techniques that are only partially evolved. And a popular author could be aware that readers have foil, but they don't have pink (uncoated! white is coated, wrong) butcher paper. Do they say something? I would only trust a source recommending foil if they explicitly make the comparison with pink butcher paper, and explain why they prefer foil. Aaron Franklin is arguably the most deservedly famous barbecue guru today. He's primarily a restauranteur, not a "personality", so he's freed from a financial incentive to dumb down his advice. On the contrary, there's a showstopper chapter "Building a Smoker" in Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto [A Cookbook], how anyone can make their own cooker from a recycled 500 gallon propane tank with "basic metalworking skills". I can do most things but this is still on my list... He faces a restaurant constraint, perfect for you: All of his cookers run at 275°. Why? He prefers this to lower temperatures, gets better throughput, and doesn't have to juggle capacities of cookers set to different temperatures. He gives the clearest directions I've seen anywhere for cooking a 12 to 14-pound packer cut brisket, wrapping at 6 hours or so in pink butcher paper. I've varied my approach over the years: Temperature, wrapping, beef source, dry age? I believe that following exactly Aaron Franklin's protocol is spot-on. For a different opinion, in Brisket Tricks and elsewhere, @mguerra has been advocating for 325° or so. What you propose is decidedly not "hot and fast". 275° is reasonable middle ground, not falling prey to equating seriousness of intent with slowness of cook. The very idea that "low & slow" is such a sticky idea should serve as a warning not to take it as gospel. On the contrary, another of my favorite BBQ books is Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from the Pitmasters. I don't follow any of the recipes, but I learned a lot about the diversity of approaches in Texas. It freed me from a blind adherence to "low & slow". I believe that the most important factor in brisket is the beef itself. I'll travel an hour and pay three times what others consider reasonable to buy brisket from the Golden Gate Meat Company in San Francisco. They'll dry age a few days on request. I also believe that the ideal cooker temperature is a function of the quality of the meat: 275° for the meat that takes an hour's drive and serious cash, varying up to 325° for more typical and affordable briskets. When there's less collagen/whatever to dissolve, time is your enemy. I no longer cook any brisket at 225°. I've never eaten at Franklin's Barbecue, but the best brisket I've had in my life was in Elgin, Texas. (#2, #3, #4 would be my own.) They can source better brisket in Texas, the market demands it. It melts, you want to spread the fat cap on toast like marmalade. Aaron Franklin's advice is tuned to Texas brisket sources. For potential owners, let me be clear that while Aaron Franklin uses an entirely different cooker, my own preferences are adapted to a Komodo Kamado. Compared to other ceramic cookers, a KK is far better insulated, so it maintains temperature with far less airflow. Airflow dries the meat out. Franklin's 1000 gallon cookers are good guides for us, because with scale he also controls evaporation.

Hello Cheesehead_griler, fellow Wisconsinite here, not to many of us here on this forum. I own 2 KK’s both in tile, 32” BB and a 21”. One is in SE WI and the other is in Northern WI. What part of Wisconsin are you in? Maybe we can do a co-op buy on KK charcoal once it becomes available again. If you are looking to see on in person and discuss KK cooking don’t hesitate to reach out to me. All the best and Happy Turkey day to all on the Forum!

Trouble, thanks for sending this over. I clicked on the link and ordered the Permatex which is due to arrive on Friday. I don't do much high temperature cooking but appreciate this information, makes sense. Thank you all for your help on this, Paul

Thanks 5698k, I will give the Dixie plate a try. I did get out the old one successfully and cleaned up the area where gasket seats and confirmed the extra gasket included with grill is correct size. Now it’s off to the hardware store for some high temp silicone adhesive and Dixie plates. thanks

The current gasket needs replacing for sure. I did find a thread started in June of 2010 by ThreeDJ16 which had some new postings added to it as recently as March of this year. Unfortunately I was not able to open the photos from the original post but I think I have this figured out. One question I have is to confirm that the extra gasket included with the KK is already properly sized and therefore does not require trimming etc? I believe going back to 2010 the fiber gasket was just a length of rope (so to speak) and therefore had to be measured and cut to size. The one's included now are already a circle, ends fused together. Other than that I believe I just need to thoroughly clean out the old one and and clean out the recessed area thoroughly and apply high temperature silicon (Permatex) and apply a weight evenly, and carefully apply pressure and let it set up for about 24 hours. Any additional suggestions / comments welcome. All the best, Paul If anyone can please confirm that would be great. Thanks, Paul