Troble

@Basher heres one more good one of the final setup. Fridge in front. Flat top griddle in middle, side burner on right. Storage doors hidden in backside and electrical stub ups hidden inside island KK will stand to the right completing the island and closing it off

Poured concrete on the BBQ island and coordinated with Dennis for mid March delivery of the KK. Next post will be delivery!

I promise I won’t do weekly updates but we broke ground last week. I sold the bbq island, granite table, chairs & hot tub. moving the pool equipment this week. Bought a fire magic 30 flat top griddle to complement the KK outside of the crackhead neighbor hammering the brand new fence in the middle of the night because the new fence “wasn’t sturdy” construction has been going good. Current pictures below. I’ll post another update in a few months. Thanks for all your help, particularly @Basher for all your input offline

@MacKenzie I’m sure it does that’s why I’m getting it. I spent the better part of four days reading nearly every thread on this board before deciding on it. I expect I’ll be doing 90%+ of my cooking on the KK but if I’m u der taking a big project like this I might as well get a few extra toys to complete the outdoor kitchen

@Basher I hadn’t even thought about that but that makes total sense. My wife hates the smell of bacon after I make it in the morning. She would love it if I took it outside.

Today was a big day. Dennis sent me a picture of my KK she’s a beauty! Will be heading to CA shortly and Dennis is kind enough to store it a couple months until my yard is ready we also got our design and signed the contract with our landscape designer. Construction starts Monday! they designed in a gas BBQ as well as the KK but I’m now leaning towards getting a flat top gas grill in case I need to do a super quick cook (chicken breast or hamburger) for the kids and I don’t want to fire up the KK. I’d love anyone’s opinions or insight on that choice I’m attaching pictures of my KK and our design

Thanks Bruce. We got decent space for SoCal. But the pool and slide is from 1984. The BBQ island, hot tub and table were from 2004. It’s been functional but all been piecemealed together. I’m planning on staying here another 40 years and we have to replace the fence and do the wall so we decided to get a professional in to help us plan out the space. I’ll be selling the island, table and hot tub to raise funds for the remodel project

@MacKenzie me too! I’ve been dreaming and saving for 5 years. We hired this young couple to do our design and help us maximize the outdoor space. Being in San Diego we can utilize our backyard 9 months a year. we chose this company Brookside Designs cause we liked their designs and they had stellar reviews https://www.designbybrookside.com/portfolio https://instagram.com/brookside_design?igshid=1bos96w6xi08k

@Basher sounds like an Easter Day cook is on your horizon that’s exciting. The fence is a dangerous situation. I got a 4 & 2 year old girls and I’ve been putting it off for a few years. The heavy rain we got last year and this thanksgiving really out things over the edge but it’s forcing me to just do the whole yard. Look at these close photos of the fence situation.

@Basher we are finally getting our design tomorrow from our landscape designer. Can’t wait to see it I took some photos today of the backyard for the “before” pics. We have a nice yard but the pre fabricated BBQ island is 15 years old as well as the pre fabricated table and hot tub. I have to replace our back fence and build a retaining wall to shore up the hillside but we’re gonna use this as an excuse to rip up the grass regrade the drainage and plant some vegetables, herbs and drought tolerant landscaping. We’re going to make our KK the central piece in the new outdoor kitchen. Heres some pics of the current situation

@tekobo you’re welcome it should be noted that the rub recipe will result in entirely too much run for a chicken but I usually have a jar of that rub lying around and I use it for my brisket, any beef really or chicken, I’m sure you could put it on fish as well it’s super versatile. The green sauce is what makes it awesome I call it (awesome sauce around my house) and you can keep a jar of that sauce in the fridge as well it goes on anything the key is to buy Aji Amarillo and Aji Mirasol but you can find that at any Latin market or on Amazon

@lemisfits here are the recipes I've been using to make Peruvian chicken. My mother in law has told me numerous times that my sauce is really good and authentic and she's been known to go into Peruvian restaurants in San Diego to talk to the chefs to tell them their food was not authentic...... Peruvian Roasted Chicken I just make a rub using something like this 3 tbsp salt 3 tbsp pepper 2 tbsp garlic 1 tbsp aji amarillo 1 tbsp aji mirasol 1 tbsp cumin Peruvian Green Sauce Ingredients 3 whole jalapeño chiles, (If you want a spicier sauce leave the seeds in!) 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves 2 medium cloves garlic 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup sour cream 2 teaspoons fresh juice from 1 lime 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil https://pin.it/haqx5oavxgawy2 I then also make roasted red potatoes with garlic, rosemary and a little shave parmesean and then use the Peruvian green sauce on top of the chicken and potatoes. Always a hit. Should end up looking something like this.

@lemisfits my wife doesn’t do any cooking. She cleans I cook, it’s a great deal for both of us. I’m happy to share with you a great recipe for Peruvian chicken. I’ll dig it up and post it tomorrow. Thanks for sharing your plans that looks great

@tony b thank you did the advice. I am sorry for being early but I’m excited! Working with Dennis to finalize everything now and letting my contractor know about the purchase. I really appreciate your feedback. Thank you @MacKenzie thank you for the advice. Reading some of your posts and seeing pictures of your food really got me excited about the KK. I look forward to trying to learn a few of your tricks!

@Tyrus thanks for that reply I totally agree. I personally like the “challenge” that cooking with my WSM presented and I liked spending time late at night by myself tinkering with the air vents....I was looking forward to the challenge of using a stick burner. the fact that the KK cooks so perfectly was a negative to me initially, but I got over that @Basher thank you for sharing your plans that looks great. I will snap some photos of our yard this weekend so you can see the “before” picture. We got space but it’s never been planned out correctly and the main point of this project is to build my dream outdoor kitchen and make the space more conducive for hosting as well as reducing water usage.

Thanks @Paul If I had to make the decision today I’m going no grill w/extra storage. I have 3 weeks to decide but I do know that cobalt blue cooks the best! 😀

Thanks @tekobo sorry to write such a novel but I’m beyond excited and I’m still months away. I’ve literally spent all my free time the last 5 days reading this forum I agree with you on the charcoal vs gas. I’m just really nervous about designing a yard with no gas grill, we currently have a pre-manfacuteted is hand with the fire magic that’s been years old and I’m considering not having a gas grill at all when we tear up the backyard and just using my KK, however since I’m getting the 32 I feel like I need a safety net gas grill in case I need a quick cook. my current plan is to build a built in with a high heat side burger (for work cooking) along with a fridge and counter space for prep/serving and just rolling with my KK as the only grilling source

Scott im in the process of designing my outdoor kitchen and considering not getting a gas grill..excuse my ignorance but what is the Evo? What do you cook on it?

Hello All my name is Troy and I’m in the process of getting a 32 KK cobalt blue pebble....I’m originally born and raised in San Diego and lived here my whole life except for the one year in 2007 where I sold all my possessions and traveled around the world by myself and found much inspiration from the food and culture I experienced on my trip my parents lived in the house I grew up in for 40 years and my wife and I moved into it 5 years ago. Being in San Diego I’m very lucky to have incredible weather, produce and seafood and I cook outside at least 4-5x/week. We have a natural gas fire magic grill that we inherited along with a killer double side burner that I use for wok cooking my wife’s favorite Peruvian recipes (she’s from Peru). I also purchased a 22.5 WSM about two years I ago and I’ve mastered brisket cooking on that thing and I mostly make brisket, pork butt, whole roasted chickens (with Peruvian green sauce), baby back ribs, whole turkey, and I’ve messed around with a few tri tips. But my wife says I’m obsessed with my cooking.....reading this forum for the last 4 days it looks like I might’ve found the right group to hang out with We recently contracted with a landscape designer who should be submitting our design for review around New Years and we’re doing a massive backyard remodel to help unlock the potential of our backyard. this deadline has forced me to make a decision on my smoker and while I was originally thinking I wanted to get a lone star grill so I could do true Texas BBQ with real wood I decided on the KK because it’s the best and because of the versatility. I already cook so many different types of food and I really want to make pizza with my 4 & 2 year old girls as they grow up. Heres a quick rundown of what I’ll be cooking Brisket, ribs, chicken, pizza, bread, corn bread, buttermilk biscuits, Moroccan clay pot, gyro and my “holy grail” adobada tacos (I saw how you guys have been doing gyros meat and I think I could do the same thing with pork shoulder/adobada rub. I tried it once in my WSM and it looked good tasted good, people loved it but it wasn’t authentic to me.....I was toying around with getting a true Trompo on my gas grill to do Adobada/gyro but I think this can be accomplished with a KK/diffuser I have a few questions.... 1. I never cooked seafood in my WSM because I didn’t want to have my meat taste like fish. I’d like to cook whole fish on my KK and I cook salmon weekly on my gas grill with a plank. Is there any concern with cooking seafood in the KK and having the fish stench cross contaminate? 2. Is the rotisserie that comes with the KK sufficient if I want to roast pork shoulder adobada style? Or do I need an Octofork? How would one go about getting a diffuser to fit my 32? 3. What other accessories are “must have”? I’m gonna get the cold smoker...do you need an extra charcoal basket? What it used for? I’m also leaning towards getting the basket splitter/reducer 4. I think I’ll need to invest in some cast iron pots for the KK I can see myself cooking risottos, chili and chicken soup low and slow on that thing is there a preferred brand of cast iron? 5. Where does one find the yakitori grill or the thing basket that could hold a whole fish? I want to cook whole fish as well as grill octopus on the KK 6. I’m planning on constructing a small gas grill with fridge and side burner for quick cooking if needed I’m sure I’ll use the KK 80% of the tine but sometimes I need to grill up some chicken real quick for quesadillas for my kids and like I said I have been using my gas grill for my salmon in the past. Is is sacrilegious you have a gas grill with my KK? My KK won’t be in the US till February and my backyard won’t be done till May so I got lots of time to research but any ideas on how to integrate this thing into a backyard would be appreciated. When it’s all said it done it’s gonna be great. My parents were there 40 years and I plan to be there 40 years with my KK so we’re doing it right. anything I’m forgetting? I’m really excited to be part of this community, you guys seem to really take care of each other and are passionate about your cooking Troy