PaulW

On 4/30/2022 at 2:39 PM, KK787 said:

Looks good!  What do you use for smoke generation? Foil pouch, Harry Soo's method, cast iron pot, etc?

Actually for smoke generation on this cook, I just used the standard "throw some post oak chunks on the charcoal" technique - which might be why the smoke ring wasn't as wonderful as I would have liked.  I often use the cold/hot smoker attachment but didn't allow time to set it up that morning.  

funny story though, when I lit the grill to start the cook, there was WAY too much smoke being generated when it was heating up to and stabilizing at my cooking temp.  It was billowing out of the chimney and there was no way I was going to put that prime brisket on the grill looking like that.  I needed to remove the grates and pull off one or two of the pieces of smoldering took chunks in order to bring the smoke back under control.  

Lesson learned - I think it's time to build the cast iron pot.

It turned out fine, but it didn't blow me away.  Fair smoke ring and the meat was moist.  Next time I'll leave wrap later. 

The people a the party were used to a braised brisket so this was fine for them.  I served the flat last night and kept the point for myself for leftovers for the next few days.  😈

 

So the thermometer read 170 and I decided to wrap.
I was somewhat surprised at the lack of bark, but I wrapped anyway.
I put her back on, reinserted the temp probe and it read 162.
I must have had poor initial temp probe placement and that would explain the lack of bark.
I think I’ll just keep it wrapped and forgo the bark at this point.
Hope it still turns out well.
Lesson learned.






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More important to wrap in pink butcher paper after it exits the stall, somewhere around 165F. 

Butcher paper is ready.
Thanks for that. I wasn’t aware it needed to exit the stall prior to wrapping it.
It’s currently at 160, probably just entering the stall.

I was under the impression that wrapping helped power it through the stall.


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OK, so I'm going to try my first hot and fast (or at least semi hot) tomorrow.  

It's a prime packer cut brisket from Wild Fork.  Started at 15.9 lbs and I trimmed just over 4 lbs of fat from her.  She's salted and peppered and waiting in the fridge.  

My plan is 275 and with the new weight of 12 ish lbs, I figure I'll put in on at 8am for 5:00 dinner call.  

Fat side up or down?  All thoughts and advice are welcome.  

Thanks.

Greetings,

I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience mixing coffee char lump in with cocochar in the basket for a low and slow cook.  My concern is temp spikes with the differing burning properties of each of them.  I have 35 lbs of boneless Costco butt (4 butts at about 8 lbs each) going on tonight for a party tomorrow afternoon and the pressure is on to get this right.  

Also wondering your thoughts about fitting all 4 butts on the main grate vs splitting the into 2 levels.  My plan is to put aluminum drip pans on the lower grate and let them go at 225 overnight - figuring probably 14 hours or so, then wrap, towel and cooler until picnic time.

Thanks

Paul

Thanks.
My cook turned out decent and the guests were happy but I know the KK is capable of better.
I like your idea of 225 overnight and bumping it it the morning. My other option would have been to start it at 4am and do the whole cook at 275 - should be about 10 hours.

I was surprised I lost temp control when I pulled it out to wrap. That’s the first time that’s happened to me.
Always learning and improving.


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6 hours after I pulled it off the grill, foiled and toweled it and stuck it in the cooler at it’s at 159. Still in the safe zone. Yay.


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We’ll find out at 4. I sure hope so. My financial advisor is on my guest list.


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Ran the temps between 250-260.
Wrapped in butcher paper at 5am at 170.
Somehow, I lost good temp control when I pulled it to wrap. (I only had the dome open long enough to pull it out and put it back in.). The KK temp crept up to 280-290 over the next few hours.

The brisket was at 203 by 7:30am. Tender to the probe.

I put 2 layers of foil around it, wrapped it in a thick towel and put it in my best styrofoam cooler with the temp probe still in it.

If (when) the temp drops to 150, I’ll stick it in my oven at 170 until guests arrive at 4.
This went way faster then I thought it would. Like everyone says, it’s BBQ- done when it’s done.

Any other thoughts or suggestions are welcome.


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And she’s on.


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She’s trimmed and salted. Back to the fridge for a cool down.



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Thanks for the advice.
Interesting in the “top mistakes” video, he recommended 225 for ceramic cookers - thinking it would burn if cooked at 275 or above.
From the hot and fast proponents in the board here, it’s far different from their experience.
Guess I’m just going to have to have more parties to experience it myself.


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I think I have temp control down to a science, so I'm gonna try my hand at my first packer (15 lb choice) brisket this weekend.  My initial plan (before reading bunches of posts on this forum) was to cook at 225-250.  Dinner is at around 5 on Sunday so I figured I'd start it at 10pm on Saturday night.  

After everything I've read, I'm thinking of going with a hotter quicker cook, 275-300 and wrapping it in butcher paper at 160-170.  

I'd use the main grate with a foil drip pan underneath on the lower grate.  I'm just going with a simple kosher salt and pepper rub this time around.  

Is my best bet to put it on the cooker at around 5am?  That should give me some leeway in either direction with cook-time.  

Anyone have experience with the coffee wood for briskets, or am I better off with oak?  I'm also going to try to keep some chips smoldering in the cold smoker as well.

Any suggestions are very welcome and thanks in advance.

Paul

 

For the first cook, I decided to try a batch of St. Louis cut ribs.  Peeled the skins and rubbed them down with some mustard and my favorite homemade rub last night.  Then this morning gave them a nice coating of Meat Church GP.

On they went at 1:00 at 225.  She held nice and steady for 5½ hours, then bumped her up to 275 for 30 min.  They were great.  I prefer a little more bark that what I got so might try bumping up the temp at 5 hours instead of 5½.  Suggestions are welcome.

Burn in will happen this weekend.  

(The pre-cook and post cook pics got mixed up when I uploaded and I couldn't switch them out)

It was great fun following her across the pacific, to LA, then to Miami, then finally to Southwest Florida.  My concern was getting her onto the lanai to her final resting spot.  Thanks to the great advice here and help from a few friends, the ¾ in plywood ramp worked like a charm.  Uncrating was easy, I supported the 4x8 ft ramp with 3 2x6's (may have been overkill but better safe than sorry) and the ramp included in the crate let her glide easily to my ramp.  We needed to go up 4 steps for a total of 20 inches.  With the 8 foot ramp, that gave us an incline of about 12 degrees and that was very do-able.  

She now sits on my lanai while I play with temp control.  Found a local dealer that has Rockwood charcoal (quite sparky) and I'm getting the hang of temp control.  It's quite different than the Primo XL oval I'm used to.  

I'm still trying to figure out exactly where on the lanai will be her final perch and I definitely need a prep table and storage for accessories, grates, etc.  

Here are some photos of the process.  @StevenS, thanks so much for your help.  Though the photos don't show it, we did remove the lid when pushing it up the ramp.  Reattaching the lid (primarily inserting the hinge pin) was the toughest part of the whole project.  

 

Sounds good.
I’ve cooked on a Primo XL for the last 20 years so there will be an adjust period for me.
After measuring my entryway, I have room to make an 8 ft ramp. With the 5 foot rise that (according to charts I found online) will give me a 12 degree gradient. I think that should be manageable.


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I was originally going to go with the 22TT but changed my mind and went for the 23 ultimate, cobalt blue pebble, with all the trimmings.  I followed it's journey across the pacific.  It came off the ship last month, was apparently fondled by customs agents for a week or so, then traveled from LA to Miami and will be delivered to me in Ft Myers, FL on Tuesday!   I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas.  

My challenge will be getting it to the lanai.  It'll need to go up 4 steps that are each 5 ½ inches.  I can then roll it over the ceramic tile floor (concrete underneath) and over the threshold to my paver lanai.  The steps will be the biggest challenge.  It's a straight shot through the house to the lanai and the threshold shouldn't be too bad.  

I was thinking of renting a refrigerator dolly but I'm concerned that the rest on the bottom will be too short for the grill.   I can't leave it crated as my door is 33 and the crate is 35x38.

I'm also a little nervous about the burn-in.

Any coaching prior to the burn is welcome, as well as advice for the stairs.  

Paul

@tony b Thanks for the tip on the PBW, I'll definitely look into that if the dishwasher doesn't cut it!

@Basher Wow, what an amazing set up you've got there.  Looks like the ultimate party yard, and with room for social distancing too. I'll need to find a mascot theme for my hooks! 

1 hour ago, tekobo said:

 You really need somewhere to store all the extra grates and other kit when not in use.  If you don't have other arrangements I would consider buying a cabinet from Dennis. 

The vast majority of my cooks will be 2 zone, so the second basket will save lots of PITA time with conversions.

I'll probably order the teak table for the 22 TT.  It looks like it has a decent amount of storage.  3 shelves and the drawer underneath the cooker (I can't just call it a grill or a smoker.)    

So ... if I end up with the lower grate (will usually live inside the cooker), the warming grate (the description says there's a grate hanger), the roti, the spare basket with the splitter, and the smoke generator, would that table have enough room?  Anyone have experience with it? 

Also for the roti, any feedback on the spit vs the basket?  Also feedback for the grate grabbers?

Thanks, this conversation is not only helping my decisions, it's also helping my mental state during the wait.  

4 hours ago, lemisfits said:

This is my 22 TT.  It might be best to take off the top first.  We used a pallet jack to lift it to the appropriate height and then moved it back and forth to get it to the right position.  Best of luck.

I just wish Dennis made a bigger TT since I like the aesthetics of a TT.

That's a great idea.  

You've got a great setup!  Is that stone or concrete?  

Thanks for those tips.  I just spent a while reading posts about the Syz's dutch oven.  What a great concept.  I still may go with the smoker attachment as I'll probably play with some smoked fish.  

I'm generally not a rotisserie guy but if I just heat the rear of the KK with he firebox splitter, it might produce some amazing results. (I'm thinking rotisserie duck) There will be a big learning curve from the Primo.  

This forum is chock full of so much great info, I could spend days and days sifting through stuff.  Man-O-Man, this is gonna be a long 3 months!!

 

Thanks.

I absolutely love the cobalt. Deciding between the pebble and square tile versions.
As far as accessories, I’ll definitely need the basket splitter, and maybe a second basket. I’m used to only lighting half a firebox in my Primo and I typically reverse sear my steaks and cook a bunch of things indirect. I’ll need to get a feel for how 2 zone cooking will work in this beast.

Wondering about using the warming grate to cook indirect.

I’ll also grab the lower grate as well for sous vide sears as well as drip pan holder for low and slows.

Debating the hot/cold smoke generator vs just tossing some wood chunks on the coals vs some type of wood basket/foil pouch for low and slows.


I’ll probably also go with the teak table - it’s gorgeous and functional and can be the center for my outdoor kitchen.


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I will certainly need to procure some brawn to get her moved. The stairs are my biggest concern.
The refrigerator dolly is a great idea!!
Thanks


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Hi.  Just spent my last winter in Buffalo (it finally ended in the middle of May) and I'm heading south to Southwest FL in August.  I've been happily cooking on a Primo XL oval for the last 15 years.  I've decided to pass that on to my budding BBQ chef son and treat myself to a KK.  I've beed drooling over them for years now and this move is my opportunity/excuse.

I'm usually just cooking for me, sometimes a friend or 2 and occasionally a larger party.  After a conversation with Dennis, it looks like the 22 TT is my best bet.  

My biggest concern is getting it to where it needs to be.  It's going to end up on the screened in lanai behind my house.  The only access to the lanai either through a screen door at top of 3 steps or through the triple slider inside the house. If I take it through the house, it'll need to get up the 3 steps and through the front door, then over the ceramic tile floor.

Any creative input would be appreciated.   

Thanks!