John T

Never had difficulty getting charcoal lit and our KK up to temperature in cold weather (sub freezing included). Ours sits on a covered deck, out of the rain/snow but otherwise open to the environment.

Nice looking cook, but regarding the cold start - from the experts on this forum, I understand that the initial (white) smoke that is emitted isn't particularly tasty. (Lots of eye burning wood alcohol in the smoke.) The gurus say that best practice is to wait for blue smoke before putting the meat into the KK. I confess to often jumping the gun, and the results still taste good. But Dennis' words stick in my head. Perhaps meat could spend a half hour in the freezer before going into the KK to lengthen the time it absorbs smoke. John

Late, but for future reference, we found the piece of paper with the brine recipe we used: 2 liters water 3/4 cup kosher salt 1 cup brown sugar curing salt-- 1 tsp/5 pounds of ham

Some years ago we smoked a piece of pork that we first brined for several days. Came out well. Right in the middle next to the bone the curing liquid didn't quite penetrate but it tasted fine. That suggests injecting brine in addition to soaking could be a good thing to do. I'll see if I can find the brine recipe we used. (Probably nothing fancy -water, salt, sugar, curing salt)

yup, I have one of these IR temperature sensors. I guess I just need to be more patient and wait until the floor temp is really really hot.

So we ended up with the Alfa 5 Minuti and have tried pizzas twice now. Still on the learning curves with pizzas - those done in our KK tend to cook the bottom faster than the top, and in the WFO the top faster than the bottom. We'll get there eventually, but may not have many clothes that fit by then.

Please tell, which Deli in Plymouth. (We are just south of you on Cape Cod :-))

You folks are like the devil with temptations 😉. Okay, which of these is the better companion to our KK Supreme? Alfa 5 Minuti Forno Venetzia Pronto 500

To clarify, any association with Mr Rogan could turn people away. My post referred to the adage - if you lie with dogs, you will get fleas.

Be careful when lying down with dogs.

Just two flat sheets of pasta, dollops of filling on the first sheet, wet slightly between the dollops, lay the second sheet on top, press and cut apart. Then cross your fingers that the pockets don't come apart when boiling.

For pasta that starts with flat sheets of dough, we use a simple hand cranked adjustable roller with a couple cutting attachments. Dough made by hand. But for extruded pasta (tubes of various shapes), you would need a machine.

Over this past weekend I tried my idea of placing the smoke pot below the charcoal basket. Used the MSR SS pot as my cast iron one was a bit too tall to fit below the charcoal basket. The MSR was set on 3 SS screws (laying horizontal) as standoffs. (The holes I drilled in the pot are on the bottom.) I was cooking a 2.5"-thick cowboy steak using reverse sear. Better part of an hour at ~230F (steak on the warming rack with aluminum foil on the rack below shielding direct radiant heating), followed by a rest while Babe heated up to 400+ then the sear). The steak came out great, though I didn't see or taste much smoke. Looking at the wood chunks after cool down, they don't appear to have fully carbonized (still see some brown color). So I;'m interpreting all this as the pot didn't get hot enough to get the wood chunks smoldering. Perhaps my taller cast iron pot being taller and in contact with the charcoal basket would get hotter? But for the little guy its back to burying that smoking pot in the charcoal.

I have been trying both the MSR SS pot and a cast iron pot (repurposed mussel cooker, photo below - after removing the wooden handle and plugging the hole). I like the size of the MSR (the cast iron pot takes up a significant fraction of the charcoal basket in our 21" Supreme), but struggling with the duration of the smoke output. This got me wondering if there might be enough radiant heat for a ~large smoker pot to sit below the charcoal basket - with standoffs so the holes on the bottom are not blocked. Would also have to avoid blocking the KK air intake. Thoughts? John

Yeah, I use an LL - works fine. Probably not quite as fast as a torch, but with the built in blower, it's a one step operation. But my thumb does get a bit tired holding the trigger down - it isn't a turn on and walk away operation.

For several years we have wanted to build a shed to store things that really shouldn't live in our basement (like gasoline powered equipment). The purchase of "Babe" (as in Paul Bunyan's big blue ox) this past summer (21" Supreme) pushed us over the hump. Totally home built from plans. Babe lives inside during the winter months, rolling out for cooks then back under cover. Will remain on the porch now (under sunbrella cover) till the snow flies. Tried a brined ham for Easter roughly following these directions - https://www.daringgourmet.com/how-to-smoke-a-ham/ Used apple wood in the pot with coffee char for fuel - turned out well if I do say so myself. John

Thanks for the information. Just ordered the 475 ml MSR.

Could one of you with a 475 MSR pot provide its approximate diameter? I’d like to figure out if it will fit better in our 21” KK than the cast iron pot I have now. Thanks John

Don’t let all that great rendered duck fat go to waste. Parboil cubed potatoes then brown them in the duck fat. Yum. Our go to way to finish the breasts is to sauté shallots, deglace with calvados, add stock, sliced apple and several cloves, cover and cook until apples are tender. Serve the sauce over or under the sliced breasts.

Thanks, folks. I didn’t know about the short top grill option. J

total newbie question relating to the reverse sear protocol: After the cook on the main grill, do you remove the main grill from the KK and place to the side to access the sear grill for those final few minutes? The hinged section on the grills doesn't seem wide enough to provide good access. Thanks

Absolutely move it while still in its shipping crate using a pallet jack. On sloping ground, pump up the jack just enough that you can move it, keep your hand on the hydraulic release, and drop it back down before the works get rolling too fast downhill. I moved our 21" by myself, burping it down a slope, leapfrogging sheets of 3/4" plywood. But at twice the mass, you might want a second pair of hands helping.

we use resealable silicon pouches for sous vide from these folks: https://www.stasherbag.com/collections/the-stasher-ecosystem?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIo9_eoc7h6gIVQcDICh1mwAjYEAAYASAAEgJJsPD_BwE Never get all the air out, but that seems not to matter. Clothes pin or clamp to the side of the pot to keep the bag submerged.

so pardon my ignorance, but how many boxes (shipped on one pallet) are needed to make this a "good deal?" If indeed the charcoal doesn't go bad over time, I could be talked into joining.