RokDok

Ah @GrillnBrew.Thank you. That's very interesting. I've had to look up most things you mention ! I now know what canning pots and turkey fryers are - I never imagined you could deep fry a turkey. My development is a bit arrested as I haven't progressed beyond my home made set up ! The Sabco system looks an amazing piece of kit, reproducible brews and mobile to boot. I can understand though the move to the Blichmann Easybrew for smaller batches. I can still lift the pots with wet grain / water - just about- but then again I tend to brew with friends so it spreads the load. There has been a rash of brew systems along the lines of the Spiedel Braumeister which are a bit more like brew in a bag systems and I like the idea that both the Sabco and the Blichmann are RIMS. I bet the Blichmann is superb quality. My system is a chimera - RIMS , but then I do a final sparge with water from a hot liquor tank. Might you be prepared to share your chocolate rye porter recipe ? It sounds interesting - never brewed with Rye. Will need to brew in the not-too-distant future to replenish stocks - The combined Maillard of Stout and KK Steak are going very well together.

It's not an expense - it's an investment. Looking forward too to hearing about the "brew" part of your name.

@buzilo, I think you've got the answer on the other part of the thread. I've only had my 32 a couple of weeks, but my first doubts of whether it would be impractical to just cook for two on a regular basis and that it would take a long time to heat up have been completely dismissed. I'm just cooking with a quarter grate at the moment - I would be doing a low slow pork belly today but it's chucking down with rain and I haven't finished the burn in yet and probably need to regrout some tiny tears. Last night it was just above freezing I used a quarter grate and lump wood charcoal., the topmost grate inverted so it was close to the coals and the half grate too. Lit 2 very small areas with a map torch 30 seconds each with about another 30 seconds with the leaf blower. So. a very small start. left vent half open top 1 turn open. 25 minutes later the oven was at 280, seared a couple of steaks and cooked some tomatoes indirectly. If I'd given it a few more minutes with the leaf blower it would no doubt have bee a lot quicker. Best RD

@buzilo, I expect @tekobo will be along shortly. She's had a couple of 23"s and now has a 32 " so she'll be able to give you a precise answer. I'm likely cooking on my 32" tonight so I will give you some times.

Welcome Forrest, My kids are about your age - they love food and they love cooking but they haven't done a lot grill-wise - I suppose that's my fault - but thanks - I'm going to send them this link and wait for the fight when they get back home ! PS @tekobo and @cruzmisl are right on target, I'd be guided by them.

Thanks @tony b, It was quite windy and I think you are right. It has given me a pretty good feel .now of what I need to do to get the desired temperature. Thank you for the birthday wishes Tony and Paul - I passed them on to a delighted and surprised Mrs RD. We had some sparkling Vouvray and a lovely Nimes - to go with the duck breast and sauté potatoes cooked in the residual heat. Thanks Again Tony, Best RD

@tony b, four hours in now. It's around zero here at the moment and quite windy. I found that with even with the top just off and the left vent open a quarter of a circle ( ie half open) the oven went quickly to 250 F +, So I closed the left vent and opened up the right vent on the smallest hole. With the top open just an eighth the temperature dropped to 150 F. I left the top on one eighth open and slowly went up on hole size on the bottom vent which gave me control between 150 and 245 F. So that gives me some low and slow temperatures. With the top at one eighth and the left vent at half open it went to 392 F There is clearly a bit of windchill here, so with the lower vent fully open and the top 1/4 open it is sitting happily at 630 F. I've got a tiny bit of bubbling from a couple of pinholes, and a few hairline cracks in the grout, but that's about it at the moment. Adult beverages on standby at the moment - it's Mrs RD's birthday - we'll celebrate the end of the cure in a few hours and put on some duck breasts. Cheers RD

Thank you @tony b, brilliant advice, great plan. I really do need a dry day. There should be one after the weekend. Can't wait to fire it up again. Many Thanks RD

Hopefully @HokieBen we'll get a non-rainy day next week and I can do the burn in and get to grips with the controls & temperature- nice and slowly. Thanks for the 12 O'clock tip @tony bTony that will come make things easier - I think you've also advised somewhere on her how to do the burn in and log the temperature control. @Braai-Q - I have got a cover for it - I remember you talking about the sunbrella fabric and matching outdoor furniture that you have. It's a very good design and cloaks the oven right down to the ground. I like the way it's shaped to fit over the top vent handle - I think I must sort something similar for my WFO. It's MrsRD's birthday next week and she wants duck breasts cooked on the oven a la @tekobo , once the burn in and temperature control is sorted I think it'll be a low and slow that'll be another first.

Must be awful for you all. Can't imagine it. Take Care

Simply amazing bit of kit. I thought I had understood what "the obsession" was all about. I didn't quite , but I do now. Absolutely perfect. Without a shadow of a doubt one of the best decisions we ( it was Mrs RD who found the site) have made. Many thanks to all for advice, egging on, joking and nurturing. RD

Mmm That's looking at it through the window x 2 🙄 Within a very short time it was over 400 F and starting to vent a little , so I closed the top vent a bit. Mrs RD had finished her yoga by then. So - quarter of a basket - up to temp in no time . Put the steaks on - here's a picture of Mrs RD happy as a sandboy. Put the steaks on - not perfect but not bad I think for a first attempt - and the weather conditions were inclement - not far off what @tony bTony is experiencing at the moment.😉

I don't normally post after I've had a couple of beers (stouts in this case) so please forgive the euphoria. To be honest, when it arrived I thought - ooooh that looks a bit bigger than I thought it would be - have I made the right decision -Should I have gone for the 23 ". What is Mrs RD going to say this time .... I've not got a good track record here.... One Sunday night I bought a top end Pearl Reference Series drum kit on EBay from Germany. I'd only got to grade four by then . Nothing wrong with that you may say ...except that I'd bought an identical one a couple of weeks before. What was going to be a simple brew kit - a couple of plastic containers rapidly turned into my making a mini brewery capable of brewing 280 litres in a day. A little clay oven .. full size Pompeii, we'll just put a couple of new doors on the kitchen units = full house rebuild taking 10 years and we have to live in our caravan on the lawn... So a little anxious at this point - you can understand.

Crikey , that is a bit nippy Tony !

It's dark here now but there has been a break in the rain. The aim is simply to cook a couple of steaks tonight. So I'm using a quarter basket of local lump wood charcoal - I may need to change this to half but if I do that just means a little more adult beverage so no bad thing. First time I've ever used a Mapp torch - what a great bit of kit Followed by the blower Swivelled the KK around so I can keep an eye on the temperature, through the window.

You're right. It's chucking now but :

@jonj, @tony bTony, I said to Mrs RD this morning that I was going to do the burn in today and cook the 35 day aged Hereford sirloin that is sitting in the fridge. "You're not going to get it dirty are you ?" It is chucking it down with rain today. " You're going to get soaked - do it on a dry day so it's a nice experience" Embarrassingly I ricked my back lifting a concrete slab to make the ramp to get the KK off the pallets. Trying to get out of bed to get the tea happens in slow motion as I'm stiff. " You are not going to do anything that involves bending or lifting today - have you taken anything for that ? " Mrs RD was an ITU nurse for 35 years. It was generally in folk's best interests to do as she said. So, it is (definitely) in my best interests to wait till we have a dry day and I can move and bend at something approximating normal speed. Mrs RD tends to be right 50% of the time so I better behave myself.

Thanks guys. It is a bit scary coming off the pallet - but just have to take it really steady and it'll be fine. @MacKenzie- you are welcome to a glass or two of stout. If you're heading this way in th next few years I'll keep one back for you. The reason why they put an extra pallet underneath is because the pallet that the KK sits on is customised and has a broader supporting section underneath. The forks of some of the pallet trolleys are not far enough apart to sit either side of this section. Supporting the ramp with concrete paver mad it pretty rock solid. Yes, I did go out last night in the dark and rain to check it was OK. Unpacked the tables last night - the quality of workmanship and engineering is just staggeringly good - something you can't fully appreciate from the photos. The neighbours have been round taking pictures of it ! Many Thanks All

That's the pub behind us by the way. Couple of pictures of it in position , one from outside and one from inside. Many thanks to folk on the forum who have inspired and advised. Truly wonderful bit of kit !! I'm going to wait for a dry, bright day for the burn in and first cook, meanwhile have to unwrap and figure out what all the extra thing are.

Now rolled it along the back of the house into position on the flagstones. Most importantly getting some glasses and a bottle of the 10.2% Matt Black Stout to toast its arrival. Cheers !! Still loads to unwrap but that's enough for today - I need to do some other bits and pieces

We got it through the hedge fine and then down the path between the two lawns, but we thought it safer to do the leapfrogging plywood trick alongside the house - I'dedisconnected the gas supply and moved the cylinders but the connection to the house was a bit proud and the house is built of stone and lumps of flint that also protrude.

@Paul - Ha the first cook is a little way off yet. So we extended the ramp with some ply and supported it underneath with concrete slabs. Once I'd knocked the central box to bits and unsecured / crowbarred off the bits of wood restraining the feet it started to move a bit. We put a rope around the KK and tied the other end to Mrs RD as we gently manoeuvred it down the slope we'd made. Any one else find this a bit scary ??

Progressing nicely. Everything unpacked from the crate now. Baking stones etc in there garage. Did start to worry - thinking how is everything I ordered going to fit in here - have they forgotten the tables ? Of course they hadn't ! It's on a double pallet, so going to have to make a secondary ramp. It's not going to be slid off like this !

Haaa ! I did go out with the torch last night and I can see it from the bedroom window, so I am having a nice cup of tea with Mrs RokDok. I am going to savour the next couple of hours.

Thanks @jonjJon, I am just tucking into an adult beverage at the moment ( I love Tony's term) and am just going outside with a torch to check it's still there. Sunrise is at 7.08 tomorrow.