remi

Pork butt here last night - 8.5hrs at 300F, hickory pellets in the KK smoker attachment, homemade rub. Served in fluffy white buns, with coleslaw, and salads, pickles and sauces on the side… rack of ribs for a pre dinner snack. 
 

On 10/19/2023 at 1:55 AM, Cheesehead_Griller said:

First off, keep it covered. That seems to be the most detrimental for the grout/tiles. Moisture gets behind or under the tiles and the freezes. Not good. 

As for cooking in the cold, I've cooked in -20F last year. No problem. I had an icicle   forming from the condensation coming out of my bottom vent. Lol.  In the winter I look most forward to using my KK. Nothing better than firing up the KK for an overnight cook during a wicked snow storm. Note, I do have my KK under a covered porch. 

I live in Melbourne, where the weather is generally mild, and it never freezes. As such I've chosen to keep my KK uncovered... the tiles and grout look as fresh as they did 2.5 years ago. My outdoor area, and our pool also have tiles and grout after all.

My issue with BBQ covers is that they inevitably get dusty, and also potentially full of spider webs etc. Given their large and floppy nature, they are not always so straight forward to wipe clean- and with the folds/ creases that form, rain often doesn't wash the cover clean completely. My KK gets a bit dusty if it hasn't rained for a bit, but then is sparkling clean after a good downpour! Also- our KK sits right outside our kitchen window, and I prefer looking at the KK than a cover!

I also wonder whether the few issues that people occasionally have with mould in their KK could be influenced by putting a cover over the KK, which I presume would limit airflow through the open vents to some degree? 

Been awhile between roadside chickens! Shouldn’t have waited so long. Served open on Greek pitas, whipped up some tzatziki, salad, pickles, smear of humus and drizzle of chilli. What a dinner!

Had friends round to dinner- ended up also being a watching party to see the Matilda’s beat France in the women’s soccer World Cup quarter final. What a night.

11lb brisket, 10hrs at 275, post oak chunks and meat church holy cow. 2hr rest. Espresso BBq sauce, horseradish cream sauce, spicy salsa, smashed roast potatoes, coleslaw, salad, beer, wine, adrenaline…

2 hours ago, C6Bill said:

Chicken yesterday so steak today, reverse seared. Cooked at 245 until at IT of 112, it carried over to 122. Then seared 😁 I too was too busy eating to take a plated pic lol @tekobo

 

 

That's a steak!

Haven’t posted a dinner for awhile, so here goes.

On the veg side: asparagus (lemon, olive oil, salt pepper), butternut pumpkin/squash (olive oil salt pepper), whole eggplant, corn on the cob in the husk

For meats: simple beef sausages for the kids, cevapcicci, pork loin (whole grain mustard, garlic, honey, salt and pepper marinade), lamb fillet (olive oil, salt pepper and rosemary).

KK wide open with a half basket split, mix of direct and indirect zones.

winner!

Remember being there very briefly in 1996- we were meant to stay a night or two, but changed our minds and headed back to HK!

Competition and looks aside, I was under the impression that a smoke ring has little/ nothing to do with the smoke flavour?

The KK has been quiet for a couple of months as we were travelling for 6 weeks, and prior to that clearing the freezer of leftovers to leave some space for the house sitter…

Finally had a chance to fire it up today for Mother’s Day- my partner loves a scotch fillet steak, so I made her surf and turf with prawns done in a cast iron pan with chilli, garlic, parsley and shed loads of butter. A great success!

7 hours ago, David Chang said:

the dish is "hainan" but it's more common in thailand, malaysia and singapore. and the main attraction is the chicken, but what i think is even better is the rice. it's cooked in broth and chicken fat. you can eat this rice alone with nothing else and walk away happy..

Will be in Singapore in 4 weeks from today- can't wait for a few goods serves of Hainanese Chicken Rice!

Pretty sure Basher was just impressed with the gargantuan amount of pork relative to slaw, and wasn't asking for exact proportions!

18 hours ago, tony b said:

Is yours a powder or a paste? I ask because of the labelling difference (yours says "stock" and mine doesn't) and it's in a tub; mines in a pouch. No substantive difference really, just a curiosity on my part.

Powder...and they call it 'stock and seasoning'. Curiously the ingredients list looks the same as from the link you posted.

7 hours ago, tony b said:

@remi - cool. I've just been buying the seasoning. Didn't know they made a bouillon?

It did make the "crack" list, after all!  

Looking at the ingredient list, and the fact that mine is labelled stock/ seasoning, and the fact that the sodium per gram is identical, I think it may be one and the same.

How funny- that’s the stuff I’ve been buying for at least 20 years, and is what we use for every dish that calls for ‘stock’, unless we happen to have fresh stock on hand of course. It is very yellow…

With the wife and kids out of town, decided on a boys bbq/ beers/ movies night.

Knocked out a 15lb brisket, given that I was at work during the day, with no one else home, I had to do it hot and fast from the morning. Cooked at 350F with post oak chunks for a bit over 6 hours, had powered through to 204F by the time I got home, so I wrapped in butcher paper and foil, and rested in the cooler for 4hrs. Bark ended up quite thick, but the brisket was still plenty juicy, and appreciated by the boys. By far the fastest brisket I’ve done, and you know what- it was still very good.

Ha- figured as much, which is why the 3 times I've made this, I've used 2 chickens!

Spun chickens al la Troble, green sauce, smashed potatoes, green papaya salad… forgot the plated pic. Happy guests!

At our house, we celebrate Christmas Eve as the main event. And being in Australia, that makes us a fair way before most of your timetables!

To make it spectacular, I decided on my first prime rib roast. 3 points. Salt and pepper only. Just under 3hrs at 250F, pulled at rare. Rested 40min. Reverse sear 2min x 5 sides of the roast. Served with horseradish sauce, roast potatoes, salad with candied walnuts and cranberries for the festive spirit. The other main dish was baked salmon with tahini and pomegranate. Aussie oysters and prawns to start.

Heaven.

Merry Christmas !!

Remi

Had our old neighbours round to our new house for pool and pizzas tonight on the KK.

- classic Margherita 

- potato, olive, basil and truffle oil

- potato, thyme and gruyere

- spicy pork sausage with broccili

- ham and cheese for the kids

Forgot to take photos of most of them in the craziness- but here’s a couple.

Remi

Sunday lunch also a major success- pork butt rubbed with 5 Monkeys rub, cooked at 250F for 11.5hrs, pork ribs for 5 hours (including 1hr in foil).

Vinegar based and also espresso BBQ sauces, pickles, coleslaw, white buns and habanero hot sauce. My brothers were feeling a little ‘dusty’ this morning after last night’s fun; suffice to say lunch made them feel a whole lot better.

Both of my brothers and their wives are staying with us this weekend- given restrictions in Australia over the last 2 years this is the first time any of them have had a KK experience.

A large bag of meat was picked up today…

Bistecca Fiorentina was on the menu tonight, with a spicy green apple (papaya) style salad.

Ribs and pork butt coming up for Sunday lunch, I may never need to eat again.

In honour of our brisket discussions, I cooked a brisket. Angus, 6kg, trimmed 500gram or so. Meat church holy cow. Overnight at 250F with Post Oak wood chunks. First time ever I woke at 7am to find the fire had gone out; it all burnt into one corner and extinguished- bizarre! Temp log showed a slow and steady increase to 42 degrees Celsius internal over 8hrs with no further temp increase- so figured no harm done. Cranked it back up and a bit hotter - 300/325F to finish in time. Wrapped at 75C, pulled off at 95C after a total cook time of 12.5hrs. Rested 5 hours in a cooler.

Don’t know what it was (post oak; bizarro temp management; longer rest than usual)- but hands down the best of the briskets I’ve done (and the others were all very good). Plated up with horseradish cream, spicy salsa, coleslaw and smashed roast potatoes. Heaven. My mate who came over for dinner said it was the best brisket he has ever had anywhere hands down.

15 hours ago, KK787 said:

I’ve cooked other things and have applied lessons learned to this cook as well.  The 15 hour wet oven rest worked great.  Harry Soo’s method of wood use - excellent - have used it for many cooks - much easier and way better smoke than the kettle method used by 99% of the people here as stated in another post. The use of a little water keeps my drip pan from burning fat which is a flavor I did not desire to have for this particular cook.  Two or three spritzes during a 9 hour cook helps prevent an overdone bark - what’s the big woop?  I do what is needed for a particular cook.  My next brisket, I will try my weber heat deflector trick which will allow rendered fat to reach the fire and see what taste profile that yields.   I chuckle when I here 99% of the people here don’t do that.  There are so many new techniques being discovered out there.  I certainly hope the 99% don’t miss out.  
 

 

I'm curious- isn't rendered fat reaching the fire and burning the same profile as rendered fat hitting the drip tray and burning? And if not- why not?

My next brisket is tomorrow- planning on 250 overnight (touch higher than last time), using post oak chunks (first time using those). So will see what we get- safe in the knowledge that it will be very good. But as to what differences I perceive- until I've done 100+ briskets, I doubt I'd be able to tease out the effect of any or all of these variables (ambient temp, ambient humidity, wind conditions on my deck, dryness or otherwise of my wood chunks, particular characteristics of the cow etc etc etc etc)... to say nothing of the extra steps in your method above.

41 minutes ago, KK787 said:

Thanks for your reply’s.  Mad Scientist BBQ did the white smoke research based on his own testing and secrets shared from other pit masters he works with. Dennis also agrees their findings.  Other cooks that use Komodo style grills (smoking dad bbq)  have done blind tests where they found spritzing and a water pan improved their results.  Adding water also keeps my drip pan from burning.  I've been pleased with the results with beef ribs and pork butts.  For chicken and turkeys, I use a square perforated Weber roasting pan as a heat deflector. It fits perfectly between the coal basket handles on a 23.  It deflects enough heat and allows the rendered fat to reach the fire which gives incredible flavor to poultry.  The meat was a Costco Prime and yes, 5 pounds was trimmed off a 15 pound brisket. 

I think that compared to other styles of Kamado, the KK retains more moisture- which is why many users here don't worry about a water pan when smoking brisket or pork. I guess the main thing is that you cooked one brisket and liked the results, so you will likely do the same next time.

Personally, I've cooked 5-6 briskets now, and done something different each time (low/ slow vs hot/ fast,  wood chunks in the basket for smoking vs hot/cold KK smoke attachment, Angus vs Wagyu- and various combinations there of). All of them were great- seems to be a pretty forgiving cut of meat when cooked on the KK...

I'm assuming he means that his experience with it proves that it is essential... I seriously doubt there is any real scientific info out there (you would need a double blind taste/ texture test with at least 20-30 identical briskets in each group, all cooked on a KK of the same size with identical charcoal/ smoking woods/ temps... and as fun as that experiment would be, it ain't gonna happen).