remi

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.

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.

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).

Wagyu Brisket here- my parents were in town so it was time to show off the KK…

Lovely- and I particularly love the Rose Barry; sounds like a herb that would do well in Australia!😉

Found out last night that the father in law was coming round for dinner today. Ducked out at 8pm and bought a 2kg pork shoulder and a small cabbage. Home made rub, 8.5hrs at 250 with Apple wood chunks (bit hotter when wrapped to get it sorted), made some coleslaw. Dinner sorted, everyone happy (like always with the KK).

Yes- sorry, didn't realise your rod had two square ends- because the hex end isn't an additional part as such... Having said that, I can't tell from your first photo whether you have just screwed the cylinder/ nut fitting into the hex end by mistake? Or does yours have two square ends?

Looks like you are all good- round cylinder/ nut in the spring loaded end; allowing you to slot the other end on the motor side

Looks good Troble. Made your roti chicken tonight with green crack sauce, smashed roast potatoes and green papaya salad for some extra funk and spice (actually made with green Granny Smith apples instead). So so good IMG_4377.MOV

Pizza night here- first time in quite awhile. Ham/cheese for the kids; and four varieties for us: - classic margherita with buffalo mozzarella - potato/ mushroom/ truffle oil and thyme - chorizo/ brocollini/ chilli - anchovy/ capers/ chilli Happiness!

Meanwhile here, finally took the plunge on my first overnight cooking session. Black Angus brisket, 5.1kg (11 pound). Convinced the wife that an overnight cook was a better option as otherwise would’ve been a hot and fast session all day to get it done, with much smoke. So I decided that a year in to my KK experience, that I knew (enough) what I was doing. Lit the KK at 9:30pm, giving myself a couple of hours to be close enough to 220. Was worried that I’d end up hotter, so leant on the conservative side. Trimmed and rubbed with Meat Church Holy Cow. On at 11:30pm. I was so stressed that I barely slept- kept dreaming of coming to the KK at 3/4am and finding 400f, and things done… obviously got to sleep eventually. Checked at 6am; 200F, stalled at 140F. Cracked the damper a bit; my little boy (who usually wakes the house up) slept in till 8am bless him… 220F; 145F on the brisket. Let it coast through the stall. Wrapped at 12.5hrs/ 170F. Cranked the KK to 300F to help grill some simple snags and burgers for the kids. Pulled brisket off after 19hrs of cooking. 2hr rest. Served with roast potatoes, horseradish cream and spicy salsa. Beyond delicious… not sure if it was the low/slow (previous have been also amazing but hot/fast), or maybe it was the new butcher…either way. Another win for the KK…

Hey- we have Costco too!

Headed to the butcher today, hoping to pull some pork. No Boston butt available, so bought a 1.2kg pork neck instead. Made up a rub, cooked at 230F for 8hrs, wrapped in foil from 6hrs. 2 hour rest. Homemade pickles and coleslaw, bap rolls. So much smoke flavour, very impressed.

Yep- sure was! That pichana looks amazing.

Birthday dinner here tonight- grass fed eye fillet, with asparagus and cherry tomatoes blackened on the KK. Rum and raisin white chocolate cheese cake to follow. I was a happy birthday boy that’s for sure.

Agree- I make them all the time. But without the molds it is too painful...

Day 6 of COVID called for a Porchetta here tonight- around 1.5kg, so all done in an hour or just over at 400f. Sliced and served in milk buns with some Dijon, pickled fennel, salad and pickles. Good times. IMG_4254.MOV

Happiness is- a simple dinner on the KK. Scotch fillet steak, some charred pumpkin, brioche buns and salad. Lower grate, hot.

I note in the listing that they wrote 'Komodo Kamada'- hope that doesn't give them an out....

Easter with the family here- so for the adults I prepared Bistecca Fiorentina; each of the steaks weighed 1kg. Indirect and then reverse sear, few pear wood chunks. Served with smashed roast potatoes and a classic caramelised pear/rocket/Parmesan salad. Happy days…

Ha- the fence is already covered with enough children’s fingerprints that it will be only too visible! And don’t worry- the brewery is all intact, just need to re-configure the new garage a bit and get it into place. Had the foresight to brew just before the move so am fine for beer for awhile…

After 6 weeks KK free, I've finally managed to get the 32BB into position at our new house... Our movers were great, but the KK caused some serious dramas when the weight of it put their truck off-camber in the narrow laneway access to our garage; resulting in them being stuck fast half way down and having to push it the rest of the way while the guys in the front of the cab had to get out through a window and walk around the block! Wish I'd taken photos. Couldn't get into final position as a section of pool fence had to come out... so this morning had my builder and a few of his crew around to get the pool fence off (and later back on), and then some grunt to get it over a step and some grass. He'd clearly forgotten the mass of the thing and bought some thin plywood sheet which gave way- the morning was saved by a section of steel from the basket splitter which did the job the plywood couldn't. Now in final position, so i can rest easy. Thinking of a porchetta for Easter! Been great checking out all the amazing meals here in the interim, looking forward to getting back in the game... Remi

But of interest, other than NY and LA- no other US cities have a population as big as Melbourne's!