remi

Thanks- so would you remove/ disassemble the basket splitter when cooking pizza? I honestly thought 50% split with it filled up would have been sufficient. Still had leftover charcoal in there after the cooking session- despite being unable to nudge the temp any higher than 400…

Hi all, I've just done my second round of pizzas, which although yummy, were cooked at only 400F. I has this temp trouble last time as well. On this occasion, I was more aggressive with the weed burner, and lit multiple spots in the charcoal basket- top gasket wide open/ bottom vent wide open and pulled out. Had a roaring fire with flames shooting up from the coals (using the basket splitter in the 32" BB with the basket set at 50%). Within 15-20min I was approaching 400F, so decided to put in top grate/ pizza stone to give them a proper 1hr+ time to heat soak. But from that point on, despite the top and bottom staying wide open, I never got the dome temp above 400F. Pizzas took 15min+ to cook, so have no reason to believe the temp was any higher- but at this cooking time and temp, no great advantage over using my oven... So- what should I change next time? Do I need a full basket (no splitter) to achieve 500F with a pizza stone in a 32"BB? Or should I only put in the stone/ top grate once I'm already at 500F dome? Appreciate any tips Thanks Remi

Pizzas here again for a Friday night- ham/ cheese for the kids; puttanesca with anchovy/olive/capers chilli; mushroom/thyme/garlic/fior di latte for us. Very yummy- but still having some trouble cranking the heat- will post a separate thread...

Sensational- what a great meal!

Keeping with my theme of trying something different each time; KK dinner number 5 was tandoori leg of lamb. Around 2.7kg. Took 2 hrs at 400F to get to medium rare. Served with raita, pickles, rice, homemade naan and mango hot sauce al la Steve R. Wife claims this one was the best yet- although the other 4 were mind-blowingly good. God I love this thing!

That crane shot is amazing- congrats!

Tonight- Bistecca Fiorentina. My first attempt at a slow cooked reverse sear steak. Around 1.1kg. Simple salt and pepper seasoning. 225F for 1hr 40min until internal temp was just about 50C; cranked up the heat while the steak rested for 20min. 5min sear on each side (2min 30sec x4 with 90 degree rotations), 54C when I pulled it off. Few foil baked potatoes (in the KK for the whole cooking time), simple salad and chimichurri. Best steak I've ever made at home bar none- no contest. Flavour, crust, and even a smoke ring despite no wood chunks/ chips etc. I am amazed- four very different meals/ meats/ cooking styles thus far, and all of them ridiculously good....

Today- first attempt at pork butt. Bone in; 4 Monkey's pork rub (and a little drink for me while preparing the butt); 9 hrs at 300F/150C. Some peach wood chunks. Served with simple coleslaw, Carolina Gold mustard based sauce and simple buns. Sublime- can't believe how good it was...

Amazing- Matte Black Tile for the win!

That sounds amazing. Love me some Marris Otter; TT Landlord clone is my next brew in the pipeline. If our government ever releases us again, I'll be keen to visit!

Oh so close... if only you'd gone for Matt Black Tile😉

Tonight- brioche burgers with brisket burnt ends, BBQ sauce, home made dill pickle, bit of salad. Heaven.

Well- had my first attempt at proper bbq today; and it was not exactly straightforward! Decided a brisket would be the way to go to properly christen my new 32" BB. Picked one up yesterday- on the small side at 2.7kg (6lb), and more point than flat. The wife convinced me not to go straight to an overnight session the first time before I knew what I was doing (wise woman), and given the smaller cut I planned on a hot/fast brisket instead at around 150c (300F). Very cold here this morning, and my first attempt at lighting a small piece of charcoal resulted in me coming to find the fire out completely 20min later- and I had only 40min until I needed to leave for work for a few hours... Got a bit more aggressive with the weed burner, still only lighting a small tennis ball size piece. Got the racks in, foil pouch with mesquite pellets, had covered the brisket with Meat Church Holy Cow. Set my top to where I had thought 300F roughly was based on my burn it- and left the wife in charge for a couple of hours. She checked on it diligently and sent photos of the dome temps, but within 30min it was clear that it needed to be throttled back majorly- as a result it was quite a hot/fast brisket; although it was at 300F to start with, much of the rest of time was spent at 350-400F. The smoke in the first hour was EPIC; lucky no neighbours called the fire department. I had only opened up 1/4 turn after just touching the gasket; but as mentioned previously I still have a full 1/4 turn of feeling gasket before I get to properly closed- so in reality I was probably 1/2 open or perhaps even a touch more. Live and learn. Total cooking time was 6.5hrs, wrapped at 170F/ 75C at around the 3.5hr mark. Rested 3hrs in cooler before slicing. Given the pace I had resigned myself to a tough overdone brisket. Couldn't have been more wrong- it was sooooo good. Tender, melt in the mouth, super smoky. Best bbq I've ever done that's for sure, and that in the context of largely stuffing it up! Served Project Smoke taco style for tonight given that I had the ingredients at home already. Perhaps brioche burgers tomorrow with burnt ends and a nice bbq sauce. Thanks for all the tips and advice. It's a great forum.

Amazing! And here I am stressed about my first brisket...

The other consideration I just thought of was the hot-cold smoker attachment. I imagine it would be better to have the indirect side on the right of the KK to be closer to the output of the smoker? So perhaps still with coals generally on the left, indirect side on the right- and if wanting to utilise two-zone cooking (for a reverse sear for example), then use the flipped over half main grate as suggested...

Thanks Tony- yes, I understand all of that. What was interesting was that after the stone was added in (even after being in there for 45min), I never got a dome reading above 400F. When I noted that first time around and pulled the stone back out just for interest, the temp rebounded from 400F to 500F dome very fast (barely a minute or two)- but then when stone was replaced I was down at 400F and stayed there for the rest of the cooking time even with top and bottom vents essentially wide open. So for next time around- it sounds like it may be better for the stone to be there from very early on in the heat up phase, such that it heat soaks at the same time as the KK. My only concern with that approach is that I had read posts from other users who found they were unable to get the KK up to 500F+ pizza temps if the stone was in place from the beginning.

Yeah- had the stone in there for 50min before putting the pizzas on...the dome temperature behaviour still has me a bit confused, but pizzas were great so no big issue that's for sure.

So- did a long burn in today, and maiden pizza to use the heat. Great success. A couple of questions arising from the day- 1. We talk of 'just off the gasket' for the top vent setting. I can feel the gasket friction for 90 degrees of turn from fully closed (but not over-tight) until I lose the feel of the gasket. So when people talk about 'a quarter turn open', are they generally referring to a 1/4 turn from fully closed, or a 1/4 turn from the point where you no longer feel any gasket friction at all. My sense was that this 90 degrees from fully closed position (just when I lose the friction) will be about right for my low and slow cooking. 2. I had the grill burning for around 9 hours, but as I had to go get the kids from school, I left it at around 400F prior to going for 500F for the 1-2 hour burn in. It would have sat at 400F a good couple of hours, so very well heat soaked- and when I got home, I put in the main and top grate and pizza stone and opened the top to 1.5 turns and the bottom a full 1/4 open (this setting had me shoot up to 500F previously)- but with the stone in place, it would not budge above 400F. I took the stone out- and within less than 5min was seeing >500F at the dome. Put the stone back in- 400F! Given how quickly it shot back up to 500F without the stone in place- am I right in thinking that the actual temp was closer to 500F all along, but shielding of the thermometer resulted in a falsely low reading? Certainly had solvent smell throughout... And the obligatory photos of the first dinner from the KK... Ham and cheese for the kids; pork/fennel sausage broccolini and chilli; salmon capers and spinach; and classic Margherita for us!

Thanks- yes, that's how I've arranged mine... wasn't sure whether the indents on the flat pieces should line up with the charcoal basket sides, or the edge of the vertical slider. Burn in commenced!

Thanks- yes, have seen that video- but as mentioned the pieces look different now. The vertical splitter wall is not a flat piece of steel, but scolloped in shape; and am trying to work out which way it is meant to face to lock in the splitter pieces most efficiently... I'll take a photo later.

Thanks guys- my splitter pieces are different from those in Dennis' 32" BB video- so just want to make sure I'm orienting them the right way... Waygu burgers sounding pretty good alimac!

Also- if anyone could clarify exactly which way the basket splitter pieces fit together (orientation of the vertical baffle scalloped side etc), I'd appreciate it. I can see how it generally goes together... but would appreciate nailing the details

Yep- today was the day. Our builder came by with his sons- had it ramped up and off the base no troubles at all. Into position and all unpacked; bit late to contemplate cooking, but thinking about burn in and pizzas tomorrow...

Having had a better look- I now see that the little surrounds around the feet can be separated from the flat square that they sit on; I had thought it was all one piece, hence my question. Thanks Tony- yes, I'd gathered that the box underneath can be easily destroyed, but was confused about the feet pieces..

Progress... One thing I would be happy to have some clarification about (not clear from the manual or videos posted)- how do you remove the wooden supports that the 4 feet sit on? Manual says to crowbar them off, but as the KK's weight seems to be on them, I'm not sure how that is meant to work?