CaptMorg82

QFC, one of our grocery stores around here (Kroger), carries some Berkshire Kurobuta pork chops. I think most people don’t realize how good they are. Often I’ll find them on close out because they are reaching their sell by date and the store is trying to get rid of them. Sometimes the cut isn’t all that great and they aren’t worth it. But these were excellent cuts. Got them for $12 a piece. They turned out to be the best piece of pork I’ve ever had. I marinated them for about 5-6 hrs in Kinder’s Teriyaki with sesame and ginger. Glazed them a bit at the end of the cook which was done on indirect at about 275F, then once they reached about 130F internal I turned up the heat and placed them on the hot side direct to get a little char. Then placed them back on the indirect side abd brushed more sauce on and let glaze. Pulled them off at 142F internal and let rest. Talk about meat candy. Found an excellent seasonal beer also. Great flavor with the spices and orange peel it was brewed with. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had success with a much smaller turkey of 14 lbs. Even with the forks cinched tight, and some butcher twine tying up legs and wings, there was still some movement while turning. This got a lot better once it cooked a bit and the skin tightened up. It wasn't that the forks weren't doing there job. It is just that there is a lot of mass beyond the radius of the forks around the spit. And it's soft tissue mass so gravity makes it sag as it rotates around. This effect will likely be enhanced on your massive bird. I would guess that you can mitigate it though if you use a lot of butcher twine and tie things up very snugly. But even then I believe you will see shifting/sagging. I don't think you should have a problem with the turkey falling into the fire though. One thing to really make sure is that your spit is set for the right length so it doesn't pop out of the hole. I actually had that happen and had to lengthen the spring loaded end to fit more snugly. Then no issues after that.

I saw some Grade A scallops at Costco for over $30/lb I think. I'm not sure that's apples to apples since I'm not sure on the details on where they originated from but they looked pretty good.

40th birthday brisket. First time really cooking for more than just my wife and I. The brisket came out excellent and everyone really enjoyed it. Got enough seasoning on it this time for a very flavorful bark and went fat side up (Costco USDA Prime). I think I prefer it that way so you get a nice undisturbed fat layer that presents well. This cooked a lot quicker than I thought it would so I blew through the wrap stage while I was sleeping. Bonus though as it was done a lot earlier and was able to carve it up for lunch rather than dinner. It resulted in some spots of the bark getting a bit tough as you can see by the pieces lying in the forefront but it wasn't much of a problem at all. Just advice if you ever do the candles. You gotta be quick! The candles were melting in the meat lol. And my other vice....watches. The Navy Exchange had a big sale so we picked up the Cherry Red dial Oris Aquis as a 40th birthday memento. Can't stop looking at the dial when in sunlight.... -Nick

I kept mine pretty simple but turned out really good. Just a kosher salt and brown sugar wet brine for roughly 18hrs or so. Threw in a bunch of garlic sage and thyme as well but not sure that had much effect on flavor. I'll have to consider the air drying step in the future and see if that makes a difference. The turkey was shifting around a bit on the rotisserie at first but as the skin browned and tightened up, the bird rotated smoothly. The brine made for very tender and moist breast meat. Everyone was very thought it tasted great. I thought for sure it was dried out with how the skin split and breast was pulling away from the bone but as mentioned the meat was still very moist. Pulled it off with an internal breast temp of 167 deg....A little later than planned but caught it in time before getting overcooked. Not quite done yet: Ready to take it off:

Nice color choice! Congrats on your purchase. You'll really enjoy smoking/grilling/baking on something with as much thermal mass as these have. It really keeps things stable.

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Been trying to find some dino ribs for awhile and came across some USDA Choice ones from Costco. Just used some Meat Church Holy Cow and added a couple post oak chunks to the basket. It was in the low 40s today and noticed a pretty big difference in how much more I needed to open up the vents to keep temp. Wanted to cook them at about 275F but let it stay around 230F so I didn’t have to open things up too much. Maybe took a little longer to cook but they actually finished right on time for dinner (allowing to sit for a while of course). Wow, they were awesome. I get the hype behind Dino ribs now. I thought Choice was plenty juicy with fat. I think any more would have been too much and won’t be seeking a higher rated cut in the future. They were so rich. No shots of them on the grill but I do have the end product. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Funny you noticed that. We live on a very steep slope here close to Puget Sound. (which made unloading the KK very scary!). The short fence was actually a concern to me when they brought up the ground just a bit to level the area some. I thought might look odd to have a bit of a short fence. But it is actually really nice. It's easy to see over the fence to the west where we get beautiful sunsets over the Olympic Mts and Puget Sound but with the neighbors being so much lower, both parties still get privacy from it. The deck above enhances that view even more. That is all new as well.

After waiting like 14 weeks for the cabinets, then another month for the countertop, the transformation is completed! Not really a full outdoor kitchen but it has electrical and a fridge. I didn’t even want to get started with what plumbing would have added to the cost. I tell you, contractor prices are astronomical. I am done spending! Except meat and fuel [emoji2]. Very happy with the results though and looking forward to entertaining. Unfortunately it’s done just in time for the rainy winter here in the PNW. But that’s why I had an under deck rain system installed. Hoping to maximize the year round use of the KK. Also going to be a lot better with countertop space and cabinet storage. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I could see with doing a turkey it would take longer to cook and use up the charcoal. With all grates out, it should be pretty easy to monitor that and add some lump as needed. Or, rig up something that is a bit deeper and can hold more lump. I've only tried the rotisserie once so I'm learning as well. I was thinking about trying to use some of the splitter pieces also to create a wall. But haven't thought too much about how yet.

I used an disposable aluminum baking tray which had a bit more structural strength when I did a chicken on the rotisserie (32"). That worked well. I don't see a reason it would work for a turkey also. You could probably bend it in half to give you a deeper wall for the charcoal. And then further seal off any gaps that you want with foil.

Please come help! I don't need to die of a heart attack on my upcoming 40th birthday 😆

Taking advantage of the never ending summer here in the PNW before rain moves in this weekend. All about pork. A no wrap pork butt for the first time. I was interested in seeing how good the moisture retention was without wrapping. Overall it tasted excellent. Bark a bit tough if you get a big piece of it but not something I mind. Also tried some pork belly for the first time. Made burnt ends out of it. While the flavor is very good, they weren’t quit melt in your mouth. I just smoked open the whole time and then carmelized at the end. I missed the step where I was supposed to place in a tray and cover with a stick and a half of butter and brown sugar. Still good though just a little tougher. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does the rotisserie fit under there? Or does it have to be removed for the rotisserie motor to be mounted?

I think this is a great idea....makes it a nice clean fit into a BBQ island or outdoor kitchen. I'm currently waiting on some outdoor cabinets from Naturekast to install with a granite countertop. I initially wanted to integrate the KK into the countertop and was going to just have a big square hole to roll it into. But with space considerations and other factors I'm going to have the KK off to the side from the BBQ island. This would have been a nice clean look and gotten rid of the gap that would have been around the grill. That being said, the cabinets are only 24" in depth and these look like they are quite a bit longer. It would be an awkward fit. But if someone were to plan the set-up with the teak inserts in mind it could work.

Just remember, lump charcoal can be reused. So if starting with a full basket for a short cook, just close off the vents and use the remaining coal next time. Even stuff that was lit can be used again. That's why people recommend almost always just starting with a full basket. It's just easier to have it and not need it rather than try to refill on the fly. I would imagine you'll get more consistency in temps too rather than changing the basket size all the time. I've seen recommendations that if you want to do low and slow, just light one spot. If you are looking to do higher temp baking/searing then light two spots and get more charcoal going. I'm also a new KK owner so I'm getting things down myself but that's what I've gleaned from lurking around the forum for awhile.

I just purchased the Blink (Amazon) doorbell and two outdoor cameras for my driveway and patio (KK). They are on a really good sale right now for Prime Day. I got the whole set-up for about $105 before tax. I'm sure they aren't the best but for the price, it's nice to have some basic security monitoring. They still do have nice features like being able to disable motion detecting for sectors of the picture in case you have a busy road or something you don't want triggering it every time a car goes by. It also has local storage if you don't want the cloud service. I haven't purchased a USB drive yet to try that out.

Good tip on using bigs for the bottom then smaller ones on top. That's one of the things I've been trying to improve because I've had trouble with the smalls clogging up airflow and then it seems like I need the vents open too much to get the temps I'm trying to get. I was wondering how to employ the smalls so they wouldn't just go to waste.

Dennis do you use a warming drawer for that long of a rest? Or does it maintain a hot enough temp in a cooler to be safe to eat?

No worries, yes it's square on both ends. Working with some of Dennis' customer service reps on getting it sorted out. Seems like another case of growing pains at the new warehouse in Las Vegas and they grabbed the wrong one.

Sounds like at some point there was a change. The website has both options...the square one for older KKs. "32" Big Bad 3/8" SS Rotisserie Spit w/ Center and outside Forks (Old/Square) These are for older Komodos.. current grills are all Hex in the sockets."

The money shot:

Ah, yes that's helpful, thank you! I finally see an image of what the end should look like. I believe I might have been sent the older rotisserie model and not the "hex" model. My spit is a square without any hex on the end.

Is the other end just supposed to be the square spit with a the screw hole for the pointed piece? Nothing attached? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk