David Chang

a guest of mine asked for grilled chicken ass. i never refuse a challenge.. and grilled picanha for the first time today . it was delicious..

recipe here: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-hot-dog-buns-recipe i used milk instead of water. whole wheat flour instead of ap. whole wheat levain. no potato flour. no powdered milk. shaping could have been better. first time making these as hot dog buns are impossible to find in hong kong. upper grate. no stone. 350 was target temp. 20 min bake time. 25 min actual. had the kk at 365 but once i put in the loaf, temp floated around 335-340. maybe my sheet pan obstructed air flow, or the fact i used half a basket of charcoal. added extra 5 min in bake time as i undershot the target temp.

yeah i have some cast iron, but i prefer (or spoiled) by the lightweight agility of carbon steel. the smallest finex cast iron sauce pot i have is as heavy as the largest carbon steel roasters by blanc. yeah they are expensive, but my regret is not buying quality pans early in my life. i must have spent more $ on garbage pans and knives in my past than all the cs pans i've bought recently.

yeah that was why i asked how to setup coals for a rotisserie if kk charcoal splitters run vertically. i usually bank coals along the spit, and the splitter plate is just enough to do that, even if it's only holding on one side.

this is a carbon steel roasting pan made by blanc creatives. i was introduced to them from Clive, the wood fired oven chef. he's the guy who inspired me to get a pizza oven and cook various kinds of high temperature foods...

Roasted squab on the KK. First run on the rotisserie. This dish is very popular in Hk restaurants and with my in-laws. I don't eat squab, but I will cook it on the kamado if the occasion arises. If you've never had squab, it's all dark meat, very juicy due to the high fat content in the skin. But kind of gamey. The recipe is a marinade of dark and light soy sauce, salt, sugar, sesame oil, chicken powder, corn starch. No measurements, just eyeball and adjust to taste. Clean the squab and let it marinade overnight. Roast it like chicken. 400f+ You can add smoke, but I didn't.

Gambas al Ajillo recipe from the Wood Fired Oven Chef https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH7pwIM9tiQ

@tekobo yeah, a 32 for me would need to be in my forever home and setup on the ground floor. i live in a rental and grill on the roof. i would be nevous to live under the weight of a 32..

second cook on the 19 kk. first time splitting the charcoal basket and cooking dual zone. i pretty much maxed out the grill space and in the back of my mind i think i will probably get a 32 😄 tandoori chicken. i am shocked how this pretty much tasted like restaurant quality. at times the skin tasted fried with garam masala. palek paneer. first time cooking this. fantastic naan dip. naan made from scratch.

@Poochie try the recipe in the video. it's pretty easy.

made mine stuffed with cheese today. recipe from one of my favourite yt channels…

i really want to get the same results using residual heat in the kk. seems like a waste to heat up a grill and just cook one thing and not finish or start off with a bread bake. when using my home oven, i turn convection off. the fan doesn't do anything when baking in a dutch oven or ceramic cloche. if your oven temp is off by alot, use your grill thermometer and adjust oven dial with using the reading from the external thermometer.

@C6Billwhich oven are you using?

maybe. it was left out room temp overnight after stretch and fold. and cold retard in the fridge for another 8 hours. and two more hours room temp before baking. i noticed the final form did not fill the basket, which it has done in the past. this one was proofed and baked the same way with my home oven and ceramic cloche. but the temp was consistently higher. i think i need to set the kk to 550 to compensate for the loss in temp once ice drops...

im eating this for breakfast and its underbaked and a little gummy, but edible. still don’t understand the tilted rise. maybe part of the side was dried out during CT. checked the charcoal basket this morning, and definitely not enough charcoal to maintain heat.

this was my first sourdough on the kk. i hit around 475 on the upper grate when placing the loaf in. i threw in about 3/4 of a tall glass of ice on the main grate and down the drip tray. lots of steam for the first few minutes, then nothing. dome temp dropped to around 400f and when climbing back, maxed around 450. basically pulled the bottom vent drawer out and top vent open to maintain this. my bad for cooking with left lover coals from tonights chicken dinner but i was hoping for hotter temps and not struggle to maintain 500. i don’t know why the rise was so tilted. was it from excessive steam? this never happens when i use my bread cloche. the bread internal temp was done at over 200f, but the bottom looks under cooked, and that probably meant my stone wasn’t hot enough and i didn’t bother taking out my ir gun to measure stone temp. judging by the flat top, there may be some collapsed pockets inside. not my best loaf by far, and i’m completely out of my comfort zone when it comes to live fire bread baking. will post the crumbs once its cool enough to slice.

@Poochie it is widely available here frozen, but i have never tried it fresh. i would think it would cost double.

smoked iberico baby back ribs. first time doing a bbq type food on the kk.

i am planning to bake my first sourdough on the 19 kk this week. just to run through what i need to do and please correct me if i'm wrong. 1. preheat kk to 500f with drip tray on main grate level and upper grate with stone. 2. after an hour of heating up, place loaf on top of stone. add about 500g of ice in the drip tray. 3. bake for 30-40 min until done. i saw in the other thread someone put chains in a cast iron pan. is this necessary? should i use my guru to maintain temp? thanks.

@alimac23 yeah, i also ordered babadoh containers. dough ball shape was getting messed up and dry using big rectangular containers and also space saving when when proofing one or two balls.

@Poochieyes floor stone temp on the alfa. this was on gas. haven’t tried wood yet.

@Poochie i bought an alfa brio about the same time i got my kk. in the past i was never happy with kamado pizzas so i invested in a dedicated pizza oven. regarding pizza dough, it takes time to make the dough. 2 days or more so plan ahead. as @alimac23mentioned, vita lacopelli on yt has great recipes. i used roberta’s pizza dough recipe. oven temp was 900+. floor temp was around 750-800. around 3 min to cook a 12 inch pie.

so i got it up the roof. i didn't use the straps. i didn't use the dolly. i took the top off. one guy in the front lifting by the handle. two guys in the back holding it by the base and handle. step by step. hernia by hernia. we got it up in fairly short time. i chipped a step on the stairs but better the stairs than the grill.. the handles are very useful and they do support the weight of the bottom grill half. it's good for lifting up to the cart. would have been extra difficult without these handles. i'm glad i got the 19. the 22 TT or anything bigger, i would have needed to hire a crane and i am not sure if the roof would take that kind of weight. anyway, it's all setup, and now i need to find the time to fire it up..

my surroundings is not ideal for a scissor lift. my building is too tall, many gardens on the ground, balconies. there is also an overhang that appears before the roof. lots of problems..

thanks for the suggestions so far. i think the hand cart dolly is the best way to get it up stairs. the angled pitch going up stairs using the planter straps is too dangerous. i just need to find one with big wheels to roll over the steps. when it gets on the roof, i'll use the planter straps and get 4 guys to lift it on a kk rolling cart. i think i will need my lifting belt for this..