Cheesehead_Griller

So cool!!  I wish Joe would’ve spoke about the KK a bit more. Sounded like he enjoyed it. 

Why is it so hard to get good results cooking pizza in the KK? I ordered the bread stone in hopes of cooking pizzas on my KK. 

2 hours ago, GrillnBrew said:

Instead of the plywood, I rented these plastic sheets that contractors use to drive equipment across yards, diamond textured on one side and smoother on the other.  Did the job and I didn't have to worry about cracking or splitting.  When I got mine last year, plywood was going for more than a couple of prime briskets, so I rented these three sheets for about $10.  The other photo shows the size of the pallet jack in relation to the crate.  Good luck!

Did the pallet jack roll across those plastic sheets fairly easily? 

Very nice! 

Check your Private Messages. 

Way to go! Looks good on that cart. Good luck with your first cook! 

2 hours ago, Poochie said:

Another fan of pebbles! Glad to see you got the KK where you wanted it. The jiggle in the top vent can be modified (not sure if it'll cure it) by getting the spring out of the spring loaded toilet paper holder plastic piece. Now unscrew the top vent all the way (remove the cotter pin first) and place the spring on the threaded shaft. Screw the vent back in place and put the cotter pin back in. This will also cure it of moving when you open and close the lid after you set it where you want it. 

Wow, that's a great idea. I"ll grab a spring so when my KK arrives I can assemble it that way. 

I'm considering the Fireboard 2 Drive as well. I'm curious to know which fan you used. I'm thinking about ordering the BBQ Guru Bull or Viper. I like the Bull because it's all metal but others said it's a bit too powerful. The Viper is plastic but more appropriate for the BB32. I'll probably just go with the Viper and see how it goes. 

Straps are the best! Find those that go over your shoulder and it will be even easier. 

Looks awesome! I can't wait for that day

Keep your Guru blower and just upgrade the controller s the others have said. 

Looks very nice!

Damn, nice bike! I love the color. Be careful on that thing.

1 hour ago, Murph27 said:

I might be too late if Cheesehead has already made a decision, but I have a relevant setup and thought I'd give my $0.02.

I went with the Fireboard 2 drive (up to 6 thermistor and/or RTD probes; no type-k thermocouples) and the pit viper fan (slightly cheaper version of the pit bull).  I am very satisfied with this setup and wouldn't recommend upgrading to the pro or the pit bull unless you expect most of your cooking to be at 450ºF or hotter.

While the pit bull is only $20-30 more expensive than the pit viper, I have never found the pit viper to be insufficient.  Remember, these grills are extremely efficient--they don't require the same kind of airflow you would need in a kettle (or even other kamado-style cookers, for that matter).  10 CFM has always been plenty for my needs (I believe the pit bull does up to 25 CFM).  If you expect most of your cooks to be high-temp cooks, I suppose the extra oomph from the pit bull could be worth the peace of mind.  That said, as others mentioned above with the pit bull, I close the damper on my pit viper to avoid too much unintended airflow.  I typically close it down to ~40%.  I also prefer the plastic housing on the viper to the metal housing on the pit bull--I can pull my fan off right after the cook without burning my hand.  To be fair, I don't know if this is an issue for the pit bull or not.

With respect to the probe types, I will admit that I rarely use more than three probes anyway--the three-port pro isn't likely to hamper you too much there.  Even if you have, say, five butts smoking at once, you don't need to probe all five constantly--maybe one per grate level.  The only time I will use more than three probes is when I want to keep ambient temperatures for multiple parts of the grill.  For example, I might do a brisket with a point probe, a flat probe, one ambient on the main grate's right side (over the fire using grate splitter), and one ambient probe on the main grate's left side.  Honestly, this arguably gives me too much data and I end up spending more effort than necessary trying to perfect my cook.  Having said all of this, I have never been in a situation where I wanted to monitor a temp beyond the max temp for the probe ratings.  If you're cooking at those temperatures (over 700ºF for the RTD probes), you might want to consider a different type of grill.  Also, the hottest temp I cook at is for making pizza, and you don't really need more than the dome probe for that.  As such, I wouldn't spend the extra $50 to get the pro, even if you never expect to use more than three probes.

 

I appreciate the detailed review. I have not placed an order for anything yet. Been still debating what I need and what I do not need. The only reason I would go with the Pro version to reach the higher temps is to leave the proves in the steak while searing a steak. I have through about this endlessly and I think I'm going with the basic Firebird 2 Drive. If I sear a steak over the coals I'll just wing it. I can figure it out over time without the need for a thermometer to finish it. 

I was considering the less powerful fan after reading the recommendation to close the port so much. I will take your recommendation and go with the smaller one. 

2 hours ago, Dabble said:

Hey Cheesehead!

With a name like that, are you up in Wisconsin?

I have cooked a few briskets before on my old propane smoker.  I had to cut the packer into two pieces to make it fit. I am excited to smoke the whole, whole packer.  I try to take detailed notes and pics for my smokes to review and learn from.  I would be happy to share them with you.

You have to let me know when you get your BB32! You are going to love it!

I do in fact live in the great state of Wisconsin. Not too far from Green Bay. 
 

I am stoked to get it! 

Great questions! As a soon to be owner of a BB32 I'm looking forward to hearing others input. I plan to smoke my first ever brisket on my KK once I get it. I have so much to learn! 

Does a KK ever crack due to moisture retention and expansion when it gets cold? 

Just now, johnnymnemonic said:

I'm still very glad I got the 42.  When you grill on a 42 with all that room to spare it is so nice.  The versatility of the 42 is amazing with the grates split into 3 sections, basket splitter comes standard, etc.

I'm just going to have to get a smaller KK one day.  In the mean time I'll still keep the egg around. 

I'm doing two cooks this weekend. Another batch of rotisserie chicken and some burgers.  Probably going to cook them one after the other tomorrow.  roti first then pop in the lower grate and grill.

I look forward to the pics and hearing how the results are. 

2 hours ago, Tyrus said:

Good job, and thoughtful thinking for that idea. Bacon is a bit tricky.  Let me ask, I know you use your 32 often, so why isn't it as dark as mine, on your top cover the terra cotta color is still visible.

Must've been his first cook or close to it with the chicken. You can see the lid is pretty dark int he last pic. 

What is under the bacon?

56 minutes ago, johnnymnemonic said:

@Durangutansorry for the late reply.

• expounding on the uneven temps from left to right
  • unsure.  If you look at the attached photo, this is the cook I am talking about.  Notice that I'm probing the grate kind of on the left center, and I'm probing a pork butt that is on the left.  This picture is right before I took them off.  The pork butt I was probing on the left was at 203.  The ones on the right were more like 208-210.  I was worried that they were too overdone but they were awesome.  They were falling apart so much when I was taking them off that I had to use gloves just to get them off the grill.  Although I am unsure, I will guess the differential was 10-15 degrees.  In other words where the probe sat left of center was 225 and the actual temp on the right side was 235-240.  That is just a guess.  And this would probably tend to shift throughout the cook as the fire moves around in the box.  But anyway - If I do this same cook again, I might probe both sides of the grill next time just for science.
• Was a heat deflector in use?
  • For this cook, I used a whole firebox of charcoal.  I covered the lower grate with aluminum foil (except the edges).  And then underneath you can see those drip pans.  Most KK users do not use the deflectors and just use foil on the lower grate and/or just the drip pans to provide the heat deflection.  If I were doing only 2 pork butts I probably would have skipped the foil and just centered each one over a drip pan and called it a day.  My impression from using a BGE is that just because you have a ceramic deflector doesn't mean that the heat is even, so I don't know if using the stone deflectors would have made any difference. I could try it one day and may do so.
• Centering the fire (and my fire setup for this cook)
  • You bring up a good point about centering the fire.  I suppose I could have used the basket splitter and just put charcoal in the center.  I was (only mildly) concerned about running out of fuel, but doing a full firebox means you can basically go forever.
  • The firebox is kind of an oval shape.  Imagine splitting that oval in half.  I lit about a grapefruit sized amount of charcoal in the center of each half of the firebox.
  • I was using my thermoworks billows with the rest of the bottom vents shut.  The port for the billows is on the right side.  Therefore, the right side of the firebox was getting more oxygen.  More fire burned on the right side for (I think) the entire duration of the cook based on what the charcoal looked like afterwards.  A lot of ash on the right side and not many remnants.
• Does the mass of the 42 add significantly to the time it takes to heat soak and is that what makes me want a smaller grill?
  • I have no frame of reference on a smaller KK.
  • I basically do exactly what I used to do with my BGE which is pay attention to the quality of the smoke. When the white colored smoke is gone and the grate thermometer is reading approximately where you want, the food can go, especially if you're using a fan controller.  And with the KK I don't  open the grill at all with pork butts until it's done.
  • If you're grilling and not smoking you don't have to wait for this thing to heat soak if you don't want to.  You can just cook on direct heat on the lower grate.
  • TL; DR - I knew what I was getting into when I bought it and I'm totally un-bothered by the time it takes to heat soak.
  • If I had to guess, this thing takes about 60 mins to fully heat soak.  For low and slow, I put my food on when the smoke looks right and the grate thermometer is reading right, not necessarily when the grill is fully heat soaked.

My wish to use a smaller grill is mainly rooted in that using one of the bigger KKs is a "production". 

• The grates are heavy. 
• If you want to change the configuration of the firebox you have to
  • take all the grates out
  • lift out the firebox
  • fool with the basket splitter
  • maybe empty the old charcoal out before you do that
  • adjust
  • put basket back in the grill
  • put charcoal back in, etc. 
  • Configure the grates the way you want them -
  • then....  light the fire. 

Aside from this I'm also using the cold smoker attachment or some probes or something else - so - there's usually even more setup involved.

This seems to be the case (more or less) with either the 32 or the 42, which were the two grills I was considering.

Now that I am living with my KK, I still find myself occasionally firing up the BGE because it is simply "less of a production".   Also I have cooked with it for a dozen years so I have a lot of things "dialed in".  No probes, etc - just go go go.

I have 0 regrets about my purchase - but if I can splurge on something again in the next couple three years, I'm getting a 21 or 23 KK for times when I want a little bit simpler KK experience.  Once you cook on one of these grills and taste the difference in the food that comes off of it, you really never want to go back.

I hope this answers your questions, and again, sorry for the late reply.

I appreciate the detailed explanation. Very helpful. 

Do you wish you would've went with a 32 to be between the 42 and the 23 that you are eyeing  If I recall, you originally ordered a 32, right?

(Sorry for a little sidetrack to the OP) 

He has me thinking.... The folks on here are not helping my with spending  

2 hours ago, tekobo said:

So, I dropped Dennis a note yesterday to apologise for stirring up interest in the event that he wasn't actually going to go with this accessory.  He says he is but he hasn't yet sorted price or confirmed whether any have been produced for sale yet.  In the meantime here is a photo of his version (rather more sophisticated than mine) for you to drool over.  I am happy with mine because it was relatively cheap and I got it made locally but I remember messaging Dennis to say that it was a game changer for me when I used it. 

I need one of these! Can you please share a few more pictures? I’m going to see if a friend of mine can fabricate it for me. Thanks in advance! 

Way cool man! Truly a game changer from the initial impressions. I bet it has been an exciting journey for you and your company. 

Are the cold smokers a pain in the ass to keep lit or what? I ordered one with my new KK. I'm curious to see how it actually works. I've read mixed reviews. 

1 hour ago, BOC said:

 

In hind site, I probably would have gone for the Drive because of the limited ports in the Pro. But I do like that I can use it for a sear, especially handy with a tomahawk steak. And I haven’t really needed that many different probes but on maybe one occasion where I had 3 different types of proteins going at once.

Once you get it, one starters note. Close the damper door on the pit Bull. You won’t want it all the way open, it will cause you to go over temp because it’s just too much air if not dampened.


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Regarding the limited ports on the Pro, couldn't you get another food probe and run three food probes and eliminate the ambient probe? Specifically for short cooks/grilling when you are not using the Guru. 

Close the damper 25%, 50%,....?