Durangutan

I don’t recall where I saw it but there was a remark somewhere that the grills are now shipping in two crates. Again, I don’t recall whether the reason was to better facilitate shipping, storage at the import end, cost, a combination of these or something else entirely. Probably no coincidence, however, that this video recently appeared on YouTube. 

5 hours ago, tekobo said:

Hi there @Durangutan.  It would be great to hear and see more about your cooks on fire pits.

Without hi-jacking Mr. Surrat’s thread any further, of course, I’d be happy to share if there is any interest in cooks on a live fire smoker. I offer fair warning, however, that I am a devout and unswerving disciple of the KISS method and, as such, everything I do is unremarkable in the extreme.

2 hours 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.

Thank you for the detailed response and it wasn’t late at all. It would have taken me that long just to type all of that! Very useful. I have never cooked on a kamado cooker of any kind and, to my knowledge, there is no kamado of any make as large as the KK 42 so the insight is doubly valued. Chief among my concerns about a large and heavily insulated cooker like this was the added time it takes to stabilize cooking temperatures which you have assuaged. I have a few live fire pits which, due to my familiarity with their characteristics and some impatience, I always commit the sin of starting cooks on long before the pit has stabilized so long as the cooking surface has reached a food safe temperature, the smoke has clarified and an unexpected trend hasn’t developed. Because it’s much easier to do a small cook on a larger cooker than the reverse, my own advice would be to get the largest cooker the budget will allow and I think it’s worth following. Thanks again for both the information and some reinforcement! 

On 1/6/2022 at 8:57 AM, johnnymnemonic said:

B ) after living with the 42, I occasionally find myself wanting a smaller KK or wanting to use my BGE.

I think it boils down to how you are going to use it.
For me, I love my 42 because

• I do a lot of grilling and I absolutely adore the extra room that this grill gives me
• I do several very large smokes every year and it's great to do it all at once rather than in batches
  • I could probably do these large cooks in a 32 very easily as well but I appreciate all the handy extra space.  I don't have to fool with the upper grate unless I want to do - what - a dozen pork butts (which I may do one day and I will post pics!).

If you are mostly doing one brisket or one pork shoulder and that type of thing and you are doing mostly smoking and not grilling, I would recommend sticking with the 32 or even looking at the 23 ultimate.  The reason is that on this pork butt cook that you see in pictures below (yes, they are all perfect and awesome) but - the butts on the right side where there was more fire underneath were slightly hotter than the ones on the left.  This is a HUGE nitpick because THIS IS A KK and the results are mind blowing no matter what, but - it is my impression that the temperature consistency is more and more uniform the smaller KK you have.  If you are doing smaller amounts of food and you are aiming for absolute utter perfection, I think a smaller KK is the "best tool for the job".  That said, do I have any hesitation about smoking small amounts of food in my 42? None whatsoever - and the results are - as I say - mindblowing - just like with any KK.

I wonder if you could expatiate on the uneven temperatures a bit? How much variation was there from left to right? Was a heat deflector of some kind in use, especially over the fire? If practical or possible, would centering the fire make any difference or merely move the hot zone to the center?  Finally, would you estimate that the added mass of the 42” adds significantly to the time it takes to heat soak and stabilize at cooking temperatures and, if so, does that have any influence in your occasional wish to use a smaller grill? That’s a lot but thanks for anything you can offer.  BTW, I’m partial to pebbles!

On 11/22/2021 at 8:26 AM, D.Drackett said:

I am still learning and it is already cold in Idaho.  We have a pavilion with all my barbecue equipment out there.  It has a huge fire pit, three cookers and shelves of paraphernalia with canvas covers and Velcro, but when it gets too windy, the Traeger by the kitchen door gets more use.

I built a pavilion a number of years ago also, in part, to shelter the cookers. Screened in, it is also a terrific outdoor refuge from the mosquitoes!

Hello BBQ and Kamado enthusiasts! It’s a new useless guy checking in. I’ve never cooked on a Kamado but I took an interest their versatility some time ago. I didn’t have to research much before I decided that I wouldn’t bother with one until I could get a Komodo. My curiosity recently piqued again so I’ve been lurking a bit and thought it polite to say “Hello” so the ice is broken should I get to a point where I can ask an intelligent question or two. Many thanks for the wealth of information I’ve so far gleaned here!