Andrew

Re: Thanksgiving Turkey on KK

My 17.5 lb stuffed turkey last Thanksgiving on the KK took 4 hours 10 min at 325 Stoker. When I removed it' date=' the breast was 158 and the thigh was 168. There is a picture of it somewhere on this forum but I don't know how to post it. It came out fantastic!! I'll be doing a similar bird on Saturday. T Rex is also a turkey stuffer so I'm sure he'll chime in with the cooking times of his turkey.[/quote']

I target less than the recommended 180 thigh too, I think that overcooks

a bird. It probably gets up there after resting under a bunch of beach towels.

I will allow 5 hours, with a planned hour of rest @ 325.

Thanks all.

Any general advice? In my oven cooks I started the oven at 500 degrees for the

first 30 minutes. This will not work in the KK as the temp goes down too slowly.

Should I just target 300-325 and give it 13-15 minutes a pound (stuffed, 20lb).

Any advice gratefully accepted.

Thank you,

Andrew

My idea is to sort and store at the same time.

Making a prototype will still be helpful. For example, it takes some shaking to effect the sort. One might make a fixed structure by accident, and lose this ability.

My idea is to have the top portion fold down on a hinge above the

dust drawer. That should allow a lot of shaking, and will jar out

the lumps stuck in the mesh. It will also be the way to grab the

lump to put in the KK.

My idea is to sort and store at the same time. Sorting out the

dust is more important to me than the different lump sizes. The

dust gets all over everything, and also tends to choke the fire.

The different lump size came from a couple of threads here talking

about even fires and how long the charcoal will last.

I had an idea for a tiered bin, separated by mesh to sort out lump

into large, medium and dust. Perhaps a 3" mesh between the top

bin and the middle one, and a 1" between the middle bin and a small

lower drawer for the dust. The two upper bins would fold out, so one

could load the cooker with desired sizes. The drawer could pull out

to discard the dust. All with weather gaskets to keep out humidity.

Has anyone built anything like this? Would it work?

I am thinking of building a small KK house (basically a gazebo with

a stone floor and some cabinetry to hold parts, tools, garbage and

lump). It would keep the creek the runs across my patio at bay,

and let me use the rotisserie and perhaps a temp control unit in

the rain. Thinking about it gave me the idea for the lump sorter/storer.

Re: can't accurately plan it

The pork was great. I had run the temp up to 300 to get in finished,

and after taking it out, and getting the grill flossed up for the chicken

the fire got too big, and the chicken cooked too fast. .

Suggest you might want to remove the grill, close Kooker, clean grill and return grill to Kooker.

That sounds like a really great idea. Thanks.

Re: can't accurately plan it

Cook to an internal temp of 185 to 200. Ball park 1-1/2 to 2 hours per lb. at 225 degree pit temp. That number is NOT 100% accurate' date=' pork butts are variable. Some I did only took 1 hour per lb.[/quote']

It took 16 hours to get to 190. There was a 4-5 hour plateau! But it

came off in the nick of time to get the chickens going in time for

dinner. Pork is foiled/toweled/coolered (towels and cooler pre-heated).

One odd thing, I ran out of lump. I have to check the Whiz's database.

Mine seemed to burn up awfully fast. I had topped off the basket last

night, lit at 10pm, and by 2pm I was down to a few coals. Had to take

everything out in the rain to put in more. (First real test for my silicon

mitts, worked like a charm).

The pork was great. I had run the temp up to 300 to get in finished,

and after taking it out, and getting the grill flossed up for the chicken

the fire got too big, and the chicken cooked too fast. I think I will add

extra time to be sure I can calm down the fire before adding the chicken.

The pork, after 2.5 hours in the cooler, was still 175 degrees, so I could

have waited another two to three hours and still served it hot.

Not bad for the first big cook on the KK.

Next up: Pulled Pork Pizza (well, maybe)

Thanks all.

Re: can't accurately plan it

Cook to an internal temp of 185 to 200. Ball park 1-1/2 to 2 hours per lb. at 225 degree pit temp. That number is NOT 100% accurate' date=' pork butts are variable. Some I did only took 1 hour per lb.[/quote']

It took 16 hours to get to 190. There was a 4-5 hour plateau! But it

came off in the nick of time to get the chickens going in time for

dinner. Pork is foiled/toweled/coolered (towels and cooler pre-heated).

One odd thing, I ran out of lump. I have to check the Whiz's database.

Mine seemed to burn up awfully fast. I had topped off the basket last

night, lit at 10pm, and by 2pm I was down to a few coals. Had to take

everything out in the rain to put in more. (First real test for my silicon

mitts, worked like a charm).

About how much time should I allow for the above piece of meat?

I will target 225 degrees.

Thanks,

ah

Re: calibrate

The boiling point of water varies with altitude and barometric pressure. The average BP of water at my altitude' date=' 1700 feet, is 207.5 across the normal range of barometric pressures here. There are very simple boiling point correcting solutions on the web, you just plug in your altitude and barometer reading. Simply plug in a typical lowest pressure number, say 29.50, and your altitude, to get the low reading and your typical highest pressure, say 30.50, and your altitude to get your high reading. Those pressures represent a pretty good typical spread of barometer readings for almost anywhere in the world. Your resulting numbers will be about a 2 degree difference between your highest and lowest boiling points. Average those numbers to calibrate your thermometer. Your number will NOT be 212 unless you live at sea level.[/quote']

I live at 80', so 212 should work well for me in normal weather.

Today it might have been a bit lower, we had a wild thunderstorm during

my first post KK move cook. When I was out later, they had earth movers

clearing out a low point under a bridge beneath a big hill --- about a foot

of dirt washed down there. The KK didn't mind a bit.

Hi Andrew and welcome to the forum!

Thanks for posting about your experimentation with this recipe. I've been wanting to try it for some time but have hesitated because of the quantity of mayo. Did you dip the chicken in it or serve it on the side?

Susan

I served it on the side. Personally I drenched my chicken, my wife

and daughter were more modest in their use.

I often take recipes and gradually modify them to suit my taste. I write

down what I did in a notebook, and take notes on the results to modify

the next attempt. Here is my 4th, and I think last, iteration on the Bob

Gibson White Barbecue sauce printed in Chris Lilly's book:

1 cup Mayonnaise (~200 grams)

1 cup Cottage Cheese (preferably a dryish type)

1 cup Apple Vinegar

4t Horseradish (press out as much liquid as possible)

2t fresh ground black pepper

2t Lemon juice (~1/2 lemon)

1t salt

4t Cayenne

Put all in a blender or food processor and process until all the cottage

cheese curds are pureed.

This is thicker, much lower calorie, less sweet and much spicier

than the original.

I may try it with 1/2 mayo and 1.5 cups of cottage cheese.

In the 3rd iteration I used all mayo, and I could not taste a

difference between #3 and #4, despite the huge caloric difference.

It tasted really good with my first KK cook today, a whole butterflied

chicken.

I had one (stopped using it after I got my Stoker - the range just wasn't there). The easiest method is to gently bend the probe to straighten it. It doesn't need to be perfectly straight' date=' but after you're done you may want to calibrate it in boiling water.[/quote']

Thanks.

I will probably eventually get a stoker or BBQ Guru, but I want to get

good with the temps on my own first.

I bought one of these, but when my KK came today I found that

the sensors would not fit through the small sensor port. My sensors

have a bend in them, and the bend would not go through.

I thought some people here had used them. Was I mistaken, or

are the ports smaller on new KKs? (Or should I just force it through,

not something I generally like to do).

Thanks,

ah

Here you go:

Place distilled water in a container and heat.

► After the water in the container has reached a complete “rolling†boil, insert the instrument to the appropriate immersion depth.

► Be sure there is at least a two-inch clearance between the stem or sensing element and the bottom and sides of the container.

► If your thermometer is not accurate within +/- 2°F of 212°F., adjust thermometer accordingly. The boiling point method permits calibration to within 1.0°F.

So, if you need to calibrate the Tel-Tru, wear some gloves to hold the dial firmly and use a small wrench to turn the nut on the back of the Tel-Tru. You want to dial in at 212°F.

Thanks. Sounds simple enough,I do not need to adjust for altitude.

I do not need to, as my kitchen elevation is about 100'. I hope no asteroids plunk down in the Atlantic, or the KK and we will be fish food!

Do people find they need to calibrate the Tel-Tru?

Hi Andrew - should be a clip that goes on the backside of the thermometer to hold it in place. This same clip can be used to hold the thermometer on a pan when calibrating the thermometer.

Here's the site so you can see a pic of the clip:

http://www.teltru.com/s-136-big-green-e ... meter.aspx

How does one calibrate? I took a quick look at the TelTru site, but

all I found were calibration machines, which seem like overkill.

Thanks,

ah

Thanks all. It was 95 in the shade, and the cooker was in the sun.

I must have had heat stroke because I had the clip on the outside

of the dome! Works perfectly on the inside.

I am about to brave the heat again and start the first fire...

Whole chicken. I am not sure if I should use the drip pan or

heat shield. I do not think I should use both.

ah

At last!

Everything on the checklist seemed to be there except the crowbar,

which I did not need.

The thermometer seems to fit very loosely. Should one get the

high temp silicon to anchor it securely?

Re: secondary

It's good to have something to grill on while a low and low is in progress. The metal grills are a little easier to grill with than the KK' date=' but I noticed that since I started grilling on my KK, I don't mind the slight inconvenience. In fact, I have not grilled on my Meco since starting grilling on the KK, unless the KK is in use for a L&S. Then it's great resource to have on hand, esp. for a party. I was bugging Dennis to make a cooker that is analagous to the Primo Junior, 100 lbs. max weight, to use as a travel/ secondary. Something smaller than a 19.5. He said don't hold your breath! But if a whole gang of us want something like this...[/quote']

That would imply about a 13" grill (assuming weight scales like the

cube of the grill diameter, a good first order approximation).

It might be a good addition.

I do not think I am going to order the 32" or 48" versions

I keep an old weber kettle around for things I might not be willing to put into the kk...

You pique my curiosity. What would you not like to

put in your KK?

I will use my Weber to teach my son to grill and barbecue, and also

for excess capacity --- to have extra space at a different temp.

I do not know how long I will keep it...

Dennis just told me he has found my cooker, that the mix up

was from cut-and-paste that left my cooker, #666 (whoa, I just

noticed the beastliness of the number), assigned #664 which was

a KF cooker.

It might make it here for the 4th yet!

Keep cooking on the Weber' date=' it's a great grill,when the KK comes you'll wonder how you ever got along without it! We just added a Weber Ranch to the collection,(for grilling hot dogs and brats in front of the store...it's too wide to fit between the buildings!)big and bad, might make a nice fire pit on the patio next to my KK! Gotta love a girl who wants to buy me another cooking implement![/quote']

Oh I will keep it for now. It is a perfectly good grill. In fact when I

started looking for a replacement for my rusted out New Braunfels

offset smoker I was expecting to buy a similar rig and do all the

grilling on the Weber. (The NB was only OK as a grill). But when I

started reading up on the ceramic cookers, and discovered the KK,

all bets were off. The Weber may end up going to the first kid that

has a place to put it.

Re: Ouch!

Sorry to hear about the red wine problem' date=' that is a serious blow to your gastronomic possibilities! We drink a fair bit of Bordeaux weekly, and it is a sublime pleasure. Probably you have already tried this, but pop some ibuprofen and drink some water and see if that allows you to enjoy the vino sans headache.[/quote']

Indeed I have tried it. No go.

The Science Times (in Tuesday's NY TImes) had an article about

Red Wine Syndrome a few years ago. Researchers had tested a

number of theories about the cause, but none of the research panned

out. As of that writing, they had no idea what caused it.

Meanwhile I learned to love the huge variety of fine craft beers. If

we eat in a restaurant without craft beers I just drink seltzer. I could

not stand any mainstream US beer.

Re: single bock, double bock?!

I'm not at all beer knowledgable' date=' but had a luscious little brew called a double bock, Celebrator. In fact, it was so good I bought a bunch. And I don't usually drink beer, except Guinness now and then.[/quote']

I love the dark beers, but they do not always agree with my

digestive system. I should try a few again to see if that has

changed. Red wines started me a bad headache after just half a

glass (which is a syndrome that is still a medical mystery IIRC),

so I switched to craft beers a few years ago.

I just heard from Dennis. Unfortunately he did not get up until

the trucking company closed. I guess it will be the Weber for

our guests on the 4th.

Life goes on.

Re: oh boy

I might have been tempted to keep it! That is a seriously disappointing situation. Hopefully you have some sort of grill around so you can cook something' date=' have an adult beverage, enjoy the weekend, and hope for the best next week![/quote']

That what I did with last week's chicken --- it went on the Weber.

This week I asked my wife to cook something. No heart for the weber

today. As I said, I had planned to do ribs for the second first cook.

A fine craft beer or two will most definitely be on the evening's menu.

Perhaps a Stone Ruination IPA is in order. Maybe a Dogfish Head

120 Minute IPA (I would want to share that one, it is 20% alcohol). I

have a few fine Belgians around too, but I am in more of a US IPA

mood.

Any chance the right one will still show up on Monday?

Hopes there are dashed. This KF KK was the one shipped from Atlanta

this week. I do not know if it is the same one that was sent here a week

ago.

Dennis is still asleep. I hope he wakes before the trucking company

closes for the weekend in 1 hour and 22 minutes

I sent the rep at the trucking company the photo of my cooker that

Dennis sent me, so hopefully next time I hear it is being delivered

it will be the real thing.

Assuming some random person somewhere is not enjoying a free KK,

and I have to wait another 2.5 months.

I made a big batch of rib rub while waiting for the delivery, luckily

I had not bought the ribs yet.