Paswesley

Re: New to the club! Welcome! My advice is to savor every moment and every bite.

Re: "Fuel Efficiency" Yeah, and what about that academy award winning rendition of righteous indignation when he was "falsely accused?"

Re: Anybody happen to know anybody in Manassas VA? Dennis: I am about 70 miles from Manassas. I used to live there about twelve years ago. I may be your man, depending in what time of day the work will be done.

Re: Placement of Wood Chunks A lot of people try to avoid the white colored smoke that is released when smoking wood first begins to release its volatiles. After a while the blue smoke begins. It is during the blue smoke phase that I put my foods into Mable. The whitish smoke tends to have a bitter or acrid taste. Some people are more susceptible to off flavors than others. My technique is to use an axe to create a thin (maybe an inch wide) slab of smoking wood, which I then lay over the hot coals. This tends to give me a long period of usable smoke. This works for me. Give it a try and see what you think.

Re: Where to See 1 Long Beach, CA Yeah? Oh, we'll.

Re: Where to See 1 Long Beach, CA Come on, guys! Give Harold a break and let him see one. He could see mine, but its about a 3200 mile drive to my place from Long Beach!

Re: burnt birdie Spatchcharred chicken anyone? I have done this too.

Re: Is it just me ? Is there a way to use the ash screen, other than to put it in the opening when the draft door is removed for extreme temp cooking? I am all ears, and a photo would seal the deal.

Re: "Fuel Efficiency" I am honest. There is a great deal of loyalty and affection for Dennis on this forum, also. Anything posted here that seems to be denigrating his work will not be well received. BTW, he acquired this loyalty and affection "the old fashioned way. He earned it!" I have never experienced before, during and post sale customer service that is better than that which Dennis universally provides. Call him, and take his measure. The premium quality of a KK, the constant effort to perfect his engineering, make the money that is spent pretty much inconsequential. Buy a KK. You will never regret it.

Re: "Fuel Efficiency" If I buy anothern ceramic cooker, it will beyond doubt be one of Dennis' OTBs. No one buys a Rolls Royce because they are impressed by the fuel economy. You know?

Re: My KK has arrived!! Congratulations! Maybe the newer grills are different, but I think it may not be best to do a first burn up to pizza baking temperatures. That being said, the off taste you mentioned may be due to solvent from the elastomeric grout curing. Any off taste will soon go away, and be replaced by swallow your tongue taste!

Re: Just ordered new KK Been using my Maverick single probe with no problems for 18 months now.

Re: Local Users I live near Baltimore, MD. You are welcome to stop by and see my KK.

Re: We're all ok. Earthquake was far away.. Great news, Dennis. Sometimes I forget how much area Indonesia covers.

Re: A Sad Story Are you saying that you landed the big snapper, although you broke your fishing rod in the process? Wow! That was some fish. There is nothing quite like the taste of fish freshly caught and grilled waterside over a charcoal fire. Ohhhhh, yummy!

Re: Food price increase Was that about eight butts to the case? Just curious. Looks like about 67.5 lbs. of meat, so eight butts would be an average weight of 8.4 pounds per butt. Also, are the butts individually wrapped, or are they wrapped in pairs? Thanks

Re: Just ordered new KK Some of us over 50 folks have a bit of an advantage, because we grew up using woodburning or coal burning stoves that were freestanding and used upper and lower drafts to control the heat output- just as the KK does. It is simple physics, and you will quickly learn how to control the upper and lower drafts to maintain a steady heat. You will discover that you can control the temperature to within plus or minus ten degrees, and that the KK will hold that temp for many hours. Sufficient fuel, plus sufficient heat, plus sufficient oxygen equals a happy cook. Also, fill your basket every time you start a cook, even if you have leftover lump from the last cook. Nothing is more frustrating than running out of fuel in mid-cook. BTW- You can cook for over a day, easily, on one basket load of lump, so don't worry about running out of fuel, so long as you fill up the basket at the beginning. Sermon over

Re: Just ordered new KK Welcome! I have a sister to yours. Mable is a Vibrant Blue tile, not pebble. Where are you, generally, in the states? We promise not to stalk you. There is a plethora (I guess cornucopia would be a more foodie term) of KK info on this forum. Most of it is really practical info. Why reinvent the wheel. A good tonic for the "when the heck will it arrive blues" is to ravenously peruse the forum and strike up some KK friendships. Everyone is super helpful. What will your first cook be? Try some salmon on a cedar plank. That is simple, yet will be breathtakingly delicious for a first meal. Just a suggestion...

Re: New Grill - Concord, CA @db5000: Your setup is so beautiful. I was wondering if you are planning to get Johnnyboy to make you a custom cover to protect your new baby.

Re: Help with Temperature Please Part of the joy of owning a KK is the learning curve that goes with it. Within a few cooks, you will develop an ability to control the temp. It is simple, once you learn how. How long that takes, varies according to aptitude and motivation. Note the upper and lower vent settings at a given steady temp and record them. Those same settings will produce the same temp consistently, within + or - 5 degrees or less.

Re: Help with Temperature Please One thing to guard against is letting the KK heat soak at a higher temp than you are cooking with. The hot face, once heat soaked, is notoriously slow to shed heat, due to the excellent insulating properties of our cooker. Much better is to gradually rise to the correct temp than to overshoot and then try to go lower. Just a voice of experience trying o help, for what it's worth...

Re: Naming of a KK ? I do believe that there is something in a name. As such, I would suggest that you try to let the KK name itself. Wait a while, and if you pay atention, it will name itself. The perfect name will arise out of your interactions with it. My Mable just seemed to need to have that name (Mable). Mable is such a warm, apple pie, comfort food kind of name. That is so apt a name, considering what a KK is and the way that we experience it. At least- we think so at our place.

Re: Cucumber Water This is because the KK is found in so many time zones and at so many latitudes. I am wondering how many countries have KK cookers within them. Are there any KK cookers in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, or elsewhere? Which owners are at the highest and lowest latitudes in the two hemispheres? Let's all strive to make the KK a truly global phenomenon!

Re: New Grill - Concord, CA Great choice. You will love it, and using it. Once you learn the basics of draft control and heat soaking (which takes 3 to 5 cooks), you will be cooking like an oldtimer. Even your mistakes will taste absolutely splendid.

Re: New Grill - Concord, CA Welcome to the KK family. Which one did you "adopt?" I have been thinking about trying to convince Uncle Sam to permit me to claim my Mable as a dependent on my tax returns!