Cookie

Re: Finally Arrived!!! Congrats, you should give it a name...

Re: Pheasant That sounds pretty amazing... No pics???

Re: On the Fence...Need Advice! Perhaps I will touch on something I think the KK provides that others have not... Conversation. Yes, the food is unmatched. Yes, the appearance is unmatched. Throw a dinner party / cookout / whatever you want to call it, and do not go out of your way to draw attention to your KK. I guarantee you within 2 minutes of your first guest arriving, provided there is line of sight, the KK will be part of the discussion. By the time your 10th guest arrives, there will be a group huddled around the KK while you speak prolific about extruded charcoals and exotic smoking woods. My wife and I like to entertain - a lot, as in once or twice a week for sizeable groups. Frequently we have guests that have never met, and the KK provides a perfect "ice breaker" for a party. It is a people magnet, and it gets the conversation going, often without me (the host) even having to be present....sometimes it is fun to stand back and listen to people guess / debate about what the KK is / can do... A dinner theme that we've had a lot of fun with recently is "make your own pizza night." We make several batches of dough and provide cheese and basic pizza sauce. Guests are required to bring their own favorite toppings. We then use a couple of long, hard plastic, folding tables (sourced at any Sam's / Costco), to setup "pizza stations." Guests have press / roll out their own dough and build their own pizzas. I then assist them with placing it in the KK and 3 minutes later, they have created their own masterpiece. We take pictures, post them on their facebook pages,..."Pizza Ed", "Pizza Rachel", "Pizza Stuart" etc. It is always a hit. We are foodies, take cooking lessons when we travel, and we like to bring home what we've learned and share it with our friends and family. The KK plays a big role in that process, in several different ways. You can't put a price tag on good memories.

Re: Everyday Misc Cooking Photos w/ details Lookin' good...nice work.

Re: Beef Jerky Well, I woke up this morning to find that some of this batch has already started to mold (5 nights later, and I was storing it in an air tight plastic container on the kitchen counter), so some of those thicker pieces must have been putting out moisture... DOH! That's what I get for trying to ration. Here is my favorite marinade recipe (best for those that like spicy stuff, but also has a sweet element -- Personally, I could go even hotter, but would be afraid my friends and family would think it was over the top...this one is good for people that can accomodate moderate heat, but not insane heat) For every 2-3 lbs of meat: 1/3 cup pickled jalepeno juice (the juice out of common jars of jalepenos found in any Mexican section of your market, same kind used for nachos, etc.) 3 1/4 cups soy sauce 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar (1/2 pound) 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes I usually marinade overnight, but have had just as good a result with a 3-4 hour soak in the fridge. If anyone trys it, let me know what you think...

I couldn't source any copper grounding wire here in Singapore (at least not easily), to follow the exact Firemonkey method, so I improvised by buying a disposable wire grilling surface (sold for and used in Singapore's public parks that have BBQ pits). I dismantled it and used a couple of the long / straight segments to create my rods. The only problem I encountered was with the butcher... I was going to use flank steak, but let him convince me to use topside (a little more expensive here, but no biggie)...this was all over the phone, an Australian guy, so I placed a little faith in him... I asked him to slice the meat 1/4 inch thick or less, and some pieces were much thicker than others....which will lead me to a picture and question at the end of this post. I made two marinades... The Alton Brown one (which is pretty darn good), and one that my childhood friend's mother used to make us back home in Kentucky....which is still my favorite. She uses soy, brown sugar, juice from a jar of pickled jalepenos, and red pepper flakes...it has some bite, but I love it, and it takes me back to my childhood. Overall, very impressed with the end result. Here are some pics: Below is how many of the thicker pieces turned out (notice still some pink), does anyone think that this is unsafe to eat? I was doing this cook late at night and at 4:30AM threw in the towel and pulled the thicker pieces off because I wanted to go to bed and knew they'd be brittle if I let them go while I slept .

Re: VersaGrill If it helps the cause, I'll take one...

Re: Wood Chips/Chunks Great feedback, thanks Firemonkey, I think you have helped me to understand where I may have a problem with the smoke pot method...I'm generally doing my low and slows at 200F....perhaps not hot enough to get my pot smoking...I'll move up to 230F-250F and see if that makes a difference...

Re: Your other Grill(s) I'll see If I can find some...thanks.

Re: Best Way to Start Extruded Coconut Charcoal ? I use a Mapp Torch....and yes I'm impatient when it comes to getting yummy stuff underway on the KK...

Re: Your other Grill(s) The only corn on the cob I can get here is already out of the husk, unfortunately. However, I just melt some butter, lather it on, salt generously, and then cook directly on the gasser (if using the KK for low and slow) over medium heat. You might get a little char here or there, but I like that, and it gives it a better flavor profile (IMHO). One thing to note, it only takes about 8 minutes to cook, so if you are getting a dry result, perhaps you may be cooking it for too long? For the asparagus, I coat in olive oil and sprinkle generously with sea salt... Asparagus cooks even quicker....I like it hot throughout and still a little crisp / crunchy....only takes about 3 minutes on a hot BBQ.

Re: Your other Grill(s) I still use my big Weber Stainless Gasser for three purposes: 1. It gets 700F+ in about 6 minutes when cranked full blast. If you search on 'reverse sear' in the forum, you will see a debatable technique that flys in the face of searing first. I've come to like this technique, so I will use the KK to get the flavor, and then I will sear with the gasser....much faster than removing the meat and letting the KK come up to temp. No impact on flavor, and I still get the fancy dancy criss cross sear marks that stroke my ego. 2. If I'm doing a low and slow (and as I type this I've got beef and pork ribs on at about 190F), I often use the gasser for side items such as corn on the cob, asparagus, whatever else isn't suited for the low temp of the KK. 3. Frying - most often chicken wings. The side burner works great, and it keeps the smell and mess out of the kitchen, which keeps the wife happy. I use a BW3 copycat recipe because I am not able to get traditional 'Buffalo" wings here in Singapore....although we recently got a Chilis and theirs are acceptable, but I stilll prefer my own. I also used to use the side burner similar to Slu...to ignite lump in a chimney, just fill the chimney, set it right on the side burner, let er' rip....but once I was able to source a MAAP torch her in Singapore, I don't need to do that anymore. I can get a fire going in the KK pretty quick without a chimney now. I definitely sill have a use for the gasser, but I'd also like to have a second KK to give me even more options....which brings me to waiting for my wife to have enough wine one evening to get her to understand why that makes so much sense....but with a 6 month old and breast feeding, that day is perhaps further off than I'd like... Cookie

I may be living in Singapore, but my heart is in Kentucky, and this weekend sees the University of Kentucky make a run for the SEC title in New Orleans. I'm already bumming from seeing photos of my family and friends on Bourbon Street -- I'd be there if I were in the States. For me, that means I've got to stay up for tip off times of 1AM tonight, 1AM tomorrow night, and 1AM Sunday night, assuming they make it to the championship game. Since I'm going to be home and up late all weekend, I've got a smoke planned for each night, and the butcher just delivered: 4lbs of topside sliced and ready to go for jerky; 4 slabs of beef ribs; 4 slabs of babybacks; 7lb pork butt. I'm not sure my British, Aussie, and other friends from around the world are going to care about the basketball this weekend, but rest assured they will pretend just to get access to the food... Basketball, Beer, Meat, Meat, Meat, and more Meat....life is going to be good this weekend.

Re: Wood Chips/Chunks Why didn't I think of grape vines / wood for you....I'm a big fan of the white wines from your homeland... And I like the Shiraz your neighbors are producing in the McLaren Vale and Barossa regions...

Re: Chris Lilly's 4-Stage Ribs I've got the Big Bob Gibson book, have made these ribs a few times....and mine have NEVER looked as good as yours...nice work.

Re: Wood Chips/Chunks Mark, Just curious, are there many fruit trees in New Zealand? I can understand why I can't source chuncks on this tiny little island, but you Kiwis have some serious land mass and a variety of climates! Please tell me you smoke fresh New Zealand mussels on a regular basis? I would be smoking seafood day and night if I had access to what you do down there... I doubt that with a 6 month old baby boy my wife is going to let me go on walk about in search of fruit wood, but if I come across any in the region, I'll let you know. Likewise if I make it down your way, I'll let you know... Let me know if you are every passing through Singapore and want to catch up...

Re: Wood Chips/Chunks For those of you that use the 'smoke pot' technique, how long does it take for it to start smoking once you place it on the hottest part of the fire? I recently had a small cast iron dutch oven drilled with a hole in the bottom, put some wood chips in it, put it over the hottest coals (KK already heat soaked), and did a 3 hour rib cook....upon finishing the cook, I found that hardly any of the wood chips in the smoke pot had smoldered....and the ribs didn't have much smoke flavor. Second question: For those of you that use the foil pouch technique, how long do you reckon' the pouch with a handful of chips will smokes for? I've done this a bunch, and never seem to get enough smoke flavor for my tastes. Anybody layer in pouches to get the delayed / fuse effect? -- I've thought about this, but have never tried it, fearing multiple pouches could mess with airflow. After 12+ years of Kamado'ing I've only had what I consider to be "great" success with chunks mixed in with the lump or KK extruded. Chips always seem to burn up too fast for my taste... So, why do I mess with the tried and true method that I've come to know and love over the years, the method I know works to my liking every time? Because chunks are harder than hell to find in Singapore. Chips in many wood types are much easier to source...I just can't seem to get enough smoke to my liking out of foil packs with chips, and I've now tried smoke potting without great success.

Re: Too many Colors to choose from........ My wife doesn't let me choose what shirt I'm going to wear out with her for dinner and a night on the town... Who do you think picked the color of our KK? Slu gave the best advice...

Re: Beef and Venison jerky So I've been to 4 "hardware" stores here in Singapore and can't find any copper grounding (or even a reasonable substitute) wire to attempt this setup... Since we have at least one doc on the forum, and some engineers (is there a metallurgist that I'm unaware of?) - am I going to die of some kind of toxic poisoning if I use a wire coat hangar to make my rods?

Re: Am I Crazy ? My wife wouldnt let a green egg anywhere near our home...aesthetics.....thank goodness we all have these works of art that also happen to allow us boys and girls to cook some great food. My metallic bronze KK is a people magnet every time we have a party, a great conversation piece, and excellent food to boot. I'm really thinking hard about a second KK.

Re: Two KKs going to Luanda, Angola.. Luanda is the most expensive city to live in, in the world... With the money being pumped into that economy, they can afford it...

Re: Two Turkeys - Will They Fit? Dennis, lots of big birds over here in Singers...I don't have a fridge big enough for two, so I go to a butcher who thaws and delivers the day of the cook... Nobody thinks vertical will work, centered, with just small gap between them?

Re: Two Turkeys - Will They Fit? I like that idea...

Any idea how I can simultaneously cook two 20 pounders in the 23" OTB? I've thought about verticle, side-by-side, but am guessing they'd still rub the sidewalls / not fit. I found some turkey setters online if anyone thinks verticle will work?

Re: Sold A KK Pork Butt I've had to edit this post and change the name from "Easy Peasy Pork Butt" to "Sold a KK Pork Butt." We recently made some new friends through my wife's pre-natal pilates class and invited them over for dinner (for the first time). After the meal described in my initial post, they proceeded to go home and order a KK -- after one meal... Gotta love the power of the Komodo Kamado.