Cookie

What he said...but if someone comes up with a standard base temp, I'll be in line to try it...

Nice looking cook and congrats on the anniversary!

Dennis, 10 Ideas: 1. How much lump / charcoal should I put in the basket? 2. What are the two different latch positions, and which one should I use? 3. There is black gunk inside the dome of my KK, how do I clean it? 4. Ever since purchasing my KK, my friends have 'bbq envy,' Is there a number they can call for emotional support? 5. Is the KK too heavy for my wooden deck? 6. My lid won't stay open, how do I adjust the spring? 7. What do I use to clean the outside of my KK? 8. How do I move my new KK across grass to get it to where it needs to be in my outdoor space? 9. How do I install the roti itself, meat on the roti, etc.? 10. I forgot to close the vents after a low and slow, my cooker is still going 3 days later, do you think someone snuck in and added charcoal in the middle of the night?

For the size of your KK, I don't think an hour is too far off the mark. If you light a huge spot or multiple spots for a low and slow, just so you can ramp up to temp, you risk overshooting your desired cook temp and waiting a lot longer for it to come back down... I understand where you are coming from though... What I do is light a tennis ball sized spot in the middle of a full basket, open top and bottom vents wide open for 30 mins (dome temp may read higher than your desired cook temp, but it is not yet heat soaked to this temp, it will be lower). After that 30 minute 'get er' going' time, I dial the vents down to where I know they need to be for the duration of my cook. After another 30 minutes, I go back and double check, but almost always at that stage, I'm heat soaked to the desired cook temp and can walk away. I ALWAYS set the alarm on my phone for that initial 30 minute ramp up. If you forget to go back and dial it down, you may end up cooking pizzas instead. Your KK is a heavy duty mass, it takes time to heat soak, no way around it. I've often thought that one way to make the process a little more efficient would be to use the gas burner to warm up (ie heat sink) the KK, then put in the charcoal and light it post heat sink. Never tried that though and figure it may only save 15-20 minutes. If I'm doing low and slow I assume 1-1.5 hrs till I'm at a rock solid temp that won't move (for days). Just my two pennies, don't think you are necessarily doing anything wrong.

I think you hit the nail on the head by saying his technique looks "really amateur." I'm fairly certain that is target audience is...amateurs.

When sitting at my desk here in my home office, if I turn my head to the left, I see my bookshelf. On that bookshelf sit 80% bbq / grilling books, 10% 'regular' cookbooks, and 10% 'other' reading. I'm glancing at about 5 books by SR. I have found some level of value in each of them, and there are a couple of recipes that are in my 'go to' repertoire. Is the guy the best at any one item? Probably not. Aaron Franklin is the king of Brisket (for the moment); does that mean SR can't teach you how to cook a brisket? -- nope. He appeals to a wide audience of weekend warriors. His TV presence is lacking, but perhaps that is appealing to his audience? I have to say, I've had a couple of ladies ask me if I could teach their husbands to grill. On more than one occasion I've gifted them SR's book, 'How To Grill.' They have all come back later and thanked me. If there were a 'King of Grilling 101' award, I'd give it to him... His new show is teaching his audience how to branch out with new tools (a la KKs), which is great. He is helping people take it to the next level. Can't fault the guy for spreading the gospel. It should also be noted that this guy wrote about 10 cookbooks before he became popular in the bbq world. He has been doing this since I was a school boy. To use a medical analogy, SR is probably is one of the best GPs around. Doesn't mean there aren't specialists that know more about certain subjects (including smoking wood). I've never heard the guy say he is the best, unlike some guys I know (and respect) -- see Myron Mixon. Deep thoughts, by Cookie.

Here are a few methods I have used, all seem to work well enough... 1. My weber gasser is big enough to fit my 23" and 22" grates inside. I crank it up, lay the KK grates on the top of the weber grates and carbonize everything so that it easily brushes off when transferred back to the KK. Not an option for everyone, I know. 2. Pizza cook - I just preheat the KK to 550F for about an hour and all is good and easy to clean. 3. Overnight soak - I have a shallow Rubbermaid tub that is big enough to soak the grates. 4. Elbow Grease - Using a combination of grill floss and a wad of aluminum foil, clean grates by hand. High temp is the easiest.

Hire @MacKenzie to fly down and take some pics for you??? That woman has skillz!

I recognize some just cook within a range that may be outside of the responses available in the poll. If that is the case, please choose a number that coincides with the middle of that range? Thx.

If you get a chance, can you please click the poll buttons so your data is captured?

If you get a chance, can you please click the poll buttons so your data is captured?

That dough looks very similar to Nancy Silverton's dough that I like from Mozza... Can you please share or point me to a recipe online? I'd like to compare notes, looks killer. Dude, I really don't know what else you could ask for...these are all better than anything (and based on looks, I'd call it a tie with Mozza) that is available in Singapore, a population of 5.5 million with a gazillion Italian joints and commercial pizza establishments... P.S. Hide pep under cheese to hide grease?

I know what you mean, we've all had the 'uh oh, my guests are about to arrive, time to crank it up' moment, but I couldn't come up with every possible response, and I thought that would kind of dilute the data... I guess this poll should be viewed as 'in a perfect world, where you have as much time as you want,' what is your preferred cooking temp.

Just bust it up with a hammer and the crowbar that came with the KK. Be careful not to whack a tile! I had to do this as well before my KK would roll off. If it can be avoided, I wouldn't do the roll-off without help. They are a bit top heavy, 4 hands are better than 2.

Just curious...

For some reason, this reminds me of two techniques I saw last year on holiday in Thailand. The resort offered a private in-villa BBQ where they sent three guys and a gas grill to cook us dinner on our patio. I'd guess the senior guy to have been about 70ish, and the young guys claimed their senior taught them this stuff: 1. They heated up the grill and put a single slice of white bread on and toasted it, both sides. Once toasted, they used it as the grill brush to clean the grates, and it worked. 2. After the grill was hot, and just before putting any meat / food on the BBQ, they sliced a medium sized potato in half (length-wise) and rubbed the grates with the exposed potato flesh, which actually seemed to give them a non-stick surface. The toast trick was pretty evident, I've done zero research on the potato technique.

Great exposure, congrats Dennis. The KK aesthetics speak for themselves, but when people ask me about their performance, my exact words..."They will run for 3 days on one basket of charcoal. I actually have found warm coals (accidentally with my bare hands) in the ash pit 5 days after forgetting to shut down after a low and slow."

I think I had the first '21,' Dennis??? It pays to live just across the Java Sea from the factory. New house on Aug 1. Do I dare get a 3rd KK, I can finally go big daddy if I want...

Wilbur, if this is a super important question for you (ie, you are debating on another cooker and can't decide between a 23" and 22"), I could try to stack some soda cans up inside of each to give you an idea? You can see a side-by-side of my 23" and 22" here (note that the 21" was actually a little over 22" when completed, so my 21 is the current 22:

That should be prime time fishin'

Lookin' Good!

Speedy recovery Dennis!

The Mozza dough is definitely soft. I'm determined to make it work, just plan to do everything in the aircon from now on, including building the pizzas themselves, then just a quick transfer outside to the KK. Thanks for the flour resource, have not used Phoon Huat before... That said, Mozza uses a blend of all purpose and rye flours.

Nope, each to his own. Depends on what temp you like to cook at, ingredients, etc. I have settled on 550F for my pizza temps, direct heat to the stone on the main grate (as pictured). At that temp, I found the top to cook quicker than the bottom if on the upper grate. I believe KKing is more art than science, no rights or wrongs... Cookie

I've mentioned this before, but Mario Batali's Pizzeria Mozza is my favorite pizza, anywhere. We have on here in Singapore, the original is in LA. The dough was created by Nancy Silverton, and I've tried her recipe several times (here in Singapore), all epic fails. She does everything by weight, and I've always used the scale to exact proportions and it has always turned out too wet and hard to work with, even after adding more flour. Well, hopefully that is about to change. The wife and I did a cooking class today at the sister-restaurant, Osteria Mozza, and I was able to pick the chef's brain on the pizza dough. Turns out Singapore's temperature and humidity wreck havoc on dough recipes that are geared toward cool temp proofs and rises (the recipes online don't really indicate the sponge and dough should be done at cool temps, so I had assumed to use warm temps like other pizza dough recipes I've used). They actually have serious amounts of AC running in their dough room. She gave us a few other tips, so hopefully our next cook will finally get it right. To hold us over, chef was kind enough to send us home with two of their dough balls, results were A-mazing... Our 4 year old declared me 'best pizza chef ever,' so I won't burst his bubble and tell him it ain't Daddy's dough!