Porkchop

say, doesn't RON POPEIL have a rotis basket for those baby back ribs!! set it, and forget it! golly he looks familiar

maybe a stupid question, but i'm diabetic. can this be done sugar free? does yeast eat maltitol (sugar alcohol) like sugar? also, doesn't everything have to be sanitized, etc?

here's why i don't want convection for my kk... 1) a great strength of the ceramic style cookers is that it reduces airflow. air passing over the food will tend to dry the food out. keeping things still inside the kk keeps the food moist. 2) ceramics are going to be MORE even heating than any steel cooker due to the fact that much of the cooking heat radiates from the walls of the cooker. by "heat-soaking" the walls (basically, preheating your cooker). the walls do the cooking more than the fire! so, if you preheat, and then get your fire down to the minimum necessary for keeping that heat level, you should get very even cooking. 3) i like to keep things simple! while i do like convection ovens, i don't think that philosophy goes with the ceramic philosophy. it's like the difference between power-blasting dishes to get them clean vs soaking them in hot soapy water. they both work great separate; but you would get a mess if you combined them. just mho!

just to reference

i light the coals with both drafts wide open. after coals are lit, i shut both drafts completely and then adjust according to the temps i want. right now, i've only got my low and slow down. lower draft fine tune dialed 1/2 open, upper draft opened 1/2 turn. adjust from there. so far with my high temp cooks its catch as catch can. once i finally dial it down tho, it stays there!

i've never home-brewed before, but i would love to try brewing. a good post in the "drinks" section on cheap-n-easy home brew setup would be great! i'm thinking there are at least a few here that could flesh out a thread on the topic...

so cool! my kids are all big meat-eaters too! i got to them before their mom could convince them to eat their steaks cooked well-done. my sweet little 8 yr old daughter asks for "extra blood" or "extra sauce" from the plate i let the steaks rest on after the grill. they all love rare steaks! that's good! those carnivorus girls will grow up strong and healthy!

FV, sorry about not being more in-depth vis your fire control. for low and slow cooks, esp overniters, there's a few things you should consider... 1) i put a full bag (about 8-10 lbs) of lump in the cooker; usually only go thru about a third of it, but it helps me sleep... 2) light your fire from the TOP of the pile for low and slow. fire always burns hotter lit from the bottom. for low and slow, let your fire burn down thru the fuel, and draw it's air up (diffused) thru the lump. 3) if you use tip #1 above, you'll PROBABLY have to place your pizza stone/heat shield on the lower grill instead of the arms on the charcoal basket UNLESS you have one of those fancy new-and-improved models that dennis just came up with. again, my apologies for putting you off and not giving you any info personally. sometimes, i just forget that some of the stuff i do as second nature isn't the same for others. sorry! gotta say tho, that porcine meteorite on the tray looks like you got it right! nice! why i love pork butts; very forgiving and a great first overnite! you should be proud!

cool! i remember you! great to see you back. i got one now too! i do ribs (spares, st louis trimmed) indirect, drip pan 250-275 til done (bout 6 hrs or so) with a dry rub. no basting at all. no peeking til about 5 hours goes by! bottom line, when in doubt, let em keep cookin'! if you keep temps at 250, and ESPECIALLY if you are doing indirect, those ribs won't burn! let them tell you when they are done! good luck! give us pics of the cook when done! make sure you're in the pic with 'em!

AWESOME FV! now, on to the first cook! looking forward to it! looks like your kids are around the same age as mine! i have an 8-yr old (9 in Nov) daughter, a 13-yr old son, and an 18-yr old son. y'know, moline aint that far from champaign. we gotta get a midwest kk coalition together!

nice steelie! 1/8 cold rolled steel? been awhile since i've done the offset thang. you will love ceramics, dude! no more refueling every couple hours on those long overnites! easy peasy! i bet it wasn't as big a problem as this beast, but i remember just watching the temp gauge DIVE with a gust of wind on a cool nite! nothing bugs these kk's tho! i've done overnites in below zero temps with no worries; slept like a baby. love waking up with icecicles hanging off the handle and the smoke and perfume of bbq pork butt wafting thru the cold morning air!

no foil for me either. don't need the "texas crutch" with ceramics especially...

plum wine?!?!? isnt that just old prune juice?

Re: Pre delivery ? Grout sealant hah! no break in is right! no tiles poppin' off! course all this "sealant" stuff would be unnecessary if you went textured! RAH! BLACK TEXTURED OTB RULES! but the tiled job are ok too...

hot gusher of mud... sounds like the latest rock band out of seattle...

i wonder if dennis could make your cooker a tiled tutu so it could look like it was prancing, even when standing still. MPF!

AMEN, SIR! does she have a sister?

great to be a dad and husband, isn't it dennis! looks like some great times you and yours will be able to look back on for many years!

very nice finish. sometimes the simple cook sessions are the best!!

you could sell t-shirts: "Firemonkey's Pink Cooker Made Me A Woman" with a big rainbow on the front!

wouldn't that be sweet. it would give snow white something to stand next to as she pets all the fluffy forest creatures that come up to pay homage to the pink bbq/fountain. transvestites would line up to toss in quarters and make wishes to be real girls! mpf!

oh! cappin on the smokey joe! hey curly, you got a kk on order, am i right? when do you expect to be cookin' on that bad boy? i SURE AM ENJOYING MINE! what you got in that backyard, deej, between that still and the winepress??

hey, at least you don't have to go cook in majestik's back yard! you might become part of "the circle of life"; think i saw some hyenas in the background...

curly, there's no need for you to be jealous. i've always liked you better than deej! he's just easy when he's drunk; and he's ALWAYS drunk! but i guess i don't have to tell YOU that, right