Porkchop

yep. 2 racks. a Tower of Pork (that's what they call me on the pro-wrestling circuit)! yep, the ol' "minion method" works great on the WSM or a tricked out ECB. what's the other cooker you got? bet its one of those offset jobbies. got it tuned and sealed up with fireplace rope? you are in for a treat with the ceramics, boyo! a good gust of wind makes temps drop like a stone with those steelies, even the WSM. does nothing to a ceramic. you didn't hear it from me!

actually, i dont follow the illini... just not a big sports fan, but good to know another alum! the grid space on the KK OTB is analagous to the XL BGE. to give you an idea, with the upper grill setup, i recently did 6 pork butts at once on the cooker, indirect. so, you can get some food crammed into that serious bad boy my second favorite feature is the "fine adjust knob" on the lower draft door. makes homing in on low-temp settings very easy! gasketed upper draft is also nice. the firebox is a 2 piece unit, which allows for expansion and keeps it from eventually crumbling, like my kamado's did. if you are new to ceramic cooking, and are used to babysitting your steelies for long cooks, you will be blown away. i load my cooker with lump, set my fire, adjust drafts, load with food, and don't mess with it until i open it up 14-20 hours later. temps stay solid as a rock. learning to use drafts to control temps has a very short learning curve. easy-peasy. it feels like cheating! a 20 hour cook is no longer a big deal, and a 4-6 hour rib cook is a snap. once you learn your way around the cooker, you have time to relax and concentrate on your recipes, sides, tv, beer, whatever. as far as asking the wife, i know by experience that asking for forgiveness is easier than asking for permission

welcome randog! i have experience cooking with the BGE, kamado, my Komodo Kamado, and assorted steelies... to say that price is no object would be shortsighted. however, i scrimped and saved to get my KK and would do it again, rather than buy a BGE. i'm not disparaging the BGE either; they are top notch cookers. but the Komodo Kamado is the "total package". there are bunches of items that come stock with the KK that you will DEFINITELY want, that you pay extra for with BGE. i'm sure as you peruse the main site at www.komodokamado.com you'll notice this. i think my favorite feature of my Komodo Kamado cooker is the spring-loaded dome. since it opens on its own when you open the latch, it leaves both hands free to handle the food going on the grill. i also consider it to be a very important safety feature. if you do get a flashback, you can just let go of the handle and the dome doesn't come crashing down like it would with other ceramics. imagine a 750 deg. fire going inside your cooker, flashing back, and then your ceramic cooker exploding into a million pieces when you drop the heavy dome down on the cooker and it shatters... not good. incidently, i don't know if you've done a "hands-on" with the XL BGE, but the hinge on the dome is probably my least favorite "feature" on this cooker. it is awkward, and moves funny. there are other features as well; maybe somebody else will speak up on their favorites. i could spend a good long time outlining each, but then i'd feel like i'm prattling on.

its not so much that gerard is in the shower with another man right behind him, but... why's he got a camera with him??

trish, i already have my own bedroom, due to snoring/CPAP issues! it is great! i'd never go back, and neither would she. one of the great secrets of our marital success!

for meat info, i cant think of a more "go to" source of info than prime here! anyone who brings up "kitchen magic" or "maggi" has GOT to know their way around a real kitchen as well. i know deej had some great info on "wet aging" awhile back; might be worthwhile to link to that. i can't imagine my wife allowing a big slab of meat to sit in our fridge uncovered for a week. much less eat it. of course that doesn't really matter, as she wouldn't know the diff; she's in that "well done" crowd. i need my own fridge...

i bet if you'd put a saltine in the middle of the grill, you could lure that fancy chicken all the way in, and presto! dinner

lookin good hawaiian pirate! do you use guava at all?

a LOX port?? yeah, right next to the nitrous port! wont need to paint flames on the side, either! you'll be bbq'ing from low orbit!

don't remember where i saw this (foodTV somewhere i think) but it works like a charm! if you find it a pain to cook out a good roux for a gumbo, gravy, or whatever, try this; take a 1/2 cup white all-purpose flour and brown it in the oven first. i did this at 350 for about 25 min, stirring it about after 15 min. the color of the flour when i took it out was blonde-ish or "off white", but when i stirred in a scant 1/2 c. oil, it turned into a beautiful peanut-butter roux for my stew i was fixing (leftover turkey stew! awesome!). no standing over the pan cooking out the roux and constantly stirring to keep it from burning. i imagine you could keep the "browned flour/instant roux" in a cool dry place for quite awhile, in reserve. defo beats a "buerre mane" or cornstarch or raw roux for gravies!

i guess i'd be happy to get a stay of execution too, but not THAT happy...

watch it bobkat; im in line after the candystriper boyfriend... hey sanny,

Battle Turkey and... HAJIME! or, ALLEZ CUISINE! whatever... we know who's gonna win already, just like the tv show! just dont make her cry, jack!

fine, i see how you are... pick on the country mouse! the fact that he lives in a high-rise in an earthquake-prone region of the world lets me know he's got some cajones! for all i know, he carried it up himself!

and thats totally what i mean by letting the meat tell you when its done! i'd figure at least 12hrs at that temp for an 8# butt, but hey, when its done, its done! looks wonderful! nothing like that dark mahogany, "meteorite" look! do you set up for an indirect cook or direct. maybe that's it; i always do indirect.

how in the wide world of sports did you get that bad boy up there??? sherpa?

keep swinging for the fences tucker! nice smoke ring on that brisket! what were your temps set at?

really beautiful, paul!! wonderful pics and looks so yummy! how was the crusty bits??

then put 3 or 4 on your steak hot off the grill and let them melt and ooze and mix with the meat juices and and and... boy, did i pick the wrong day to quit smoking

4# for a butt?? sounds really small. either its off a really young hog, or they sliced half of it for steaks. set up your cooker for indirect with a drip pan to catch the drippings. dont worry the probes, just make sure you have your cooker stable at 225-250 ( i like to let it go for 1/2 - 1 hour b4 putting on the butts), and let her rip. don't worry it, and don't do alot of peeking and adjusting the drafts. once you put that lonely ol' 4# butt on the grate, let it alone. you might see the temp drop slightly when you put the butt on, but dont start adjusting drafts and stuff. leave it alone and it'll be cool. you get an hour into your cook, and temps are looking weird, then start thinking about minute adjustments. otherwise let it alone for the 8 hours, then test for doneness. see if that shoulder bone will pull free. if so, you're done. if it resists more than just a little bit, leave it on for another hour and try again. you are in for a treat!!!

i will roast mine on the kk at about 325, lump but no smoke wood. i will brine it first and thats about it. probably also just do bone-in breasts tho.

right on fetz. i do a thin crust when i do za on the kk. 650-700, heat soaked about 1/2 hr. my pies finish in about 3-4 minutes, perfect. but, i am a pizza wuss, and use a rolling pin to get my thin crust. i haven't done the more traditional "hand tossed" on the kk, as i prefer extremes; either thin thin thin, or stuffed chi-town style! anyhow, defo make your own dough dennis! instead of getting dough from the bakery, just get some yeast. they must be using a hi-protein flour and kneading the heck out of it. a well-rested dough will not spring back on you. it'll spread like butter. if you can, get a pizza peel too. sprinkle the peel with corn meal, roll your dough, put it on the peel, and then top it while it's on the peel. it should slide right off when you go to put it in the kk. i DARE you to put bugs on the next pie!

normally i'd agree, BUTT in the case of getting a new toy that doesn't need to be broken in like SOME other cookers, i'd say fire up a hot cook with those tri-tips first. then, let it cool down, and throw a couple butts on after dinner sometime for sammiches tomorrow. briskets are a PITA, so i wouldn't even bother. if yer looking for a LONG cook low and slow, try a chuck roll! but dont bother if you dont have at least 10 interested parties to help wolf it all down! of course, you cant really go wrong with any of it. i would just have a hard time waiting overnite to enjoy the fruit of my new cooker!

dub, its not necessarily a "smart ass" answer. there's a "rule of thumb" where you want to start checking, but, bottom line, you gotta let the butt tell you it's done. that being said, you are right on. i do mine lower for a little longer, but i twist the shoulder bone to test for done. a lot of times, a noob will just take that internal temp as the goal for a finish, and try to hurry up to that internal by using higher temps. but, the key is to let things move slowly thru the plateau that you mentioned in your post. what causes the plateau is collagen breaking down in the meat at that specific temp range. advice to noobs; let that plateau take it's time. if you try to rush thru it, less of the connective tissue has time to break down, and it will be tough. remember that it is art and science! let the pig tell you that it is pork, and you will have tender vittles!