Tribeless

Re: My First Brisket (I do use an internal probe) Is that a temperature probe permanently in the actual meat, with the display sitting outside the KK through that little rubber plug? Any best brands? Sites online to buy from?

Re: Your other Grill(s)

Re: My First Brisket Look at the shiny new insides of that KK I've been KK'ing about five or six times a week since I've had mine. Don't rush out to get a controller: I'm finding as I learn my KK I can get the charcoal to do as I want, and don't need any add ons. It's got a great ability to hold a desired temperature for such a long time. You just have to learn your dampners, and there's only one way to do that: use it lots.

Re: Your other Grill(s) How do you cook corn and asparagus? In foil? I've put corn cobs on, without their natural wrap, but they became really dry.

Re: Wood Chips/Chunks Dennis's advice on putting holes in the foil pouch, and placing straight on hot coals worked well.

Re: Wood Chips/Chunks Ditto if you're in NZ, just let me know. We live between two houses, one in Geraldine (middle of South Island), one in Marlborough Sounds (top of Sorth Island, on sea) - actually a third in Diamond Harbour, Christchurch, but we've left that owing to the Christchurch earthquakes, and are stuck with it until we can sort out all the insurance issues. In Geraldine, the entire area is simply a big dairy farm essentially, with two and three thousand cow herds. That activity has squeezed out everything else. Orchards are are now nearly all a five hour drive down in Otago, and I've never seen fruit wood advertised. Marlborough Sounds offers more scope: it's on the sea (mussels and oysters growing wild on our beach , plus surrounded by bush, mainly manuka trees, which I know are used for smoking. I've got lots of dry manuka wood up there for a log fire, so I'll bring some back and see how it goes. Note my KK is not at my holiday home ... bad planning. I love it now, so may get a 19" one for up there soon ... just need to be sure we'll keep it (thinking of selling and buying a holiday home closer to Geraldine (the Sounds from Christchurch was okay). So, my best bet is manuka. Mind you, the Sounds is also New Zealand's primary vineyard/winery area, so I'm also thinking grape wood. Might see if I can source some of that also. I'll report back.

Re: Wood Chips/Chunks Cookie, I've exactly the same problem as you: in New Zealand I can't source chunks, only wood chips, hence I use the foil pouch with mixture of soaked and dry wood. Regarding your first question: that is a bone fide problem. I have found I can't get the dry chips (including the soaked chips that have dried) to smoke until I get up to at least 150 F. Which is a problem, but I'm mainly using indirect method for lamb, chicken and ribeye roasts, so around that temperature is fine. I couldn't smoke using this method below this temperature, however, I've not been putting holes in the foil, so I was hoping from Dennis's comment above the holes would give me smoking at lower temperatures. I think you'd have to use thin foil, though, not your caste iron dutch oven: you'll probably get no smoking at low temperatures on that (certainly not below150 F). Regarding your second question, I make a foil semi-circular pouch that covers almost the bottom half of the pit, with dry chips at one end, soaked at the other: at 150 F I can get it to smoke for about an hour. I would like a bit longer, and to do lower temperature smokes/cooks, so after I get up to the holiday home next month, I'm bringing back some manuka chunks to try those. In the meantime, Singapore isn't far from New Zealand: perhaps we should meet about in the middle, the Australian outback somewhere, and chop us some fruit wood

Re: Wood Chips/Chunks Cheers Dennis. Firemonkey, I meant to say I love that smell too. I don't wash the KK clothes.

Re: Wood Chips/Chunks Cheers Dennis. Good idea with the holes. And yes, the mixture of soaked and dry wood gives me a chance to get KK to a constant temperature before I put my food on, and to catch the maximum smoke over an extended period (given only using wood chips). I've had best results so far with mesquite, which turns to blue smoke reasonably quickly. Question: can I experiment with any wood chunks in the KK? I can't get chunks of fruit wood, or mesquite, however, at my holiday home we have a lot of wild manuka trees, which is a native hardwood here - we burn it on our log burner there, so can't see why I couldn't throw a few chunks in with the charcoal. I know manuka is used for smoking flavour. I ask, though, because it's a very hard wood, and burns very hot - but I suspect the KK could take it.

Re: Wood Chips/Chunks I can only buy wood chips where I am, so on long, indirect, cooks I put a mixture of soaked and dry chips in a foil pouch on top of the the charcoal. For searing I put nothing as the charcoal flavour is enough.

Re: Getting pizza stone off Larry, I've got no grill lifters, but will order a pair from Dennis when the half sear pit is finished: I can put the freight across both then.

Re: Getting pizza stone off Um, yes Firemonkey, I think you've cracked it. My gloves don't quite do it, but I'll get a big towel or something. Cheers all ...

Re: Getting pizza stone off Cheers Slu. Actually, I'm thinking my garden spade will work as well as anything. And I've got pretty good gloves, but I think next time in town I'm going to look for something much more heavy duty that what I've got.

Tonight we're having friends over and doing first a pizza on pizza stone on top grill, then I'm taking off the stone, and top grill to cook steaks off the lower grill. No problem getting top grill off, but any advice on how to get pizza stone off? I've got so very hot finger tips from the last time I did it with my heat resistant gloves on

Re: Cover for my KK? I was planning on taking Johnny's cover off this afternoon and unleashing the KK on its first chicken roast, but it's currently hailing. There's been no summer this year Down Under.

Re: Bronze Behemoth Game On! 2

Re: Soon to be a new KK owner... YAY!!! Welcome. But you're going to need more than a few beers to get a 23" KK up a flight of stairs. You must post pictures

Re: To Soak and Smoke, or Not - That is the Question Lesson taken For record though, it was a lovely lamb roast. Tender, and I got a surprising amount of smokey flavour ... and moist.

Re: To Soak and Smoke, or Not - That is the Question No one given this a go yet? I'm currently low temperature cooking/smoking a lamb road via the indirect method. Because under this method I can't easily get to the fire pit to put more smoking wood on - remembering I can only get wood chips here - I've made a foil semi-circular tray that fits on the charcoal, and in which I've put try wood chips in one end, and wet in the other to extend smoking period - working well, it's been smoking pretty well for an hour a quarter so far. Also, some advice please. In a cook such as this lamb roast, I'm filling the trip tray half with water on the theory that it will help keep the meat moist. Am I being a bit deluded in this, or is the theory good? Also, I assume I'm doing no damage go any of the KK components, such as the grills?

Re: Beef and Venison jerky Goodness me. Right, Googling jerky ...

Re: Too many Colors to choose from........ We have the Autumn Nebula pebble: it goes great in our yard with a lot of wood and decking in it.

Re: Alice our new puppy is in the house! That is one huge spurt of growth. We've done the sublime to the ludicrous here, going from three Great Danes to this ... And just in case, that's a water safety jacket (for on my kayak), not a jacket. Just saying.

Re: another Brisket Well US$55 = NZ$65 (and US$24 - NZ$28). That sounds like it represents stunning value. Mmm. Though you can't actually get a brisket cut here. Well, not at the supermarket. Going to go to the local butcher when I get a chance and see if I can buy a brisket, and for what cost.

Re: another Brisket Out of sheer curiosity, what do you pay for a piece of meat like that in the US?

Re: Accessories ? Well, from me one vote for the pizza stone, certainly. And I think I'll be going for a digi/guru soon ... have to do my homework on that here though first.