Firemonkey

Atop Mauna Kea, HI - 13,795 ft above the beach.

Hitman, has anyone properly advised you of the local customs?? You know, the part about "if there are no pictures, it didnt happen"? So was this a dream or what?

I wholly agree with the brining of ribs. I tried it a couple of years ago and haven't gone back. Once you try it you won't want them any other way!

With Dennis' stone, i do it direct on the upper grill. With the store bought stones (NOT fibrament - just the $10 ones you get at Bed, Bath Beyond or LNT(before they were gone)) i had to use a deflector directly under the stone or they would get too hot and burn up the underside of the crust. Usually this was just a couple of big nuts or metal pucks that came with my Jeep lift...you just need an inch or two of air between the deflector and the baking stone. Even with the deflector on the handles, and baking stone up on the rack it would still get too hot - they needed to be together. Dennis stone setup: viewtopic.php?t=3002 Store bought stone setup: viewtopic.php?t=2696 The store bought setup i linked is actually Calzones on my old grill, and I used a grill wok as the spacer to try and get higher up in the dome. I didnt have the upper grill like the KK has, so you would just need a few 1 inch thick nuts or spacers on the kk upper rack. I had a pizza thread showing this in detail, but of course all the pictures stored on postimage are dead in that thread

There you go...nothing like having a reason to cook more ribs This is going to sound crazy, but I actually had some worthwhile BBQ in downtown Seattle, of all places. I am usually unimpressed by BBQ restaurants, because they all seem to excel in mediocrity. Maybe this place just caught me on a good day, or I got there at just the right time to get the perfect set of ribs, but they were good. I just googled for the place, and I think this is it: http://www.seattlefoodster.com/?p=202 I agree with the reviewer - I also wanted a tangier or spicier sauce option (And yes, the venting 'que smoke did lure me in from over a block away). I dont know if I would make a trip into town to try it, but if I am in the vicinity, and want a good lunch for under $10, I would definitely go back.

Those look good, Otto. I think I cook my ribs longer than you do. I usually expect to see the meat pull back on the bone more before taking them off. How was the tenderness?

Cruzmisl - Would you mind posting some pics of yours in the KK? I am intrigued to try this, but want to see how the fuel and pot fit in the KK. I tried wrapping a bunch of peach twigs in a couple layers of foil last week. I poked a few holes in the pouch and tossed it on top of the fire when i roasted a chicken. Perfect blue smoke

I would think you load the back with food, and fuel in the bowl. Better physics...heat rises, while...well, nevermind.

A ceramic offset...GENIUS! I bet you could do some awesome cold smoking in there.

With any power draft controller, you want to keep the grill pretty much shut down tight. Close the top, and then back it off slightly. The fan will force the air out when it runs. More info: viewtopic.php?t=913

Nice looking cooker, and welcome to the club! Your picture gave me an idea for Dennis, that I will offer here - Seeing your plywood strips made me think that Dennis could further improve the ease of delivery. He has thought of almost everything by including the crowbar, making the crate easy to remove in one piece, and even including rope to lift the beast. The crates are made of like 10 inch wide plywood slats, attached to some corner posts. Wouldnt it be sweet if 4 of those slats were made of 1/2" plywood instead of the thin stuff, so that if necessary, you could remove those 4 slats and use them as tracks to roll across uneven surfaces - like grass. You could use 2 at a time as tracks, and leap-frog them forward as you roll off of one and onto the other. Minimal added expense and weight, with huge convenience for people that need it.

I would find the greasy water and mess that came from the pan more problematic that the black on the grates. Fire is a pretty good sterilizer, and a little mechanical help from a grill floss gets rid of anything that could attach to your food. If they really need to be rinsed, then I could hang them out on the hook and let the rains handle it. Im a neat freak too, so I can fully relate to your compulsion...Im just glad i dont have this particular one Now the drip pans, or HD liner (which i only use as a smaller drip pan), they get cleaned out and run through the dishwasher after use.

I keep my lump in trash can around the corner on the side of the patio. I dont dump the lump in the can, i just put the whole bag in there - easier and cleaner to dispense. There is enough room for two 10 pound pags of lump, and a basket or so of KKEC, and it stays perfectly dry through all the humidity and rain here in FL, too. The extra grates hang next to the grills, on a 7-8 inch pole (like you find on a pier) that I installed for this purpose, and it doubles as another position to hang my hammock. (This pole is in the sun, the other is in the shade) The heat deflector, when not in use is stored in either the other grill, or set on top of the pole until I am done cooking - never left out to get wet. Grill Floss is stainless, and stays hanging on the grill cart. No guru or rotis here, so no need to find a home for them. But if I had the rotis, it would likely live in the garage.

A full turn on the top is going to let your temps climb even more, but I think you probably want to be cooking that roast in the 325 range anyway. If you get too hot, close the top a half turn and maybe double the gap on the bottom. Next time, try chunks for your smoke, and add them 10 minutes before the meat. Dont forget the rules...Unless there are pictures, it didnt happen!

The benefit of the smoke pot is to yield a mellowed smoke, by not burning the wood itself and re-burning the smoke produced as the wood is converted to lump inside the pot. I can't say I have tried it, but those who do it swear by it.

I seem to recall seeing an episode of the cooks illustrated tv show where they made BBQ (pulled) chicken. From what I can remember they did chicken thighs at 300 degrees indirect and pulled them. You might try a faster cook so your turkey doesn't dry out? Maybe if sanny is still a CI subscriber she could post the technique they used . I'm guessing 375 with your desired amount of smoke until done would still be tender enough to pull.

Hmmm....Adding smoke wood? All the time when I am roasting. I add the wood after the fire is hot before I add the food. The real question is, how often do I add smoke wood when the drip pan or lower grill are in place? Not as often. When i do a low and slow, which is when i am more likely to have the drip pan in place, I mix the wood through the lump. I do whole chicken fairly regularly, and that needs a drip pan, but for those the birds are on the upper, and the pan is on the main grate. The lower stays out in the cold. While I can see the benefit of the solid lower, I think it needs to remain open. A trap door would be a nightmare, and would add to my collection of forearm burns. Also, I'm not even sure there is enough room for a door the size of the existing opening to swing open? A drop in "plug" might be the best bet. Just a patch to set in place which would fill the rack in if needed. It also fits Dennis' desire to make features backward compatible.

I reseated my gasket with the Permatex black hi-temp RTV silicone, and its held solid. That same silicone is also a spot on match for the dark gray grout Dennis used before the elastic grout. If you see any grout cracks, go ahead and fill them with the silicone!

I do my steaks and potatoes on the lower grill, and it holds a drip pan sometimes, too...like for the thanksgiving turkey. Sometimes, I wish it had full coverage instead of the opening, but i wouldnt want to have to wrestle a trap door to add smoke wood with a full main grill. Its hard enough to get the main grill door to stay open when the upper grill is in place (you have to move it to the back, open the door, and them move it back forward for the lid to close). Now, you know what would be cool...if the guy who made the versagrill built it so that it could not only be used as an additional rack, but could be set in (upside down maybe?) to fill the front hole in the lower grill

Must be someone who looks like me...If that were a rib bone he was chewing on, then I couldnt argue

All the above posts are good advice, Big Poppa. Once you hit 400, and let the grill walls absorb that level of heat it will be a long time to cool, even if you were to reach in and take the charcoal basket completely out. One idea...try cooking your roast at the lower temperature until almost at your target temp, then crank up the heat and give it a nice crust. Thats how I usually do rib roast, and it comes out great. Pics if interested: viewtopic.php?t=2862

you should get a hotter fire and quicker response from the cowboy. That hole is actually intended for a guru or wireless thermometer probe. You can plug it with a silicone plug. If you didnt get one with your grill, Dennis can send you one. Otherwise, dont worry about it...its not drawing enough air to make a difference. The rotis goes into the sguare holes on each side of the grill...they rotate in their housing, and so they are sealed already Your temp probe if placed in the meat will read the meat temp accurately. You will probably want to loosely wrap the probe wire with foil to help protect it from the fire and high heat. Remember that if you are using the deflector, there is a higher heat around the outside of the grill, and so you should protect your probes.