Firemonkey

Just a meatloaf... Check out all that fine gray ash. Saw a sale on huge bags of frontier brand charcoal, so gave it a shot. Noticed the white haze forming on the grates and inside of the grill after the pumpkin cook. I used to get Lazarri mesquite lump ($12 for a 40# bag) from the food service supplier. Mesquite forms that white crust all over everything - must be high mesquite content in the frontier. First time I've noticed it on food. Must be the dark sauce and flash highlighting it - guess it's back to royal oak after this bag.

It was the first whole pumpkin I have ever cooked - in any format. But it was surprisingly tasty, and it definite won't be the last.

And it was ridiculously good.

Woke up this morning, and was thinking "what should I make for dinner?" As I opened up the front door, i saw this guy still perched on top of my front patio tiki, and decided that the fall decor was finished, having been replaced by Christmas, and so why not eat it? Grilled up some peppers from the garden and asparagus while preheating the grill Just enough to get some grill flavor Cooked up some brown/wild rice medley, and also some bratwurst that I had removed from the casings. Softened up some diced celery, onions and seasoned with fresh rosemary, thyme, minced garlic, and some red pepper flakes, diced up the grilled vegetables, and mixed it all together. The first time I filled the pumpkin, I was about 2 cups of volume short, so I dumped it back out, stirred in some big butter and garlic croutons, and reloaded everything. On the grill for a couple hours, 325 indirect While it was cooking, I cleaned the seeds, boiled them in some salt water for a few minutes, then tossed with a little olive oil and creole seasoning. About an hour after the pumpkin went in the grill I added the seeds to roast. By this time, the grill was about 400. It roasted for a little over 2 hours, til it was tender.

I gave away my #5 POSK, too. Guy fixed the tiles as they fell off, and still cooks on it.

It means it's more novelty than a solution. Considering the chart above, when the computer works from the flash drive, it's taking about a week (scaled time measure) to do so. Compare that with actual ram which can be accessed in a couple of minutes (again, scaled). I guess if your grinding on a swap file on magnetic disk, flash looks like a 4 fold increase. But ram is affordable, so why not go from 5 days down to 5 seconds?

Here is an interesting comparison of the relative speed of things inside a computer, scaled to seconds, minutes, and days rather than nanoseconds. The takeaway - If you need ram...it's better to get some real ram.

I'm curious, what has become of your previous kamados? Serious question - keep around for a spare? Sell it? Donate it? Put it in a corner and call it names while you give the kk all your attention?

what caused you to need a new fan? Rain/wet? Heat? Just wore it out?

It looks to me like you guys have been spoiled by all the high quality food porn! Lemme just help manage expectations... When I post a cook it's probably going to come straight off my phone, pictures included, while I'm standing by the grill with a drink in hand watching it cook

It's almost like watching kids grow up... With the new guard rediscovering and trying out all the same things we did way back when. Whoa... I think I just had an epiphany - I'm getting old!

Yep, that's the vac we are using here too. ShopVac is a brand name, but it's the same wet/dry construction type vac you're describing.

Yeah, that's the apparatus that was being used on the first page of this thread. I wonder if you could emulate the device down on the floor of the grill, and if you did that with your ceramic HD in place, and a pan of ice, you'd have even less heat from the smoldering chips. Who's going to try it?

That might have been Drunk J's setup you saw on the Guru site, he was a mod there as well. I am also in the warm climate crowd, where 100*F inside the grill happens easily without fire. I have done cheese couple of times, once with big a pan full of ice on the main grate, and the cheese sitting on the upper grate above it. Worked out fine. I also tried a rig using a smokey joe as the fire chamber, venting the smoke into the KK. I put a funnel over the vent of the smokey joe, and used some flex pipe to attach to the guru port on the KK - didnt work very well, i think the airflow was too restricted. I wonder what would happen if the ash was cleaned out of a kk, and you created a spiral of chips/pellets directly on the floor. If you left the front door open, it would probably burn its way around the pattern?

Let me save people a couple of clicks.... (Pasting the tumbler post here)

it only took 18 months, but I finally saw this post. I've never heard of frogmats, but I am intrigued. They're cheap enough to get a couple and give them a try. Are they sturdy enough to lift something heavyish - like a chicken or meatloaf?

Here was my problem with brushing the ash out of the front; Before I started using the shop vac, I would take the lid from the trash can that I was using to store my lump, flip it over like a big dish, and slide it under the grill. Then I would remove the front door, and brush all the ash out into the lid. What always happened is that I would 1) end up with ash up to my elbow, and usually a black smudge or two on my arms from reaching way down in the belly of the beast, and 2) that ash would puff and make a cloud as it fell out into the pile, and that cloud would stick all over my legs and feet. So i switched to the vac, and now I just stick the hose down in there. Since I only have to do it a few times a year, rinsing the vac isn't too big a deal. The vac I use is just a little 2.5Gal - I've considered getting a new one and dedicating the existing one to the grill - so no more rinsing. But again...I am cheap.

I go through at least 100# of lump before I need to clean out ash (26"). You guys are doing ash removal the hard way with whisk brooms. I stick the shop vac hose in there and suck everything out - grill is completely ash free in under a minute and no loose ash to get stuck all over my legs. Just make sure you get one of the filter bags that goes over the foam filter of the shop vac. Best $7 ever. The dacron bag keeps the fine ash from being able to blow through the vacuum. Put a trash bag over the full vac, dump it out, and rinse the reusable filter for next time (probably not necessary but I rinse the vac out too, so why not.) some people use the disposable bags for in the shop vac instead, but I am cheap

A different spin, when you want to get a good sear without letting the grill get too hot; use a charcoal chimney. Light a chimney full of lump, do your sear over the chimney, and then dump it into the lump basket. Just set the sear grate right in top of the chimney. I use this technique when I make pot roast in the KK. I do the searing in a cast iron pot over the chimney, then dump whatever is left of the chimney in the grill, set the vents and let it go to town at 300.

I think I am getting lazy in my old age. I have a spyderco sharpmaker that I used to be happy with, and could get a good edge from. But more recently I haven't had as much satisfaction with it - probably because I dont have the patience to stand there and hone on the thing as long as I used to. A while ago I was looking into different sharpening systems, like Edge Pro, and even a couple belt sander options. And then I had an epiphany - all these represented a bunch of hassle, setup, and complicated steps, when all I really wanted to do was pick up a knife and enjoy the satisfaction of a razor sharp edge. This is sort of like my evolution with computers and electronics - once a fun hobby, now I LOATHE when something doesn't "just work" and I have to do a bunch of stupid tricks to make something function. Sharpening my knives did not need to be an exercise in Zen-craft. So I ordered a Chefs Choice 15 Trizor XV from Amazon. It sharpens to a 15 degree edge in 3 stages; the first is a coarse grind to convert your edge down to 15 degrees if its not already, so you'll probably only use it once The second is a typical electric sharpening grit, and the final is a strop. My knives are just Wusthoff Classics that are about 15 years old, and while I don't want to abuse them unnecessarily, it still made me cringe to drag them through the diamond wheel on the first stage of the sharpener. I had to reassure myself that even if the electric sharpener is more aggressive than other methods, that if these knives lasted a decade with use of an electric sharpener, I coupld handle replacing knives as a wear item for the convenience. After a few passes on each side, through each stage, my knives have NEVER been so sharp. I did actually shave a few spots on my arms to show my kids that they they needed to be more careful now. The wife missed the demonstration, but soon found out when she realized her smaller chef's knife was cutting through her flexible cutting mat. And the kitchen sponge as she washed the knife... Every couple of weeks I run the more heavily used knives through the third stage (strop) and they stay razor sharp. Hassle free. It takes longer to get the sharpener out because I don't keep it on my counter, than it does to maintain the razor edge. It makes me kick myself for being a purist and scoffing at electric sharpeners for so long. Maybe its just this model, but I am thoroughly impressed. The way the edge is maintained with only a few passes through the stropping stage a couple times a month leads me to believe these knives will last another 15 years, even WITH an electric sharpener.

When I saw that a KK was heisted from the SoCal desert, I was going to make a comment about Richard Johnson... But then realized the joke might be lost nowadays Did I miss the post about the beatdown delivered to the culprits? It would be a long time before anyone found their bones in the desert if that were my grill!

What did you do with the trimmings? I dont cook steak without dry aging it anymore, and strip loin is my preferred cut. I always hate to waste the meaty portion of the trimming - the end slices off the primal, and the underside where there isnt any fat. I started saving it in the freezer, and have been adding some to the mix when I grind beef for burgers. The trimmings give the burgers a little layer of the rich, aged taste. I will also use it when making stock - I just hate to throw it away. Since you are using a bag, you shouldnt have any concerns with mold or any other "nasties" getting on the meat while it ages. (I dont use bags, and have never seen any mold at all, but I dont go 35 days either. 21 is about as far as I like to go)

I think I just saw a ghost... Have you been lurking all this time PC, or just decided to check out the old 'hood?

I did some cheeses a while back. From what I can remember, I used a big pan of ice on the lower grate, then set the sear grate over the ice pan and placed the cheeses on there. I think naked whiz has a write up on smoking cheese on his site. I also did jerky by lighting only the end of a stick of KKEC, (I actually used a rod to stack the older style short pieces but I bet you could do it easily with one stick of the new longer pieces). I then set smoke wood up against it , and opened up the too vent to get more airflow ( dry the jerky ) and keep temps down. Worked well. (There's a thread on here with pics) I think with a few blocks of dry ice, or a pan of conventional ice that you replenish as needed inside the grill, and using a tiny heat source - like lighting just one end of a KKEC stick, you'd be able to keep temps down.