Firemonkey

...besides, even if they didnt have fancy elevators, they have an abundance of cheap labor to get the job done

you have to at least include a teaser pic!

You shouldnt have to crank on the top. Mine seems to take a long time to cool as well. I have not been able to figure out if its just holding all of that heat (efficient!) or if the coals are getting a little air. Since you had glow, you likely had a small leak. Easy test, a page or two of crumpled newspaper. Light it, toss it in the grill, and close it down. It makes a nice white smoke that you can easily see when its escaping from the grill.

I had thought of that, but thought leveling the whole thing would be better, since the heat deflector also noticeably slopes to the rear. I dont know if it makes a difference, but it seems like that might make the front hotter.

I think they cook much quicker in the KK than in the oven - thought its been probably 10 years since I put one in an oven, so maybe its just my perception of time that has changed I think the last whole turkey I cooked in ceramic (ok, actually it was cement ) was probably about 20#, and I think it took about 4 hours at 325 -350 or so.

Maybe I am the wimp this time, but bugs anywhere on my plate (or grill) is where I draw the line! Hell, I dont even like them in my vicinity when I am OUTSIDE!

Wimp. The "fire" in firemonkey originally referred to my chilehead status. It just happened to translate well to BBQ context, too

Stabilize the temp pf the grill, and let it soak at that temp for 30 minutes while you build the pizza, then put it on the grill. You may need to choke it back some after you add the pizza if the top is getting too dark. I have found there is a sweet spot in balance between temps and soak times that is the difference between the top burning and crust not browning, or the reverse (burned crust white top). How long was your cook time for the top to brown like that? You may have been too hot, so longer soaking would just make the bottom of your crust get too brown. With hand tossed crust, I find 475-500ish to give the most uniform cooking, depending on how thick my pizza is.

I dont generally smoke them, I roast them at typical oven temps, with the addition of smoke throughout the cook for flavor. My audience for Turkey meals doesnt like it top be too smokey, if there is such a thing

Is this what you are talking about, Curly??

That sounds like it would be good. I may give it a try - I love apple cider. How well do the other ingredients mask the alcohol of the everclear? I may make it for Thanksgiving, but I am not sure my wife or mom would drink it if it tasted like anything I remember being made with everclear! Have you tried it with vodka? Its Lithuanian, did you adapt for the everclear

Re: My Saisuda's Nahm Phrik.. Good stuff ...Or Nam Sank

That is indeed an outrageously clean grill grate! My grate matches the inside of my grill - which is black like yours. That grate is so clean I have to ask if the inside coating is now black instead of white when the grill is built?

Several days in the fridge, months in the freezer. Yep, but I am not sure you would want to activate the yeast in warm water if you intended to freeze it. You can buy un-risen bread loaves in the grocery here, and we used to get frozen dough delivered to the store as well. It came frozen before it had risen. You would thaw it and let it rise. Im not sure that dough ball would stay in tact if you kept adding water and flower to it, but you could certainly use some of the dough you have (or more specifically the yeast in it) as a seed to make a conventional sourdough starter. Sourdough starter is a runny, gooey slurry. Not actual dough. Not sure what you mean there...too much air? You mean overproofed? When that happens you loose elasticity. It sounds like you had the opposite problem. Cold dough that had not risen long enough. Not sure on that, but you could just let a piece of your dough rise on the counter for a few hours. Then poke it down to a flat disk with your fingers and lightly stretch it to shape by draping it over your fists. It will be very soft and you will be able to stretch it as thin as you want. With some practice you will be able to get it so thin that you can almost see through it - or you could just roll it super-flat after flattening it with your fingers:D Just let a chunk rise on the counter for a couple hours, and see how different it behaves. It will probably deflate completely when you pick it up. DJ- I have used the publix dough too, when I am in a hurry. That stuff definitely needs to come out of the package, dusted with flour, shaped into a ball, and left on the counter for an hour or so before you try to use it. It comes cold and in a vac-pak!

Thats the perfect Halloween KK picture, full moon and all.

I used to manage a store for a pizza delivery chain in my younger, formative years. I agree with Sanny and PC that your dough just needed to come up in temp. Cold dough is definitely stiffer. Some of the guys preferred to work with the warm, soft dough. So soft that if you picked it up is would stretch all the way out under its own weight. My preference was when it had just come to nearly room temp. It held a better shape and more uniform thickness when I hand tossed it that way. After I spun it, if it was too big I could flip the edges and it would pull back to size. Rollers are for rookies

Since you live far enough North, that people actually need to heat their homes in the winter, you should be able to find fatwood sticks, too. They work the same, but are sticks of natural pine that has a high resin content, so it lights like a candle, and burns hot until it is all gone. Seems a little more grill friendly than the pressed mystery goo. You should be able to get it locally this time of year, too.

Machined sleeve anyway! Dennis- I think a machined sleeve in the handle would be an excellent improvement, even if this is the only one that ever got so hot. That way the handle could be tightened to the door securely, without possibility of splitting or reaming the wood. It took some adjustment to get mine to the point where it would stay tight.

Yes, on all points

I mixed my mineral oil with beeswax, so the board wouldnt be so slimey. Probably shouldnt use that on my pan, or i would have a cast iron candle I have to sand my skillet down (unless you want to come sand blast it for me ) It has some rust on the inside where it must have gotten wet.

Was that blackened on the sear grill, or on a skillet? I have a cast iron skillet that I havent used in a decade buried in the garage. I want to resurface and reseason it for use on the KK, mainly for blackening/searing stuff. I love a cast iron seared fillet

Sominus may need to check on the depth of the newer style basket (as shown). The portion of the basket that hangs down may be in the way of the Kamado "hand crafted" (read: home-built) burner assembly. I dont know the clearance on a K7, but should Sominus be lucky enough to actually get delivery of the burner he paid for... If its an issue, you could probably still get the old style from Dennis.

That is a fine looking pizza! Are you saying that you are getting these higher than expected temps with the guru attached? Maybe its a fan/guru issue and not the draft settings on the cooker? Have you tried it without the guru? I dont have a Guru, but isn't there a damper on the fan, to choke the amount of air it allows in? Might be worth a check.

I was on a flight from LAX to Miami yesterday, and there was a real estate guide from Hawaii left in the seat back pocket. I figured I might move from one topical locale to another. I figured I would have to sell a bunch of my stuff rather than shipping it all that way. Probably a good thing, too, since I would have to sell my house twice to move into a condo about half its size

Actually, that one is for the remote thermometer probe. The Guru is the big hole on near the bottom of the base