Firemonkey

Re: No or little smoke Carter is right...when you add your grates, it will reduce your internal temps. The same is especially true with your heat deflector. I usually put the grates that I intend to use in the grill and let them come up to temp along with the rest of the grill. Then, once the grill has had some time to heat up, I will check the fire situation, place a few chunks of wood on or around the hot spot in the basket, and add the deflector. Unless I plan for a longer cook, where I mix 4-8 chunks of wood in with the lump, add the deflector and let it all come up to temp at once. Unless you are tossing he wood around the outside of the basket - like around the edge with the deflector already in place - you should be getting plenty of smoke. If there is ever a doubt about your smoke wood being in proximity of the fire, just open the lid of the grill for a minute. The burst of airflow will quickly start the smoke rolling if there is wood to be burn. If not, you know your either need a new piece, or what you have is not close enough to the fire. You can also add wood with the deflector in place if you take a look at the general vicinity of the hotspot. I drop a piece or two down the front, and use my grill floss or my "charcoal stirring stick" to flip it into the fire. If your not finding unburnt wood in your basket, it is definitely making smoke. Even in low airflow, it will char and provide smoke. Smoke flavor is a relative taste - some prefer heavy smoke, or an edgier flavor like mesquite, while others prefer milder smoke like peach or apple. I think it was szyzgies who described mesquite as resembling diesel exhaust or similar, while the doc uses it as his wood of choice. So what is it that you are shooting for? Can you give an example of the flavor you are after?

Re: July 4th Babybacks Yep. I did the same thing - 3 racks of baby backs over cherry and pecan smoke. Not a single picture either, which I think is a first for me. I've gotten bad about taking pictures, an never getting around to posting them, but these ribs while mighty good, were completely imaginary.

Re: Another argument for using grill-floss Hmm... Not sure mine makes a screech. My grates are usually pretty oily though. Doc- the end is a small piece of flat stainless which is bent at 90 degrees, and is probay 1mm or so thick Its rigid. One end of the tip has a 1/4 round notch and the other has a 3/8 inch notch. If you imagine the shape of a Swiss army knife can opener, there is sort of a hook shape made by the round cutout. I'm sure some people have bent that hook by prying with it or some nonsense, but the metal is pretty sturdy. Let's put it this way- I've used mine to lift one side of a hot grate on plenty of occasions and it's never even considered bending. I use the area near the fold to do the lifting, not the tip of the hook though. I also thought the tip might wear out when I originally bought mine years back, so I ordered a spare tip at the same time - they're replaceable. That tip is long since misplaced, and the original tip shows absolutely no sign of wear either. I think there's several pics in some of the old threads around here. viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1554&start=30

I just saw this article, which reminded me how great a grill floss is for cleaning the KK grates. The 3/8" tip fits and scrapes great, and you can avoid a side order o' wire with your meal. http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/ ... n-mans-gut After the initial problem with the stainless tip not really being stainless (replaced by grill-floss), my grill floss is still like new, and has been out in the weather since I got it. In fact, I like it so much I bought a spare just in case!

Re: Omaha Steaks iPad or iPhone STEAK TIME app igrill has rather disappointing reviews on amazon. It's also rather expensive for a remote thermometer, especially considering you only get half the system. I would rather spend that money on a stoker or guru.

Re: First cook... Hmm...I just started watching a few episodes of Mad Men on Netflix. I was clearly born about 20 years too late

Re: Omaha Steaks iPad or iPhone STEAK TIME app That sounds like an interesting app, and I will download and it just for the curiosity factor if nothing else. But the reply from Omaha steaks is simply absurd! Sure, there are lots of grills and lots of moving parts to the equation, but the very fact that the app provides timing information assumes that it was built around SOME sort of temperature constant. Why not just provide the temperature used to set the initial time, with a disclaimer the YMMV and all grills have unique traits?

Re: Dry aging beef - by the numbers Yep. Boneless strip loin. You're probably seeing the lines from where the meat sat on a wire rack while drying.

Since my last post about dry aging beef, I have done 2 other strip loin slabs, without pictures or paying attention to weights. This time, I decided to try and figure out exactly how much of my initial purchase I was losing in the process. So here is what I found with this batch: Starting weight: 13.53 Lbs The end cuts of this slab were not straight, and I have found that while trimming the ends, you will lose any of the pieces that stuck out beyond the lowest point. Thus, I decided to lightly trim the slab in order to have as much of an even surface as possible on the ends. I figured that this would help reduce waste and make it easier to trim. I just shaved the trimmings as thin as possible, and they made a great cheese-steak sub for my teenager. Trim before dry aging: 10.1 oz This slab went into the fridge for 17 days. When I pulled it out, I found that since it has been MUCH hotter here in FL lately, and the fridge I use for aging is in my garage, I had more of a hard skin than I had on previous slabs. I think this is due to the fridge having to run more, and the increased airflow drying the surface more. Trim: 2 LB 3.5 OZ Now, I was fairly aggressive with the trimming, rather than trying to surgically remove only what was necessary. I opted for speed, since it was dinner time and I wanted to eat some of these I also removed more of the exterior fat than most may, as my wife wont eat it (and wants it removed before cooking) and I probably shouldnt be eating it. But I did leave a fair amount on there. What I ended up with are some mighty fine steaks, weighing in at 8 Lbs 1 Oz. There was some question about the thickness of the steaks last time I posted a similar picture, so I included a cork from my dinner beverage for scale. So the numbers are in: (Pounds - ounces) start: 13 - 8 Total of all meat (pre aged trim included): 10 - 14.6 Loss to moisture: 2 - 9.4 Trim loss: 2 - 3.5 Total loss 4 - 12.9 $6.39/LB = roughly $30.35 in loss Final price for Strip steaks, dry aged at home: Roughly $10/lb. (it works out to $9.88 if I include the initial trimming as dry aged meat, $10.80 if I consider it a loss) So there it is...yes, there is significant loss in the aging process. But $10 is still a bunch less than the $20-$25/LB price from whole foods, which is the only place I know of that sells dry aged steaks, and its a 40 minute drive to get there. I will certainly keep dry aging here, and besides, there it makes me smile when I open my fridge and see something like this in there:

Re: Fruita Wood Chunks Ha ha...news channel

Re: Frontier Lump on Sale at Lowes I saw big 40# bags of frontier lump for $19 in my local BJ's warehouse club yesterday. An okay deal, but for the minimal cost difference, I still like RO better. I wasnt very impressed with Frontier when I tried it.

Re: Anybody happen to know anybody in Manassas VA? White Mamba is near there. I'll check his availability

Re: Cover essential? My sofa and television are in mine...plus my beer fridge, a big fan, and a pole for the dancing girls Of course, none of that is true, but it's a BBQ forum. When you guys start comparing your Lamborghini, Bentleys, and 3rd or 4th houses, someones gotta put the redneck back into the BBQ. I guess I'll be the token redneck . But hey, if your Ferrari gets stuck in the dirt while your up in the woods harvesting some smoke wood, let me know. I've got this giant Jeep that would absolutely come get you.

Re: Whole Flatiron Steak Let me help you out, Dave... [bBvideo 425,350:1zxt1n33]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5763451318132389974[/bBvideo:1zxt1n33]

Re: Annoying the neighbours The smoke at startup is a product of your fuel. Using decent lump charcoal, you get a little mild aromatic smoke. That is not nearly as nasty and noxious smelling as what your neighbor would subject you to by dousing a pile of kingsford with lighter fluid. Nobody is gonna complain about the smells from your grill, unless they are jealous.

Re: Real Montana Charcoal Here is a link for those interested: http://realmontanacharcoal.net/

Re: Grill design mod from forum feedback Sure, you can grill without heat soaking, but if your roasting you will have far better results if you let it heat up. Otherwise, your getting all your heat from below rather than even heat from all sides.

Re: Grill design mod from forum feedback Pour lump in grill, hang jasen-built torch on side of grill, and go put bag of charcoal back in bin. 60 seconds later there is a nice bright orange hotspot, and you set your airflow and let it do it's thing. And I can light my firepit with the torch just as easily. Have a chimney...it's been tucked inside the weber kettle and neither have seen use in years. Hair dryer is too much effort, and the last thing I want is airborne ash when it's all hot and humid out - it would stick all over me and send me for a shower before I cook. As it is i usually end up there afterwards.

Re: Grill design mod from forum feedback It is called the Performer, and comes with or without the "Touch and Go" ignition system. Their gas ignition is basically a horizontal tube into the grill, right under the charcoal grate. Its permanently attached. The tube has a venturi and spark outside the grill, only the fire goes into the cooking vessel. [bBvideo 425,350:34fj2bps] [/bBvideo:34fj2bps] Personally, I'd be thrilled to have a gas ignition built in, even under the charcoal. I grill far more frequently than low/slow. BTW, I lit my POSK from under the basket, using the gas, every single time, low and slow or not. Never had an issue.

Re: Grill design mod from forum feedback Okay, how about still using the guru port, and extending the ignitor with a vertical shaft? The ignitor sticks up through the basket of lump, and can just stay there. Have a quick release on the outside to disconnect gas line in case of heat. If you want to get really crafty, you could have a sleeve on the vertical portion that slid down to expose more or fewer jets - so you could ignite a whole column of lump or just a spot on top if you slid the sleeve up to cover the lower jets? The guru port adds backwards compatibility with all the old grills. The handheld torch is WAY easy to use to light the lump, so anything you add has to be easier than even that. To me, that means it needs to be something that can stay in the grill. If I have to go and disconnect something, especially something HOT, i may as well just use the torch because its easier. Now, if there was a push button ignition that was always in place, that would be pretty cool. Maybe use the vertical shaft idea, but built into the floor of the cooker? You could thread the shaft so people who dont want to use it could remove it, and others could leave it in place. I always pour my lump into the grill, never in the basket outside of the grill, so you just fill your charcoal as usual, and press a button to make fire on the silver spike that sticks up in the basket.

Re: Grill design mod from forum feedback Why not just modify the cigarette lighter plug for the guru port? Have a gas ignitor plug and a sealing plug? For all that, if the ignitor can take the heat, just have a stainless cap over the burner jet of the ignitor, so you could leave it in there? The cap would keep the ashes from falling in it.

Re: On the Fence...Need Advice! You want to know the fastest way to get the wife over the objection? Take her to see one in person! You didn't post your location, but I would bet you could find a KK owner within an hour drive of you that wouldn't mind letting you check one out and even give it a spin if you want. The worst that can happen is you'll get a great meal and meet some nice people. I used to have a grill fleet too. Gave away a posk, still have a weber that is just used for storage (it's full of kindling for my firepit) and I use my KK several nights a week- from simple dogs and brats to a full BBQ feast. I'm near Orlando, you can stop by for a real "magical moment" if your ever in the 'hood.

Re: Help with Temperature Please My top vent ears have never been at 3 and 9:00 when closed. Mine is more like 4:30 and 10:30 when shut down. There is a gasket in there that compresses a bit, so snug is more important that the position. When I close mine, i flip one ear with a finger and it spins shut, then I just snug it a little more before walking off. With your top open over even just a half a turn, you were definitely going to see some high temps. 250 requires very little airflow; all you need to do is loosen the top so its barely off the gasket. For me, its so little of a gap that only the front left side of the top hat actually comes up off the gasket and vents smoke and heat when doing a 250 cook. Just to give you an idea how much the top damper controls your fire, check out this thread where several of us were experimenting with using only the top damper to roast chickens: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=4272&start=15

Re: Help with Temperature Please 250 degrees on my grill is way less than what MadMedik is getting. I would be 325 or more after a couple hours with those settings. For me, 250 degrees is about the thickness of a coin (maybe a 1/4 inch at most - depends on fuel and outside temps) in the lower dial, and then about a 1/4 turn on the top...just enough until you can see a little smoke or feel a little heat escaping. While there may be some nuances to the various grills, you can be sure that once you find *your* settings, they are consistent.

Re: Tamarind Or send me some - I'll be your guinea pig