leejp

It's almost been a year since I took delivery on my OTB. What better way to celebrate than a feast for the OTB?

My pallet order from Humphrey came in today... Worked out to ~$14/20#bag (including a small tip to the nice fork lift driver at the trucking who helped me take the bags off the pallet so it could be loaded onto my van which is a bit more than what I had been paying at a local distributor before they stopped carrying it but still very inexpensive IMHO

Save a small tear here/there on the bags (mostly from sharp bits of coal... taped over those) the coals arrived safely. I'm set for June... Actually I'll be keeping about 1/2 of the coals.

Yes!!! I made the front page!!!

I just had to take a picture of my cooker chugging away in an ice storm!

At least you know what they are...

Anyone here care to eat the individual ingredients of a Hot Dog? Anyone?

Pallet Order Quotes...

Leejp,

I would definitely chip in for say 6 bags maybe a few more if its needed to justify the pallet.

OK... I got a quotes

For the Humphrey lump

30 x 20# bags 229.50

delivery charges are $173.98

Total is $403.48 which would be ~$13.50 bag.

For the Wicked Good Weekend Warrior Blend the Danbury HW store will just give it to me for $15/22# bag if I buy several bags (normally $16.99/bag).

I think I am going to go for the Humphrey Lump in the next week or two once I have the trucking logistics all worked out. I really miss the stuff and I prefer it to the Wicked Good WW blend.

Central Pork, 6 bags will be fine (might have to wait a week or two after I get for delivery though). I can probably get some of my local friends to take a few bags.

I think I can get away with storing up to 20 bags without earning dirty looks. I can easily go through 2 bags/month during peak season.

Two Words... Pork Butt

Pork Butt is the ideal cut of meat for break-in (which I believe is no longer required on the new cookers... but why not be safe and do it just in case).

Check out te Naked Whiz

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/

You'll find all you need there.

I'm getting some quotes...

I have Humphrey working up a quote for a pallet order (30x20# bags) to the local trucking terminal.

I also have a hardware store in Danbury working up a quote for a pallet (30x22# bags) Wicked Good Weekend Warrior Blend (normally ~$15/bag).

I like the Humphrey stuff better though...

Brilliant!

I had a Java issue with firefox once, which would cause long delays when loading the site. I had to go into my control panel and set Java to NOT load the java console. Y'all might want to check that your java is up to date and configured properly. I haven't had any trouble since.

That did it! Thanks!

Bulk Lump Order...

This should really be on a different thread but...

If we can get enough Tri-state folks together maybe we can pull off a pallet (or two) of bulk lump. The local stores carry Cowboy and Royal Oak but I really like the Humphrey Lump (amongst tops per the Naked Whiz).

I used to buy the stuff for ~$11/20# bag but the ice company I was buying from in Albany stopped carrying it. I'd be willing to buy a pallet if I could split with someone (or the Wicked Good Lump stuff).

Re: leejp

Also' date=' it you are looking to really blow people away, you need to try lobels on the upper east side, 90s and madison. These guys are all over TV and they sell online but going to the store is really charming and second to none, both in quality and in price unfortunately. You can order briskets and pretty much anything else you want there. They also have anything you want Wagyu, heritage Kurobuta pork (all cuts), and the best all-natural chickens in town. Their prime aged steaks are so good on a ceramic cooker you don't need to bother going out for steak anymore, even in New york. I do New York bone-in strips about 1.5" thick usually. As I said, the prices are in the stratosphere but when you want to do something special, thats where you go. When I get my kk in a month or two, I will definitely give it its first run with something from Lobels. Let me know if you go there![/quote']

Yep been there for the sticker shock only... Maybe I'll pick up the bone in strip for my birthday. My kids love the Museum of Natural History and I get free admission through work so we're in your section of town a lot.

que seems contrary to such expense though... the point take a tough unedible inexpensive cut of meat to create culinary nirvana.

Congrats on your cooker... Happy queing!

Central Pork... WHere do you buy your Meats?

I'm down in the city quite a bit... I buy pork spareribs at the Dynasty Market on Elizabeth St. (Chinatown). Been looking for a place to get good brisket.

Thanks...

I'll poke around this weekend and see if I can fix it.

Posting from Firefox 2.0.0.3 right now. Could your problem be something else?

Windoze 2000?

it could be a problem with the desktop. The kids have been at it again...

Started sometime last week...

My home desktop (Windows 2000) can no longer access KomodoKamado.com via firefox. In fact firefox locks up when I try.

ANyone else with this problem?

This I have got to see!!!

This I have got to see!!!

1 Block west of Central Park... The Upper West Side? Do you have a rooftop terrace? Balcony? Small backyard?

I'm just up the road in Dutchess (Poughkeepsie), used to live in the city a long time ago, have family who live there now, my wife had an apartment at Tudor Place (near the UN) while we were dating. I just can't picture the apartment que setup. Can you post pics of your egg and provide a description of your pad? How do you plan to get the KK to its final resting spot?

Spatchcock... 1/2 the time 2x the moistness

Try Naked Whiz's Dead Simple Spatchcock Chicken.

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatch.htm

There's a video on the virtual weber bullet (he takes the keel bone out).

http://virtualweberbullet.com/butterflychicken.html

I like to go easy on the rub on the skin side as I think too much rub can sometimes prevent the skin from becoming crispy. I also use a thin heat shield under the chicken (foil pan). I've tried beer can and other techniques and found spatchcock to be the best (taste, time, effort...).

No need to...

The meat will only take smoke in the first few hours of the cook.

Just load up with a several big chunks at the beginning of the cook. Kind of defeats the purpose of having a KK if you have to open the cooker to tend the fire. Get a cold one and relax.

DON'T OPEN THE COOKER UNTIL THE MEAT IS READY TO COME OUT!

What's that silver cable coming out of the top?

grant

Let me guess... it's a light but the perspective of the photo makes it look like it's coming out of the cooker. These smaller digital cameras have incredible dof which can be a problem.

Maybe 2 uses?

I could see for low and slow throwing in several sizable chunks and filling the gaps with a small amount of lump but this might make temperature control rather difficult as I've found the smaller bits of lump make for better low and slow.

A more practical use might for cleaning the cooker. A couple of logs might take place of a load of lump.

Cutting Bait...

I'm going into NYC this weekend to run some errands and will stop by Dynasty Supermarket in Chinatown to pick up some pork ribs. Under $2/# trimmed (Brisket and tips cut off)! Can't beat that.

Also... I've not used brown sugar in my rubs for some time but a couple of weeks ago I did a couple of spatchcock cornish hens with a sea salt/brown sugar based rub just as an experiment. My kids were licking the drippings on their plate. So I'll be researching rubs this weekend as well and will do a spatchcock chicken on Sunday.

Yet another perfect example of why two Ks (KK)are better than one (K)! Now, is that a piece of DRYWALL proecting the handle protrusion?

It was actually 1/4" plywood... It's the paint that's making it llok like sheetrock. The packaging was very much "ad hoc" (use whatever scraps lying around) but it arrived safely.

leejp, you didnt own one of the competitors grills did you?

Just wondering, 'cause with this company, you dont need to worry about keeping the packaging so you can return it later.

...Not that keeping the packaging would have helped you get warranty service with the other company In fact, I think removing the cooker form the crate has voided many-a-warranty

Funny you mention it... Yes I did own the competitors grill. A #7. Here's the packaging for that guy...

Draw your own conclusions on the quality of the packaging. The #7 was a nice cooker (served me well) and I never had a problem with it but once I saw the metalwork on the KK I had to have one.

Now WRT to the OCD behavior... yeah I resemble that comment. You should see my "coal arrangement" procedure...

Beat This!!!!

How's this for a tidy, patient uncrating of a KK.

Crowbar, Hammer, Wonderbar and a couple of hours of muscle.

Notice the nails/fastners piled up on the right center.

Went out and bought 40 lbs of Humphrey's lump charcoal yesterday' date=' just to be ready. Thanks for EVERYTHING, Dennis.[/quote']

I'd suggest going and getting the rest of the lump they have on hand

Man am I jealous... The guy I used to get Humphrey from stopped carying it. I'bve been using Royal Oak but it's not as good. The Wicked Good weekend Warrior Blend is close to it but is much more expensive.

You can ballpark the top damper...

You can ballpark the top damper (within 1/4~1/2 turn or so) but the Bottom damper has to be spot on.

For low and slow, smaller lump pirces are better (more surface area contace between adjacent pieces). Use the minion method Full load of coals with few lit pieces placed around the top, smoke wood dispersed throughout.

The KK is so darned efficient that for my low and slows I am barely cracked open on the dial. I have asked Dennis on another post if he can make triangular shaped openings for the dial so finer inlet air control is possible.

Maverick ET-73

This is a 2 probe (pit + meat). The one pictured is the transmitter.

Be careful though... this is my 4th unit and this one seems to work. The other 3 had issues with the wireless and the receiver would lose sync with the transmitter. Maverick's been great... each time replacing the bad unit. However after the cook yesterday when I went to turn the receiver off, the switch broke off (it's really flimsy).... Argggghhhh!

Temp control's pretty simple with the KK (use smaller bits of coal) but I now have another feature request. The KK is so darned efficient that I find juuussst cracking open the dial portion of the lower draft door is good enough to maintain 220*F with the upper draft open 1/4 of a turn or so. Dennis... could the holes on the lower draft dial be cut on a triangular shape so there's finer resolution closer to completely shut?

The weather is simply awful here in the Northeast. windy, with temps in the low teens and snow/sleet/freezing rain. Perfect time to load up the cooker with 3 racks of ribs.

Inside, sipping coffee in front of the fire... monitoring the temps via wireless. Nice having a job that allows me to work from home. This is THE LIFE.