tony b

@jonj - Yep, only game in town, as far as I know. 

OK, these folks have stepped up their game. They've now secured a license to import pimento wood from Jamaica! Hallelujah! However, hang on for the sticker shock! It ain't as cheap as it used to be! But at least we can get it again! I had been hoarding my last few chunks of it for special cooks. They're also including the leaves in the order. These have been more available than the wood, but a nice add-on. Toss in some allspice berries in the mix and you're rockin' it, mon! 

De nada! That's what we do here in this Forum!

What @C6Bill said. Finding pieces of kiln brick in charcoal bags is pretty common, regardless of brand. 

To quote Pink Floyd - "I think that I'll buy me a Lear Jet!" LOL

Post pix!

@tekobo - Just Effing Amazing! I'm dying to try that octopus!

50 minutes ago, Tyrus said:

for having such a big unit. Indeed,I'm jealous.

Size Queen! 🤣

2 hours ago, NapDogg said:

since it’s practically impossible to dry out a chicken on a KK

So true. One of our members (ckreef) actually did an experiment where he intentionally tried to dry out a whole chicken on the KK. It was impossible. 

We hit 80s today, so had to grill out something special for the occasion. Sirloins marinated in Shio Koji and spices. Grilled veggie medley of spuds, poblano, onion and asparagus. Served with a side of shrooms and a nice Napa Valley cab (9 years old).

Steaks on the lower grate.

Plated.

@NapDogg - nicely done. One observation. You have MEATER probes inserted into the chicken perpendicular to the rotation. I've had experiences where the juices/fat (especially with your butter basting) run down the probes and burn, which actually coats the probe and throws off the readings. I now try to put the probes in parallel to the rotation to avoid that situation. YMMV

I've owned a 23" KK for a while now (2012). I've never had an issue with the rotisserie motor not handling the load, but I've never taxed it near its limit either.

I generally only use the basket splitter when I'm using the rotisserie. I like the food to rotate in/out of the heat zone. I arrange the basket so that the coals are in the back of the grill. I have on rare occasions used it in a left/right arrangement for a non-rotisserie cook, but in general, if I want indirect cooking, I just use AL foil on the lower grate with the regular basket (no splitter). This allows me to use all of the top grate area; whereas if you use the basket splitter left/right, you've lost half of the cooking surface. This arrangement does come in handy if you're reverse searing just a few steaks. YMMV

That's our Dennis - always looking to make improvements to a product that's already outstanding, tops in its class!

$$$$

What she said - WOW!

Last night was pork short ribs and corn on the cob. Don't know where the corn came from, definitely not local (not til late July). It was sweet, but a bit tough (age?). Pork was cooked indirect at 250F for 3 1/2 hours with smoker pot of hickory and apple wood chunks. I was busy in the yard, so I used the Guru to manage the cook. 

Plated with salad and hush puppies (air fryer).

@Tyrus there's always a jug of sweet tea in my fridge! 

And right now, I'm a fixin to go out and do some yard work. 

Hope everyone in the US has a great Memorial Day weekend, with lots of great cooks! Everyone else, have a great "regular" weekend! 

I kicked mine off with smash burgers on the cast iron griddle on the sear grate (upper grate upside down on the charcoal basket handles, for those who are new here). 

Being a Southern boy, I had made a batch of pimento cheese (or 'minner cheese as we say back home!), so onto the final burger it went!

The charcoal basket on the 23" is round, so with the basket splitter in place, you can rotate it any direction you want. Unfortunately, the larger KKs are more oval and not so flexible. I recall Dennis working on a front/back splitter for the more oval baskets, but I don't know if it ever hit the market? I recall some members "gerry-rigging" a splitter for this purpose. Good luck!

Thanks, @Tyrus, aka The Hippy-Dippy Weatherman! 

👍 👍

19 hours ago, Ryan1 said:

This forum has a ton of great info, but a lot of it is quite dated.

It's because it's still valid. Folks will update it when needed.

This forum is better than FB (IMHO) because it's indexed by subject matter and is easily searchable. 

That is odd, as Dennis is very reliable about returning calls. Something must be up over there that has him sidelined?

Sorry that I can't help much with your direct questions, as I own a 23" KK. I'll let the other 32" owners chime in with their advice. But I will tell you that you're about to up your BBQ game over you KJ smoker. 

To amplify what @C6Bill said, the reason to heat up the KK is to make sure that you drive off any water that might have seeped into the cracks. You don't need to heat up the KK to put the grout on. 

Double check with Dennis, but he's made some improvements, including doing some initial curing at the factory now and you may not need to do it?

For us with older KKs, there was a curing step needed before taking the grills above 350F. You can cook as much as you want without doing it, as long as you don't go above this temperature. To cook at higher temps, like for pizzas, you need to incrementally heat the KK in about 50F steps from 350F to 550F, letting the KK stabilize at each step before moving on to the next one, then letting the grill soak for about an hour or so upon getting to 550F. What you're doing is curing out the solvent from the layer of material behind the tiles. You will begin to smell the solvent as it heats up. Keep going until the smell is gone. You might see some whitish gunk leaking out between the tiles. It's easily wiped off with a wet sponge. But, be careful, at this point the exterior of the KK will be quite hot, so be safe and keep pets and kids from touching it until it cools back down (takes hours!) Some tiles might bulge up, as well. You just press them back down as the grill cools down enough to be safe to touch again. We tell folks to make the best of this situation - fill the charcoal basket totally full (it's going to burn a LOT of charcoal), fill up a cooler with your favorite adult beverage and a nice chair to just ride it out. Also, a good chance to continue to learn temperature control by taking some notes on top hat positions at each temperature stop. It's safe to actually cook during this process, as the solvent is on the outside of the grill and not near the food. Good opportunity to make some pizzas.