tony b

Yeah, but it's like a rollercoaster this week, bouncing between 50s and 20s. Crazy.

Yummy! Happy Christmas Eve, everyone.

We're having a heat wave here. In the low 50s and upper 40s. Way above normal.

@Basher - just don't burn up in a wildfire.

Great cooks, indeed. Good to hear that you are still smoking away. Second that - MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS to everyone!

Very nice. Worth braving the elements for.

I just got a pichana from Porter Road. I've done one from them before - very good.

Wait until you do a whole chicken. You'll really be blown away.

MacKenzie said, "I bet chocolate coated macadamia nuts from Hawaii are delicious. " I've had them and yes, they're addictive. I can see how Bruce ate the whole box!

I have had it. It is very, very good - melts like butter on your tongue. Worth the money, maybe? Same category as Wagyu beef.

I'd eat that!

I gave up using wood chips in it, as I had too much trouble keeping it lit. I've switched to pellets. You might want to give those a shot and see if you get better results.

@PVPAUL - a pound (500 gm) is a LOT of purple crack. Unless you plan to gift a bunch to others, I'd pay the extra price for the smaller amounts (50 gm) on Amazon and elsewhere. It's really strong, so a little goes quite a long way. I use it frequently and an ounce lasts me a couple of months. YMMV

Ditto - PERFECT!!

PBW all the way!! I don't disassemble, just get a large enough pan to submerge the whole assembly. Pipe cleaners work great to ream out the tube.

@Troble - a bit early, but Welcome to the Obsession. A couple of things to add to what the others have offered for advice. #2 - rotisserie is a "must have" in my book. One Grill is where you get the motor and they have lots of basket accessories, too, so I'm sure that you can find what you are looking for there. I was an early purchaser of the OktoForks - almost never use them anymore - not a fan. I have cut myself on them too many times and also had issues with food falling off them into the fire. If I have to tie the food onto them to prevent this, what's the point? - stick with a basket and regular tine forks. #3 - in addition to the rotisserie and cold smoker, the pizza stone is a must have (assuming that you plan to do pizzas and breads). The extra charcoal basket makes it easier to swap out when you want to use the basket splitter for smaller cooks. #5 - See #2 - they have lots of options for grilling baskets that will hold a whole fish.

Kinda sad actually - the burn-in was a "rite of passage" for KK owners.

They were both tasty - and spicy! Will tone down dinner tonight - LOL!

A tad colder, but I did manage to get in a chicken cook for dinner last night. Both were spicy - on the left was a teriyaki (Adoboloco) and the right was mango habenero sauce (blend of Dinosaur and Melindas). Direct @ 375F over peach wood. I slashed the skin on the teriyaki one to allow it to penetrate better while marinating.

Indeed! I've also found that cold smoked items get better with a few days of rest, especially cheese. From Wiki: Flat iron steak, butlers' steak, or oyster blade steak is a cut of steak cut with the grain from the shoulder of the animal. It's in the Chuck primal area.

There we go!

You have a good foundation cooking on those grills. The transition to the KK won't be that dramatic. You already understand the basic principles of airflow = temperature. You will just have to get used to the new top vent settings for specific temps (bottom vent is not critical as long as the fuel is getting enough air.) The other thing will be that the KK takes quite a bit longer to heat soak, but is much more stable than those grills once up and going. First cook should be something in your wheelhouse that you've done a lot of - pork butts, ribs, spatchcocked chicken, whatever it might be. Wouldn't recommend a packer cut brisket as your first cook!