tony b

I'm shocked that the POSK still has almost all of its tiles, being that old! Glad you decided to bypass this one. Smart move - coming from a previous POSK owner.

That's why I suggested to MacKenzie that her mechanic friend incorporate a damper similar to the Guru fan. Since he ended up using the Guru parts in his adapter design, the slide damper was included.

Nice chooks! Can't wait to hear how the pastrami comes out.

Hint, hint, hint. A special shipment coming my way could possibly include a bottle of that syrup!

More corn tonight, with a chicken breast and some of the leftover mushroom pasta from the cowboy ribeye cook.

Scored those at CostCo as a Father's Day special back in June. Saved them just for this weekend. Prime grade for $12.99/lb!!

on the accessory list, especially loading up on the coco char! Only 1 piece of advice, if it's not too late, get a second charcoal basket for the basket splitter. It makes swapping back and forth sooooo much easier if all you have to do is lift out one and drop in the other, no assembly required!!

Great cooks, everyone!! I had out of town guests for the weekend, so I had to welcome them properly on Friday with a nice cowboy ribeye steak cook. On the KK with the local corn. Sorry no plated shots of the full meal (steaks, corn, mushroom pasta, Greek Salad), but a nice close up of the ribeyes after the sear.

Sorry, not much help here on that part, as mine was in the warehouse inventory when I picked it out (23" Dark Autumn Nebula).

Seeing the pictures, I now know why this didn't make sense to me when you first talked about it, as mine doesn't attach to the grill at all, the tube just slides into the Guru port.

Welcome to the Obsession! You're going to be blown away by what this grill/smoker can do. I will bet the Farm that some of those other pieces of hardware you have now will be on Craig's list within a few months! Chicken is probably the best thing you can do on a KK, especially if you went with the rotisserie option. The low airflow in the KK keeps birds very moist without much hassle (no brining). If no rotisserie, then you will find spatchcocked chicken (aka roadkill) will be just as good.

Fogo ships. That's how I get the Premiums like the Cuban/Argentina/Brazil ones. My local BBQ shop has started carrying their regular lump. Also look for Rockwood, if you can find it nearby. There's always Amazon. That's how I tried the Kamado Joe lump. Good stuff and well packaged for shipping. Dude, Royal Oak is soooo passé now! LOL

Thanks, MacKenzie. I really enjoy being able to eat outside in the summer. Unfortunately here that only means 4 months out of the year! Another nice evening and dinner on the deck. 3-legged chicken this time, with local corn (awesome!) and risotto with Boursin cheese. Direct @ 375F, with cherry wood. On the deck for dinner.

Indeed! The only "complaint" that I've had with ANY of their charcoals, is that the pieces can be too big! Nothing that a mallet and a screwdriver can handle, but still a bit of a chore to break them up into manageable chunks.

At some point, you might want to query other Aussies about the need for the cover. If you get your ODK built, you probably won't need it. Hoping that the rotisserie option was in the "bells & whistles"?

Did a couple of pork chops last night with roasted fingerlings and haricot verts. Direct @ 375F. Cherry wood chunks. Sauce on the pork chops was a homemade raspberry BBQ sauce. Plated with some nice black pepper Boursin cheese on the potatoes and chopped pecans on the pork chops.

Will be eagerly awaiting the pics of the new KK and its home in the new ODK.

If there's a demand, Dennis will come up with something - just like he's done many, many times before!

I have to admit that I'm not that crafty in my brewing room, but I did put together the DIY version of the Mark's keg washer and my own stir plate for making yeast starters, both using plans/guides in homebrew magazines/on-line sites. Many homebrewers that I know have lots of interesting "gadgets" that they've put together to solve one problem or another in their brewing practices. Zymurgy magazine publishes a "homemade gadgets" edition every year with some of them included. Others have put together entire brewing systems, including the 3-tiered stands for them, with pumps, valves, connectors, controllers, etc. A few have even make their boil kettles and hot liquor tanks out of old beer kegs that they've cut the tops out of and added on the thermowells and ball valves. Not to mention converting old refrigerators and chest freezers into kegerators and fermentation chambers. As a hobbyist group, homebrewers are an inventive bunch, usually out of frugality! LOL

Do you have the cold smoker? If you have items (drip pans, food) on the lower grate that limits use of the hinged door, I'd use the cold smoker instead of trying to place chunks of wood on top of the fire during the cook. If you don't have the cold smoker (and aren't interested in buying one), consider using Syz's cast iron Dutch oven "smoker pot" that many of us use. You can generate smoke for hours with it, so no worries about having to add more wood chunks during the cook.

Yeah, I guess that pretty much sums it up - everything but cold smoking. Sorry that I wasn't more clear. If it's a quick cook (<1 hour), I'll just toss some chunks on top of the coals, as by the time the smoker pot heats up enough to generate nice smoke, the cooks half over. I think your problem can be traced to either the RO charcoal not generating enough BTUs to heat up the cast iron, or your placement of the pot. With faster burning charcoal like the RO, the coals underneath the pot can burn up before the pot heats up and then the pot can slide off the pile and not be near the burning coals any longer. I've had that happen before, so I try and make sure that the pot is on a "steady platform" of lump around the spot that I've lit. @tekobo - any concerns trying to seal the lid on the smoker pot after it's already heated up? I use the flour/water paste on mine and I'd be reluctant to attempt that with a screaming hot bottom half. I could see putting the sealed up smoker on top of a chimney of burning charcoal to jump start it, then just transferring it to the charcoal basket in the KK on a short cook. Would probably have to add more chunks inside than I normally use, seeing as it would be generating smoke during the heat up of the KK before the food goes on.

You will love this charcoal. It's what I'm using right now. Have to admit that I didn't even look at the back of the bag.

MacKenzie, you had me with that piece of crispy fat!! Welcome back, Aussie! Missed your posts/pics.