tony b

EVERYTHING! I'm partial to pairing it with ribs or pulled pork. Typically with a good homemade coleslaw (vinegar based dressing to avoid having too much mayo going on!) For brisket, it's drunken beans and coleslaw (this time with mayo dressing.) Since we're sharing, here's my go-to slaw recipe (it's from the old POSK Forum, many years ago, and I still make it all the time!) I use Napa or Savoy cabbage. I like the texture and sweetness it gives to the slaw. Rinse off a head of Napa or Savoy cabbage, removing the outer leaves and discarding. Wrap it tightly and slice into about 1/4 inch thick ribbons. For the dressing: 3/4 cup mayonnaise (Duke's is the best!) 2T Balsamic Vinegar 1T Rice wine vinegar 1/2 tsp Colemans dry mustard 1T Sesame seed oil 1/2 tsp white pepper 1T white sugar 2-3 cloves of garlic smashed and chopped Whisk it all together in a large bowl. Add chopped cabbage by the hand full while stirring to incorporate it all together. I also add a spice mixture called Zatar. It is popular in the middle east. The main ingredients of Zatar are thyme, roasted sesame and sumac. Zatar adds a different flavor to the slaw that no one can figure out. It goes really well with the pulled pork though.

I'm as lazy as they come, Charles, but this just seemed to make sense to me and I'd been thinking about doing it for some time now. Especially after going through several bags of RO and seeing all the dust & fines building up in the bottom of my charcoal bin and ultimately in the bottom of the KK. Once you build it, it literally takes a couple of minutes to sift a whole bag and you don't end up with all that stuff in the bottom of your grill, which you eventually have to clean out and dump anyway. So, as I look at it, it's the old "Pay me now, or pay me later, but in the end, you're gonna pay!" Much rather deal upfront than later, which involves dragging out the shop vac from the garage and hauling it up to the deck to clean out the KK. Hoping this will lead to less vacuuming out of the KK, since it takes a while to build up enough ash if you use good charcoal. YMMV

Done! Order's in.

Good, I'm in! Off to order the basket and some OctoForks. Can't wait to get the kabobs, too, when they come out.

I usually go direct, but with the basket splitter set with the charcoal in the back half of the grill, so the meat rotates toward and away from the heat. Temps depend on the food. Typically chicken at 350F - 375F. I've done one rack of ribs in the roti basket, direct, at 275F. Did a bacon-wrapped stuffed pork roast, indirect on the full charcoal basket, @ 325F (needed the drip pan because of the bacon).

Thanks, Keith. Saw the 2 new ones - the big basket is too close to Dennis', which I already have (so don't need 2) and the tumble basket (I made one last year out of 1/4" wire mesh fabric to roast Hatch chile peppers), so I'm good there, too. Quick question - will Dennis' 5/16" hex shaft work with the SS Flat Basket? That's the one that seems like I'd use more.

Current plans - smash burgers tonight (gotta break in my new cast iron griddle!), rotisserie chicken tomorrow (trying to find a way to integrate some Purple Crack into my marinade/injection to see if I can get purple meat!), Sunday is open right now (gotta pour beer with the homebrew club that afternoon, so may end up eating out), Monday - DNK, like Charles, I can't think that far ahead - LOL!!

Yeah, that's the same article I found. Let me know how you like that salad, MacKenzie.

@billg71 - Nope, I had the same issue with the Fogo. Kept a screwdriver and a rubber mallet in my charcoal bin to break up those huge pieces. For folks that haven't seen it, I'm talking pieces the size of cantaloupes or a head of iceberg lettuce, not baseball sized, which is the standard that I use for "large." @Jon B. - I was in the local Ace Hardware store today and guess what? They had a box of the Black Diamond ($20). So check your local Ace store. I will likely go back and get it when I get through my last box of your kind gift. I just opened it, and I think the size of the pieces was similar to box #1. In fact, today I built a wooden box frame out of 1 x 1's with 1" wire mesh fabric stapled to it to screen my charcoal. I just empty the bag on top of it, give it a little shake and all the dust and tiny pieces drop through into a Rubbermaid bin. The usable pieces stay on the top and get put into my charcoal bin; the dust and smalls in the other Rubbermaid tub get dumped.

Gets my vote.

Very Nice! Love bacon-wrapped scallops, but can't remember the last time that I had them??

Did a search and found the Naked Whiz's review. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag113.htm I've only used the one box so far, but it had good size distribution and I liked the way it started and cooked. So, I'm looking to Jon and Shuley to provide feedback on box-to-box consistency of the size distribution. Amazon sells it for a reasonable price (free shipping with Prime), but I'd still hate to order it and get a box where 20% wasn't usable! A Large box (16.4 lbs) is $28. Unfortunately, it's out of stock right now. The small & medium boxes don't have as good a price point per pound.

Congratulations and Welcome to the KK Family! Can't wait for you to post pictures of it when it arrives (hint, hint!) What size KK did you get? I'm assuming that you didn't get a table top version, based upon your question. Because of the weight of these grills, they should be on a patio, deck, etc. (i.e., a good solid surface) and not on the grass or gravel, or even pavers.

Like Jon said, I do like the CharBroil. Will have to see if I can find the Black Diamond around here, as the local Lowes didn't carry the CharBroil. My current go-to is Rockwood. LOVE IT! Can get it locally, too - Bonus! Tried Fogo per CC's recommendation. Didn't turn out to be a big fan. Believe it or not, because the pieces were TOO BIG. I had to get out a screwdriver and mallet and chisel them down. Hard to light, even with a MAPP torch. Had fires go out on me after starting cooks. YMMV I will use RO in a pinch. Like Smokydave said, always finding pieces of kiln rock in them. Stuff is cheap and readily available year round here. But, lots of unusable smalls and fines and it burns up really fast. I've had a tendency to hoard my CoCo Char as well. I only break out a few sticks for extra long cooks - whole butts & packer cut briskets; or, for hot smoking salmon because the smoke is so clean.

@Shuley - good luck ordering them. Per Aussie, they go quickly right after harvest. Good luck in your search!

OK then, I'll wait a couple more days to see what's new before placing the order. Thanks for the update, Keith! There goes that MacKenzie again!!

And a nice looking bottle to go with it!

Good save, MacKenzie. I also see more fiddleheads and purple crack salad dressing, too!

It gets its name for a reason! And, it's good on lots of other things, too!

Liked the pineapple idea, but would obviously use Dizzy Pig Pineapple Head instead of plain brown sugar.

Spotted the Purple Crack cheese right away! Would manicotti be too big for this recipe?

Nothing wrong with Mexican.! Nice looking enchies!

I'm sold!

Thanks for the update, Keith. I was sitting on the fence about buying, as I wanted forks, basket & kabobs all at once to minimize shipping costs. But, if we're talking mid-to-late summer for the kabobs, I might go on and pull the trigger on the forks and basket now, so I have them right away.

Nice write-up. Says he owns one, so we need to get him on the Forum.