tony b

During the smoke test, don't be surprised if you get a tiny jet of smoke coming out of the wire port plug. It's normal and isn't the source of your air in leakage.

Fill the basket as full as you can. The burn in takes a few hours, so start mid morning so you can still cook that tri-tip for supper. You will likely need to add charcoal after 4 - 5 hours. You don't need any grates inside during the burn in, so it's easy to add more fuel. Then put the grate in during the hour before supper to heat up. Can't wait to hear how it goes and see the pictures of that tri-tip.

Hey Ken, we might even hit 60F this weekend - WOO, HOO!!

It's all about the Pig!!

No harm, no foul, Wilbur!

One thing is missing - gotta wrapped than thing in bacon (or prosciutto)!

I'm still blown away by the fact that a teenager likes anchovies on their pizza! You and the Mrs are doing something right there!!

Thanks, Syz. You being a long time practitioner of advanced cooking techniques, I appreciate your acknowledgement of what we're trying to do here.

Thanks, cschaaf, but that's where I started. Actually, I originally started with the French Laundry technique of 142F for 50 minutes. PERFECT eggs, but who wants to wait over an hour for breakfast?? So, MacKenzie and I have been doing various trials to find good poached eggs for breakfast in a reasonable amount of time (15 minutes or less). As noted in the "calculator" the whites and yolks cook completely differently. It's a delicate balancing act to get runny yolks with firm whites. And by "firm whites," I mean ones you can eat with a fork and not require a spoon. MacKenzie is the one that came up with the boiling water bath to tighten up the whites without overcooking the yolks. Not that big of a complication - just put a bowl of water in the microwave a few minutes before the eggs are finished in the SV to set up the boiling water bath. A quick dunk in the hot tub and into the cold water bath to arrest the cooking and you're done. It was just a matter of figuring out the various times in each bath. Plus, the added variable of MacKenzie letting her eggs come up to room temperature and me taking mine straight out of the fridge.

I hear yah, Wilbur, but in all my years here on the Forum, I've never heard of anyone reporting a warped charcoal basket. Now, on the old POSK Forum; well, that's a whole different story!!

All the advice so far has been spot on, so nothing to add here but, Just Do It!! It's almost impossible to screw up a pork butt, which is exactly why we suggest it as the first cook - to build confidence in doing other cooks later!!

HURRAY, we've got pictures. And, they are awesome!!! Kung Hei Fat Choi!!

Hint, hint, hint - got to get an Anova SV immersion circulator to turn out perfect eggs, Charles! Just sayin'!!

Sausages and peppers - a match made in heaven!

Would that be you and MacKenzie???

Welcome to the Obsession! You'll quickly find out that you've gotten the BEST ceramic grill out there! We're all eager to see the "broken" KK in its final home. We all have confidence in Charles' repairs on it, so no worries there, mate! Chicken turns out amazing on the KK, because of the moisture retention. Can't go wrong there. But wait until you do a traditional "lo & slo" pork butt, brisket or ribs. That's when you'll go WOW. Then do your break-in heat up and char some great steaks. Follow that up with a pizza cook and be blown away! But, regardless of what's on the grill - Pictures, man, pictures!!

Now, I just have to practice repeating it reliably.

Well, I did a redux of the Eggs in the Sauce this morning. See the other post in SV Broccoli for the details on the egg cook. But, I wanted the picture over here. Ta - Da!! Egg # 1 is on the left, Egg #2 is on the right. As posted over there, I've just about concluded that Egg #1 is going to be my "go to" technique going forward, as it was simpler than #2 and gave a slightly better yolk. Whites were a toss up.

On my "wish list" Bosco! Need to do a pantry clear out like yours first before ordering any new ones (including the Lanes).

Well, I pulled off the double experiment this morning. Egg #1 in 166F SV bath for 13 minutes, then 1 minute in the boiling bath, then into the cold water bath. Egg #2 in 166F SV bath for 13 mins, 30 secs, then 45 secs in the boiling bath, then into the cold water bath. I did use the same boiling bath for both eggs, as there was only a 15 sec difference between Eggs 1 & 2. Results - it was almost a tie. Both had fairly tight whites (forkable), with partially runny yolks. Egg #1 was a tad runnier than #2, but not by a lot. I could live with either, but since Egg #1 was a tad simpler in execution. It might become my "standard." going forward. Pictures, you ask? I posted it in another thread here, since it was ultimately a redux of Eggs in the Sauce.

You're killing us with the tease commentary without the actual pictures!!

I use the upper grate as a sear grate on the charcoal basket handles all the time. It's nice having all 3 grates to work with. Good call on ordering the lower grate, MacKenzie. You will like having the extra flexibility it provides.

Well done, sir! But, WHAT no plated pictures??? Wanted to see the inside of that bad boy! However, the decorations on the Wellington were a nice touch!

Ditto everything Robert (5698k) and Jon B. said. I have a converted cast iron dutch oven that I use as my smoking wood pot. It has 3 tiny holes drilled in the bottom. Prolongs smoke production for hours and forces the volatiles back into the fire, so the smoke is cleaner. Plan B - stack your wood chunks together near the lit charcoal, so that they burn sequentially. If you scatter them around the basket, some of them won't catch and produce any smoke, as the charcoal doesn't end up burning in that direction. This is virtually impossible to predict. An option - I just use the regular drip pan on the lower grate as my heat deflector. Haven't used the actual ceramic one in many, many cooks. Would only consider using it if I was trying to use the pan drippings for sauce/gravy. Keep asking away. It's part of why we're here - to share what we've learned. And, don't forget the pictures, we're sticklers that way here!

Jump on into the pool, the water's great!