tony b

Welcome! You're gonna have so much fun you won't be able to stand it! Big Fan of the Wicked Good charcoal. Weekend Warrior is all I can get around here, but it's one of my "go to's." Use Royal Oak lump, too, since it's cheap and plentiful around here. Not the best, but does the job. If you are looking for a good resource about charcoal, check out the Naked Whiz's database. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm

Posted Today, 06:29 PM Tonight's cook was "country style" pork ribs. Two and half hours @ 325F (indirect) on main grill, smoking pot with hickory and apple woods, rubbed with Dizzy Dust; final 30 minutes closed up grill, with a basting of homemade BBQ sauce (a riff on NC style vinegar, but with some tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar tossed in). No in-process cook pics, just the final result. Was feeling "Cubano," so the side was black beans and rice.

Wilbur is correct (and good call on Bernoulli, btw - brings back too many horror stories of derivations in grad school - shudder!!). I experience this a lot, as my grill is on an elevated deck (about 8 ft off the ground) and it sits between two houses that can channel the airflow, which is perpendicular to the lower vent. I can even lose control of the temperature using the Guru on a seriously windy day, which is another piece of evidence about the top vent being the dominate factor, seeing as the lower vents aren't open at all when using the Guru and the wind can't force air through the Guru port.

By George, I think he's got it!

Tonight's whole chicken on a vertical roaster. Injected with Butcher BBQ's Bird Booster, in the fridge overnight, uncovered, with just some S&P to tighten up the skin. Rubbed with Plowboy's Yardbird just before going on the KK. On the KK @ 325F for an hour, 375F for 45 minutes. Indirect on the main grill. Crispy skin (I ate almost all of it with dinner!) Breast was a touch dry, but still tasty. Rest of the bird was excellent. Going on the KK. Up close. Ready to come off. Done.

I have a Cambro box for doing larger sous vide cooks; just use one of my stock pots for smaller ones. I got the sliding lid for it. It doesn't completely close up with the circulator in it, but close enough. Didn't want to try and cut a hole in a regular lid, so I went this route based on some posts in Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001MRVN6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1#

That's a lot of cluck! Will have to experiment myself with sous vide chicken. Have a whole one in the fridge to dry out the skin (injected yesterday, S&P on the skin). Will go on the KK this afternoon on my vertical roaster (And NO, it's not beer can chicken - eeewww!) Will try and remember to post pics.

Hosted a Korean themed dinner a couple of Saturdays ago for my supper club. As host, I was responsible for the entree, so I did the Kalbi. My local butcher can get the 3 bone ribs. Made my own marinade, but didn't have the Asian Pear. Will look for the bottled stuff next time I'm at the Asian market. I have another pack of ribs in the freezer. Because I was hosting, couldn't take time out to take any pictures - Sorry! A bit of advice, if offered Soju (Korean liquor made from rice) - pass! We had a bottle at the dinner, can make a decent cocktail with it, but doing straight shots like the Koreans is a bit rough! I am a huge fan of gojujang and like to put it in a lot of things, second only to maybe sriracha! Only wish I could get the hotter stuff - our markets around here only carry 3 chiles hot. Decent spiciness, but I'd like to see what 5 chiles is like. Speaking of hot sauce, a buddy in my homebrewing club taught me how to make fermented hot sauce. A neighbor was kind enough to give me a batch of chiles from his garden - Caribbean Red Habaneros and Ghost Peppers. Took 3 weeks to ferment. Then into the blender with carrots, fresh garlic and salt. This base is then cut with what ever vinegar you like (I made 3 different versions - white cider, rice, and white balsamic), with a bit of xanthan gum to tighten up the consistency. Had a bit of fun with labeling the bottles.

I've done sous vide on beef mostly, not a lot of experience with chicken. I just wonder if you can get the chicken to crisp up before you overcook the bird? I say go for it - brush the skin with a little oil and more tsunami spin, 400F dome, skin side down, direct on the lower grill until the skin tightens up and browns. Let us know how this experiment works out.

Tried the sear before sous vide for the first time tonight. A Denver steak. Seared on very high heat on the sear grill (splitter basket) - 2 minutes on the first side and one minute on the other. Sealed up in the Foodsaver bag. Tossed into a 130F sous vide bath for about 3 hours. Came out perfectly rare. Notice that there is no gray zone - just seared outer layer and beautiful red interior. Used the jus out of the sous vide bag in the sauce for the mushrooms. Twice baked potato, salad, sour dough bread, and a nice Merlot - call it din-din!

Thanks, Susan!

Boo-hoo! My cable provider doesn't carry the Cooking Channel, just the Food Network. Hello???

From the bottom up - steaks, chops, on the sear grate to start, then move up to main to finish (or off to the side if using the basket splitter). Use the lower grate to roast and reverse sear larger/thicker cuts of steak, but mainly for the heat deflector/drip pan. If I want to do cajun blackened anything, the cast iron skillet goes on the lower grate. Main grate for all "low and slow" cooks, sausages, burgers, fish, veggies (squash, zucchini, corn on the cob, etc.), vertical roasting whole chickens, roasting turkeys. Upper grate for spatchcocked chicken or chicken pieces, pizza, bread. If I'm cooking for a crowd, I will use both the main and upper grills simultaneously. Try to take advantage of juices dripping from upper to main grill, if possible. Example, pan of roasting potatoes underneath the chicken to catch all the yummy drippings onto the spuds! I'm sure that I'm leaving a lot out, as there are so many combinations of grates and indirect/direct cooking. One of the reasons we all love the KK so much!

Probably nice to live near it, too!

Love lox with capers (and red onions & chopped boiled egg), but never thought about putting it on a pizza - Hmmmm!

I'm more in danger of ending up looking like Orson Welles! And, I will drink wine before its time - often!

Gave me an inspiration - heat deflector on lower grill, with the KK drip pan inverted on top, then place my roasting pan on top of that (right side up), with the bird in the roasting rack on the main grill. Kills two birds with one stone (pun intended). Insulates the roasting pan so the drippings don't burn, and allows airflow around the bird to promote even cooking.

Susan, a trick that I've used in the past to get open a frozen top hat is to load up the chimney starter, place it on the lower grill, fire it up, opening the louvers on the lower vent and close the lid down on the first latch. Should thaw it out about the time the coals are going good to start up your cook. Also, a good reason to have a cover for your KK - to keep the ice from building up on it and freezing the top hat shut. That is, assuming that you're using your KK in winter, like a diehard!

Yeah, need to school the newbies, as most other grills (e.g., kettles) won't do this, so folks don't have any experience and can get burned if not careful. It's because the KK is so airtight when fully closed up.

Thanks, Doc! I will definitely try this in the future. Something else to experiment with. I was thinking that apple juice instead of water in the pressure cooker. BTW - I assume that you had the pressure cooker on High setting? I agree - a thousand good rubs out there (about half of them are in my pantry right now - ha, ha!!)

Thanks. First I have to confirm that I get Cooking Channel in my cable package!

Actually I'm hoping to get one of Dennis' new model drip pans with the double bottom, so the drippings don't burn.

Wilburnpan, be careful doing that - shutting down the grill from fairly high temperature and then opening it back up. You can get nasty backdrafts and can singe off some arm hair (or worse)! I can speak from firsthand knowledge about this. I was cooking steaks at high temp on a friend's BGE, closed down the vents to let the steaks roast to finish, opened up the lid too fast and WHOOOSH! I jumped back in time to not get singed, but I was lucky! Here's some info from the Naked Whiz website, including a video. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/flash.htm

Heph, what's in the drip pan?

That's a shit-ton of meat, son! Pork necks?? I've never seen that cut before. Cook it like a butt - intriguing!