tony b

Looks great to me. Love me some thai beef salad! (also. larb is another fav!)

Sounds like a "no brianer." I have several Rubbermaid tubs on my deck for holding gear, charcoal, smoking woods, etc., so I have home for the second basket.

I know you've recommended it in the past, Susan, but hearing you bring it up again, I'm seriously thinking about that second basket for the added convenience. I usually just dump out the coals into the lid of my charcoal tub and put the splitter configuration in that I'm using and dump the coals back in; but while it's not a major hassle, it's still extra work and messy.

"And, I'm not missing out on my adult beverages cooking fast either!!" - you go, girl! Thanks for the propers!

Depending on the thickness of the steak, I use either the sear grate, long handles up, on the charcoal basket for thicker cuts, and use the lower grill for the thinner ones (<1" thick). Never tried sear grate with the long handles down (humm??? - always good to have another tool in the box!) I always crank the KK as high as I can get it to do a sear (usually a reverse sear unless it's a thin steak on the lower). Chunks of either/both red oak and/or mesquite. For a basted steak like yours with lots of fresh herbs and garlic, I'd worry about burning it and making it bitter with a super high temp sear. I'd opt for just tossing in the sauce after the sear.

That's funny, Dennis, as almost all of our supermarket lamb comes from Down Under and we have no problems getting "regular cut" lamb loin chops (think baby T-bones), as well as whole racks of lamb, which can be cut into lollipops. Just scored some loin chops at CostCo, as they had stocked up on lamb for Easter.

I was wonder about that, too, Susan? Their website only talks about BGEs and Kamado Joes, which are round, not the KK, which has a unique shape.

Your are correct - the heat deflector and the pizza stone are completely different items. It was an "add-on" to my KK order (sorry, if I wasn't clear on that point.) I normally don't make pizzas bigger than 12" diameter (usually more like 6 - 8"), so I'm not sure what the small incremental area would get you by making the pizza stone conform to the sear grill profile? And for making bread, I generally do more roundish/oblong loaves, not long skinny baguettes, but I could see where the extra length in the back might be helpful for that.

The pizza stone for the regular sized (23") KK has been available for quite a while. It's in the "store" on the main web page. I ordered mine when I ordered my KK.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DVDRQ6O/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 You can get perforated baking sheets. Here's an example -

Awesome, Susan! While it's warm again today, not likely to do any grilling, as it's raining (early jump on those April showers, I suppose!) But, everything this weekend came out great, especially the beef ribs. Melt in your mouth tender after 2 days in the sous vide, with a quick sear on the lower grill. Pastrami (this was trial #2) came out good, too. 12 hours on the KK with apple, peach, and hickory, @ 225F, cooked to internal temp of 192F, wrapped in foil and into the fridge to cool. Only critique is that I might have gone too light on the pepper/coriander rub. I backed off from trial #1, as I thought that one was too heavy and overpowered the flavor of the brisket. Love experimenting!

My big bone-in short ribs came from a local butcher at our Farmers' Market. But, I can get regular boneless both at my supermarket and at CostCo. The ones I've got in the sous vide right now came from CostCo. FWIW - Back ribs and short ribs come from different cuts on the cow. Short ribs and the "country style" (boneless) come from the chuck cut, while the back ribs come from the rib cut. Both are on the top half of the cow, the chuck is right behind the neck, then the rib section comes right after that, just before you get to the loin section.

Same here, pizza - yes, calzones - not yet; but will definitely plan to do some soon! Those look very tasty. Will have to try a version that I used to love at a little Mom & Pop italian joint when I lived in San Jose (Di Maggio's) - stromboli (calzone with salami, italian sausage, ham, cheese, mushrooms, mustard, with their house marinara on the outside.)

I, too, just started smoking almonds (did my first batch for Xmas presents). Get 3lb bags of raw almonds @ CostCo for like $15. Here's what I've learned along the way, so far. But don't construe this as me being an expert at it, as I'm still learning. I smoke at much lower temps - 150F for a couple of hours - indirect. I used hickory and apple woods. My first batch got plenty of smoke, (I kept tasting along the way, not having done it before), but my seasoning fell off when they cooled. I had sprayed the almonds with PAM and then tossed them in a bowl with my seasonings. 3#s takes 2 baking sheets (single layer), so I need both the main and upper grills. Swapped positions of the baking sheets after about an hour and stirred them about every 30 minutes. See pic below. Just did my second batch about a month ago (3# of nuts last a long time!) I read online that to get the seasoning to stick better, you do an egg white/water bath. Beat 2 egg whites with about a TB of water to a light foam. Tossed in nuts, then transferred to another bowl to season. The seasoning stuck better this time, but still not as well as I had hoped for. I might have gone too light on the amount of seasoning. After the initial smoking session, again at around 140-150F, the nuts were still a bit raw and needed to go back on the grill, but I had let the KK start ramping up temps for a dinner cook (around 225F at that point ), but I toss them back on anyway. Got better doneness and a touch more smoke. Actually almost burnt some, as I was distracted preping dinner. Still more to learn, especially the seasoning part, but like I said, 3#s of almonds take a while to eat, so it will probably be another month or so before I try again.

I have some boneless beef ribs in the sous vide right now - Korean style. Will take them out of the bath tomorrow (2 days in the bath) and lightly sear them on the KK after I take off my pastrami that's going on the KK this afternoon after a week in the fridge curing. Lamb loin chops for dinner tonight (2 hours in the sous vide first with Greek seasoning, quick sear on the KK before the pastrami goes on). Taking advantage of a "spring break" in the weather - 50s-60s this weekend. WOOO-HOOO!!

No such thing as too much garlic!!! Lamb looks pretty good for "overcooked." I still see a touch of pink in the middle. But, I agree that lamb is better when it's medium rare. You're are on track - 125F was too high to do a reverse sear and expect less than medium doneness. Next time, stop the roasting at 105-110F and sear only 2-3 minutes on each side. Last tidbit of advice, always start a cook with a full basket of charcoal, regardless of how long you expect to cook. That will ensure that you never come up short. The KK will shutdown to virtually airtight, extinguish the fire, and keep the rest of the charcoal ready for the next cook.

Welcome! Happy to hear that you got your passion back! Great looking pizza!

The sear grill is the "upper grill" turned upside down (like you said, reversible with short and long handles). It sits on top of the charcoal basket handles. You're only inches away from the burning coals. Like this:

One of the things that I like most about Dennis' business model (besides exemplary customer service!!) - not a lot of add-ons needed, unlike another monochrome grill company out there where everything is an add-on!

No need to heat soak for the high temp sear. Just wasting charcoal, as you're relying on direct heat and not radiant heat from the walls to do the final sear. And it's OK to leave the lid up - but just a warning, the handle can get pretty hot so don't grab it barehanded to close the lid when you're done!! You didn't say, but did you use the sear grill on top of the charcoal basket to do your final sear? Highly recommended. But, you'll only need about 30 seconds on each side. Cooks Illustrated will tell you do it in 15 second rotations (multiple flips) to not get too much heat penetration when searing over that super hot coal (>900F). This will ensure that you won't overcook the steaks. Lastly, don't sweat the initial roasting temperature (+/- 50F), since you're cooking to a target meat temperature anyway. But, if you want a truly uniform internal temperature, sous vide is the way to go! (IMHO)

In the beginning with my old POSK, I got this tip off their old forum - put a magic marker line on the damper and lid (or on masking/duct tape if you worry about "graffiti" on you beautiful KK) where you get 225F (250F, whatever), so you just line up the two marks - simple. This trick only works for damper positions less than 360 degrees of course. And, windy conditions will mess with it a little, but not enough to fret over. If you want, you can use different colors for each temp (blue for 225F, red for 350F), as Doc said, you only need a couple of target temps other than wide open (>500F) for a vast majority of cooks. And, after a while you just get a natural feel for it, so you can let the marks wear off (take the tape off).

I use a simpler solution to the "tree" - stick a toothpick into a wine cork (use a real cork not a plastic one!) Trim the cork to fit between the grill rods. Clip the probe to the toothpick and viola! I made several and keep them in the box with the Guru. Easy, peasy!

I use a metal scoop - bought at the feed store. Scoop up the ashes into the lid of the plastic tub that I keep my charcoal in, take them out back into the woods and dump them there. Probably only do that about once a month, even in heavy grilling season. As Dennis says, the KK will hold a lot of ash, and as we all know, the cocochar doesn't create much ash when it burns. Another good reason to check out the Naked Whiz's charcoal database, as he rates charcoals on the amount of ash created so you can look for the ones that don't leave a lot of ash when burned. One of the many reasons that I like Wicked Good Charcoal's Weekend Warrior - low ash production.

Like you surmised, not enough air to cause a big flare-up. You weren't "lucky," except for the fact that you own the best engineered ceramic grill on the market! I prefer to do my chickens indirect (drip pan on lower grill) on the upper grill skin side up, so that they get the radiant heat off the dome better**. Will give you that crispy skin that you're looking for. Also, your temp was a bit low for crispy skin; need to be in the 375 - 425F range. Lastly, don't be afraid to cook them a bit longer than you're used to, as the KK will retain the moisture, so you don't end up with dried out chicken, but the extra time will allow for the skin to crisp up. If you want to do the main grill, direct, my advice is to do the majority of the initial cook (30-45 mins) skin side up, so you don't burn it. Finish off skin side down for the last 20-30 minutes to crisp it up. YMMV If you do get major flare ups, think about your source for poultry - free-range birds don't have as much fat as the confinement raised commercial chickens. With the KK, you don't need extra fatty birds to stay juicy like with metal grills (gas or charcoal). But, if you're worried about juiciness, you can always brine or inject! ** I like this configuration rather than the drip pan directly underneath on the main grill, as it allows for better airflow around the birds from the extra space between the drip pan (heat deflector) and the grilling surface.

RIGHTEOUS!!!!