tony b

So, the Anova finally arrived and I did my first cook today with it. Sorry KK fans, with 30+mph winds, temps near zero, and snow falling, I didn't finish the steak on the KK. Next time. So, here are some pics of the steak in process. I did a rib steak, being my first attempt at this I didn't want to risk a nicer cut of meat. Next time, it's prime!

Funny, but I got an email yesterday from Amazon saying my Anova had shipped and I should have it by Friday! Go Figure???

If you're not 100% dead set on electric, the Weber Smokey Mountain is a great intro to smoking. I did notice that the Smokin It units only go to 250F, which is fine for super lo & slo, but poultry and ribs would need higher temps.

Susan, bad news. I got a note from the Anova folks and due to the spike in orders, they are now 3 weeks backordered. So, I won't likely get mine for another month ! My buddy did his first cook and loved the Anova. Lives up to the hype. Easy to program, didn't take long to heat up, rock steady on the temp.

Again, this was my first time doing this, so I really don’t have a “technique†per se yet. Filled the chimney about 3/4 full of smalls from my Forest Lump charcoal (ref. my rant about too many smalls in the boxes!), but this is a good way to use them up. Lit a couple of pieces of newspaper in the bottom, place the chimney on the lower grill to get the top of the chimney the right height in the KK. Being the first time, and it was a bigger cut of meat, I was a bit paranoid about it tipping over once I got started. So, I didn't want it on the top grill, just in case. I could just see this gorgeous hunk of meat toppling off the chimney and onto my deck, where certain hounds awaited!! I didn’t want to use the sear grate on the handles of the charcoal basket either, since I have short arms and didn’t want to be reaching inside the KK with roaring flames licking my face, trying to flip this roast over on all sides. I have an old small grate (el cheapo) that I placed on the top of the chimney. It was windy so that really helped to get the flames going. Probably took only about 10 minutes to have flames coming out the top of the chimney. Seared the meat about a minute on each side. I didn’t time it, I went by color. I have thick rubber gloves so that’s how I handled the meat, with a large spatula in the other hand. Even then, it was a bit precarious as the grate isn’t attached to anything, so it wanted to slide around whenever I tried to flip the meat. Could have used a third hand. See early note regarding paranoia – glad I was cautious. Don’t think this will be a problem with low profile cuts of meat like steaks and loins. Maybe I'll wire the grate to the chimney after filling it, just before lighting, so it won't shimmy around so much. But, then it will be hard to dump out the coals to start the grill. Will need to have a pair of wire cutters handy. Oh, and another small issue. By doing it with all the flames around, it burned up most of the string holding the roast together, so it came apart near the end of the sear. Finished the sear and set the roast on the main grill off on my side table. Removed the lower grill and dumped the rest of the chimney into the basket and placed the cast iron smoking pot on top. Set the lower grill back in the KK with the deflector and drip pan on it. Last, set the main grill with the roast on it in the KK. Stuck in the meat temperature probe, ran the wire out the side port, closed her up, and set the vents for about 350F. Normal cook after that. I won’t get my Anova probably for another week or so. But, I have a friend who just got his on Saturday. He’s doing a steak in it today as his test run. I hope to hear how it went afterwards. Did you see the post about the Kick Starter for the Searzall blow torch adapter for searing meats, post-sous vide? If it ever hits the commercial market, that might be the ticket. In the meantime, I’ll use the cast iron skillet on the range top or this chimney technique, or my basket splitter on the KK with the sear grill if I’m doing more than one steak at a time.

To quote a tag line from the old TV comedy, In Living Color, - "Mo' Money, Mo' Money, Mo' Money!!"

That, my friends, is why we own KKs!!! Yummy looking sausages; what kinds were they?

Seeing all the previous posts on prime rib inspired me. Did my 1st prime rib tonight – a 4.5 lb, 2-bone roast. Dry aged in the fridge for 2 days, rubbed with my own spin on the Coffee Cardamom rub (Dizzy Pig Red Eye & Raising the Steaks, with ground black cardamom, and espresso powder) and marinated overnight. Did the chimney version of the pre-sear - chimney ¾ full of smalls of Forest Lump with a grate on top. (Sorry, no pictures of that part, as it was pretty intense – turning the roast every minute or so on top of a grate perched on top of the chimney with roaring flames kept me pretty busy. No chance to take off the gloves to work the camera!). Note: this worked really well. I will definitely try this with a steak sometime soon! Post-sear roast went on indirect (deflector and drip pan on lower grill), after dumping the rest of the chimney onto coco char, with dutch oven smoking pot with red oak and bourbon barrel chunks. Target grill temp - 350F (actually got up to almost 400F dome by the end). KK took about 45 minutes to come up to target grill temp (meat was on the whole time.) Pulled roast at 125F internal, wrapped in foil and blanket, and rested in cooler for an hour. Forget to check final temp when I pulled it out to cut it. We were getting hungry by that point! Finished a beautiful medium doneness. Served with Susan’s recipe for Hasselback potatoes with onion & leeks (that’s what’s in the cast iron skillet on the KK next to the roast), steamed haricot vert dressed with orange oil, sansho pepper, and sesame seeds, and popovers (no, didn’t use the pan drippings to make those, but I did make a jus with the roast runnings in the foil, with some extra beef stock, red wine, and wasabi.) Oh, and a bottle of 1990 Chateau Souverain Cab to go with. Dessert was pavlovas with fresh mixed berries (black, blue, and rasp) and whipped cream. Pretty damned yummy, if I do say so myself!

Well, I pulled the trigger and ordered the Anova immersion circulator for sous vide. Should arrive in a couple of weeks; plenty of time to plan that first experimental cook! http://anovaculinary.com/

Did you ever get that immersion circulator for doing sous vide? That might be the trick to it. 130F bath for 4-6 hours, then a quick sear under the broiler to crisp up the bark and viola! Nearing the "pulling the trigger" point myself. Been reading up on it over the holiday and am eager to experiment with it.

Don't be intimidated. It's not really harder, just different. And once you get the basics of temperature control down (which is actually not that hard), you come to find that it's really easy. Making great BBQ, on the other hand, is an art, regardless of what you're cooking it on. That's where the skill and experience come in. A very good buddy of mine built his own smoker out of an old hot water heater and he cooks some damned good Q on it. It's a real "Rube Goldberg" setup, but he makes it work for him.

Funny, but when I saw the bag logo, it immediately brought to mind another brand that I've used in the past - http://humphrey-charcoal.com/. The Whiz gave it a "Recommended" rating. I liked it when I used it.

Welcome Robalo247 & Sav. If you've never cooked on a ceramic grill before, prepared to be WOW'ed! Seriously. I've cooked on 4 different manufacturers of "kamado" style grills. The common denominator - great food! Probably the best roasted chicken you can find anywhere. And we won't even begin to talk about the Q! Like the others have said, don't be afraid to ask tons of questions and don't worry if you mess something up, we've all done it - more than once!

Will definitely give them a try. Here's my favorite source for good chile powder - http://www.penderys.com/ Been buying theirs for at least 20 years, if not longer.

My solution for stable temperature control on long, low & slow cooks - http://www.thebbqguru.com/index.html Owned mine for well over 6 years. Just like buying the KK, never looked back or regretted spending the money. Used it just last night to cook a 7.5lb bone-in, pork butt. Set up the grill/guru @ 3:30pm, butt went on @ 5pm, went to bed @ 10:30pm, KK was rock steady @ 250F, woke up this morning @ 7am, grill still dead on @ 250F and had hit my target meat temperature of 195F. Had a yummy pulled pork omelet for breakfast!! As the English say - "Easy, Peasy!"

If he's like the rest of us, he probably gave up trying to use the new Forum software - ARG!

First off, Welcome to the Club! Is the KK your first ceramic grill/smoker? What size and color is it? Yes, I believe that is the correct orientation. I have the older ash screen. Also, the link to the photo doesn't work anymore - arg! You will find that the extruded coconut charcoal from Dennis is more difficult to light than "regular" charcoal. Some folks use MAPP torches, weed guns, looflighters, etc., to light it directly. I mix it with regular lump charcoal in the basket and use a chimney starter with some lump in it to kick start the process. Good use for the really small pieces of lump in the bottom of the bag. Number One rule of ceramic BBQ grills/smokers - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use petroleum based lighter fluids to start your fire. It will permeate the ceramic walls and you'll never get rid of that smell! Never tried the coffee wood, but I bet it's terrific for beef brisket! The rules of the Forum are that you have to post pictures of your first (virgin) cook. No pictures, it didn't happen!

Found this old post while searching for another potato recipe. Brought back childhood memories. The South Carolina trapshoot state tournament every year had a big pork BBQ on Saturday night and they always made these pine resin baked potatoes. They were heaven! I've never seen them anywhere else. They didn't cook them in pots of the resin though. They wrapped theirs in newspaper and tossed them in the resin to coat them and just threw them into the BBQ pit. Fished them out of the coals with a pitchfork. You broke them open and they were just so fluffy inside. I've never been able to duplicate that with aluminum foil.

Sorry, but the pictures aren't showing up - just black boxes with x in them. Don't we all just luuuv this new software!!!

Thanks for the Japanese knife web tip. I will definitely be checking them out!

Second what others have posted. It's as simple as it sounds and works great. Keeps meat hot for hours! I use an old beach towel, just in case of a leak. I wrap the meat in double foil, then wrap in the towel. Only used this technique with briskets, butts, and ribs, never chicken - although I don't see why it wouldn't work with poultry, too.

I own 3 Shuns and love them!! Just wish that they weren't so expensive; but just like a KK, you pay for superior quality!!!

Sorry Larry, but it's still not there. I just added some pictures of mine to the post.

I don't know if you searched the forum first, but there are a lot of posts about bending probes to fit through the port hole in the KK. Folks are always initially apprehensive, but if you take it slow and easy, it works about 100% of the time, regardless of the manufacturer. I don't ever recall anyone posting that they broke a probe bending it to fit through the port. First rule of the KK forum - when in doubt ASK; there are no dumb questions on here. We've all been there at one time or another and have probably made every mistake that you can possibly make!

Nice observation, Susan!