tony b

A bit safer cook last night. Fresh pork cutlets, African style (3 different Suya rubs and one Berbere). Direct, main grate, 300F. Such a short cook, no smoking wood. Plated with herbed bulgar and tzaziki sauce, and paratha. And a nice IPA to help celebrate National Beer Day (April 7th - the date that Prohibition was repealed!)

Begs the obvious question - why are you using the ceramic heat shield? Not even Dennis recommends using it and only supplies it because that's what folks using other brands of ceramic grills are used to. It just adds to your heat up time/burns extra charcoal, for minimal return on investment. Now you have even extra incentive to not use it - makes clean up easier.

Nice deal there!

I understand the challenge. But, I don't think this design would work in the KK, as the vent door is much smaller than the firebox and the attached ash pan wouldn't catch all the ashes inside. I typically just scoop out the ashes from the top for a quick clean, but have a wet/dry shop vac, with the ash filter (a MUST) for really cleaning it out. Done in about 30 seconds. {Damn! The price has gone up a lot in the 5.5 years since I bought mine! I paid $74) PowerSmith PAVC101 10 Amp Ash Vacuum - Shop Wet Dry Vacuums - AmazonSmile AmazonSmile: PowerSmith PAAC301 Double Layer Washable Heat-Resistant Ash and Dust Vacuum Filter: Home Improvement If you don't want to make this kind of investment (small price IMHO to keep using your KK), you can do what many others do and just pull out the vent assembly, place a pan under the opening and use a small whisk broom to sweep out the ashes into the pan. Easy, peasy!

Recently went freezer deep diving and came up with a couple of packages of snags (beer brats and merguez) that were over 6 years old. Looked just fine. The power of the FoodSaver! Thawed out and tossed on the main grate, direct, 325F. Plated with the leftover au gratin spuds and a salad. No midnight runs to the bathroom, so they were still good (tasty too!) An assortment of good mustards to compliment the snags!

^ +1.

Same thing happened last time they ran this sale. It's such a great deal. I managed to score a box last time, but that's the way it goes sometimes. 😢

It was a 2.75lb leg. It was done in about 90 minutes, including the rest at the end.

Made kebabs with some of the rarer bits off the leftover leg last night. Plated with mushroom couscous and a nice salad.

Nicely done, Doc!

Came up empty at the CostCo website.

Nice shed. Good job on the ham!

I posted this in the Cooking thread, but thought it appropriate to repeat here. Boneless leg from Porter Rd, so it was trimmed up nicely to start with. My house rub, with a bit of extra mint tossed in, made into a paste with Duke's mayo and shoved inside with a teaspoon, along with rubbing the outside. Rotisserie cook, with smoker pot of coffee and apple woods, 275F until rare (120F).

Lamb was the calling of the day. Rotisserie boneless leg, with smoker pot of coffee and apple woods, 275F. Pulled at rare (120F). Made some au gratin potatoes to go with it. Two types of Boursin cheese (chive & black pepper), along with cheddar and the top coating of parmesan. Excellent. Plated with the steamed broccoli and a lovely Merlot. Lots of leftover lamb, so thinking a nice stew in the claypot for dinner tonight??

Cocochar is famous for it's lack of smoke flavor. One of the main reasons that many of us love to cook with it. Let's the true smoke flavor of your wood come through. Try using one of the smoking pot designs here on the Forum. The original cast iron dutch oven or the newer camping pot, which might work out better in the smaller KKs. Smoker pot from MSR stowaway pot - Relevant Product Reviews - Komodo Kamado (komodokamadoforum.com) One last piece of advice - ditch the heat shield and drip pan. Even Dennis recommends ditching the heat shield - just adds time to your heat up with no improvement in cooking. Use the drip pan only if you want to catch drippings. A simple sheet of AL foil on the lower grate works just as effectively as a heat shield and doesn't impact heat up time. Plus, it lets you keep the hinged part of the grate free if you want.

Having beautiful weather this weekend (70s). Thus inspired, Caribbean pork chops for dinner last night - Cuban mojo (left) and Jamaican jerk (right). Direct, main grate, 325F, with an AL foil pouch with pimento wood chips. Plated with brown rice and sautéed green beans.

@BOC - not a stupid question at all. It's just condensation. The KK is so good at moisture retention that it's quite common to see condensation leaking out around the vent door. Nothing to worry about!

Doubtful!

I'm thawing out a 2.5 lb boneless leg of lamb from Porter Rd for tomorrow. Plan is to rotisserie with coffee wood chunks. I have my own house lamb rub that I've developed over the years. It's a mashup of Greek/Turkish/Moroccan styles of spices/herbs. It leans more oregano than mint, but has both in it. The Moroccan style brings the heat (cayenne) and a hint of cinnamon. My other fav is the simplest - tons of garlic & rosemary. Stab slits into the meat all over and jam in big slices of garlic and tufts of rosemary leaves. Then hit the outside with S&P.

Congratulations on the order! Also a MUST is to order cocochar, coffee charcoal and coffee wood chunks - as much as the pallet will hold. It's the only way to get it right now.

@Bruce Pearson - Glad to see you posting again. We've missed you. Hope everything is OK there??

No worries, mate. Crispy skin is crispy skin, regardless of how it got there!

Welcome to the Obsession. Glad to see that you loaded up on cocochar and coffee charcoal. Those items are often overlooked as "accessories" when buying a KK. I was recently in Austin and had plans to go to the Salt Lick, but some last minute issues came up and I missed out on going. 😢 Was one of my "bucket list" items. Guess I'll just have to plan another visit!

Welcome to the Obsession! You're about to enter a whole new world of BBQ cooking with your KK. Here's a link to some startup advice I gave another newbie here.

Keep the questions coming! That's what this Forum is for. Dennis will work with you to make sure that your final purchase meets all your needs. No pressure salesmanship from him. Only advice - load up the pallet with as much cocochar, coffee wood charcoal, coffee wood chunks as will fit - only way to get it these days.