tony b

Blichmann equipment is the "gold standard" in homebrewing gear - IMHO. Soft spot for them, as Dr. Blichmann is a Mech Eng professor over at IA State. Smart man, he give his grad students "projects" that become the prototypes for some of his commercial gear! I've met him several times at Hombrew Con, while salivating over his latest product. I don't own a lot of his gear, it's all top notch, but also pricey. I'm currently experimenting with the BeerMkr. I backed them in Kickstarter. Neat system for brewing small batches (5L), which is a good size for me right now, with the pandemic. I hear you about how COVID has messed with all the Club meetings and Festivals last year. Our homebrew club had our online meeting last night. We're hoping that the weather will be warm enough by the April meeting that we can meet face-to-face again outdoors. I have my fingers crossed that this year's Homebrew Con in mid-June will still happen in San Diego. Last year's in Nashville was cancelled of course, as was GABF in the fall. All the local Festivals were cancelled here over the summer/fall, including our own club's annual homebrew fest - Drink Local, where we host many of the other homebrewing clubs in the state or on the border with WI and IL. We are optimistic about holding it this year!

Since I own a 23", I'll let the other 32" owners advise directly on the "must have" accessories. But, I will tell you to load up the pallet with as many boxes of cocochar and coffee wood chunks & charcoal as will fit. Only way to get it right now in the US and is the cheapest shipping cost that you will EVER get, regardless of where you live.

Just adding my +1 to the smoker pot. I'd recommend slightly smaller holes - I did 3/32", but if a 1/8" bit is all you have, then it works just fine. The one thing is that cast iron is easily drilled, whereas depending on the stainless steel composition, it can be quite hard and difficult to drill. It takes some practice to get the flour paste consistency right - think Playdoh. My usual problem is that I didn't get it fully hydrated and have dry pockets when piping it onto the lid. (Mix up the paste in a zipbag, cut a bottom corner off, and turn it into a disposable piping bag.) In all the years/cooks that I've used the smoker pot, I only have had ONE cook where the pot caused a problem with the fire. Just random chance that the fire burned out all the charcoal underneath the pot and it collapse into the basket and prevented the fire from burning outwards. I also own the cold smoker unit, as I have named it so, that's pretty much all I've used it for - smoking cheese, nuts, salmon, pork chops and bacon. I've never used it as my smoke source for a hot cook. I understand that it will work just fine in that application, but I have an older KK with the single port, so I'd have to make a choice over the Guru or the smoker for that cook. Many of us have found that the cold smoker works better with pellets than with small wood chips. They are more compact in the tube and propagate the fire better than chips, hence the posts about difficulty keeping it lit. Given that the cast iron DO is a lot cheaper than the KK cold smoker, start there and see how you like it. You can always get the cold smoker attachment later if you think that it would fit your needs better?

So, let's talk about the "brew" part of your Forum name? Several of us here are homebrewers. Another hobby with lots of expensive gadgets! 😄

I keep finding new uses for it, so we'll see how long it really does last??

Welcome to the Obsession! Pictures, please!

The Doctor is in and will serve you now! Very nice. Hope you get your power back soon!

ROFLMAO! We finally got above zero today! High was +7F. We might get to freezing on Sunday??

Smart planning. It's easy to blow your budget when it comes to KK's and accessories. I've spent a LOT of money over the years, but at least some of it is spread out over time. Plus, when I got mine, there weren't as many accessories to splurge on then.

Happy Fat Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras) everybody! Still too damn cold outside to fire up the grill, but since it's the special day anyway - beans & rice. I had some Andouille and Tasso in the freezer. New secret ingredient - Nigerian Pepper Soup spice! Bon Temps, ya'll!!

@KidCactus - @tekobo is correct; 1/8 turn is too open for 225F. Just barely off the seat so you just see smoke exiting the top vent should put you in the 225F range. I don't always start out a cook with a full basket - generally out of pure laziness. I gauge how much is in there and what type of cook am I doing - temperature & time, and add charcoal as needed. If I'm doing a butt or a brisket, I'll seriously load up the basket then.

Put me in coach, I'm ready to play!

I backed them in Kickstarter. I have the MEATER+. You won't have any issues with using them in your KK. Many folks here have them. Only way to actively monitor temps during a rotisserie cook, which is why I backed them when they were in development.

I see that you have a MEATER. How do you like it?

Hope the KK crew can sort out the BOL differences. Hang in there, man!

Bonjour! Can't wait to see what you do with this beauty??

WOW! That's a small fortune in that bag. What a gift, indeed!

Welcome to the Obsession! If you think that you will be doing any cold smoking, the smoker attachment is very nice to have for that. Other than that, your list is a good one. I have the double-walled drip pan but rarely use it, so if you hit a budget wall, that would be my suggestion to drop first. In addition to the cocochar, see if Dennis has any coffee wood chunks and lump charcoal in stock. If so, add some to the pallet. Only way to get it in the US right now is on a pallet with the KK.

Pssst, hey man, wanna buy some white truffles - good shit, man, grew them myself!

You mean like this one? [insert evil laugh here!]

It's all proportional to the mass. You can shorten the time by lighting more than one spot, but you end up using more charcoal that way.

Welcome! As a previous POSK owner (K7), I can tell you that you've upgraded substantially! And, not just worrying about fixing cracks and tiles falling off! The KK cooks better. The good news is that you're already used to setting top/bottom vents to control temperature, so your learning curve will be a very short one. btw - love the color on yours (wink, wink!) Please post pics of the grate "problem." Maybe we can help and save you from having to replace them?

Truffle is a very strong flavor and aroma, if you've even had it plain, so it doesn't take very much at all. The upside of being so expensive. One of the chef tricks is if you're making truffle omelets, you put a small piece of truffle in a plastic bag with the eggs, still in the shell, and let them "marinate" for a couple of days. The egg shells are permeable and the truffle flavor infuses the eggs without overpowering them, plus you can do a lot of eggs with just a small piece of truffle!