tony b

I follow the Peter Pan model, personally!

Yeah, if you dig deep enough in eBay you can find some older Le Crueset DOs for under $50 with shipping. Wasn't even on my radar when I got mine, which I paid $36 on Amazon with free shipping.

Maybe do it on the Konro?

And the Forum chant begins: Forty-Two, Forty-Two, Forty-Two!!

I have 1 Pliny left. I shouldn't be hoarding it, as they don't last forever. Have fun with the burn-in. A balmy 28F here today, nice and sunny. Pork loin going on the KK for dinner tonight. Reality hits hard tomorrow: 1"-3" of new snow predicted (90% chance), but at least the polar vortex has retreated.

@tekobo - may be just that your wood isn't fully seasoned yet and still has some moisture in it, so what you were seeing could have been steam and not smoke? I can't believe that you drilled holes in a Le Creuset DO - that's KK bling, baby! I'm sure that's how you get away with no flour paste - a very high end, well made DO. Most of us are looking for the cheapest one we can find, which usually means less quality, so the need for the sealing paste.

Cute pooches. Jack Russell terriers - aka "terrorists"?

Yes, it was a lovely Pinot. The Peruvian green sauce is another "crack" in my house now. It's just crazy good on roasted potatoes like these.

I fear that you might be right about that. 😢

Finally got warm enough here (15F) to fire up the KK last night for dinner. First time in a week and a half! Flat iron steak, marinated in shio koji for 2 hours. Gunpowder rub. Lower grate with chunks of post oak and mesquite. Plated with roasted smashed potatoes, with Peruvian green sauce, sautéed mushrooms, and a nice salad of greens/radicchio, orange slices, pomegranate seeds and pistachios with an orange mint vinaigrette.

Stunning! All the latest & greatest upgrades - see the SS plug for the temp probes, along with the separate cold smoker port. I ALWAYS pack my boxes at home, seal them up, slap on the address labels before going to the PO. Just write "BBQ seasonings" on the customs declaration form.

Have you checked the calibration on them afterwards? Put in a pot of boiling water and see how close to 212F they read. Early on with mine, I seriously over-ranged it (~900F). Afterwards, I checked the calibration and it was off almost 50F. The "rest of the story" - I was trying to get up pretty high in temp for a first try at reverse searing a steak on the sear grate on the basket handles. My dome temp was coming up fairly steadily, approaching 600F, when I went back in the house to get the steak (I'd done it sous vide). I come back out and the dome temp is reading 150F - what?? When I opened the lid I had a roaring fire going. The dial had gone all the way around past 0F. Seriously over-ranged. Fortunately I hadn't done permanent damage.

Nice Plan B with the foil wrap. I will confess that the flour paste is messy, so I always do it over the sink. But, it really doesn't add significant time/effort to prepping a cook. I start my fire and while waiting for it to come up enough in temp to ensure that it's going well, I mix up the paste in the bag and pipe it onto the rim of the lid of the DO. It generally takes me less than 5 minutes, including clean up. YMMV @BOC - definitely want to see pics of your smoker pot set up. My only concern would be the quality of the fit between the pot and the lid. If there's any imperfections in the casting, it could leak, as you won't be able to apply enough pressure with the screws to deform the material to close it up. A good check would be, before you drill the holes in it, put a lit piece of wood inside, clamp it down and look for leaks around the lid. If none, drill the holes and you're good to go. If you have a small leak somewhere, mark the spot and fill it in with some high temp silicone gasket maker.

Woo-Hoo! I don't see anything "perishable" in that box?? I've shipped spices, rubs and sauces to all 3 of those countries - multiple times. Shipping ain't cheap, depending upon weight, but no issues at my PO. They just ask if there's any glass and if I say yes, they just ask how did you pack it? Even when I ship plastic bottles, I put them in a zipbag and wrap in bubble wrap.

As part of the bottom crate, make sure to keep the box in the middle - it's essential if you ever have to move the KK to a new home. It keeps the weight off the legs during bouncy transits.

I always bring mine indoors in the dead of winter. At best, they'll under-range and throw off the calibration; at worst, as Dennis quoted, you can permanently damage them. Just part of my shutdown routine - take out the dome thermometer just before I put the cover back on.

Thanks for sharing the recipe!

And won't for a couple more months here! More snow on the way Sunday. At least we're above Zero finally, might even get above freezing by early next week.

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!