tony b

The thermal mass (BTU/lbm) is the same, it's just the surface area to volume is a lot bigger, so these pieces burn up faster than larger chunks. Not a bad guess for a "non science" guy, @BARDSLJR.

We're gonna pitch a Wing, Ding Doodle, all night long! Wing night, direct, lower grate (trying to balance crispy with not overcooking them), 325F dome, peach wood. Half rubbed with Suya pepper rub, the other half with Hot Wing Dust. Plated with airfryer tater tots, with Peruvian green sauce and carrot/celery/cucumber sticks with blue cheese dressing. A nice homebrewed pilsner to go with it all!

They are pretty much here in this thread if you go back to the beginning. Most folks use a 2 quart cast iron Dutch oven. Get the cheapest one that you can find. Drill several small holes in the bottom. Mine are 3/32", some folks went with 1/8". I wouldn't go much larger than that and don't drill anymore than 3 or 4 holes max. Space them around the bottom of the pot so that you don't risk all of them getting clogged if they were clustered too close together in the center. The idea is to starve the wood chunks/chips of oxygen to make them smolder and not burn. Putting the holes in the bottom forces the smoke back into the fire where some of the nastier volatile components will burn off and produce cleaner smoke. This is why this pot works so well. The cool part is when you open it back up after it's cooled down, you'll have made charcoal out of the wood! The amount of the wood is not super critical. Obviously, the more wood, the longer the smoke will be generated. For shorter cooks, use less to avoid wasting your wood chunks/chips. Longer cooks, add more. The production rate of smoke is fairly fixed by the 3 small holes - only so much oxygen can get in and smoke get out. Remember, smoke is only absorbed by meat until it reaches about 140F on the surface. So, you don't need to produce smoke for the entire cook. That's why the old BBQ'ers trick of spritzing the meat with some sort of liquid works, it causes evaporative cooling on the meat surface and lowers the temperature, prolonging the smoke absorption. It is essential that the lid be airtight to make the smoker pot work. Remember we're trying to limit the amount of oxygen inside. The easiest way to achieve that is to make a simple flour and water paste in a plastic sandwich bag. The consistency should be like Playdoh. Takes some practice to get the water to flour ratio right, but if it's too wet, add more flour; too dry, add water. Also make sure that you mix it together thoroughly to not have dry flour pockets. Twist up the top of the bag, cut off a lower corner and pipe the paste onto the rim of the lid. Make sure to get a good amount completely around the lid. Then put your wood chunks in the bottom and carefully place the lid on, making sure to seal the outside all the way around with the paste that oozes out. Place the smoker pot directly on top of the burning charcoal to ensure that the internal temperature comes up to smoldering as quickly as possible. Remember you want as much smoke as possible on the meat before it reaches 140F on the surface.

Happens to the best of us, Doc! I see that you're still experimenting with the combo of pressure cooking and smoking. I remember you doing that before with pork ribs. I tried it and was pleasantly surprised that they didn't taste "parboiled" like some BBQ places do to get "falling off the bone" ribs - a style that I don't particularly care for.

Same here!!!

Grilled Romaine lettuce Cesar salad is awesome, if you've never tried it.

Looking good so far!

I think that mine went to my nephew when I outgrew it.

MONEY!!!

Funny, but I had a Schwinn Stingray, neon green, back when I was a kid! Mine was a single speed, with the banana seat.

Stunning! It's always been so hard for me to wrap my head around the magnificence of our universe. I toyed briefly as an undergrad of going into astrophysics, as it was so closely related to nuclear physics/engineering that I was studying. Quantum physics, just on another much bigger scale!

Unlike brisket, that I like to wrap in pink butcher paper - ala Franklin, I don't wrap butts or ribs. I'm generally in the 250 - 275F range for butts. I have done hot & fast butts at 325F if I'm short on time. I also like to inject butts with Butcher BBQ marinade. Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust is my "go to" rub for pork butt. Don't worry, you can never have enough pulled pork lying around. I'll even warm it up and put a fried egg on top for breakfast! Makes a good breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, peppers, onions, cheese and salsa. Pulled pork mac & cheese is another OTB dish. Pulled pork Bolognese over pasta. Just get funky with it! Oh, it freezes really well in a vacuum sealer bag, too.

Interesting bike you've got there, ckreef. Almost recumbent?

^ +1! Go, Suzy!!

Scored a nice flat iron steak at the market, so onto the KK it goes. Sear grate, with mesquite, post oak and coffee wood chunks. Rub was a mix of Shut Shot Sid's Gunpowder and Lane BBQ's Brisket. Plated with melting potatoes and sautéed green beans, with mushrooms and chimichurri for the steak.

😢

I have no inherent "grate bias," as I cook on all of them, but the main grate sees a majority of the duty. It's one of the things that makes the KK unique - the versatility. When using the lower grates, I don't bend over the grill (usually will get you a face full of smoke!). As Paul said, just score longer tools. tekobo makes a good point about the weight of the grates on the 42". Consult with Dennis to see what will work out best for your cooking needs and physical capabilities.

What do you have against hotdogs? I cook all kinds of snags on the KK, including hotdogs. 😄

Sounds like you've gotten a pretty good handle on it.

Welcome back, ckreef! What an entrance that was - holy cow!!!

Amazing story, Jon! Welcome back! Hope to see pics of that rebuild project soon! I took care of my Dad for a month right after my Mom died, while I arranged for him to have in-home care and then eventually in a care facility. I know exactly what you're talking about. Folks that do this full-time are practically saints!

Another cook in the dark (it's that time of year and we're a month away from the winter solstice!) Tonight - snags in the dark. Lower grate, direct, 325F dome. No smoking wood. Snags are beer brats and bacon/cheddar brats (2 each). Plated with homemade potato salad. 3 mustards - Dijon, spicy brown and Stone Brewery's smoky chipotle. Top it off with a side salad, crusty bread and a tasty IPA (Stillwater's 420 Series Hoppy Pilsner.)

I'm all ears!

Spun a chook in the dark last night. Rotisserie basket, 375F, direct, injected with Seasoning Stix and outside rubbed with Slap yo Daddy, apple wood chunks. Another squirrely MEATER+ performance on the ambient temperature. Meat temps were good, just really odd behavior again on the ambient probe. I'm beginning to wonder if it's gone off somehow? It started out weird - very slow increase, then shoots up after 30 minutes, but plateaus out well below dome temperature (375F). Probe wasn't overly gunked up after the cook, as I had made sure to put it in as parallel to the axis of rotation as possible, so juices wouldn't run down it and bake on (my theory on the last cook with it.) OK, onto the plated pics - garlic mashed potatoes (sous vide) and sautéed green beans. Chicken was falling off the bone and very moist. Decent crispiness on the skin, too.