tony b

Another steak night. Corn on the cob on the half grate. Bacon-wrapped prime sirloin rubbed with Sucklebusters Steak Rub and some Gunpowder. Bacon was dusted with Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust. Direct on the lower grate, 325F dome, with mesquite and post oak chunks. Plated with a nice 2x Baked potato finished in the air fryer. Topped with a slab of sharp cheddar cheese. Corn has some fresh cilantro mixed into the S&P infused butter. Sautéed mushroom on the side.

First off, very nice of you to treat your neighbors with this nice cook out. I have to admit, upfront, that I'm not a big fan of 3-2-1 style ribs. I NEVER wrap my ribs. I typically do mine, indirect, with a dry rub, but I will occasionally sauce them with like 20 minutes left to just set the sauce without overcooking/burning it. I'm OK with an occasional spritz of apple juice/cider vinegar - helps promote a good smoke flavor and keeps the meat moist. Your target temps are good. Ribs are ready when they pass the "bend test" - pick up a rack with tongs about 1/3 from one end and lightly bounce them. If there's some tearing of the meat away from the bones, then they are done. I like to use a combo of Hickory and a fruit wood - apple or peach work well with pork ribs. Oak is a bit strong for pork - IMHO.

I've used mine multiple times on rotisserie cooks and haven't seen any problems with the temperatures. There's a scored line on the probe that they tell you must be inserted into the meat up to that point to protect the internal circuits/battery. Plus, there's an "alarm" setting in the software to warn you if the probe is being exposed to too high a heat level.

Nice results. Would have liked to seen a picture of it cooking in the KK. Dennis uses them in the Instagram account. @Longhorn203 - only device of it's kind on the market. Not perfect, but it works well enough most of the time. I'd recommend the MEATER + over the basic model. It has better range.

I think it pairs nicely with pork. It's a milder smoke than apple or cherry. I will use apple on larger pork cuts like butts and full racks of ribs. Cherry is pretty much for poultry, but I have used it on some pork cooks. I have some fruit based dry rubs - cherry and peach, that I try and match the wood with the rub, like in this pork chop cook.

I grew up in the Southern part of the USA as a kid and then moved to CA after college, before being transferred here (IA), so trust me on this one, the climate transition was not an easy one for me! I remember the first time it hit 80F below Zero wind chill (the static temperature was a mere -35F) - my 2nd winter here; I thought I was going to die!! But, after 38 years here, I've almost acclimated!

Yes, I try to "brine" the corn before grilling. I soak them in the husks, in a heavily salted water solution for a couple of hours, at least, before grilling. I think it makes a difference. YMMV

Welcome to the Obsession! Can't wait to see the pics of your KK on uncrating! While you have previous experience with similar style grills (which will actually be helpful making the transition), prepare to be blown away once yours arrives! Not only is the build quality superior to anything that you've seen before, the actual cooking products that you're about to experience will be nothing like what you've tasted before! Not hyperbole - FACT!

Tonight was a lovely thick cut pork chop, with corn on the cob and roasted garlic couscous; a nice salad to finish things off. Grill @ 325F, with peach wood (what else??) on the main grate. Pork chop rubbed with Peach seasoning and Maple Cider rubs, with a dash of Maple Sugar crystals tossed in (nice combo!) Plated! This corn was pretty good, but I just can't wait for the local corn to come in!!! But, that's at least a month away. 😪

Sorry that I can't help more with the install, but I have an older 23" with the single Guru port. The style of the smoker guns are different in how they attach to the KK. I seem to recall that someone with the newer style, has posted pics here on the Forum. Try using the search tool and see if you can locate them?

I'll second that! I live in Iowa and use my grill year 'round, too! Just get a nice sunbrella cover for it and keep it covered when you're not using it and all will be fine.

Welcome to the Obsession, Kupermanp! Pics of the grill will be very welcomed here! 1) I assume that you have a BB 32" from your description of multiple shields?? But, you are correct - MOST of us don't use the big heat deflector stones and just go with an aluminum drip pan or a sheet of foil, as you noted. 2) Does your KK have separate ports on the side for the Guru (wooden nob) and for the smoking gun (metal plug) OR, just the Guru port? The smoking gun attaches differently depending on which style you have? Did yours come with the aquarium air pump? I think Dennis' is including one in the recent shipments. If not, then you'll need to go to a pet store and get one, along with the tubing for it. The only tricky part of assembly is the internal tube should be screen side down to prevent ash from clogging it up during use. As far as lighting goes, most of us have found that wood pellets work better than chips in the smoker. Fill the tube up to just above the side holes and internal tube, drop a small, lit, piece of charcoal on top of the pellets, then add more pellets on top. If that doesn't catch right away, you can always hit it from the side holes with a torch. Turn on the air pump and you're off to the races. 3) Dennis will add you to the Owners area of the Forum. Send him an email or call him.

Inspired by Troble's shawarma cook. Mine was pre-marinated from Trader Joes - really good! But, unfortunately, no Pliny to go with it? 😪 Direct, main grate, 325F, hickory wood chunks. Plated with a nice Greek salad w/simple lemon juice dressing; warm pita w/sumac and parsley; yogurt sauce of lemon juice, fresh garlic, dill, parsley and sumac. With my favorite summer wine - vinho verde.

While I know that this would be super tasty, my GI tract is growling at me just from looking at the pictures!

Reminds me that I have a gift certificate from a local butcher shop that's about to expire. They put together something they call "Miami Roll." Have no clue where the name came from, but it's a whole pork tenderloin, wrapped in tenderized beef (think cube steak), all wrapped in bacon. You can buy a whole one ($$) or they slice it into 2" thick slabs. Pretty good stuff.

@Troble - Did I spot a Pliny the Elder in the background of that shawarma picture?

If you haven't figured it out yet, Wingman, one of our favorite pastimes on this Forum is coaxing others into spending money on new toys! It's part of the rationalization process for us after we've bought it!

Tonight's dinner - pork chop! Direct, main grate, 350F, peach wood. Rub was Cider Maple. Plated with roasted broccoli with Parmesan crisps, and a mushroom & pea risotto. A light rose from CostCo.

WOW!

Smoke flavor is imparted by condensation on the meat. So, a cold piece of meat will condense more smoke vapor.

Need to catch up on a couple of dinners. First, simple lemon-pepper chicken legs, direct, main grate, 350F, cherry wood. Plated with curry rice and sauteed zucchini and mushrooms. Last night was a Surf-n-Turf dinner. Found a piece of pichanha in the freezer, direct, lower grate, mesquite. Market finally started to get some fresh corn (likely from FL), roasted on the half grate. The Surf - pesto shrimp pasta. Chimichurri mushrooms for the steak. Side salad w/blue cheese to round it all out. For early in the season corn, it wasn't too bad.

Welcome to the Obsession! You're going to fall head over heels in love with this grill once you start cooking on it. Pork butts are a slam dunk 1st cook - impossible to screw up. Plan B, do a whole spatchcocked chicken - again, almost impossible to screw up. Both cooks will amaze you on how well this elegant piece of yard art cooks!

Bulgarian. From my trip there back in '18. (No, I didn't pack them in my suitcase. I had them shipped.)

Being one of "those people," I'd like to explain that there's science behind it. All you are trying to accomplish is to block the direct infrared radiation from the hot glowing coals - hence, indirect cooking. A "tissue thin" foil accomplishes that with ease, not because of its mass, but because it's shiny. Just like a mirror reflects visible light, the foil is reflecting the infrared radiation back down and not absorbing it. So, it's not consuming much energy itself (this is where the low mass comes into play), and significantly impacting the overall heat up of the grill. The side benefit is that it also catches the drips from going into the fire. The vast majority of the cooking in the KK is due to convective heat transfer from the hot air flow around the meat. There is some secondary cooking from the radiative heat transfer from the walls/dome, which a heavy slab of similar material underneath the cooking grate will contribute to. But, radiative heat transfer drops off dramatically with distance. (Hence, it is most effective on the upper grate where the food is close to the dome surface.) So, by placing the deflector on top of the charcoal basket handles, while allowing the deflector to be closer to the heat source for faster heat up, isn't contributing a whole lot if you're cooking on the main grate. Placing the deflector on the lower grate will result in a closer proximity to the food and some increase in effectiveness, but being further away from the heat source, will take longer to heat up - about the same rate as the walls/dome. The small incremental mass of the deflector stone is stealing BTUs of energy from the rest of the grill during heat up, with not much payback in overall cooking efficiency. Unlike the walls/dome, which are contributing to holding the heat inside the KK once at thermal equilibrium, the deflector, being wholly inside the grill isn't helping with that. So, the bottomline is - what does the heavy deflector bring to the table that makes it better than the "tissue thin" piece of AL foil?

I rarely refer to my KK by her given name - Shahrazad. Captivating, mystical and you fall in love with her more with time.