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CeramicChef has entered the building! After an extended absence, I'm back and ready to burn some lump! Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa for the extended absence. I had a lot of overseas business that demanded my attention and I screwed up my Forum login here, hence my absence. I just talked to Dennis yesterday and got my password reset I went to Australia to help a friend of mine get his business in shape to sell. The guy is a wonderful entrepreneur, but from an operational standpoint, he's a putz. We got all the books lined out and negotiated the deal. While there, I got a message from a buddy in New Zealand. He asked me to come over and help him die. Lymphoma. Again. That was tough duty. Then I no sooner hit The States and I get a call from an old college buddy and he asks me to come to Houston to help him die as well and act as executor of his (sizable) estate. Cancer on his brain stem. Right now I'm feeling like Typhoid Mary. I'm getting to that age where friends are starting to leave this world and its' rather sobering when you come to that realization. I haven't burned any lump in a very long time. Beauty and The Beast are right where I left them patiently waiting for a pork butt, some NY Strips, and the odd pizza. I've gotta burn some lump and burn it soon. I hope everyone has been well and cooking some great food. Welcome to all the new KK Owners since I've been gone. By now you realize what a great decision you made choosing to join Dennis and the KK Family. It's great to be back and I look forward to getting re-acquainted with my KK Family, seeing all your great cooks, and getting to know all the new members here.

Howdy KKers! I've been craving smoked salmon lately, so the last time I was in Sam's Club, I bought a couple of fillets and cooked them last night for my dinner guests. Here is a pic of the fillets fresh from the packaging. I made up a dry brine of brown sugar, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, cinnamon, and all spice. Here are the fillets' covered with the mixture. I covered the dish and put it in the refrigerator for about 15 hours. As you can see a great deal of moisture has been drawn out of the fish fillets. Rinse the fillets and pat them dry. Then set the fillets on a drying rack back in the refrigerator for about 4 - 5 hours. This is what your fillets should look like right before you place them in the cooking grate in your kamado. And it's on to the cooking grate in TheBeast. I smoked these fillets for about 2 hours @ 175F using Alder and Peach chunks. Here is a picture of the fillets right after they were pulled off the cooking grate. You can tell they are dome by the little droplets of the cream colored liquid that you can see on the fillets. Here is a closer picture of the cooked fillets. Finally, here is the plated shot. The fillets were served with KK roasted potatoes and a vinegar based cole slaw, the recipe of which is posted in the recipe section. As you can see, Pete The Salt Pig heartily approves of us eating heart healthy. This is an easy cook and only takes a few minutes prep time in the kitchen. Thanks for looking.

Dear Friends! After looking at the @MacKenziephotos of all the fauna that come to visit her gorgeous setting, I woke up this morning to find a new friend in the "yard". I wasn't out there more than a couple of minutes when The Bosses came out to inspect. They decided The Toad wasn't worth playing with. All he did was just sit there. It's getting on to mosquito season the The Toad is a welcome addition to the family!

Howdy my KK Friends! I thought for some strange reason that I'd pay homage to my 0.001% Irish Forefathers this evening. Tonight's cook consisted of scooped out baked potatoes, filled with some sort of filling, and the whole thing rebaked on the KK. So, without further ado, here is my homage to Erin. The very first thing to do is have a couple of bakers well slathered with bacon grease. Yes, bacon grease. Yeah, I know, but if you don't use bacon grease, the neo-nazi health police win, and I'm trying to beat the back every day! If you don't have bacon grease in your kitchen, shame on you! Next, I browned up some 90/10 hamburger meat, some red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, and some onion and garlic. Here are the bakers on the main grate of TheBeast. I baked them for about an hour at 400F until a fork went in easily. This is a picture of the browned hamburger, peppers, etc. ready for the potatoes. Here are the spuds. As you can see, slit in half and scoop out most of the interior. I try and leave about 1/4" all the way around. Reserve the scooping for potato salad. Tonight I laid down in the scooped potato a simple ragu as a base layer. Put a heaping amount of the burger mixture in the potato. Sauce again and top with your favorite cheese. For these I use shredded mozzarella cheese. Here are the assembled potatoes. They take about 15 minutes on the grill at 400F. And finally, here is the money shot with Pete The Salt Pig granting approval to chow down! These potatoes are really quite easy to do, especially on a weekday evening. Instead of hamburger, you can use pork sausage (Pete would not be so happy with that cook!), ground turkey or chicken, or chorizo etc. Instead of a ragu, you can use salsas, grilled and pureed fruit such as mangoes, peaches, etc. You can get as creative as you wish. After all, it's your dinner and you can do it any way you and your family desire. From the time I lit the FOGO in the belly of TheBeast until I was 400F it was about 15 minutes. The potatoes took about an hour to bake to fork tender. To assemble it took no more than 15 minutes. Time on the grill for the stuffed potatoes was no more than 15 minutes. All totaled, from start to finish, this simple homage to my Irish roots took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I like this cook because there was lots of time to stay hydrated between the flurries of activity. Thanks for looking. I appreciate it!

Howdy KKers! Today was one of those days. I decided some comfort food was in order and I didn't want to go to great lengths to get it. I had some ham steaks in the refrigerator from a hog that my brother and i bought and custom butchered. So I decided that nothing would taste much better than breakfast for dinner. The ham steaks had not been cured, so the first thing I had to do was lay some smoke on them. I chose hickory. Here are the ham steaks right out of the cryovac packaging and on the KK's grate. You can see some hickory smoke wafting over the steaks. Here the steaks are after about 30 minutes on smoke with a grate temp of 225F. Another 15 minutes on smoke and these bad boys are ready for for the eggs to meet the pork. [NOTE: I took the hickory wood out of the KK as I don't really like smoked eggs. Eggs soak up smoke in a BIG hurry!] A few minutes later and here is dinner, ready to plate! And another shot before plating. Finally, here is the money shot. Ham and eggs, breakfast for dinner! You can see Pete The Salt Pig's feet at the top of the picture. He chose for obvious reasons not to participate in this evening's cook! This was a simple little cook that was really quite tasty. The ham steaks were about 45 minutes on hickory smoke and were delicious. The eggs didn't take more than about 7 minutes to cook. I'll do this cook again simply because it is so simple to do, no cleanup to speak of, and its great comfort food. Thanks for looking! Have a happy and safe 4th of July holiday! Happy Birthday, America!

Howdy KKers! So as many of you know, I was planning on a Simple 4th of July Cook. I wasn't entertaining a big group of folks as I've done for years. I was just having my brothers over to drink a little beer, grill some dogs, burgers, and sausages, eat a few chips, and watch a little baseball, etc. Well, here is the result of a "Simple 4th of July!" I knew I was in trouble and the best laid plans of mice and CC were shot to hades when I walked out of Sam's Club with over $200 in food and beverage! Here is the table with the appiteasers on it. Here is TheBeast getting loaded up for his time to shine! I spiral cut jalapeño and cheese sausage, and Oscar Mayer hot dogs (what else? ) My brother loves spiral cut ever since I introduced him to them. Next up on the grate was the burgers. Gotta stage this cook ... Here is a money shot that is just a couple of simple dogs, some German potato salad made by my brother who lives just around the corner and an ear of corn. That's all the money shot. However, I guess my house is now known as BBQ Central as all of a sudden, my neighbors show up carrying burgers, buns, and beer, and they just came in and sat down! At the end of it all there were about 30 folks here. It looked like the swarm of locusts of Biblical proportions eating at my table! A great time was had by all. Just a great 4th of July here at ChezChef! I hope your 4th was as much fun as was mine!

Posted Today, 06:02 PM Howdy KKers! So last evening was a nice night to try a cook that I only do occasionally ... planked salmon. I found these Canadian Sugar Maple planks at the local BBQ Speciality Shop and they were on sale ... at $14.95! I'm a sucker and got a package as I had a nice couple of pieces of salmon marinating in an olive oil, garlic, a tad bit of lemon juice, red pepper flakes, etc. Here is that cook. I soaked the planks about 2 hours as prescribed on the packaging and here it is going on the grate. This picture shows the salmon placed on the plank after the plank had heated for about 45 minutes and was flipped. I decided to use the marinade and poured it on top of the salmon. Here is a top view immediately the salmon went on the plank. This is a shot of the salmon right before I pulled it. Now the table shots ... This is a salad a Friend made for me; her's was about a third this size! Pete The Salt Pig likes seeing me eat salad instead of his kin! Here are a couple of money shots. This was a really nice cook. I'm a big fan os fish and I'll cook fish just about any way you can imagine. In every previous cook, I've always tossed the plank but this time the Canadian Sugar Maple came through the cook in great shape. I washed it off and put it back on the grate to sanitize and dry at the direction of the guys at the BBQ Speciality Store. We'll see how that works out. Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July Holiday. Please don't drink and drive!

Howdy again KKers! I had a couple of pounds of hamburger that needed to be eaten and I had a couple of friends coming over to just hand out, drink some beer, burn a few burgers, nothing big. I thought rather than burgers, I'd do enchiladas. I had one couple bring black beans, another chips and salsa for nachos, and another bring more beer. I called an audible and switched from burgers to enchiladas. Browned up the meat, onions, peppers, etc. and made a quick great sauce. Here are the enchis rolled and in the pan and on the main grate in TheBeast. Here is the pan just prior to the pull. Here is the closeup view that shows the cheese just the right color of brown for my guests and me. Just an ever so slight crunch there that was quite tasty. And finally the money shot. This was just a simple and quick enchi cook that worked out quite well. We all had our fill of food and beer and had a great time shooting the breeze. Good audible at the line. I hope your weekend was as enjoyable as mine. Thanks for looking.

Howdy KKers! Greetings from HOT Oklahoma! Here is a recent taco cook here at ChezChef. Quick, easy, and very tasty. I marinated the flank steak in my FoodSaver Quick Marinating Canister for about 4 hours (If you don't have one, I can highly recommend it.). Here is the cooked steak resting on the cutting board.Sliced Steak on the board.And here's the money shot. Sides were black beans and grilled corn on the cob.This was quick, easy, and sumptuous! Thanks for taking a look. Here's to great cooks and evening better memories withfamilyi and friends!

Howdy KKers! So it was a miserable evening to cook last evening. The temperature was only about 95F, but the humidity took the Heat Index to 110F! Just flat dadgummed miserable. It's forecast to be a Heat Index this evening of 115F or better this evening! HOWEVER, ever the trooper, I was not to be deterred (I had a couple or 3 or 4 COLD beers ...). Here is a cook of mini peppers, summer squashes, Vidalia onions, etc. 90/10 hamburger, and cottage cheese. Simple, quick, healthy, and easy! Here are the veggies on the flip side of the Grill Grates. The torpedo burgers on the main grate of TheBeast. And finally a couple of money shots. Here is a money shot with Pete The Salt Pig supervising (as usual!). Thanks for looking! All y'all be safe as temperatures rise. Stay hydrated!

Howdy KK Cookers! Last night I did something a little unusual and thought I'd share with you good cooks. I had a pineapple sitting on the counter that needed to be sliced and used. I also had a couple of pork loin chops that I needed to cook. So, knowing that pork and pineapple go together well, I did the following. I sliced off the sides of the pineapple and laid out my pork chops on them, covered both sides with a little butt rub, and tied everything together with butchers' string. All trussed up and ready to put on Beauty! my 19" KK. On Beauty! @ 400F with a nice FOGO fire in the KK. Temps were rock steady at 400F the entire time of the cook ... about 40 minutes. Here are the pineapple pork chops after about 40 minutes @ 400F. Just a slight char of the strings which never really threatened to burn. After about 40 minutes the pork loin IT was 135. Dadgummit, I let the temps get away from me. I was looking for about and IT of 120-125F. The lesson learned was that the pineapple didn't provide much insulation and the pineapple pork loins cooked much quicker than I anticipated. Next time I'll reduce the heat in Beauty! to about 300-325F and not be in a rush to head out to a meeting up at church. Here's a pic of the pork loin that has been pulled and untrussed. The pork loin here is essentially cooked through and through. So, even though the pork loin was cooked, I decided to finish the reverse sear and let them rest. The pork IT going back on Beauty! was 120F and Beauty was rocking along at 550F. Here are the pork chops on Beauty! right before I pulled them to let them rest and plate. Here are the pork loin chops on the cutting board with a final IT of 140F. And finally here are the pork loins slides open. and ready to plate. There are s few tips that I would pass on after this cook. First, the pork loin chops should have been marinated in a solution of pineapple juice, soy sauce, minced garlic, minced ginger, and a little crushed black pepper. Second, I mistakenly thought that the pineapple skin slices would provide more insulation than they did. Third, running Beauty! at 400F was an attempt to hurry the process along; future cooks of this type should be done between 300-350F. The pork loin chops were tasty, not as juicy as I like, and you could taste a slight flavor of pineapple. Marinating the pork in the above marinade would have helped the flavor. I also think that I'll score the pineapple flesh that comes in contact with the pork to insure a better pineapple flavor. All in all, this cook, while interesting and tasty, could have been much better if I had not tried to do so much in such a compressed time frame as I allowed. This was my first time doing this cook and I should have known to leave some slack in the rope. Thanks for looking.

Howdy KKers! Well, today kicks off the new season of Raichlen's Project Smoke featuring Dennis' Komodo Kamados! Heres a teaser: http://www.projectsmoke.org/home/ Here's the PBS website to find a station in your area: http://www.pbs.org/show/steven-raichlens-project-smoke/ Ill be sitting in front of my 55" HDTV at 10:59 CDT beer and brat in hand for the season premier. Please join me! Congrats and kudos to ya Dennis!

Howdy KKers! I lost my password and have been absent here. BUT, I have not been idle. Here's a quick little cook from Sunday evening. Nothing big here, just did a reverse sear on a Tri-Tip over FOGO. I marinated it in my FoodSaver marinater. If you don't have one, you should really check it out. You can get one for under $20 at Amazon. I highly recommend it. Here are a couple of pics at the beginning and end of the cook. I just wasn't too ambitious, but all y'all get the idea. Beginning: Ending: So there you have it. I took the Tri-Tip to 120F on the grates, cranked up the volume to about 475F. TheBeast took about 10 minutes to go from 200F to 475F. I pulled at 128F, tented on the carving board for something like 7-10 minutes and then carved and served. Just your typical reverse sear. Thanks for looking.

Dear MacKenzie - you wanted meager, here it is, especially for you! I wouldn't want you to feel cheated! Ok, let's set the record straight. In my previous post, some of you thought I eat like a king or that my definition of "meager" was a little skewed. Yes, I did cook all that food, but I purposefully left out the merely prosaic. Nothing could be further from the truth. How many burger, brats, and dawg cooks can you look at before you doze off. But just to prove a point here are more of the everyday cooks here at ChezChef. So, without further ado, here is my homage to the Merely Meager Cooks here at ChezChef! Some Juicy Lucies Pulled pork on TheBeast Pulled pork It doesn't get any more common that pulled pork and corn chips Here are the burgers, brats, and dawgs Here's something for the waistline More burgers and brats on TheBeast And comfort food ... the humble chicken pot pie Ready to serve See? There really isn't a big production every evening here at ChezChef! Thanks for looking (again).

Hi KKers, I ran across this article and found it interesting reading. http://firstwefeast.com/eat/2015/07/dirty-truths-of-bbq I found a lot I tend to agree with, especially NYC BBQ.

Howdy KKers - I've seen so many really wonderful cooks documented by Wilbur, MavKenzie, ckreef, and a whole host of others that I've got to post a few of my meager cooks. I've done all these since I returned from my various trips. I'm not much on verbiage, I'll just let the pics speak for themselves. it may take a few posts to get all this in, but ... Quiche Roasted yard Bird and corn FOGO One HUGE pan of lasagna Lasagna plated Smoked & Stuffed pork chops Stuffed Pork Chops plated Grilled salmon Plated Salmon More to follow soon.

Here are a few pics I found kind of nice. This right before the sear. Thanks for looking! Have a wonderful weekend.

Howdy KKers! I love the whole concept of discussing what woods we use for smoking our cooks. To that end, below are a couple of links that detail various woods, their flavor profiles, appropriate use for various cooks, etc. Dee Jay's Smoke Pit Virtual Weber Bullet Amazing Ribs has a pretty good discussion of the Zen of Smoke. I hope this helps one and all!