KK 23 Maiden Voyage

[erictag1]

Yesterday was the first cook on my ‘new to me’ KK.

 

I wanted to try a long smoke, and choose a small pork butt as the subject. 4 lbs.

 

 

On the 23 at 7am:

 

 

About nine hours of smooth sailing at 235 to 250. After settling in, the Kk held temperature like no cooker I have used before.

 

 

 

And then plated for the family:

 

 

Served with naan, cucumber and yogurt sauce. My wife wanted to try a Mediterranean style dish.

 

Wife made the naan dough and we cooked that on the KK just prior to serving.

 

I’ve been smoking pork butts on Kamados for years, but never had this set it and forget it experience. Always had to chase temps- some kamados more forgiving than others. This would make me foil the meat at the stall just to get the cook finished. The KK allowed me to do the entire cook without foiling, and the result was fantastic. The fat was rendered thoroughly, and I don’t get that result when I need to wrap.

 

A great first run!!

 

Eric

 

 

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[Pequod]

Beautiful cook! Looks like the KK cleaned up beautifully too!

[erictag1]

Thanks!  I need to spend some more time on the finish, but was happy with the initial clean up of the exterior.

[MacKenzie]

Your KK is looking great as is the pork butt. Nice smoke ring too.  

[Alohapiggy]

Nice cook. How did u get your grates so clean??

[BIGSHEP]

2 hours ago, MacKenzie said:

Your KK is looking great as is the pork butt. Nice smoke ring too.  

+1

[Steve M]

Looks delish!

[Basher]

That’s an excellent first cook Eric. Well done.


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[alimac23]

Awesome first cook Eric! 

Either you've been seriously busy scrubbing, or that KK didn't see much use from its previous owner? 

Olive Gold Pebble, great choice, they definitely cook a little better than the other colours

 

[jonj]

Great cook! 

[tony b]

Nailed it! 

[erictag1]

On 4/5/2020 at 11:46 AM, Alohapiggy said:

Nice cook. How did u get your grates so clean??

I think the family that sold it to me did an intense inside cleaning.  There were strands of industrial grade steel wool stuck in the grates, so I assume that was what got them so clean.  After my one cook the grates have got a good patina.

Also, the inside walls of the 23 darkened up considerably after my first cook.  I would imagine the previous owner gave the inside a good scrubbing, too.  I would not have thought that the inside walls would clean up.   Below are start of the cook and after pics showing the change in color.

Also, when I was done cooking the pork, I opened the vents and raised the temp to 500.  Then I noticed two areas on the dome vent where steam was coming out of tiles.  Afterwards I don’t see any problems with those tiles...

[tony b]

That looks much better. 

One cautionary note about those steel wool scrubbers - as you noticed, they come apart and leave pieces stuck in the grates, which can find their way into your food if you're not diligent in wiping the grates down with a wet rag afterwards. Not fake news, folks have ended up in the ER after inadvertently ingesting pieces of metal into their gut. 

[Basher]

Tony I think that was more from the bristles in stainless steel wire brushes. They don’t break down easily. The steel wool is mostly iron and corrodes pretty quickly.
However, I do remember reading from Dennis that the steel wool can react to the stainless steel grates and cause pitting in the grate if the wool fibres are left in contact with them. Steel wool is not recommended. PBW is my new favourite.


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[tony b]

Those cheap-ass brass bristled "BBQ brushes" are the worst. Beware!

I really like my Grill Floss. If I scrap the grates down with it as part of my shutdown routine. Everything comes off easily and no worries about stray pieces of metal. 

Glad that you're liking the PBW and can find it there!

[erictag1]

Grill Floss ordered!  Thank you!

[tony b]

Good deal. A "heads up" - it has 2 sizes on the scraper. Mine came with the smaller size (most common on grills) extended. All you need to do to swap it over is to remove the screws and flip it, replace the screws - easy, peasy! 

[alimac23]

I love my grillfloss too, i use it every cook to scrape the gunk off the grates.

I'm searching for a tub / container that is big enough to hold the 32 grates, then i'll hit them with PBW for a deep clean from time to time.

[tony b]

For grates that big, maybe one of those plastic kiddie pools?? 

https://smile.amazon.com/Intex-Crystal-Blue-Inflatable-Pool/dp/B000SN61UC

[Bruce Pearson]

I think I remember someone saying they bought one of those plastic cement mixing thingys. May want to check it out