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tekobo

Getting my Goat - Not?

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Amazing introduction for me to an uncrating. It was very cool to get to meet everyone, and it only elevated my excitement for my upcoming delivery.

But this was certainly not about me...most importantly, beautiful new setup@Tekobo! Thanks for putting it together and bringing us all to your virtual garden to celebrate with you. I can’t wait for the first food pic with all three in action at same time. Christmas dinner at your house just got a whole lot better! Cheers!

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It was really lovely to be joined yesterday by a group of people who know what it is like to want or to have or to build a KK.  Thank you for bridging continents and time zones to make it happen.

Today I have the best of all feelings.  Waking up and remembering that you have a KK in the garden.  There is no feeling like it.  I lay there for an hour in the dark.  I am up now and it is still dark.  And cold.  Soon, soon, I will be able to get out there and cook.  Hooray for KKs.  Hooray for Dennis.  Happy Christmas!

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I neglected to say that it was good to meet [mention=2815]jonj[/mention], [mention=3675]BOC[/mention], a momentary flash of [mention=3632]Sir Bill[/mention], [mention=2394]MacKenzie[/mention], [mention=2]DennisLinkletter[/mention] and I'm not sure who was on from Australia, audio was terrible but picture was fine. If I've forgotten anyone, I'm sorry, I don't know everyone's real names. 

Braai that was me. I couldn’t hear much either.
Also confused me who was who given their true names showed up onscreen rather than their KK names.
It was funny watching the blue wren hop about about her garden on such a classic English winter day.


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14 hours ago, Basher said:


Braai that was me. I couldn’t hear much either.
Also confused me who was who given their true names showed up onscreen rather than their KK names.
It was funny watching the blue wren hop about about her garden on such a classic English winter day.
 

I thought it might have been you. I was actually expecting a cow and likely from my avatar, you would have been expecting a dog. 😀

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Gosh.  I remember reading a post by @CeramicChef where he talked about taking time to learn and callibrate each kamado cooker he owned.  I didn't remember to put that advice into practice when I dived into cooking on my KKs yesterday. 

I started with the 32.  Impressive.  On half a basket of cocoshell briquettes I got it up to 320C/600F in 1.5 hours with all the vents open.  Smell of solvent but no bubbling tiles.  I should have waited for everything to cool down a bit but I decided to start with baking some bread anyway. I created steam by dropping ice onto the billet of aluminium that @Syzygies turned us on to.  Worked well and I got some very brown loaves.  Limited oven spring but not surprising given they were heavy with rye porridge and walnuts and had been held in the bulk fermentation stage for two days.  Sour and very tasty. 

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Followed that with two pizzas.  Added the meat at the very end - coppa on one and cured goose breast on the other.  Both tasted good but I should have cooked the bases for a bit longer.  As you can see, I need to cut the under paper smaller next time too.  No steam this time but this picture lets you see the set up for turning the KK into a steam oven with the aluminium billet in a large baking pan sitting on the basket divider. 

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For dinner I lit up the 16 to cook lamb chops.  Again only a partial success.  It took ages to get the 16 up to temperature.  I think I needed to open up the top cap rather more than I did.  I also used a mix of marabu and old binchotan briquettes - the hardest things on earth to light.  Had a few flare ups and lots of smoke because of the fat on the lamb.  Either need to use a shield over the fire next time or a griddle pan and allow more time. Opening and shutting a little 16 cools things down way more than it does on a bigger KK so I need to get it up to temp and heat soaked and then either cook quickly on the lower grate or slowly with remote monitoring of temp on the higher grate.  

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I now have some brisket going in the 32.  I got it up to temp very easily and installed the smoke pot with some chips in it.  All good so far.  I then closed the top vent and cracked it open a little like I used to on my 21 and 23.  I came back about half an hour later to a dome thermometer that was still reading 125 C but no smoke and a dead fire.  Revived it with my leaf blower and opened the top vent a little more than a crack.  All going well now.  Learning on the job and I guess it is less daunting because I have done this before.  All good fun and nice to be reminded that cooking over fire is an art that needs to respect the science of the different size KKs that I am now working with.  

The table that I had made to fit between my 21 and 23 doesn't work with the 23 and 32.  I have been trying to figure out what I would like and think I have found the perfect solution in the packing crate that the 16 came in.  

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2 hours ago, tekobo said:

The table that I had made to fit between my 21 and 23 doesn't work with the 23 and 32.  I have been trying to figure out what I would like and think I have found the perfect solution in the packing crate that the 16 came in.  

:smt043

If I know you, you'll be hitting it out of the park within a week on all 3 grills! 

2 hours ago, tekobo said:

 I also used a mix of marabu and old binchotan briquettes - the hardest things on earth to light.

That's a fact! 

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I had planned to complete this thread with a brisket cook on the 23.  However, the brisket was too long for the 23 and so I had to use the 32 instead.  I say this because others have told me before that a full packer brisket fits on a 23 no problem.  I suspect this is all to do with how briskets get cut out of a carcass in the UK. They are normally cut to be rolled rather than as a flat joint for low and slow and so I have to ask specially for them to be left flat.  Photos below.  Grateful for views about how/why this is different to they way they are cut in the US.

Obligatory shot on the grill

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Pic to show you the size.  I guess it could have fitted on the 23.  

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This is probably the equivalent of a horror film for some, with the underside of the brisket hacked about by the butcher.

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The finished plate.  Nice but not my best brisket.  Was lightly smoked over hickory and served with couscous, pickled cucumber and spinach-made-better-with-bacon. 

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On 7/1/2020 at 2:05 AM, Mcjudsten said:

Tough but fun decision.  The space is fantastic - could easily see a 32 + 21 there (pebbles of course).   We will likely end up with a 42 and a 16  . . .everyone has to solve for a different space and situation.  Good Luck!

Hi there @Mcjudsten. I saw your recent cook in your 16 (yummy looking by the way) and remembered this post.  What does your set up look like and how are you enjoying the combo of a 42 and 16?

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Ha! It’s complicated.  I ordered the 16TT, and then the pandemic hit, 6 months later it was delivered, but then we moved on very short notice- so the 16 was left in the crate and went in a storage pod.  Due to time constraints and  construction on the new place we decided to sell the 42 with the old house.  So we had no kk for a bit.  Now we are in the new place with the 16 up and running and Dennis has a 42 on a boat outside of Long Beach headed this way.  I hope to have everything settled by the end of the month.

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