inacoma Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Anyone out there willing to write up a KK manual? amount of dome adjustment, amount of damper door adjustment, amount of lump charcoal...maybe brand specific: ...for ...high temp cooking ...350 degree cooking ...low and slow cooking reason I ask, is I sat waiting for my komodo to heat up to 350 for over an hour, and it never did. It then dawned on me that I only filled up the center basket wih lump, and not the ring around. well too late now to keep experimenting...must get sleep. I guess leaving what lump I have left in the unit will do for an nice low temp burn in. Do you folks recommend to just overfill the lump tray? maybe light the center tray with pre-lit lump from a chimney, and then put unlit lump around it in the outer tray...thinking out loud here...suggestions? Please school me....i have no clue. btw, tried to post this in the cooking section, but it said that moderators only could post there. later, k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Hmmmmm.350 shoould be pretty ease to get to , even with only the basket full. Did you have the top damper open at all? How about the bottom damper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 If you had the center basket full of lump, you shoudl be able to get 350 easily. The "thermostat" is not how much lump you fill it with (at these moderate temps, anyway), the temp is controlled by the amount of air you allow the fire to have. You want it hotter, open thr bottom door a bit, and/or open the top hat some.. Still not hot enough? Open them more. Too hot, close them down some. Loading up with lump will allow you to burn the same fire longer...so you can get the long low and slow cooks. Personally, I tend to fill the coal basket all the way. I cook my food, and when its done, I "turn it off". That is, close the bottom and top completely. No air is allowed in, so the fire is extinguished. You will be surprised how little lump is actually used during a typical cook. You can just relight the stuff thats left and cook again next time. An easy way to relight it is to simply pour some lit coals on top of it. You might want to shake the basket or poke it with a stick, just to stir the ash off, but thats all there is too it. With the small basket full, and the door opened about an inch or two, as well as the top spinner open a couple inches you shoudl be able to hit 450 or more easily - and have leftovers after an hour long cook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 It is a good idea about having some sort of how-to section in the Q&A section. Maybe we can start a thread for ideas, tip and info then combine it into a sticky to put at the top? I will check into you not being able to post. A permission tag must of got overlooked - not a biggie. -=Jasen=- Edit - OK, fixed being able to post to cooking general - damn gremlins - hehe. I also move the post here to KK 411 since we should make this a Q&A thing. Now, start some suggestions and I will combine and organize it into a list when we finish. All of us old K owners should be able to give some pretty good guidelines, but I guess were gonna have to turn to the new KK owners for the specifics (since Dennis added that nice low air flow feature). -=Jasen=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Ok, starting the suggestion thing rolling. - Be patient when making adjustments, give temperature time to equalize instead of chasing it around up and down (takes way longer to come down than to go up). - Takes notes of draft settings and what temps they achieve (count tiles on top & sight with the ears sticking out). - Fill your charcoal basket up, what you don't use will still be there for the next cook (better to have to much and not use, than to little and need it) Well, it is 3am in the morning and I cannot think much right now - hehe - but at least it is started now. Hopefully some of the current KK owners will step up and give us more precise info on using the low air feature and upper draft control since it is so different than the K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcoliver Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Temp Settings I think the low air flow knob may confuse people at first who are beginners. They may think that open means the low air flow is open, however, I have found that in order to get your grill up to temp quickly you must actually open the entire door about an inch, just like with a Mexi-K, and the top damper about 4 turns. After the fire is chugging along you can close the door, keep the low air flow all the way open, crank the top damper all the way down and then back about 1-1/2 to 2 turns to get around 350. For temps around 200 you would have the door shut, the low air flow open about 1/4" and the top damper cranked down and then back 1/2-3/4 of a turn. All grills will be slightly different but this will get everyone started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 I know it looks like too much I sat waiting for my komodo to heat up to 350 for over an hour, and it never did. I only filled up the center basket wih lump, and not the ring around. later, k The problem here is that you left the SCCR (Small Cook Containment Ring) in the basket.. When doing a small cook it's nice to use this ring to be able to stack a small volume of coals.. It's easier to light and control them stacked. For regular cooks, pull out the SCCR and fill the main coal bowl.. I know it looks like too much but remember airflow controls the burn/temp not the amount of charcoal. After you light this larger volume up, you will find it will be fast and easy to get to 350. When your finished cooking, close it down, this cuts the oxygen, kills the burn and saves the remaining charcoal for your next cook... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inacoma Posted July 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Hmmmmm.350 shoould be pretty ease to get to ' date=' even with only the basket full. Did you have the top damper open at all? How about the bottom damper?[/quote'] I took some detailed notes here is what I wrote down...bear with me...as I didn't want to oveshoot the temp so I took it slow at first: pre-lit one full chimney of lump (only lump on hand was that cowboy stuff...didn't think I would be grilling and didn't have any "better" lump laying around...so one quick trip to lowes and I had some fuel...yeah yeah..not the best). conditions...no breeze, very hot, very humid. top: 1 turn bottom: 1/2 open temp probe stopped climbing after 257 degrees top: 2 turns bottom: full open temp probe stopped climbing after 294 degrees top: 3 turns bottom: full open large garage fan placed about 10ft away from cooker, pointed towards the bottom draft door...fan speed set to low. temp probe stopped climbing after 307 degrees top: 4 turns bottom: full open temp probe stopped climbing after 311 degrees top: 5 turns bottom: full open fan: set at MEDIUM now temp probe stopped climbing after 314 degrees ...at this point I figure I'm losing charcoal...it's been about an hour or so...but it's late and now I'm just seeing if I can raise the temp without adding more charcoal...if anything...I'm thinking this is a good "break in" for the grill. top: 6 turns bottom: full open fan: set at HIGH now temp probe stopped climbing after 323 degrees ....went to bed. I should note that since my heat deflector didn't make the shipment, that I had put in a boiler oven pan on the lower grate...took it out before the "5 turn" section above Not much of difference. There are some good tips in this post and I'm going to attempt this again in an hour or so...will report back with what worked. ...PS I did read the stuff on TNW website on temp control...but I think we should have our own version here for our cookers...same goes with the other forum...I could read there...but figured we could benefit from cooker specific directions. Thanks to 'drunk..' for assmbling all this into a faq...maybe we should make a WIKI for some of this stuff later, K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 top: 1 turn bottom: 1/2 open temp probe stopped climbing after 257 degrees top: 2 turns bottom: full open temp probe stopped climbing after 294 degrees What do you mean when you say bottom 1/2 open or full open? Are you pulling the door out or are you turning the wheel to full open? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inacoma Posted July 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 top: 1 turn bottom: 1/2 open temp probe stopped climbing after 257 degrees top: 2 turns bottom: full open temp probe stopped climbing after 294 degrees What do you mean when you say bottom 1/2 open or full open? Are you pulling the door out or are you turning the wheel to full open? wheel, I kept the door shut. k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 I don't have a KK yet, with the improved door, but I believe Tcoliver was saying you really need to pull that door open to get enough air for 350. That wheel is probably only for tweaking the temp on a low and slow, 180-275 degree heat (approx. of course). That may be the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcoliver Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Exactly!!! You need to get the fire rolling before you shut the door. I think you could maintain with the door shut and the wheel open however in order to get it up to speed you need to pull the door out. Try this I think you will get good results, just keep an eye on it as it will get up to temp very quickly. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Well then thar ya go, she was starvin for air Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inacoma Posted July 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Exactly!!! You need to get the fire rolling before you shut the door. I think you could maintain with the door shut and the wheel open however in order to get it up to speed you need to pull the door out. Try this I think you will get good results, just keep an eye on it as it will get up to temp very quickly. Tony so need to get her up to speed before I close the door and leave the vent fully open. I kept the door closed and vent open, thus probably could not get the fire hot enough. I'm in the process of lighting the lump right now. basically filled large lump tray with lump, took out enought to fill the chimney, placed chimney on top of what was left in lump...firing away. Once the chimney is all ashy in color (or close to it), i'll dump into the tray with all the unburnt lump. btw, I have the top open and bottom door off for this pre-lighting phase then I gather I should put my grates on, shut the lid, open it 4 turns, leave the bottom door open 1 inch with the slats fully open. when I hit 340ish I should probably shut the bottom door all the way and let it slowly climb to 350 so I don't overshoot it terrribly. wow, this is getting to the point of anal retentive on my part..oh well, maybe someone else can be helped further down the road...especially have you great group of fellas to get me out of the steel age (granted the steel BBQ stays for large burger/hotdog parties. later, k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 You don't really need to get the chimney all ashy like you do with briquets in a steelie, just get them lit good. That lump spreads good, if there's air going from top to bottom, it ain't gonna go out. If you are wanting a 650ish kind of sear temp, then get them all the way lit. Yeah, as you know it's much easier to climb up than it is to drop down in temp. For instance, tonight at 10pm I'm gonna put on a chuck roll. I'll start the fire at 7 or 8pm and have the top and bottom almost all the way closed and let it take as long as it needs to stabilize at 225ish. So take as long as you need to get up there, without overshooting, cause it's a bear to bring it back down Once you taste hamburgers off the KK, you'll retire that steel thing for good. The KK will do anything the steelie will do, and better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inacoma Posted July 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 update: Just read you thread Curly...man trying to take my steelie away ( ... I will part with it when I get enought therapy. ok, so I went out there after my last post...apparently curly is dead on...my chimney was 3/4 started, but the bed of lump it was sitting on was FULLY started...thus I break out the kevlar arm shields and leather gloves. ... so future note...don't let the chimney fully start (especially when you walk away). so I quickly dumped the lit chimney into the rest of the fuel, closed the bottom door (left the slats full open), spun the top damper all the way to close, then backed it off ONE turn. now the temp has stabilized at 360...and very very quickly. I'm going to see how the grill "soaks" this temp up...i.e curious how much of drop on temp will occur as the "engineered cermamic"..EC for short (yeah, trying a new acronymn!!). Once the EC absorbs enough heat...I wonder if the same damper settings will yield a 350ish temp...will report back. btw, I've taken "timings" this time...and I will probably post them here....sometimes us newbie KKers want to know when when when!!! later, k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 It'll take you a few times. My biggest problem was understanding that you only need a little lump to be lit for a low and slow and you should start it plenty early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inacoma Posted July 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 chicken is on the kkarby!!! see what I did with the subject header...barby with KK..oh man, the witiness never stops ok, so here's the update. it was 2:22 when I closed the lid, did one turn on the top damper, and closed the bottom door (leaving the slats fully open). @ 2:30 temp was 357-360 @ 2:34 temp was 356 @ 2:45 the temp seemed to be pretty stable at 354 degrees..bouncing up to 356 every now and again ...so I think stable temp (with outside ambient temp at 90+ degrees) can be reached within 20 minutes or less from the point of "mature" (heated), coals. ...chicken is on...spachcock style... temp spiked a few degrees (probably because of the increased o2 from the lid being opened) ...I went ahead and kept the top vent at 1 turn and actually closed the bottom vent a hair. bottom vent is now only 3/4 open. temp is stable at just a hair over 350 with a 4 pound bird in there. ...btw, should I be using a heat deflector of sorts? thanks for reading this far down later, kumar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 I don't use a heat deflector on spatchcocked. But then I don't on pulled pork either. To each his own, you'll have to decide what you like, because once you get the temp control down a little...you have it This is gonna be a whole lot different that than dry stuff you pull off of the steelie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inacoma Posted July 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 hopefully my last update..thanks for playing this far... well I got busy with work and my temp dropped to 330 from 3:11 till now (3:48)...figured I shouldn't have partially closed the bottom dampers slits. So I fully opened the bottom damper blew some "fan air" into there to heat her up a bit, and will probably cook the chicken about 15 minutes more to be on the safe side. smells GOOOOD...haven't opened the lid yet to see if she's burnt to a crisp, or juicy juicy. so final formula for 350: 1 to 1 1/2 full turn of top damper, full slit opening of bottom damper (all of this AFTER your had her spike up a hair over 350...to about 360)...which happens very quickly. later, gents..time to eat in a bit... k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
