texman Posted November 24, 2010 Report Posted November 24, 2010 Wow - I am VERY impressed with this thing - unbelievably well built - congratulations Dennis - excellent job! OK, so as I mentioned yesterday, I am going to try a Turkey in the rotisserie tomorrow. I will try to cook it at about 300 degrees. It is 16lbs - how long should I expect it to take? Here is the really stupid question. How do I use the deflector stone? Does it go in the stainless pan on the bottom grill or does it sit directly on top of the fire box. Do I always use it inside the stainless pan? Should I put something between it and the bird to avoid grease dripping onto the stone or do I want that for smoke purposes? Sorry about the dumb questions - wish that I didn't have to work today or I would already be out there experimenting. Oliver
mguerra Posted November 25, 2010 Report Posted November 25, 2010 Re: Got my KK - ready to cook - questions One problem with the turkey on roti is measuring your finish temperature. You can't just use a remote probe with it spinning. So you will have to open the cooker from time to time to check your turkey, letting out all the heat and moisture. This, by the way, is one reason some people are against basting. I just put the deflector stone on the fire basket handles and use the stainless pan for making paella! Flip the stone every other cook to burn off the gunk.
DennisLinkletter Posted November 26, 2010 Report Posted November 26, 2010 Re: Got my KK - ready to cook - questions Most KK users do use the drip pan on top of the heat deflector or on the lower grill if you want to save the drippings.
U2PLT Posted November 29, 2010 Report Posted November 29, 2010 Re: Got my KK - ready to cook - questions Both my son Tom & I have KK and use the rotisserie a lot for chicken & turkey. WE have found that we put nothing between the fire and the birds. It gives us a great skin and the dripping off the bird justs burns up and we like the taste from this. We cook with the thermometer on the lid maintained at least 350*.
Cookie Posted November 30, 2010 Report Posted November 30, 2010 Re: Got my KK - ready to cook - questions U2PLT - are you having any issues with creosote build up cooking lots of birds with no drip pans? Seems I read in another thread that someone had been doing that and ended up with a lot of build up in the dome...just curious...if you aren't, wonder what you guys are doing different...
DennisLinkletter Posted November 30, 2010 Report Posted November 30, 2010 Re: Got my KK - ready to cook - questions The difference was the other guy was cooking big fat filled pork butts without a drip pan.. and it was not creosote, it was fat build up.
Firemonkey Posted November 30, 2010 Report Posted November 30, 2010 Re: Got my KK - ready to cook - questions U2PLT - are you having any issues with creosote build up cooking lots of birds with no drip pans? Seems I read in another thread that someone had been doing that and ended up with a lot of build up in the dome...just curious...if you aren't' date=' wonder what you guys are doing different...[/quote'] The person who had the sealed up dome top was doing many low and slow, fatty pork butts, with no drip pan. I have done that plenty of times as well, but the difference is that I also do high temp cooking on my grill which burns out the grease accumulation. Cook a pizza or sear a few steaks here and there, and it will be a non-issue for you.
mguerra Posted December 3, 2010 Report Posted December 3, 2010 Re: Got my KK - ready to cook - questions Me, being the person with the bad tar build up. You should see it now! I have to just take the top damper off after every cook and seal the top opening with a terra cotta saucer. If I screw the top damper down, even lightly, I can't get it off. It looks like the damn La Brea tar pits up in there. I de-tarred and replaced the top gasket once, but shortly thereafter the tarry goo re-accumulated and just ripped it right off when unscrewing the top damper. Now I just run it without a top gasket. Dennis sent me a contraption to reduce the surface area of contact of the top damper, but to install it I need to de-tar again and haven't done that yet. But hopefully that device will work.
johnnyboy Posted December 3, 2010 Report Posted December 3, 2010 Re: Got my KK - ready to cook - questions Doc, is the need to reduce surface contact due to being unable to clean the mating surfaces adequately? Grease laden? Or are you leaning toward a heat/cool expansion/contraction problem? I find your case interesting as "typically" if sticking damper is not a overtightening problem (which you've identified you're not doing), a high temp cook/good cleaning normally resolves the problem.
mguerra Posted December 5, 2010 Report Posted December 5, 2010 Re: Got my KK - ready to cook - questions Heat cool expansion contraction is NOT the problem I have. I get a huge amount of tar build up on the gasket itself as well as the mating surface on the damper. A hot cook will not get the tar out of the gasket, it's fully penetrated into the fiber. It might burn some off the inner walls of the cooker, but that's about it. I have just given up worrying about it. If I can figure out a way to totally de-tar my top end, I might try another new gasket and Dennis' little device. For now I use the top damper while cooking and a saucer on top to shut down.
slu Posted December 5, 2010 Report Posted December 5, 2010 Re: Got my KK - ready to cook - questions Heat cool expansion contraction is NOT the problem I have. I get a huge amount of tar build up on the gasket itself as well as the mating surface on the damper. A hot cook will not get the tar out of the gasket' date=' it's fully penetrated into the fiber. It might burn some off the inner walls of the cooker, but that's about it. I have just given up worrying about it. If I can figure out a way to totally de-tar my top end, I might try another new gasket and Dennis' little device. For now I use the top damper while cooking and a saucer on top to shut down.[/quote'] Is this a new form of Texas light crude?
