smokincyclist Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 First a confession. I have never used charcoal. I come from the propane side where flavors are controlled by what you put on the food, not how you cook it. I don't have forever left in my life to mess around with different charcoal cookers, so after reading and researching I found KK, ordered, and took delivery of the KK this Tuesday. It was raining, so I wussed out until today to do my first cook. By the way, I did use the forearm forklifts to lift up the KK with my wife and moved it off the pallet, but I would recommend a third person just in case things get caught up (which happened with the rope) The forum is chock full of experiences and is a wealth of information for the experienced cook. I just want to learn how to cook basic and build up from there. So tonight I threw on some chicken breasts, used all of your groups expertise on controlling temperature and voila, an incredible juicy and tender chicken breast sans sauce. I wanted to get an idea of what the KK can do before I started adding flavors. I cooked on direct heat, but should have flipped the bird (pun intended) because the skin did not look attractive. So my reach out is to have a topic with basic cooking, before you get to the real esoteric cooks. I have seen Firemonkey's video and feel confident I can cook a steak, but cooking the perfect hamburger seem to be somewhat of a mystery. Any recipe advise for a beginner like me would be most welcome. e.g. cook hamburgers at 450 on main grill, don't cook macaroni on the grill without a container. I just want to avoid as many learning mistakes that you have all had as you got to your levels of expertise. I see lots of postings where the first cook on a KK is a pork shoulder, and here I am just at the chicken boob level. I admit it, I don't deserve a KK, but I hope to be able over the next several months to get there with your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnt Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 Hello smokincyclist, It's Great to have another Northern Cal owner. The first thing to remember is we all started where you are at some point in our past. The beauty to the KK is that once you learn to control the temp everything gets easy. You see a lot of info on cooking a pork shoulder because it's a great first low slow cook. I use the Chris Lilly cookbook for directions, Rubs, and sauces. My best advice is to relax, enjoy, and laugh at your mistakes. So pick up Chris's cookbook and invite your friends. Tony P.S. Everyone deserves a KK it's just that some of them don't know it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 Hey Smokincyclist! I never cooked with charcoal either until I got my KK and I just love it. There's a learning curve ahead for you for sure but its not that bad - you will be serving your family wonderful meals and having fun doing it in no time. The first hurdle is to get comfortable with building the fire and maintaining your heat levels and there is tons of help on this board about that. A big, thick burger on the KK is my family's favorite meal but I can't recommend that you follow my example which is to cook them just like a steak - on the sear grill over a hot fire a couple of minutes a side and take them off at 120. They come out crispy on the outside and rare on the inside which is just the way we like them. I don't think you could cook them to the USDA recommended temp of 160 this way or they would be burned. But someone on this board will chime in with a technique to cook them to higher temps. Be careful with veggies if you will have the lid closed since they can absorb a lot of smoke to the point that they are inedible. Baked potatoes are great with the lid closed but I had a bad experience with eggplant and Doc had a bad experience with asparagus. These incidents could have been avoided with a hotter fire and keeping the lid open while grilling them. Cooking chicken on the KK is way more complicated than cooking a pork shoulder so if those breasts were succulent, you did a good job. Getting the skin crispy is an art and it will come in time. Lastly, we are here for you so don't be afraid to ask questions. I'm certainly no expert but it wasn't long ago that I was brand new to cooking with charcoal so I know where you are coming from. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 Read the old posts, lots of them... Your KK will probably be one of, if not the most, rewarding purchases you have made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 I'm here for you.. If you would like to call me, I'm happy to walk you thru temp control and first cook 101. I come with the grill.. Anybody have questions please always feel free to give me a call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_R Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 Congrats on your purchase, welcome to the club. IMO, grilling (high temperature cooking) is easier because maintaining the temperature is fairly simple and does not rely on your fire building skills. I cook burgers and steaks at high heat, typically on the lower rack right over the coals. Once the dome thermometer hits 500° or so then the lower grate will be at the right temp. A long pair of tongs (and maybe oven mitts) is important, you can't hold your hand in there for long periods of time! With beef you want to sear the outside, that caramelized protein is an important flavor component. The Virtual webber bullet website & here both have some pretty good how-to posts, videos, and guides. The key thing with BBQ (low temp cooking) is building and starting the fire correctly. If you end up with a lot of lit coals then you will never be able to achieve & hold the low temps. There is a lot of information on this specific topic. PLEASE NOTE: there is no reason to run out and get a Guru, Stoker, or other computerized blower. Correctly setting the top and bottom will get you to 225 every time. +1 on the pork shoulder recommendation. They are almost impossible to screw up, my first one was cooked at 300+ degrees most of the time and it was very tasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 "PLEASE NOTE: there is no reason to run out and get a Guru, Stoker, or other computerized blower." I disagree. It is true that there is no necessity to do so. But there IS a reason... Because it's cool and fun to have toys!!!!! And some other reasons too, but mainly it's cool and fun to have toys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primeats Posted May 20, 2011 Report Share Posted May 20, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 I would have to add that although you don't NEED a draft inducer(Guru or Stoker) there have been times i have had the coals go out during an overnight cook, due to my fault not the KK. I have one at home and have used it numerous times with nothing less than perfect,precise results. I no longer use it at home and wish I would have brought it to my shop months ago to eliminate the "delayed" results. I can't use it either way now due to the fact my DigiQ is not very forgiving in the rain apparently,and no longer functions. When I get around to it I will probably reorder one, or talk DJ into guiding me into a homemade version with wifi!I have to agree with the Doc on this one...can you have too many cool things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobvoeh Posted May 20, 2011 Report Share Posted May 20, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 First, congrats on your new purchase. Don't worry about being a newb, we all have been there at some time or another. I have done several overnight cooks on the KK and only one went out on me. It was due to me not completely emptying out the charcoal basket. I resused some old coals and what I didn't know, the used coals do not light easily enough. So once the new coals burned down to the old ones, the fire went out. That episode had me thinking about getting a Stoker setup, but the setup I would need is almost $500. I'm going to keep doing it the old school way and just take the time to set the coals right. So you don't need one, but they are nice toys. Call Dennis, he taught me things about Charcoal that I never knew. The man is a wealth of knowledge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokincyclist Posted May 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 I have to say that the support group here is incredible. I went away for a couple of days to my daughters graduation from college and I come back to a wealth of information. I, like probably every other KK owner, perused the forum at great length to be ready when my KK arrived, and I will continue to seek great wisdom on this site. I appreciate the info on just basic grilling on the KK, and look forward to doing a long slow cook next week. I think the guru/stoker purchase is still out there until I get the basic skills under control, but what a cool purchase it will be. Geekdom is something to aspire to. A concern I do have is that, as Dennis put it, I will not look like I am doing anything with the KK because it does the work so well and my guests will think I am faking it. That's okay because my guests always thought I was a good faker. (no comments from the peanut gallery on this statement). I look forward to reading for more basic recipes which are already posted, and any additional basics you may have. Thanks for your great comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 Call Dennis' date=' he taught me things about Charcoal that I never knew. The man is a wealth of knowledge[/quote'] Thanks VERY BIG for the kudos.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 or talk DJ into guiding me into a homemade version with wifi! Be happy to do so, though not quite there with the Wifi part! And I agree about the controllers.....while the KK is easy to control, it is just a no brainer with a controller. With my homemade one added to the bunch, I am up to 5 controllers! I really like knowing what is going on outside from inside and playing with cool toys! -=J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 Re: Newbie 101 .. Anybody have questions please always feel free to give me a call. So are you up on tax laws here in the states? Meaning of life? Why is the sky blue? Are we there yet? Can we take four more years of change? -=J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
