amir Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Got the 23" just late last week. Been raining like crazy recently but had a good few nice days to fire up the grill. We call it the "monstah" since we live close to Boston Here's a pic from the first cook - filet mignon of course. Rave reviews from my harshest critics - the children. Have since done grilled salmon, smoked salmon candy, chicken and burgers as well. So far, been using Royal Oak and Wicked Good Jake's Blend (local here) for the cooks. Am trying out Rockwood and Dragon Breath charcoal soon as well. Will post more as I gain more experience. So far, learned that gotta burn off the volatiles from the charcoal before starting the cook. For Royal Oak, it takes about 15-20 minutes (which is as long as it takes to get the "monstah" heat soaked and up to temp anyway). Using paraffin block (1/2 of one) to light it and works every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 amir - welcome to The Club and welcome to The Addiction! Your KK and you are going to have a wonderful time producing the best food you ever tasted! Jump on in and join the conversation. Glad you're aboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFrogs91 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Welcome Amir. Pretty steaks. Have fun with the new toy. I've had mine for a couple of months and love it. Let's see a shot of the whole grill. I love seeing KKs in their new habitat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveyR Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Welcome and enjoy the new cooking experiance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Welcome! It looks like you got your KK 23†just about the same time as I did. What color tile did you get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 Welcome! You're gonna have so much fun you won't be able to stand it! Big Fan of the Wicked Good charcoal. Weekend Warrior is all I can get around here, but it's one of my "go to's." Use Royal Oak lump, too, since it's cheap and plentiful around here. Not the best, but does the job. If you are looking for a good resource about charcoal, check out the Naked Whiz's database. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amir Posted October 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2014 Thanks all. Appreciate the warm welcome to the group. It's been raining cats and dogs here. Once we have a nice day, I'll take a photo of the "monstah" and post it. It's light terra cotta which matches well with our red brick/cream stucco house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Welcome to the forum.. Great first cook. Been a long time since I've cooked steaks on the main.. that being said I'm now more interested in browning steaks than making grill marks so higher is better for that.. I'm using the lower not the upper turned over. Much hotter down below but you still got great grate marks... Great Grate LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amir Posted October 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 Thanks Dennis. Tony b, thanks. I have read all the charcoal reviews on nakedwhiz - many of them are older though. The Wicked Good charcoal Jake's blend is relatively new. It's quite dense so harder to light. It has a nice aroma and gives off very little smoke (the off gas in the first 30 min of being lit). I used it for low and slow twice now and worked out well. Will chime in with more info as I cook more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
