CeramicChef Posted March 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2015 My crate went to a neighbor, also, who used it to make a dog house. Lucky pooch! And CC, just this once, I'm gonna give you a pass on the Miller Lite! Next time, no mercy! Hey Tony! I had to do with what I had! Like I've always said --- a little bit of something beat 100% of nothing! Mea Culpa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted March 3, 2015 Report Share Posted March 3, 2015 Thanks for bearing with me in this rather lengthy post. I hope it didn't prove too boring or pedantic. I apologize for the rather sophomoric photos, but my iPhone camera was all I had. Any fuzzy pictures are due to me shivering while I was out in the garage. Questions? Shivering, what were you, naked? BTW - don't leave the thermometer in the KK when it's cold. I can see that it's underranged. It will throw off the calibration. I bring mine inside when I put the cover back on it. Don't ever forget - Life's too short to drink shitty beer! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted March 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2015 Tony - in my world, beer is like sex! The worst you'll ever have is wonderful! Beauty! and TheBeast are devoid of their thermometers as we speak. Too cold and about to get much older! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Very nice. Anticipating the run to home plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted March 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 It's 25F here today with Snow, Sleet, Freezing rain and I have TheBeast fired up to sear a Tri Tip and then into the Sous Vide for about 36 hours. I'll post in another thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Atta Boy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 KKers! I've been up to my A$$ in alligators lately and haven't had much time to devote to getting Beauty! into her cradle and out on the patio. We got that accomplished yesterday! Following are a series of pics that show Beauty! next to her new friend, TheBeast a KK BB 32". They seem to play well in the sandbox and get on well together. Next to TheBeast, Beauty! seems to be quite diminutive. Here is a shot of both Beauty! and TheBeast with their lids open. What may not be apparent here is that the angle of the lids when in the open position is the same. From the other side. Here are Beauty! and TheBeast a little closer together. The perfunctory picture of Beauty! in her permanent spot on the patio directly across from TheBeast. Gotta be ergonomic ya know ... Here is the first load of charcoal in the basket. It seems small, but all I've had lately to compare is what TheBeast puts in his belly! As most of you know and for the visitors here, all KKs require a minimum of a 2 hour curing burn before the first really high temp cook. Out of the crate you can cook anything you want as long as the temp doesn't get above about 350F. High temp cooks would be temps over 500F or so. This curing that each KK owner does is to make certain that the curing burn at the KK factory did, in fact, get rid of all the volatiles in the elastomeric cement that is used to attache all the tiles to the KK. Occasionally there can still be some volatiles under a couple of the larger tiles. These volatiles tend to bubble to the surface and leave a little white residue. During the venting of those volatiles some tiles may loosen. All you have to do is push the tile back in place. No problem. I personally have never seen a tile loosen. Here is first fire in Beauty! and getting ready for the curing process over the next few hours. I chose to light 3 spots in the FOGO charcoal for the curing burn. Beauty!, like TheBeast, is incredible responsive to airflow. Temperatures climb easily, I had Beauty! up to 500F inside of 20 minutes, no problem. As I write this, she's holding rock solid at 500F with nary a fluctuation. Beauty is a typical KK; the most over engineered kamado on planet earth. She meets the call every single time! Dennis, THANKS! for another great KK! More to follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Can't wait to see the pics of the virgin cook! What are you planning for her inauguration?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFrogs91 Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Looking good CC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted March 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Can't wait to see the pics of the virgin cook! What are you planning for her inauguration?? tony - these past two weeks have been the weeks from hell that simply won't end! If something could screw up, it did it in spades! You've heard of Murphy's law? Well, I can attest that Murphy was an optimist! I'm thinking for 1st cook we're going to do something incredibly easy ... NY Strips. At this point in life, even I can't screw up a NY Strip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted March 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Looking good CC Frogs - thanks; I appreciate it greatly. Come on up to OKC and we'll drink a little whiskey ... ok, maybe a lot of whiskey ... and burn some protein! I'll play Sous Chef for you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 tony - these past two weeks have been the weeks from hell that simply won't end! If something could screw up, it did it in spades! You've heard of Murphy's law? Well, I can attest that Murphy was an optimist! I'm thinking for 1st cook we're going to do something incredibly easy ... NY Strips. At this point in life, even I can't screw up a NY Strip. Sorry to hear that, buddy. I, on the other hand, celebrated our first day above 60F in 4 months by opening a bottle of bubbly and drank it out on my deck Tuesday, while roasting a chicken on the KK. A beautiful day all around. Hope yours turns around starting today! And yes, Murphy was an optimist! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Tony - glad to hear things up north have turned around! Nothing like a bottle of bubbly, a chicken on the KK, and good tunes on the patio! Good on ya for surviving another winter. We've got trees in full bud down here in OK and tulips peeking out of the ground. It was in the upper 70s today and forecasts say we shouldn't be below 60-65 for daytime highs over the next 10 days! But something tells me Ole Man Winter ain't done yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slbb Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 CC, Do you see the benefit of having the fire box closer to the grate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 slbb - even with my KK BB 32", TheBeast, I've never worried much about that. I can always get the cook down in the KK without problem. I can always flip the extended grate upside down and put it right above the firebox for sears. With Beauty! I didn't get her because I wanted to move the cook closer to the fire. Rather, I got her for the small onesy-twosy cooks I tend to do during the week. TheBeast is really best for larger cooks and parties, at least in my opinion. And you know what they say about opinions! I hope I answered your question. If not, we'll get it done. Just tell me where I left out the info you were needing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted March 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 KKers! FIRST COOK FOR BEAUTY! Well, I finally found time to do the First Cook on Beauty! and she handled it with absolute grace and aplomb. No big deal. She took to high temp sears like a duck to water. So here's Beauty! standing at the ready. She's at about 450F and is standing at the ready for a potato roast. I'm doing 2 Bite Potatoes along with a nice green salad as sides to accompany the entree of NY Strips. So here are the small golden potatoes that just hit the 450F grill for about 30 minutes. I was at Sam's yesterday and stumbled across a couple of Weber Rubs featured in a center aisle display. Now as mist of you know I am quite reluctant to buy remade rubs, but these got my interest. I LOVE powdered honey and a good coffee rub is hard to beat in my opinion. So for about $6 each, I figured how wrong can you go, right? We'll be seasoning our NY Strips with these this evening. Now as many of you know, I continually stress the importance of being well hydrated during a cook, so to that end ... Here are the Guests of Honor ... 4 NY Strips! Two are rubbed with the Coffee Rub (in the back) and the two in the foreground are rubbed with the Honey Rub. As usual Pete The Salt Pig and his Minions approvingly look on. Here is a pic of the NY Strips right after they hit the main grill in Beauty! After the first flip ... And here is the only plated pic I got before everyone dug in with knife and fork! What you can't tell from the picture was that the NY Strips were a perfect medium rare, the 2 bite potatoes were done to absolute perfection and the salad was wonderful with a walnut-raspberry dressing. Finally, here is the end result of a wonderful and sumptuous repast! Beauty! did yeoman service her first time out of the gate! All in all our guests thought it was one of the best steaks they had had in the last 35 years I've known them. The Weber rubs were a bit of a disappointment when all is said and done. The Honey Garlic Rub needed more of a honey profile and the Coffee Rub was, to my tastes entirely lacking the coffee taste that I have come to expect from my coffee rub. While my guests liked their steaks, I would not buy these rubs again. I'll use them as quickly as I can to get them out of my cupboard or more than likely, I'll give them away. Hope you enjoyed this cook as much as I did. Beauty! is just that ... simply a Beauty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Great looking steaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFrogs91 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Great looking cook CC. When does your better half get to use it? 😜 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted March 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Great looking steaks. Thanks, ckreef! Those steaks were on deal at Sam's. They were, in spite of the rub failure, tender, juicy, and delicious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted March 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Great looking cook CC. When does your better half get to use it? Second Tuesday of next week! LOL! And SWMBOI isn't my better half, it's more like my better third! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
