ckreef Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 This was a very brief discussion between myself and Aussie Joe (Guru member) The idea is to start a hot bed of coals and do a quick sear before a ceramic kamado gets heat soaked. After the Sear you can then dial in a temp and let it heat soak for the final cook. This should work for any ceramic kamado. Tonight I decided to do a practical application of this idea to demonstrate it. Fired up a bed of lump. A quick sear on a few pieces of chicken using the lower grate. (just a light sear as they will finish cooking in the bake phase) Once the Sear was done I pulled out the lower grate then installed the diffuser. Next I installed the main grate. Closed the dome and set both vents for 350*. Gave it about 20 minutes and it parked right where I wanted it to and was fairly well heat soaked at that temperature. Ready for the baking phase. Dinner baking at 350*. Grilled Chicken Alfredo Casserole. A really good/easy procedure that has many applications. You just need to know your vent settings. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjs Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Good idea, thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyfish Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 That definitely would work. Charles, when your doing these experiments do you wear a white lab coat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 ck, it is lots of fun playing with food, isn't it. It's fun reading about it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 That’s a really interesting technique. How low of a target temperature do you think you could achieve with this method? 300ºF? 250ºF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Charles, when your doing these experiments do you wear a white lab coat? Maybe that needs to go on my Christmas wish list. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 That’s a really interesting technique. How low of a target temperature do you think you could achieve with this method? 300ºF? 250ºF?I'm confident I could have stopped at 300* and possibly even 250*. In the Sear phase I kept the upper vent at 4 turns so not much heat got trapped in the KK. The faster you get the Sear accomplished the better chance of a lower final temp. When I added the diffuser and closed the dome I set my vents to a setting I knew would get me 350*. I then just waited it out while the temp rose and settled right at 350*. I gave it a little while longer to make sure it was fairly well heat soaked at 350*. I hit the vent settings spot on because I never had to readjust after that initial setting. This actually worked really well and would probably work even better on a bigger KK. Maybe over the Thanksgiving weekend I'll try and do this procedure on some type of roast and see if I can park it at 250* for a final Low-n-slow phase. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 ck, it is lots of fun playing with food, isn't it. It's fun reading about it too.Yes it can be fun playing with food especially if the outcome is as expected. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnomatic Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 I like this, I can envision using this technique with a variety of cooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poochie Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 That's interesting enough to make me want to give it a try. Sort of like browning a pot roast on the stove and then slipping it in the oven to cook for a few hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 A different spin, when you want to get a good sear without letting the grill get too hot; use a charcoal chimney. Light a chimney full of lump, do your sear over the chimney, and then dump it into the lump basket. Just set the sear grate right in top of the chimney. I use this technique when I make pot roast in the KK. I do the searing in a cast iron pot over the chimney, then dump whatever is left of the chimney in the grill, set the vents and let it go to town at 300. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted November 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 A different spin, when you want to get a good sear without letting the grill get too hot; use a charcoal chimney. Light a chimney full of lump, do your sear over the chimney, and then dump it into the lump basket. Just set the sear grate right in top of the chimney. I use this technique when I make pot roast in the KK. I do the searing in a cast iron pot over the chimney, then dump whatever is left of the chimney in the grill, set the vents and let it go to town at 300. Nice technique. I thought about that but alas I don't own a chimney. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRippley Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 Charles, did you do this on Cass or Pro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted November 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 Charles, did you do this on Cass or Pro?Cassiopeia Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
