tony b Posted April 30, 2016 Report Share Posted April 30, 2016 Same here! We expect to see lots of pictures and looking forward to future chats! Welcome to the KK Family! (We say that because it's true - we're family here!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyfish Posted April 30, 2016 Report Share Posted April 30, 2016 It will be a sunny day in London when your KK arrives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosco Posted May 1, 2016 Report Share Posted May 1, 2016 I have neglected to post over the past few weeks as my boys are keeping me terribly busy with rep hockey tryouts. My one son made AA last night as he refuses to play AAA anymore and the younger guy has tryouts starting Monday (Im the trainer/manager so not worried about this one shhhh). Anyways, Ed..... That KK you ordered looks wonderful. The tile colour is rich and looks beautiful. I have always lusted over Tony's and this one is now on my fav list as well. I was the first to get the new stainless side tables so I have convinced myself that Dennis did it just for me LOL. I am going to walk you through my BBQ journey a bit here.... Coles notes: started with a WSM (hated it) realized quickly that I am a griller with the odd time I enjoy smoking foods. Didn't need a dedicated smoker purchased a Weber Kettle 22.5" One Touch Gold as my wife refused to let me buy a Kamado due to price. Cooked on this for a year and absolutely loved it. Fell in love with BBQ Began researching and wanted the BGE more than life itself. Then stumbled onto the www.kamadoguru.com and learned a ton and ended up with a KJ Big Joe Loved it, couldn't believe the food quality. Moisture, ease of use, temp control (especially during winter) set it and forget it for the most part. Bought a second, then a third. All matching black OCD a bit as some know and didnt want mixed up cookers Then KJ changed their colour discontinuing black so I bought all three sizes in red and gave the black ones away to my best friend. One of the greatest things I have ever done. He is so happy and uses them daily Most here know that I was a die hard KJ brand guy. I had many debates and arguments with anyone that tried to tell me that KJ was inferior. All this time, replacing 5 cracked fire boxes, gaskets needed to be changed. Continual band and lid adjustments, rusted out grates, rusting sections on the nest..... I didn't care because the warranty is truly amazing and they take care of their customers. I continually heard the likes of 5698k, CC, Wilburpan go on and on about how great the KK was. In fact I got mad and always went at them telling them that they were full of it. Then ckreef joined in..... followed by Tinyfish. I still thought these people were crazy for spending the money and the kk couldn't be worth the extra. Turning point: Wilburpan wrote a post about the KK being like an expensive chefs knife. A standard knife will do the job, but a high end knife will do it better so to speak. So this raised the debate about the cooker vs. the cook. I thought this guy was sniffing glue on weekends (later learned just huffing the chemicals from the high heat burn in lol). Then I started thinking about it..... When I upgraded from a kettle to a KJ, I was blown away by the food difference. I was suddenly created way better quality food and that was a result of cooking on a better Kamado. Then, 5698k (Robert) started messaging me, telling me to join the dark side. I began looking at the kk site once and a while, then more often, eventually every single day multiple times. I fell in love with the design which initially I thought they were strange looking. But the more I looked at them, the more I realized their quality. I joined the KK forum at this time and began reading every post that I could. I searched everywhere for a complaint or negative report with respect to the kk.... I couldn't find one. How is this possible? Everyone said call Dennis, Call Dennis.... who is this oracle that everyone speaks with. So I said what the heck and gave him a shout. This man is the nicest man I have ever spoken with. His no pressure sales was unbelievable. He was a pleasure to speak with and I was so impressed with his knowledge and more importantly his passion for his product. Ordered harvest gold pebble, which by the way produces the best food. I think I may be the longest shipping experience in the KK history. We missed every port, broken boats, delayed shipments, custom inspections.... the list goes on. I still hadn't set my eyes or hands on a KK up to this point. So I really didn't know what to expect. Fast forward to December 2015. I get a call that my grills had arrived and were ready for delivery. I drove out to the warehouse to arrange and pay for delivery. They let me into the warehouse to check out the products before shipping. I saw the famous KK crates the second I walked into the warehouse. I could see small parts of the kk through the wood slats. I can honestly say that I was blown away with them the moment I laid eyes on them. They were way bigger than I had expected and the 32" was huge from what I am use to with the KJ. I got them home and set them up, and I was so impressed with the way that they looked. My wife immediately said sell the gasser, and its time to rethink 5 kamado's my buddy next door is now holding onto a trio of KJs. Once I started cooking on the KK, I realized that Wilburpan wasn't totally crazy. Suddenly my cooks are producing the best cooks that I have ever done. Nothing changed with respect to my cooking or prep, so why suddenly does everything taste better?? It was the subtle differences that tipped the scale in favour of the kk. I can honestly say now that after owning a KK, I do not believe that there is anything better out there. I can't for the life of me burn food or screw meals up. The temp control is better than anything that I have ever used. The temp stability is wonderful, and the minimal air flow creates an amazing moisture zone in the KK. Giving away the KJs was bitter sweet as I was a die hard. But once you get going on the KK you will honestly never ever use the BGE again. I am happy to hear that it is going to a good home or else it would have made a gorgeous planter for you. Not such a coles note post after all, but your journey is so similar to mine and I know how the ending of this story will be. Get ready for the 32" next because it will happen... sooner than you think too! Congrats on the purchase Ed 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted May 1, 2016 Report Share Posted May 1, 2016 Well said, Bosco! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted May 1, 2016 Report Share Posted May 1, 2016 bosceaux! Wow, what a journey. It wasn't just Wilbur, or 5698k, or myself you thought totally daft! Welcome to the Dark and Daft side! Buddy, you've hit the nail squarely on the head. It's not that the KK is so significantly better at any single thing than the BGE, KJ, or Primo, it's that it's measurably better on any of a thousand dimensions. I've always said that the differences between every KK and any other kamado starts with airflow and ends with the best kamado-cooked food on the planet. The KKs make me a much better cook out of the box than I've ever been. Your post is a tour-de-force in the telling of the Journey to KK. I'd tell you to post it to the Guru, but I'm afraid it'd raise a sh*t storm of the first magnitude, especially amongst the Akorn crew. They think we're all off the charts crazy anyway and all your post would do is convince them of their preconceived notions. Great post, bosceaux. Kudos, kudos, kudos, kudos! (I threw in that 4th kudos to make up for the exchange rate! :lol:) Sorry about that, I just couldn't help myself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted May 4, 2016 Report Share Posted May 4, 2016 On May 1, 2016 at 8:42 AM, bosco said: Wilburpan wrote a post about the KK being like an expensive chefs knife. A standard knife will do the job, but a high end knife will do it better so to speak. So this raised the debate about the cooker vs. the cook. I thought this guy was sniffing glue on weekends (later learned just huffing the chemicals from the high heat burn in lol). Bosco exaggerates. I’m a pediatric oncologist, so if I wanted something to ingest on weekends, I’m not messing around with glue. I have access to far better things. (This is a *sarcasm* alert, just in case the medical license monitors are reading this forum. ) Ed, congratulations on your new KK grill! You are going to love it. Whatever enjoyment you had with your BGE, just multiply it by a factor of 12 or so. That’s what you have to look forward to. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ed_ Posted May 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2016 hey Wilbur - thanks! I've got to say that to keep myself entertained whilst my KK is on the water, I have been going through older posts on this forum and your posts are consistently amongst the most entertaining. I'm really looking forward to trying to match some of the results you've got - Peking duck is a (minor) obsession of mine, so your adventures in that direction have given me great encouragement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFrogs91 Posted May 8, 2016 Report Share Posted May 8, 2016 Great post bosco. Well said Benton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstr8 Posted May 11, 2016 Report Share Posted May 11, 2016 Ed, Welcome to dream world of Komodo Kamado! Your outdoor cooking will be forever changed. For the better :). Looks like from your photo the side tables are now solid surface instead of teak slats? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ed_ Posted May 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 @dstr8 thanks! the steel top is an extra - I thought it would be easier cleanup than the bare wood, and I loved the look of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
