newbie grilling question

[bobsacco]

Hello all,

I'm a newbie and had a question regarding grilling and searing.

Cooking on a 23" model, it has several levels of grills.

Just curious as to which one to use when grilling certain types of meat and veggies.

Also, still can't seem to figure out how to setup the bottom-most (smallest grill for searing?) How do you use this without burning your arm to a crisp?

Any tips welcome

-bob

[MacKenzie]

Bob, I know some people use welder's gloves, tongs will also help and you will need to be quick if you have a rip roaring fire going. I don't have the gloves as I don't normally have a big fire going and usually i don't have that many pieces that I need a huge fire.

[5698k]

Agree with Mac, welders gloves, or any gauntlet type heat resistant gloves will work. An option is Steven Raichlen's gloves, but I imagine there are plenty of less exspensive alternatives.

Rob

[bosco]

I usually do all of my grilling on the main grate.  I will put the lower grate in below the main grate and cook steak down low and veggies etc up top. 

I think the upper grate can sit on top of the basket handles.  I think and don't quote me that you flip the upper grate upside down for this.

I am not a high heat type cooker.  I can achieve great steaks with the grill at 400 with the steaks on the lower grate, I can also cook great pizza at 450 to 500 without any issue.  I see no need to go nuclear

[CeramicChef]

56 minutes ago, bobsacco said:

Hello all,

I'm a newbie and had a question regarding grilling and searing.

Cooking on a 23" model, it has several levels of grills.

Just curious as to which one to use when grilling certain types of meat and veggies.

Also, still can't seem to figure out how to setup the bottom-most (smallest grill for searing?) How do you use this without burning your arm to a crisp?

Any tips welcome

-bob

@bobsacco - I don't have a 23, but instead a 32.  I think that what I say will apply to your 23.  

First, Congrats on your KK; it is the finest cooker in the world.

Second, I use my smaller grate with either the handles up or down when it's in the belly of my 32, TheBeast.  It all depends on what I"m trying to accomplish.  I turn it handles down the I'm doing a really high temp sear.  TO save my arms, I wear welders' gauntlets that come up to about 2/3rds of the way to my elbows.  You can get a very nice pair for under $30.

For cooking something like pizza, I try and get my pizza pie as high in the dome as I can get it.  I'll put the extended grate, the same one I use for searing, on top of the main cooking grate so that it is as high in the dome of TheBeast as is possible.  I'll also use this configuration if I"m cooking something like a pork butt or brisket with a side of beans.  I'll put the butt/brisket on the top grate and slide the beans under butt/brisket to catch the drippings that season the beans so well.

You are only confined by your imagination in cooking on your KK.  The flexibility of the KKs I have really does amaze me and all my friends who help me cook on it.  Use you imagination and have fun.  Read here, ask questions, look at cooks that are posted here, and most of all ... HAVE FUN!

 

Welcome to the KK family; we're glad you're here.  We look forward to help you, answering your questions, and most of all, seeing the result of your cooks in pictures!

[tony b]

Welcome to the KK Family! 

If you want to do high temperature searing, you use the smallest grate (upper grate), flip it over, the legs become the handles and set it on top of the charcoal basket handles. I have both very long tongs, and insulated mitts that come up to my elbows. Essential if you want to keep the hair on your arms. 

[MacKenzie]

Tony, that is a gorgeous shot.   

[bobsacco]

Thanks all, for the tips. I did not realize you could re-use the "Pizza grate". I just figured it was for Pizza only (to get the pizza stone and pizza high enough in the dome to get the reflective heat. More kudos to the genius of Dennis.

One more question, are there any pictures of how to assemble the zone cooking firebox grate. I'm assuming you pull out the regular charcoal basket with he extended arms out then assemble the 2-zone basket? Just unsure about this. I could not find any definitive pics on the KK site that fully explains all the accessories and how to install them properly (for new owners).

 

 

[tony b]

Sorry, don't have any "how to" pictures of the basket splitter. It's fairly intuitive - look at the pictures in the Store on the main website. The main divider just drops into the middle of the basket and hooks onto the sides. From there, it's what you're trying to accomplish, as there are several different configurations. Most common is to put the half moon shield piece on one side of the basket in between the basket rungs. This gives you the classic two-zone cooking arrangement. Depending on which size grill you have, you can orient the basket to be left/right or front/back zones. It also "turbo's" the airflow throw the half with charcoal, for getting up to searing temperature quickly. 

There are other variations - full basket, half depth = two half moon grates in the middle of the basket (with or without the splitter, doesn't matter). Gives full grill coverage, but only uses half the charcoal in the basket. There's the quarter basket arrangement - half moon shield piece on one side of the basket in between the basket rungs and one of the half moon grates on the other. Never seen anyone post that they've used that one. It would have to be for a very short cook (e.g., fish, shrimp, etc.)

Hope this helps?

[bobsacco]

Thanks. I guess I'm just a visual guy. It got pretty complicated in the 2nd paragraph.

[cschaaf]

I did a Google Image search for "Komodo Kamado basket splitter" and one of the results pointed towards this thread from @wilburpan You can see how he set up the splitter here.

http://komodokamadoforum.com/topic/5415-rotisserie-chicken-on-smaug/#comment-51385

 

 

[tony b]

Yes, sometimes 1 picture IS worth a 1000 words.