Is a Komodo Kamado Enough for All Your Grilling Needs?

[Flht01]

@tekobo Really looking forward to following along with your adventures on the new kk's. They are phenomenal cookers. 

[ckreef]

3 hours ago, tekobo said:

Concept of an English twist on barbecuing is funny.  I am actually a Nigerian masquerading as an Englander.  So you will be getting an African British twist on things when I finally get my hands on a KK.  Did I say all was well with globalism?  

Now you've gone and done it. I like strange (non American) twists on food. 

We're waiting........ LOL 

Edited August 22, 2017 by ckreef

[tony b]

Charles, you'd better be careful if Susan hears you talking about liking "strange." 

@tekobo - Check out Meathead's book, too. He's the head guy over at Amazing Ribs, one of our favorite BBQ websites here. 

[Pequod]

49 minutes ago, tony b said:

Charles, you'd better be careful if Susan hears you talking about liking "strange." 

@tekobo - Check out Meathead's book, too. He's the head guy over at Amazing Ribs, one of our favorite BBQ websites here. 

Yup, that's the book I linked to above. Best all around from the ground up BBQ book in my opinion. 

[MacKenzie]

tekobo, I had what I thought was a brain wave today and hope you think so too. A pix of you wearing your 40th ear rings accepting the arrival of your 50th , the KKs.

[tekobo]

1 hour ago, MacKenzie said:

tekobo, I had what I thought was a brain wave today and hope you think so too. A pix of you wearing your 40th ear rings accepting the arrival of your 50th , the KKs.

Awesome!  This made me laugh a lot, as I had thought of selling the earrings to fund the more extreme end of my KK fantasies.  Happily The Husband was generous - both in giving up his Argentinian grill dream AND funding two KKs when he had originally offered me one.  So...the earrings are still in the safe and will come out for the KK's' arrival.

[tekobo]

Ooooh.   I know @tony b, I should have moved on to the accessories discussion by now but I am eking out the pre-sales experience, given I am not expecting delivery before November.  I did the pester-Dennis-with-phone-calls trick that I am sure all of us pull at this point.  I listened to him properly this time and now know I am 3-4 weeks away from seeing my 21" KK finished.  

The only consolation, hence the ooooh, is that he let me see a photo of the prototype. It/she is so beautiful.  Naked, not tiled.   Made me want to hug her across the ocean.  Enough excitement for one week.  Will hit the accessories next.  

[MacKenzie]

Great accessory time is approaching.  We are ready for you, just say the word.  

[tekobo]

OK.  Here we go!  Pasted from my spreadsheet but couldn't get formatting to come through. Hope the columns don't go all funny when I press the Submit button.

All advice welcome please.  

Category Item 23" 21" Commentary Definite Grill shaped baking stone ✓       Spare charcoal basket ✓       Charcoal basket splitter ✓       Cover (Meditteranean blue) ✓ ✓     Coco char     Get as much coco char as possible           Argue in Coffee lump     Not everyone seems to think the coffee stuff is worth it   Rib rack ✓   Why do you need one?   8" rotisserie with 6" reducer ✓   Remember the roti kit for the indoor oven that you've never used   Cold smoker     The Husband not convinced   Double drip pan ✓   Improvise instead?           Understand Baking steel      Doesn’t appear to be on the site.  Is this the same as a baking stone?           No Wings     No space   Other Dennis furniture     Gorgeous but still no space           Non-Dennis Purchase Greenwood propane weed burner torch     Should up my fire starting skills so I don't always have to wait for The Husband   Smoke pot     Can't bear to drill holes in my 30 yr old pot.  Buy one on eBay   DigiQ DX2     Find out more. Don't buy until you've been using KK a whlle   Milwaukee compact blower     Try old hair dryer first   Stainless steel cabinet      Get this manufactured locally.  On wheels alongside chimney   Motor for rotisserie ✓   Search KK forum for options for the UK

[Steve M]

Personally, I love the coffee char. I use it for everything but a low and slow cook.

You may need a rib rack if you want to do a bunch of racks at once. I get 3 uncut racks on my main grate but if you want to do many more on one grill, the rack comes in handy. 

Rotisserie kit? You may find you like rotisserie cooking a lot if you get it. It is my favorite way to do chicken.

cold smoker and double drip pan are certainly optional. I get plenty of smoke on all of my cooks without the additional smoker but it does have some good uses if you want to smoke cheeses or something at very low temps. I started using foil for all of my indirect cooks and if I need something to catch a lot of drippings, I use a disposable foil pan. (I do have a double drip pan).

I don't believe Dennis has added baking steel to his site yet. The baking stone looks like the deflector but is much different. Get it if you are planning on bread, pizzas, etc. 

I have the weed burner torch and it has served me well.

I have a cyber q (vs the Digi Q) and love it for those long cooks. I like gadgets in general but I think it would be extremely useful in the beginning. A lot of folks would tell you to learn your grill first but I think it takes some of the frustration out of the learning process. I like easy.

 

[Pequod]

Baking steel is currently a non-Dennis purchase. I also recommend the coffee lump. Having used both for awhile now, I prefer the coffee lump over coco char. Consider the rotisserie spit rod over the basket. You can add non-Dennis OctoForks to that for some extreme versatility.

[5698k]

I'm still going coco char over coffee lump. With coffee, that's your smoke flavor, period. With coco, you can add whatever flavor you're in the mood for. Plus the boxes are quite a bit smaller, easier to store.

I find the rib rack a necessity, it eliminates the possibility of black or burnt bottoms.

I have a double bottom drip pan, don't really use it much.

I use a bernzomatic ts 8000 torch, it works great, or fire starter cubes if you're not in a time crunch.

You have a great list, but the number one thing is already decided on, you're basically good to go.


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[MacKenzie]

Sounds like a great list and I am happy to see that the baking stone is in the definite list, it is fantastic at keeping the bottom of the pizza from burning while the top bakes. I would really recommend that you add the spit to the definite list to me it is a must have there are sooooooo many uses for it. I have gone the hairdryer route and while it works fine, but with the compact blower one has much much more control over the amount of air flow and that is important when it comes to lump that does like to spark when it is first lit. I also use it to blow off the deck, the counters in the outdoor kitchen, clean out the shells in a bird feeder, etc. Time to tweak the list  ?   

I almost forgot, there is one more thing that I highly recommend and that is a good instant read thermometer. It is in my mind essential and thermapen makes a beautiful one. http://www.thermoworks.com/Thermapen-Mk4

As you can see it is made in the England.  

While I'm on the topic of temperature, I just order a Smoke Gateway so that I can get my readings on the cell phone and make adjustments if need be. I already have the Smoke but the gateway is new and they sent out notices to owners of the Smoke before putting the gateway on the web site. This is the link from the email. http://www.thermoworks.com/Smoke-Gateway?utm_source=Nl-2017Aug26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=SmokeGatewayMessage&utm_campaign=Aug2017-Introducing-Smoke-Gateway-so-cs

The link to Smoke - http://www.thermoworks.com/Alarms/Cooking-Alarms

I hope you are having a great bank holiday.  

Edited August 26, 2017 by MacKenzie

[tekobo]

Great, thank you all.   Having waited five whole years to make the jump, I am trying to get back in touch with my frugal side.  Not working 

I'll adjust the list and re-post when settled but here's an update on current thinking:

coco v coffee - gotta try it for ourselves. Go big on coco, try out the coffee.  Persuade friends to buy a KK in a year or so's time so we can replenish our char stock with our preferred choice.

roti - the nice people at One Grill responded very quickly to my enquiry about a motor. They offer a cordless motor and an AC adapter if I want to plug it in here in the UK.  I did see a post where you all recommended getting all the different roti options.  Am probably going to go with @Pequod's suggestion for my first venture into this space.  

5 hours ago, Pequod said:

Consider the rotisserie spit rod over the basket. You can add non-Dennis OctoForks to that for some extreme versatility.

is it a baking stone v baking steel question?  Not sure I need both?  

rib rack - why did I ever question this one?  Meat on bones all the way.  It's now a definite. Thanks @Steve M and @5698k

cyber q v digi q v smoke gateway? guessing they are not all equivalents but I need to find out more.  Certainly these gadgety options were one of the things that blew my mind when I first encountered KKs all that time ago. @MacKenzie, we have a few different thermometers. Will work out whether the thermo pen does stuff that the ones we have don't.

consider what to do about ember blowing kit but not a day one commitment.  Drip pan and cold smoker go onto to No list.  The Husband thinks others smoke salmon and cheese perfectly well and I can't help but agree.  

Thank you all, keep 'em coming.  

[5698k]

I meant to address this earlier. I'm a cyberq guy. I know there are the purists who say get to know your grill, but I'm a gadget guy, and I like my gadgets. Cyberqs work, pure and simple.


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[Steve M]

I will second Mackenzie's suggestion for a good instant read thermometer. I trust my thermopen above all else. 

[Pequod]

Start with Dennis' baking stone. Consider the baking steel later. If you get the round griddle version of the baking steel, it doubles as the perfect surface for thin crust pizza AND smash burgers. Definitely optional, but nice to have. Get the stone for now. My 2 pence. 

[tony b]

Sounds like you're on the right track for accessories. Definitely drop the double drip pan. I've used mine only once or twice in several years. KK pizza stone over steel. If you want to do smash burgers, use a cast iron skillet or griddle. 

With the 21" being new, not sure what's available for it?? So not much advice there. You might want to consider the 17" round pizza stone for it, as the grate-shaped one for the 23" wont fit it. That's all I could think of.

I own several Thermapens. They are the best instant read thermometers that I've found. Fast and very accurate. 

Another cheap add-on if you get the straight rotisserie rod, Keith at OctoForks sells a nice adjustable basket that slides onto the rod. I use mine more than the original KK rotisserie basket. I still use the KK basket, but for definitive things like roasting chile peppers, whole chickens, pork roasts, etc. The adjustable basket is for smaller items, like ears of corn and chicken pieces, etc. 

I'm also a gadget guy - I have the DigiQ-II controller, several Maverick remote temperature sensors, and my newest toy - the MEATER (a wireless remote thermometer - a MUST for the rotisserie - IMHO).

[Paul]

2 hours ago, tekobo said:

Persuade friends to buy a KK in a year or so's time so we can replenish our char stock with our preferred choice.

Now that's thinking!!

[ZooBeeQ]

A new KK? that is the gift that will keep on giving !!

Great ideas from all above me there .

I'm a gadget girl too and I love my digiQ DX, it also has thermo for the meat . Makes it soo easy to set and forget.

PIzza stone a must.

I love my steel but Pequod has it right there, wish they had the round grill when I bought mine.

For the thermometers I have  Range by Supermechanical for when I'm doing a ton of butts or brisket ( ribs are done when they done )

They're great remote thermos with apple app ( the only downside ) for remote viewing and alarm for done and multiple meats. I also use them for inhouse cooking, yogurt making, and brewing .

Range Dial here

I skipped over two pages to get here so sry if i missed somethn' .

You are going to have a blast ! Remember, these cookers have multiple grill surfaces so you can cook two or more stacks of food.