The Kamado Thread

[ERCougar]

I know there are a few others out there and I think these are unique enough in their capabilities and techniques that we need our own thread.

I picked up an akorn a few weeks ago and have had a lot of fun with the grilling side of things. Today, I took a stab at smoking.

A rack of baby backs that had been sitting in our freezer for about a month. Applied some left over rub that I made a couple of years ago. Cooked 2 hours at 225, foiled with some honey and cooked another 2 hours at 250. Slathered some bbq sauce and finished a half hour at 275. Some pics:



The texture of the meat was perfect. Flavors could be better, but that was due to an old rub and old meat that I think we had defrosted in the fridge and then refrozen a few weeks ago. But man...that texture. Mmm.

Setup was a ring of fire of lump with a few chunks of hickory scattered. Pizza stone wrapped in foil as a diffuser. The auber temp controller was fantastic--i never adjusted vents the whole time.

I love this grill. I think I'll try pulled pork next, but then I'm super excited to try some pizza.

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[Jeff Lebowski]

I look forward to many fine posts in this thread.

[Surfah]

Watch the temps on that thing because I have cracked 3 pizza stones in it. I'd try and find something else as a diffuser. I have seen people use a few different things like a dutch oven lid.

Nice work on your first cook. Here's to many more.

[FN Phat]

very nice.

[ERCougar]

Watch the temps on that thing because I have cracked 3 pizza stones in it. I'd try and find something else as a diffuser. I have seen people use a few different things like a dutch oven lid.

Nice work on your first cook. Here's to many more.

Yeah, I wasn't too worried because temps were really low on this, but
I have one of these:

https://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_27889_-1__?N=395477678&Ntt=great+outdoors+griddle&Ntk=All

Thats what I'll use when I do pizzas.
It works really well for searing steaks too.

I've heard if you're really careful about never getting the stone wet within 24 hours of a cook and you bring it up and down to temp in the oven (no sudden changes), they won't break, but that's just what I've heard. Also maybe easier in a drier climate? The Dutch oven lid is a good idea.

Looking forward to following in your pizza footsteps. If I ever make it all the way through pellegrinos ridiculously long pizza dough link.

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[ERCougar]

First try at a long cook yesterday--pulled pork. 6.5 lb boston butt, with a mix of cherry and hickory with charcoal lump and some briquettes thrown in (ran out of lump). Cooked at 235 for the first 6 hours, but because it still only up to 160 internal and I had a deadline, I had to crank up the temp a little bit, and then a little bit more, and then some more, till I was finally up at 300 at the end. Overall, it took about 11 hours, which seems on the high side, at least from what I've read, particularly with higher temps at the last half of the cook. So, the outsides were a little dry, but the inside was really good. Still, I think I prefer ribs.

As for the Akorn, I can't believe how little fuel this thing takes. I filled up the basket because I really didn't want to run out midway, but I ended up going through less than half, with almost no ash production. So, I'll go back to my ring of fire configuration next time, which I think is much easier to control temps.

I used a rub from this book, which I picked up on a crazy good sale on Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Slow-Fire-Begi.../dp/1452103038

Lots of good stuff in there, especially for a newbie like me. Plus, the author is a Kamado lover, although the book is written more generally. Check it out.

[Vic Vega]

Overall, it took about 11 hours, which seems on the high side, at least from what I've read, particularly with higher temps at the last half of the cook.

I have a smoker that used to give me problems. The temp on the lid always shows about 25 degrees cooler than the temp is over the grate. I figured it out by sticking a $3 probe through the smoke vent. I don't know if that may apply for you. 11 hours does not sound like a crazy long time.

That looks like a great book.

[ERCougar]

I have a smoker that used to give me problems. The temp on the lid always shows about 25 degrees cooler than the temp is over the grate. I figured it out by sticking a $3 probe through the smoke vent. I don't know if that may apply for you. 11 hours does not sound like a crazy long time.

That looks like a great book.

Yeah, the Akorn thermometer is notoriously bad--usually 10% low in my case--so I essentially ignore it, except on high temp stuff, where I can't use something else. I have an Auber temp controller that I use.

I should probably read the threads to see how long these usually take, but the book said for a 7-8 lb butt at 235, plan on 10-12 hours total--6-8 before foiling, 2 after. Mine was a little smaller and I increased my temps a little bit (a lot for the last half), so I thought I'd be a little quicker. Not a huge deal, but I think it would have been another hour or two if I had left it at 235--I really was at 300 for the last two hours. So--dried the outside a little more than I wanted.

[pellegrino]

Watch the temps on that thing because I have cracked 3 pizza stones in it. I'd try and find something else as a diffuser. I have seen people use a few different things like a dutch oven lid.

Nice work on your first cook. Here's to many more.

three? how did that happen? Those aren't cheap either. After two that would be enough to just start buying terracotta tiles and nipping the corners off.

[Vic Vega]

Yeah, the Akorn thermometer is notoriously bad--usually 10% low in my case--so I essentially ignore it, except on high temp stuff, where I can't use something else. I have an Auber temp controller that I use.

I should probably read the threads to see how long these usually take, but the book said for a 7-8 lb butt at 235, plan on 10-12 hours total--6-8 before foiling, 2 after. Mine was a little smaller and I increased my temps a little bit (a lot for the last half), so I thought I'd be a little quicker. Not a huge deal, but I think it would have been another hour or two if I had left it at 235--I really was at 300 for the last two hours. So--dried the outside a little more than I wanted.

I am sure it was really good.

I cook around 250 without foil. It takes me around 13 hours (+/- 1.5 hours) hours to get a 10 pound-ish butt to 190. I get stuck at that 175 plateau for a long time. I have a hard time guessing when the temp will rise. I can't get the timing right, so I have quit trying. I tell guests the tinfoil, towel, and cooler for a couple of hours makes it taste better. Really, I just can't get the timing right and I am just trying to look like I am smarter than I am.

[Surfah]

three? how did that happen? Those aren't cheap either. After two that would be enough to just start buying terracotta tiles and nipping the corners off.

Technically 2. The third took a tumble with the cooker during transport from my house to my neighbors. That one sucked though because it was the big green egg stone which is expensive and thick. I still use it though. It pretty much cracked in half cleanly so I just push the two halves together to cook on. Seems to work alright.

[ERCougar]

I am sure it was really good.

I cook around 250 without foil. It takes me around 13 hours (+/- 1.5 hours) hours to get a 10 pound-ish butt to 190. I get stuck at that 175 plateau for a long time. I have a hard time guessing when the temp will rise. I can't get the timing right, so I have quit trying. I tell guests the tinfoil, towel, and cooler for a couple of hours makes it taste better. Really, I just can't get the timing right and I am just trying to look like I am smarter than I am.

So I guess it's common for the temp rise to stall at about 160--this is where I became concerned for my time deadline and cranked up the heat. I came across an interesting article on amazingribs (what a cool website, btw):

http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/the_stall.html

I guess the stall occurs because of water evaporation. Interesting. Says you can foil earlier on--4-6 hours in, after all your smoke has pretty much absorbed anyway--and avoid the stall. Then, if you like a crispy bark, remove the foil and finish at a higher temp. I'll have to try that next time.

[ERCougar]

I've gotten a few PMs from new kamado/Akorn owners asking for tips on using these. Instead of answering individually, I decided to resurrect this thread to share some of my tricks and to pick up some from the other regulars on here (JoePublic?) who know a lot more than I do about these. Kamadoguru.com is obviously a good source, and has a dedicated forum to each of the major types, but it can be a little info overload.

1) Sealing leaks - Why? I've done the leak test on mine and I have a few air leaks, but I've yet to see any real problem result from them. So I have a bunch of still unused BGE gasket I bought as a result. I've never had a problem holding a temp of 220 and don't have a reason to go lower. I live at elevation (6000 ft) so that may make things easier, but I've also read plenty of bbq guys say that the only difference between a shoulder cooked at 220 and one cooked at 250 is that the one at 250 gets done on time. 250 is my new smoking temperature.

2) Lighting - The method I use is the "snake". Really, it's just a couple of fire bricks I bought for a few bucks at ACE, standing up on their sides to create a sort of maze through the pile. The idea is that only a few pieces of lump can light up at a time, which makes it easier to control temps (theoretically). Also theoretically, the extra mass could act as a heat sink to stabilize temperatures. I don't know if it matters, but it works for me and is easy--I just pour the lump over each time and it falls into the maze. I have a big Mason jar filled with cotton balls soaked in the higher percentage of rubbing alcohol you can buy at Walmart. These work pretty well but if I'm not going to be around for the first fifteen minutes, I use these instead: http://www.amazon.com/RED-DEVIL-Fire...s=firestarters . These are cheap and work really well. I've never lost a flame once lit. IMO, this is WAY better than a charcoal chimney which is a PITA and a mess. So...I'll usually light one in a corner, leave the lid open for fifteen minutes while I get smoking wood and get the temperature probe set up.
Really, I don't even know if all this matters. I've heard some people just fill it up and throw in a firestarter. Probably works just as well.
The thing I'd like to do better is to get up to high temp quickly (for searing steaks or pizza). I have a temp controller with a fan, but when I use that it seems to circulate out the warm air and it takes even longer to get hot. I think the next thing I'll try is to nearly completely close the top vent and just use the fan and open up the bottom vent. Or maybe it's just a matter of lighting the lump in a few places at once and skipping the temp controller. How do you guys do it?

3) Temp control - on that subject, I have a temp controller which was about $130 from auber. I like it, as it leaves me free to leave the house and ignore it for hours at a time and not worry about losing the flame. The guys with ceramics may not have the same need though. If you're new to your kamado, I would recommend just playing around with the temps for a day without food. Try to hit low 200's, mid 200s, high 200s, and so on. For smoking (without the temp controller), I usually just leave both vents wide open until I get to about 50 degrees away, then half open until I get within 10 degrees then shut both down to almost nothing. YMMV. 300s are about half open on both. 400+ are fully open. YMMV. Just pick a day when you're going to be home and play around with it. It doesn't take any time to check on it every half hour or so and adjust vents to get an idea how your oven will work. Then when you get a temp controller, you'll have an idea where you want your vents, realizing that you want your vents a little less open because the controller will keep it from going too low, but not from going too high.

4) Fuel - Purists say lump only. I can get lump easily at Walmart but I'm honestly thinking of switching over to briquets. I hear they're a little more stable, even though they may leave a little more ash. These things go through so little fuel and the ash is so easy to clean out that I don't think those are huge deals.

5) Mods - Honestly, I haven't needed to do any and it works great. The one thing I wish I had was a stainless steel grate instead of a CI one. Every time you do a pizza at high temps, you burn off the seasoning and have to reseason it. Dumb. I bought a Weber grate to use as a holder for the diffuser that was way cheaper than the one offered by the Akorn people and I use an old cast iron lid as a diffuser.

6) Other essentials - a quick read temp probe. Spend the money on it--it's worth it. Bear Claws. A maverik remote temp reader (not essential but still worth it to me).

That's all I can think of for now. Anyone else have some tips?

[Joe Public]

I made ribs yesterday using the Car Wash Mike method. I was happy with the results. It was popularized by a kamado guy, so I thought I would post the link to the method here:

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2002/06/baby-back-rib-class.html

I posted some pictures of my cook here:

http://www.cougarstadium.com/showthread.php?51791-3-2-1-method-for-smoked-ribs&p=1116875&viewfull=1#post1116875

Note the foil drip pan in the pictures. I used that for the first time in addition to the 13" stone I always use for indirect cooking. It ran the length of the ribs and acted as a secondary heat deflector. This was the first time the ends of each rack did not burn on me.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I made ribs yesterday using the Car Wash Mike method. I was happy with the results. It was popularized by a kamado guy, so I thought I would post the link to the method here:

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2002/06/baby-back-rib-class.html

I posted some pictures of my cook here:

http://www.cougarstadium.com/showthread.php?51791-3-2-1-method-for-smoked-ribs&p=1116875&viewfull=1#post1116875

Note the foil drip pan in the pictures. I used that for the first time in addition to the 13" stone I always use for indirect cooking. It ran the length of the ribs and acted as a secondary heat deflector. This was the first time the ends of each rack did not burn on me.

Did you take any pics of the final, sliced product? Come on, man!