Fstop12 wrote:
Wow, that looks delicious! How difficult is it to use that grill? Do you have to babysit it the whole cooking time etc?
Thanks!
It's actually pretty easy out of the box. It takes about 30-45 mins for it to settle down to a cooking temp. I used 275° for this cook. I used a wireless thermometer to measure the temp at grill level, since the dome thermometer is very inaccurate (dome temp can vary as much as 50° from grill temp). You can do stuff while it is cooking, just keeping an eye on the temp. I bury the seasoning wood down in the bottom of the charcoal basket, so when the fire hits it the temp goes up a bit, at which point I can damp it down adjusting the bottom and top vents.
I've already made my family aware of my birthday wish -
https://www.atbbq.com/accessories/tools-and-utensils/digital-thermometers/fireboard-2-pro-kit-thermometer.htmlWhen coupled with the optional fan, this thing will maintain the target temp within ±5° until you run out of fuel - which at 275° would have been around 22 hours - or longer with more than 3/4 load of charcoal. You can even program the temp based on meat temperature, so that when the brisket hits the stall - around 160° - it can bump the temp up to "power through" the stall and get you to 203° meat temp without having to remove and wrap. I now do that manually, but having the thermometer do it is even better and more accurate.
The thermometer/fan combo makes it truly "set it and forget it"
The thermometer does it's job well for smoking and roasting - timed cooks - but is generally unnecessary for searing and pizza. I have made pizza at 900° - which cooks in about 90 secs for NY style thin crust.
It pays to spend the extra $$ for the premium brands - Kamado Joe, Big Green Egg, Primo - who have been at this for a while and have impeccable customer service. Costco has a knockoff - outside it looks like a red Kamado Joe, but inside it looks like a Big Green Egg - with a one-piece firebox. At around $700 it is $500 cheaper than the premium stuff - but I wouldn't trust it.
Using good charcoal is key to getting consistent results - I use quebracho, from South America. The better brands - Jealous Devil, Harder, Kamado Joe XL Chunk - have nice large chunks of wood that burn long and hot. The cheap stuff has lots of crumbles and unburned wood, along with non-wood junk. For flavoring, I like apple and cherry for poultry, hickory and apple for pork, and post oak+hickory for beef. I also like mesquite, but it has fallen out of vogue because of its distinct flavor. For the brisket, I used 4 chunks of post oak.