AdamG

Looks fantastic😋👍

I really like the look of that grate setup, some good innovation there🔥👍

@hoogl Smokin monkey will see that list and think "job done!" haha

some great ones on there hoogl 👍

some ideas...

Your favourite dish (each person cooks their favourite)

Flaming june - something cooked directly over flames

Cook something at X temp (example 121C/250F)

Summer sidekicks - side dishes

Yeah a good scrape should do a good job👍 A wash would be fine as you say, any moisture will be gone once the charcoal is lit😁 its what I used to do with my old one and that never rusted. You looking forward to winter next week? Haha

I think a waterbowl necessity probably depends on your grill? The benefits I know are it helps keep the meat moist, temps stable and promotes a more smokey flavour(?)

As a bonus, you could keep the water since it will take on a smokey flavour and use it for other dishes in future cooks (chilli con carne or homemade bbq sauce etc). Freeze them into ice cubes and use them like stock cubes.

Its not very often I use water bowls since I use a kamado but always used one with my old offset. I never tried half and half though just fully or none but half and half is certainly an interesting approach👍

Alternatively I have heard of using sand but never tried this myself...although im sure extra fuel would be needed to heat it up just like water?

Maybe just a good burn off before cooking might do the trick especially if the black papery bits are where the charcoal goes....personally im a bit wary of using any chemicals (mainly getting rid of the chemicals 100% after cleaning) in case there is any trace left behind. Racks going through the dishwasher and a burn off would be good enough for me 👍

After a cook I always clean the cooking racks (stainless, enamel/chromium coated ones) inside with warm soapy water and then store them in the house...where the wife doesnt find them haha.

looks fantastic as always Justin🤤

looking good🤤

Looks good Pittmab, never tried homemade onion bhaji's

58 minutes ago, hoogl said:

They look great, it's a shame that I don't have one of the wok covers. Have you tried using Thigh for this? I think the higher fat lends itself for this type of cook. 

I was thinking about using thighs but only had breasts. I will try thigh next time👍, better shape for the buns aswell😁

Homemade chicken zinger burgers😋

more details...

Why do I do zinger burgers with a kamado?

Doing these indoors creates alot of oil spatter all over the kitchen sides, hob, extractor and the splashback. The thought of cleaning it puts me off doing these🤔. The kamado eliminates most of the cleanup.😁

Ingredients;

Chicken breasts

Black pepper

salt

Buttermilk

Hot sauce

ingredients mixed for marinade

chicken flattened, fat trimmed off and slits cut in.

Marinated for roughly 4 hours

spuds peeled, cut and soaked for the same time as the chicken.

Batter ingredients;

Plain flour

White pepper

sea salt

cornflour

dried oregano

chilli powder

paprika

garlic powder

All ingredients combined

Wok stand in to protect any splashes landing on the charcoal, oild heating up.

Starting with the chips (kept them in the oven to keep warm once they were cooked)

2 halves done and keeping warm, last 2 halves frying.

finished😋

However due to safety and the risks involved with frying, I could only recommend frying like this if you have a similar wok stand/setup like mine (the only exposed charcoal is directly under the centre of the wok only, the rest is shielded by the wok stand). A carbon steel wok also helps with lowering the temperature quickly if needed. Keeping a constant eye on the oil temperature is essential to avoid getting to the smoke point (making sure the flashpoint is never reached) and also a fully cooked, crispy burger.

Thanks for looking👍

Congrats @MattHay86, fantastic bargain and it arrived very quickly!

This could be a great option for a 2nd kamado in the future (I would go for the 23" option, so my accessories would fit both kamado's)

fantastic how it comes with 3 tiers aswell👍

Thanks nbr_uk👍🍻

Great cook pittmab. As smokin monkey said, fantastic colour🍻 looks like this was the early bird😁👍

Welcome backto the forum @The Bandit🍻

Thanks Pittmab,

I waited until the chilli was the right consistency before adding the cornbread batter, it then went a touch dryer than i wanted, still good though. Next time I will put it on a bit earlier (or add a little water) so it finishes at my prefered thickness👍

Thanks hoogl👍

I remember before I got into bbq'ing and thought burgers, sausages, jacket potatoes, corn cobs was pretty much the limit of what could be cooked haha🤔😁

My cook is a chilli con carne topped with corn bread. Chilli smoked with hickory and the corn bread smoked with a little mesquite.

More details are here:

First cook of the year is a chilli con carne with corn bread.

Ingredients for the first part of the cook;

1kg Braising steak

1 each Red/green/yellow pepper

1 Onion

1 tin of mixed beans

2 tins chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp garlic/ginger paste

1tsp naga chilli paste

1tsp mixed herbs

1tsp marmite

Meat browned then removed

ginger, garlic and chilli paste added

closely followed by onions

followed by peppers

beef added back in

chopped tomatoes next

mixed herbs and marmite added in

lastly, the mixed beans and some water

kamado shut and smoked with hickory wood chips at 150C

Thin blue smoke

Next up is the spicy butter that gets added once the meat is tender. Ingredients are;

50g softened butter

1tsp kashmiri chilli powder

2tsp paprika

1tsp cumin

1tsp coriander

1tsp sea salt

everything mixed together, wrapped in cling film and chilled in the fridge

Final part is the corn bread. Ingredients are;

125g plain flower

125g fine cornmeal

250ml buttermilk

1/2tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/2tsp sea salt

115g melted unsalted butter

120g Grated mature cheddar cheese

1 green chilli chopped

Flour, cornmeal and salt mixed

eggs, butter, buttermilk, baking powder and chilli mixed

wet and dry ingredients combined

chilli topped with batter and then the grated cheese

Smoked witha little mesquite for 30 mins at 200C

finished.

I would also like to know this aswell since I was wondering the same thing but with burgers, couldnt find a definitive answer (obviously mince meat will be a higher risk of bacteria growth).

If I was to guess, I would say cold smoke for 2 hours max and then cook straight away...not sure if you could cold smoke for longer without curing first🤔

That looks amazing🤤😋 great effort!

Where did you get the round bread loaf from?

I think Im going to try this myself soon👍🍻

It does seem like a bargain especially for the size. You could always kit it out with upgrades along the way if you wanted, since it would work out cheaper still. My kamado is almost 4 years old and I have only just upgraded the top vent and gasket (I wanted to upgrade but didnt need to).

Hinge looks nice and sturdy, looks like it has 6 springs and a similar design to the Primo brand👍

Only reason I ask about the firebox is the all in ones are prone to cracking due to thermal expansion, split ones eliminate (almost eliminate?) the risk of cracking....however it would probably be covered under warranty since most (maybe all?) brands do. Not a deal breaker by any means but it takes the worry away.

Alternatively there is also quinta kamado's

https://www.quintakamado.co.uk/store/Quinta-Kamado-23-2-Large-Bundle-p78882562

I heard about these a while back and they look decent....but since im not allowed another kamado 🤔, I did zero research on them so I know next to nothing about them

Does look like a good option, you say its more than you wanted to spend but I would consider how much it would cost to get another likewise kamado and then kit it out to the same accessories....seems like a really competitive price to me 👍

Based on my experience they are ticking alot of boxes to make it a real contender, taking the best innovations from the market innovators. I really like the glazed deflector plates. I got drip trays included with my kamado and they are a godsend at keeping them clean, couldnt imagine grilling without them but the glazed deflector plates look like a great alternative😁

Only question I have is: does it have a split firebox or all in one firebox?

It would be the beast variant for me😉👍

A good option could be the kamado joe classic series 1 (if they are still available), throughout last year they got some great discounts that im sure @pittmab remembers😉

Im pretty sure (have to double check) they come with the split firebox design aswell rather than the old all-in-one design thats prone to cracking.

Edit:

According to one website, the classic 1 includes the divide and conquer cooking grid rather than the old full circle style.

Getting some accessories imported is a good idea. Keep us posted on how you get on and good luck on your search🍻👍