Reply With QuoteI use their restaurant grade too, never looked at buying direct from them. Great call.Originally Posted by Cavham
Shouldn’t be using anything with chemicals in it such as instant light as will taint the ceramic.
Try the restaurant grade Big K stuff, the sort you get in supermarkets / garden centres tends to be stuff that spits, crackles and is all 10p sized stuff, so rubbish. I had to buy an emergency bag as ran out, used once & it’s awful stuff vs decent lump
I use their restaurant grade too, never looked at buying direct from them. Great call.
https://www.logsdirect.co.uk/blog/re...rcoal-at-home/
Bought a bag of this from BnQ will be going back tomorrow as was alit cheaper than most .
Worked well today
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That chicken looks great, reminds me how black my ceramic is!
Must try another chicken again soon on it, been playing with the rotisserie on the gas weber.
Does anyone use briquettes? I have the notion that they provide more even, predictable heat?
I use both briquettes and lump. I just buy the Weber briquettes, but would interested to try the Aussie Heat Beads at some point too.
I find the briquettes marginally more stable, but not much in it on my Pit Barrel Cooker.
I imagine most on this thread use lump given most own ceramic kamados.
I have ordered coconut shell briquettes for a try, instead of my usual Weber ones. I still prefer lump wood but for large roasts the briquettes last longer
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Joe Junior available to pre order at 335 at Amazon. If anyone is looking.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IJ74R...language=en_GB
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For scale those plates are 14in...
Can't afford a BGE or similar, fancied a pit barrel cooker like Mab's, but no stock in the UK
Got impatient and ordered this, arrived yesterday (not my pics), £205 delivered
See how it goes at the weekend, weather permitting
Last edited by Brighty; 9th June 2020 at 08:30.
That looks too clean to use. It looks good, loads of grates, easy access and a water bath. Let us know how the first one goes. What are you planning your first smoke to be?
It has lots of options, rails in the lid and some hooks, so you can cook pit barrel style too.
Not sure what i'm going to start with, probably a pork shoulder and maybe some of those pork belly 'burnt ends' i saw on here. I'll work up to expensive beef cuts.
Might give it a whirl before the weekend, as i'm 'working from home' so can keep an eye on it through the day, just waiting for my temp probe to arrive
Last edited by Brighty; 9th June 2020 at 09:14.
Oxford Charcoal for me. Have used for several years. Good quality and choice, sometimes you have to wait for stock though. I get all my chunks and chips from smokewoodshack.
Never. They all have chemicals to bind them and control burn. You really don’t need them. Lumpwood is fine and no nasty chemicals.
That looks excellent for two hundred quid. Looking forward to seeing how you get onCan't afford a BGE or similar, fancied a pit barrel cooker like Mab's, but no stock in the UK
Got impatient and ordered this, arrived yesterday (not my pics), £205 delivered
See how it goes at the weekend, weather permitting
Have a look at the virtual Weber bullet website, there are loads of tips and tricks on there. My first proper smoker was a WSM & the best mod was getting rid of the water & using a terracotta plant pot base (huge saucer) wrapped in foil. Works great as a heat sink for when you open the lid, plus also allows more room to add charcoal.
Do a test run when empty and get used to controlling temps using the bottom vents leaving the tops open. It will take a little practice, but also good to burn off whatever manufacturing residue remains.
You will have great fun learning with it!
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Cheers
It's not a WSM, it's a Fornetto, but obviously the same tips will be relevant. I've joined a couple of facebook groups including a Fornetto specific one and there's loads of good stuff on there.
Read alot on the water bowl and there seem to be many differing opinions, some use water, some tried water, now don't bother and noticed no difference, some use sand to act as a heatsink to smooth out temp spikes, others leave it empty and just line it with foil for easy cleaning. I'll have a play
Yes sorry, knew it wasn’t a WSM but that there would be transferable learning between the two smokers. It’s a great fun thing to learn.
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Looks like the love child of R2D2 and an interrogation droid. R2BBQ!
Last edited by hogthrob; 9th June 2020 at 18:54.
Can't afford a BGE or similar, fancied a pit barrel cooker like Mab's, but no stock in the UK
Got impatient and ordered this, arrived yesterday (not my pics), £205 delivered
See how it goes at the weekend, weather permitting
Looks ace!
I’ve considered a ‘bullet’ style smoker many times, but held off adding to the collection. Looking forward to seeing how you get on.
Anyone got any good recommendations for YouTube channels for Kamado cooking that are Uk based.
I ask as I've now followed 3 different times / heats exactly.
Beer chicken. Brisket and today ribs.
All have been dry. When you look at the sizes of meat they get compared to what my butcher provides, there is a massive difference.
Any one else found this and have any tips before I get sacked from being the chief bbqer in the household.
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Can’t help with YouTube channels but are you using a pit and meat thermometers to cook to temp rather than to time?
As you’ve noted the sizes can be significantly different along with some reporting differences between grass and grain fed meat, which can make it easier to over cook using US centric recipes.
Thanks very much ill try to work at that. I've purchased the temperature probes, but only used while doing the beer chicken. Yes I did notice it was about 20F higher than what was mentioned on video I had watched..
Is itba case of the meat reading that temperature and thats it cooked. Or does it need to be kept for a portion of time.
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It often is the case certainly with bigger cuts with long resting time brisket, pork shoulder etc. With these I’ll set the alarm for 7c lower than the target temp and that gives me the heads up to keep a close eye on the process.
Chicken or ribs I’ll just set to target an whip off when at target and rest as needed.
That said I use the smoker irregularly these days as I find sous vide gives me 90% results for less effort. So it might be interesting to see if the regular smokers have a different opinion.
Great tips. I'll give that a blast
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Anyone got a killer lamb kamado recipe?
All I have every done with Lamb was salt, pepper and then mad small slits and pushed in garlic and rosemary. It is simple but never fails. Not sure if that is what you are looking for.
I know nothing about Kamado but garlic inserted in lamb is often too strong for the delicate flavour of lamb (but is wonderful with mutton). I know it’s often a done thing with a leg of lamb, thought, but I disagree. I prefer when the garlic stays in its skins and cooks slowly in the meat juices.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Interesting, never noticed or considered this, might be an experiment coming on. All depends how good your garlic is I guess from the start.
Ended up making this this afternoon, beautiful flavour and meat was so tender, made a lovely bit of gravy also. Made potato gratin which complimented it nicely.
https://www.biggreenegg.co.uk/blog/r...st-leg-of-lamb
8hr low and slow brisket for Fathers Day dinner.
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“Don’t look back, you’re not heading that way.”
Looks great. What weight was the brisket & where from? Doesn’t look like an unrolled rolled joint in the photos?
This one is about ten years old and lives outside by the ocean year round. Despite it outward appearances the inside still looks like new.
This week I've had a very successful pulled pork following Smokey Steve on youtube. And a mixed success with a Paella, I won't be using Tesco Paella rice again.
For the weekend and to keep me away from the chaos on pubs, I've a RibEye and T-Bone to try.
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Good battle scars!
This one is about ten years old and lives outside by the ocean year round. Despite it outward appearances the inside still looks like new.
Ended up getting a Masterbuilt delivered yesterday. Will put it together tomorrow and be trying a 5kg brisket, hope it works out well or it is a damn expensive experiment!
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Briskets a tricky cook for a first attempt, it took me a few times to get a decent brisket cooked. Kept overcooking it, once you pull it off the grill the temps keep rising a few more degrees.
If it doesnt work out try Beer Can chicken or spatchcock chicken, both much easier to get superb results. Reverse seared steak also highly recommended.
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I’m really interested in one of these. Assuming it’s the Masterbuilt MCG330S Classic.
Can you give feedback on the quality when you’ve finished building it please.
I bought a Masterbuilt from Homebase for £580 and got them to throw in the Kamado Joe Cover. Very happy with it. Have bought the KJ ash basket and divide n conquor bits (+ reversible griddle) from Bedsbbq. All in all its a Kamado Joe classic and very good value for money.
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Got an e-mail from Appliances Direct today:-
https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/c...U1MDUwMDAyNwS2
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Thanks for your feedback. I found a MB the same as the KJ classic on Amazon for £599 so that’s just been ordered.
Is the divide and conquer and ash basket worth the cost. They seem expensive considering what they are.
I think so. As so much more control on temperatures and cooking options I now use the full moon deflector as my pizza stone.
What I did was use what it comes with and see how you get along. Then if you think you need then purchase. But be careful at the costs as if you pay some of the prices online you could end up paying more than you would have for a Kamado Joe with accesseories.
https://www.birstall.co.uk/products/...r-bundle-.html
Mine all came in for around £815 . Only missing is the ash tray. But masterbuilt came with the full moon stainless steel grate and full moon deflector/pizza stone. And i have the ash basket and reversible CI griddle. So apart from colour being black and masterbuilt not Kamado Joe moulded on chimney no difference.
Just wait to end of season and see if you can pick up any sales. Or see if you bedsbbq will do you a deal. I found them cheapest at the time and price matched the CI that I found cheaper. Best to get all at once to avoid to too many postage costs.
Enjoy your cooks
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Thanks very much Andy.
We spotted the bundle from Birstall and figured out what you’ve seen too.
Mrs B. drives past there daily so we will keep our eyes peeled for bargains and she can pop in and grab them when it re-opens after lockdown.
Now to get some charcoal before it arrives or we will just have a very expensive garden ornament!
All built and ready to go. Can’t compare against the KJ as I haven’t seen them but the Masterbuilt looks good to me. Not really sure how you could improve on the build quality tbh. Might be missing a few of the accessories but I have just bought the bits I need and it’s still half the price of the KJ.
Just got to work up the nerve to cook something now!
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Anyone using a Smokeware chimney. Are they worth the £45 ?
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So close to getting a KJ Classic 3 but can’t quite stomach the RRP, so going to hold out till the winter to see if there are any offers to tempt me.
Anyone worried about someone lifting and shifting it from there garden? I know they are hefty but the thought has crossed my mind, you’re spending so much and leave it out in the garden unsecured in most cases (I know if you have it in a table it’s less of a concern).
I am not to sure what deals you will get even in winter, most places are on back order for the KJ with so many people having staycations this year.
I know what you mean about security and leaving it outside, but unless the are backing a van up to your house, no one will be able to pick it up and casually wheel it down the road.
When you do get one, you have to get the rotisserie, best accessory in the world
Yes the Classic 3 is on backorder at the moment so understand may not get any discounts in the winter but in no rush at the moment.
Just doing lots of reading and research at the moment.
The more I do the more accessories there are that I think oh that would be useful lol.
The Fireboard 2 drive looks like one of those accessories that would be good for a slow cook:
https://www.fireboard.com/two/
I'm with you. I doubt there will be many discounts to be had. As there is a fair cost to get them over from China, not overly stocked in UK and still a fairly new product for over here.
I would suggest seeing if there is any movement on the bundle prices. As there are some fair prices being offered. Or just drop down models. After all they are all the same shell, even the Masterbuilt and all use the same accessories. All you loosing is better stand, hinge, gasget and chimney etc.
I've just ordered a smokeware chimney all I now need to decide on is do I need a temperature controller n fan :)
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