Got my new Santa Maria Grill attachment for the PK360 from Amazon. took about 30 minutes to put it together - fairly easy even though the instructions sucked. (Got much more info looking at a picture of it online than I did from the actual instructions.) Here it is installed:
For the first cook, I laid out a bed of B&B briquets across the bottom, put about half of them in a chimney and then spread the lit coals around the remaining ones. After a few minutes, I added some B&B post-oak I purchased from Buc-ee's and waited for everything to get going good and the flame to start dying out:
I decided to start with chicken for the 1st part of the 1st cook. I used a combination of bone-in/skin-on thighs and some boneless skinless breasts that I butterflied (this was a mistake as they got dried out too quickly). The chicken had been marinated about 6 hours in teriyaki marinade.
Took them off after about 45 minutes, during which time I periodically spritzed with ACV/Soy Sauce/Olive Oil
Excellent results with the thighs, but breasts were dried out (should've not butterflied or should've taken them off earlier). No add'l pix, but I also did a couple of medium ribeyes (less than 1" thick - thinner than I usually like) - seared them 2 min/side with the grate all the way down and they were already medium rare to medium. Then did 2 lbs of Conecuh sausage with the grate near the top. Just let them go about 30 minutes - probably some of the best sausage I've ever done.
What I like about the PK Santa Maria Attachment:
(1) Since you don't have to create a hot side and cold side to control the cook, you can use the entire grate and just control things by raising and lowering.
(2) Really like the flavor from using large pieces of wood as the main heat source.
(3) Love being able to more precisely control the heat by raising and lowering vs using a hot/cold side
(4) The entire Santa Maria attachment lifts out of the grill without having to remove/unbolt, etc. so you can instantly convert back to the original style operation.
What I learned:
(1) Even with the grate all the way up, you're cooking a lot hotter than it "looks". I finally had this figured out when I got to the sausage. I probably did most of the cook with the grate lower than it needed to be.
Can't wait to try grilling ribs (Dreamland style), wings, etc. and spend more time honing my Santa Maria Grill skills.
For the first cook, I laid out a bed of B&B briquets across the bottom, put about half of them in a chimney and then spread the lit coals around the remaining ones. After a few minutes, I added some B&B post-oak I purchased from Buc-ee's and waited for everything to get going good and the flame to start dying out:
I decided to start with chicken for the 1st part of the 1st cook. I used a combination of bone-in/skin-on thighs and some boneless skinless breasts that I butterflied (this was a mistake as they got dried out too quickly). The chicken had been marinated about 6 hours in teriyaki marinade.
Took them off after about 45 minutes, during which time I periodically spritzed with ACV/Soy Sauce/Olive Oil
Excellent results with the thighs, but breasts were dried out (should've not butterflied or should've taken them off earlier). No add'l pix, but I also did a couple of medium ribeyes (less than 1" thick - thinner than I usually like) - seared them 2 min/side with the grate all the way down and they were already medium rare to medium. Then did 2 lbs of Conecuh sausage with the grate near the top. Just let them go about 30 minutes - probably some of the best sausage I've ever done.
What I like about the PK Santa Maria Attachment:
(1) Since you don't have to create a hot side and cold side to control the cook, you can use the entire grate and just control things by raising and lowering.
(2) Really like the flavor from using large pieces of wood as the main heat source.
(3) Love being able to more precisely control the heat by raising and lowering vs using a hot/cold side
(4) The entire Santa Maria attachment lifts out of the grill without having to remove/unbolt, etc. so you can instantly convert back to the original style operation.
What I learned:
(1) Even with the grate all the way up, you're cooking a lot hotter than it "looks". I finally had this figured out when I got to the sausage. I probably did most of the cook with the grate lower than it needed to be.
Can't wait to try grilling ribs (Dreamland style), wings, etc. and spend more time honing my Santa Maria Grill skills.
But hey, you never know what you may find for sale on FB Marketplace or Craigslist 
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