This is what a 3 year old KBQ C-60 looks like

[58limited]

Welcome! I love my KBQ, I think you will enjoy learning on yours.

[rickgregory]

SWEET. Welcome to the pit of... smoking

[RickyG]

That’s because I haven’t used it. Criminal, I know. But life got in the way since I ordered it (along with other stuff for my outdoor kitchen including a Viking 42” gas grill, an Otto Wilde OFB broiler, a Wolf 36” induction cooktop). Then I also recently purchased a Weber 22 which restarted this interest in grilling and smoking.

But no worries. That’s all about to change soon. I’ve recently spoken to architects and contractors to finally build my outdoor kitchen. So much more free time now.

A little about me (since I only frequent the KBQ section I figure I’ll just post the introduction here): I’m located in the Philippines and ever since childhood I was always interested in food. Sometime in the early 2000s I took a sabbatical and moved to New York to go to the French Culinary Institute. Graduated at the top of my class and eventually got a job working for Chris Gesualdi at Montrachet. Chris was the sous chef of Thomas Keller at Rakel. I made a deal with Chris that I’ll work for him for free for as long as if he thought I deserved it at the end of my stint, he’ll give Thomas Keller a call and recommend me. At this time, Per Se was just about to open. At the end of 3 months, on my last day, just as Per Se opened, Chris called me into the kitchen right before prep started and told me to keep quiet and listen. He picks up the phone, calls Thomas Keller, and gets me an interview. So I ended up working at Per Se at the time Warner Building in New York for about 6 months. Best experience ever!

I’ve never used a smoker before but I’ve always wanted to learn. As I was building my house and planning the outdoor kitchen, I came across the KBQ and figured "why not?" If I was going to learn might as well learn on the best rig!

While I have existing sous vide equipment I use in my main kitchen, I want to master smoking on the KBQ first before mixing them up.

So the rainy season here just started and it’s raining like crazy right now. But as soon as it stops for a bit, I’m on my first smoke.

I just recently sourced apple wood and oak but around the same time I bought the KBQ, I also ordered a hundred pounds of mini splits from Fruita. 50 lbs of oak, and 50 lbs. of a mix of cherry, maple, mesquite and maple.

I also just ordered several racks of kurubota spare ribs, several packages of SRF Wagyu rib fingers and short ribs. (Last week, not three years ago!) So as soon as the rains let up in a day or two....

Can’t wait for the first smoke!