Greetings from warm breezes and swaying Palm trees.
I just managed to get the first KBQ imported into Thailand and I’ve been doing some initial burns. There are a few different variables in doing Q in the tropics. First is the electric system here is 220V and the only fresh meat is the standard grocery store stuff whose main objective is the lowest possible price. The higher quality stuff is all frozen. The types of wood available here are also very different. Kiln dried Hickory is available in Bangkok about 700 miles north of the resort island of Phuket I call home. So I have been test burning Tamarind, Lychee, Logan and Jambolan. I had to look up that last one myself, I’ve seen the fruit on numerous occasions that resemble black olives smashed on city sidewalks as this tree is fairly common in more urban areas. Jamloban Chicken, you read about it here first, the next great contribution to Asian cuisine. For a first burn I was pleasantly surprised. I’m keeping the lower poppet wide open the top closed just trying to establish the KBQ taste.
I have been scanning previous AR posts searching for tips and tricks. At the lowest temp setting averaging 225ish I’m doing chicken thighs in a little over 90 minutes and the meat is tender, juicy, and a nice pink smoky subtly that contrast nicely with the local boiled, grilled or fried chicken and the skin is edible and fairly crispy but not golden brown. I’m looking for ways to do that better. The Thais take a normal rack of ribs and saw them lengthwise into long strips of riblets. There is not much meat on these and their thickness varies greatly and I’m smoking these in between 90 minutes to a little over 2 hours, but they start drying out before you can get much of a bend test. Need some better ideas there. Pork belly is skin on period and 3 hours in it is so tender it melts in you mouth but the skin is chewy. I wrapped the belly in foil for an hour and I swear I made it tougher and it was better at 3 hours unwrapped. Any and all suggestions welcome.
Thats it for first post hope I bring a little different twist to the forum and you senior KBQ guys can pass on the secrets of this unique smoker. Thanks
Gary
I just managed to get the first KBQ imported into Thailand and I’ve been doing some initial burns. There are a few different variables in doing Q in the tropics. First is the electric system here is 220V and the only fresh meat is the standard grocery store stuff whose main objective is the lowest possible price. The higher quality stuff is all frozen. The types of wood available here are also very different. Kiln dried Hickory is available in Bangkok about 700 miles north of the resort island of Phuket I call home. So I have been test burning Tamarind, Lychee, Logan and Jambolan. I had to look up that last one myself, I’ve seen the fruit on numerous occasions that resemble black olives smashed on city sidewalks as this tree is fairly common in more urban areas. Jamloban Chicken, you read about it here first, the next great contribution to Asian cuisine. For a first burn I was pleasantly surprised. I’m keeping the lower poppet wide open the top closed just trying to establish the KBQ taste.
I have been scanning previous AR posts searching for tips and tricks. At the lowest temp setting averaging 225ish I’m doing chicken thighs in a little over 90 minutes and the meat is tender, juicy, and a nice pink smoky subtly that contrast nicely with the local boiled, grilled or fried chicken and the skin is edible and fairly crispy but not golden brown. I’m looking for ways to do that better. The Thais take a normal rack of ribs and saw them lengthwise into long strips of riblets. There is not much meat on these and their thickness varies greatly and I’m smoking these in between 90 minutes to a little over 2 hours, but they start drying out before you can get much of a bend test. Need some better ideas there. Pork belly is skin on period and 3 hours in it is so tender it melts in you mouth but the skin is chewy. I wrapped the belly in foil for an hour and I swear I made it tougher and it was better at 3 hours unwrapped. Any and all suggestions welcome.
Thats it for first post hope I bring a little different twist to the forum and you senior KBQ guys can pass on the secrets of this unique smoker. Thanks
Gary
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