Corvus I get a few embers when I poke the coals senselessly. Other than than, very few ashes.
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Spinaker TE=Spinaker;n226946]slvance I take the Simon and Garfunkel rub and mix in some avocado oil. This forms a paste that I then dump into a bag with the wings. Kinda like Shake and Bake. i just don't have the patience to season each individual wing. Then I rip them in the KBQ with the heat all the way up. They take about 25 mins to cook. And they come out spectacular. I don't have any pictures of then finished, it was too dark. But let me assure you, they were incredible. I got a few "Best wings ever" comments.
@ spinaker doing this tonight on the KBQ. Looking at the S & G rub it looks like it should be a powder after grinding, but your picture looks more like the ingredients were not ground? Just wondered if you thought it was better un-ground. Also, going to sear them after smoking to try and crisp them up. Thanks for the recipe and I will let you know how they come out.
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slvance
Yeah I grind them, But I don't make it into a powder. Just make sure the bay leaves are sufficiently ground up. They don't have to be totally ground. Just blended up. I use them as my bench mark to know when its ground enough. You don't want it to be totally powder. I want some body to the rub. If it just a powder, I think you loose some of the flavor and texture to the rub.
After you have the S&G blended up throw it in a bag with some oil. I typically toss in 6 to 8 wings at a time and toss for a while until they are covered. You can see in my pictures about how thick I coat the wings. I want them covered in the rub but NOT caked on or totally covered. You want some skin showing through. After the wings are coated, put them on a rectangular pan with a drying rack set inside to keep the wings elevated. (You should spray the drying rack with cooking spray to keep the wings from sticking while they cook, this makes it much easier to remove when your finished cooking) Salt liberally with coarse sea salt and put them in the fridge, uncovered, for at least an hour, and up to a day. The rack is similar to this. Im sure you have seen them around.
When you put them in the KBQ, I keep them on the drying rack. This way your not having to pull each wing off. Just put he rack in the KBQ on top of the racks provided. I even have a large one that fits the KBQ runners perfectly. Turn the thermostat all the way up, put the firebox cover on and open both dampers and let it rip full steam a head. Congratulations, Your now on the Smoke train to S&G Wing-Ding Heaven!!!
Check the wings after 15 mins. I inspect them visually. Look at the ends of the wings. You want dark brown color and crispy ends. Thats how you know when its done. (Note: make sure the induction fan isn't running when you check your wings, as soon as you open that door when the induction fan is running, your gonna have a lot of ash pulled in the smoke box. So turn the thermostat all the way down to get it to shut off.) Once they are finished, you can sear them on the firebox if you want. With a lot of wings, it not really worth it. The flavor you will get out of the KBQ running full steam ahead will be unbelievable. But its always fun to get that firebox sear going.
Let me know if you have any other questions. Let us know what worked for you and what didn't. We are all learning from each other here so I would love to hear how you do yours. Attach pics too!!!Last edited by Spinaker; October 6, 2016, 09:47 AM.Comment
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So I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on one of these. I have a few Qs for the KBQ owners...
Can I keep the cookbox outdoors under a cover? The route from garage to patio is not straightforward so indoor storage is not likely. I would remove the firebox and controller and store them in the garage.
Would I need a blanket for it in the winter. , I think you could answer this one.
What is the smallest practical cook for this grill? More curious since I have plenty of options for smokey cooking.
Thanks in advance!Comment
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I had the same issue with getting to the patio. Mine is under this cover on the patio and it fits perfectly. I keep the fire box and the controller in the garage:Originally posted by carolts View Post
Not sure about a blanket.... that sounds like a yankee question and I live in the south
As far as the smallest practical cook.... I'm cooing a bunch of wings tonight - all by themselves... I guess that is up to you..Comment
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I keep my KBQ in the garage and then wheel it out when its time to cook. But I know others that store their outside and use a Weber WSM cover to protect it. However, DO NOT store the control box outside, the fire box is fine outside. I store mine in the garage. You don't want any water or moisture getting to it.Originally posted by carolts View Post
You can use a blanket for the smoke box, But I don't. The KBQ is designed to breathe so a blanket might effect that. But you will use less wood if you use a blanket. In the winter, food cooks quickly because the fan is running much more. This causes more wood to be consumed in the firebox. I have cooked with the KBQ in sub Zero weather many times, I don't find it necessary to use a blanket. Plus the blanket may interfere with the opening and closing of the smoke box. Or the air flow at the corners of the box itself.
Smallest practical cook? Well if you store it outside, which it sounds like you will, its more practical. Getting the KBQ going to no more difficult than getting a kettle going. The lighting is very similar. (Weber chimney, lump, light and dump) So I would say its just as easy to cook on the KBQ. As long as you have wood available its a very practical "small cook smoker". Not as easy as a gasser but every bit as easy as the kettle. (I own all three options)
I hope this was helpful. Can't wait to see you join the ranks!! You wont be disappointed!!Comment
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Mine is stored outside. The only piece that really needs protection from the elements is the electrical control box for obvious reasons. I store mine in a plastic box but that plastic box is also outside under a table so it is not going to get wet regardless of the weather. My firebox is stored outside under a table and is not in any sort of other enclosure.Originally posted by carolts View Post
I do place a cover over the cook chamber mainly because I would rather avoid the potential mess of any rainwater entering the chamber and draining/carrying grease from the chamber all over my patio.
As far as a blanket that would not be necessary in the winter but in very cold/windy weather it might lessen your fuel use. I haven't had mine thru a winter yet but I doubt I would bother trying to rig up an insulating blanket. The KBQ inventor tells us that he didn't want an insulated cooking chamber because he wanted to make sure there was a frequent turnover of clean smoke.
As far as the smallest practical cook - one hot dog? I've been known to fire up one of my charcoal grills to cook a single hot dog but I wouldn't do that with my KBQ.
The smallest cook I have done (and will continue to do) is a single whole chicken. I guess the smallest practical cook is up to the person using it to decide if firing the KBQ up is worth their effort.
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I have mine outside using the cover that slvance linked to. Bill from KBQ also recommended it.
Someone else tipped me on to a tool box that fits the electrical control box nicely- i think the 19" works best
The fire box can be stored inside the cookbox and you can use the coal bed insert to put on top of the box to allow rain to run off.Comment
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And for smallest practical cook, i'd say a chicken or tri tip, you can always use the top of the fire box to sear with the proper grate on top. Really though, I think its great for larger quantity cooks. It cooks VERY fast too compared to other cookers because of the convection fan!
the biggest thing with being practical is having access to the right sized fuel. If theres a bass pro near you, there are mini logs they sell there that usually fit nicely. Otherwise you'll want to find a cooking wood seller that can chop up into smaller bits for you. The alligator lopper is a PITA in my opinionComment
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Spinaker OK... It went pretty well.... sort of?? First some pictures - before
as you can see my rub ended up being pretty much powder. I wonder if I am using the right ingredients. For instance, the sage (2 tbls) was only available in a ground form and it was pretty much powder already. Anyway.. I put the stuff in the coffee grinder and barely turned it on... just enough to breakup the bay leaves. Because it was so powdery I ended up not doing the shake and bake, but oiled and dusted each wing. As you can see I bought a cooling rack - this one was cheap (Bed-Bath) and also teflon coated. I salted the wings last and left them in the frig uncovered for about 6 hours.
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Spinaker so here is the after
First thing..... always check and see if your equipment fits
I get everything ready and go to put the wings in and sure as hell the rack is too big! So now I'm scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. Anyway, they ended fitting on the stock racks. I opened both vents and let her rip. I also kept the top on the wood box like you said. I do think that helped with my wood consumption as well. I made sure not to open the front if the fan as running. Since it was running so high I had to cut the temp down as instructed to get the fan to go off. By the time I got done it was dark so I decided to not sear the wings. I was worried... they did not look that great... but they tasted really good. I was very impressed with the smoke the meat took for such a short cook. This was only my second cook on the KBQ, but I learned a lot from the first one. I sure do appreciate all the help and the time you have taken to help me learn to cook on this thing. I'm getting better....
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slvance It looks to me like you did a pretty good job.
One thing concerning the rub. I buy the ingredients in bulk. (Mostly) However, I also buy the McCormick seasonings and they work fine too. The sage almost always comes in powder form. This is fine because you have a lot of other ingredients that don't. So one thing you can do is grind all of the ingredients together minus the sage. Then when everything is blended up you can add the sage and give the blender a few pulses to mix it in.
I think you should use a blender to mix the rub. I don't use the coffee grinder because I think it grinds it up too much. (as you mentioned) Run the blender on pulse. Don't just turn it on and let it grind. I pulse for three second intervals and inspect the rub from there. That way you can see where you stand.
Another thing to try is, breaking up the leaves up before you put them in a blender. This will help the process along a bit.
One more little trick is to spray them with Butter Pam right before you put them on the KBQ. This will help to crisp them up in the smoke box. (This is kinda my trade secret)
It looks like you did a fine job, you just need to fine tune a few things and you'll be on your way. Remember, this is a process. As long as you are improving, thats all that matters. We're all here to help each other. I am just paying forward for the help I have received from countless people here. Its part of what makes this place the Best BBQ forum in the World.Comment
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The wings look great, and I will need to try that Butter Pam trick next time I make them. Being married to a man from Buffalo, grilling rather than frying is the only deviation allowed in this house. All wings end up in the hot sauce!Comment
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Ribs!!
Last edited by Ernest; August 13, 2017, 07:07 PM.Comment
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@ Ernest,@Spinaker. Just got my KBQ! ALL your pics look FANTASTIC! I begging you experienced cookers to suggest times/ temp settings for chicken, ribs, and brisket to save me from reading the other 30 pages of the thread. I'm anxious to get started and appreciate your advice. Thanks!
OmegaDog12 -
OmegaDog12 if you are not going to read the manual like me just be sure to not add wood or open the cook box when the fan is running.. if you need to just try down the temp to stop it then move it back..
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