KBQ ~ has landed

[Spinaker]

KBQ
Bill, I can speak for searing on the firebox. That is an awesome way to sear a steak. The KBQ firebox is the same size as the grate for the Lodge Cast Iron Hibachi. This is what I use when I am searing over the firebox. In my opinion, nothing is sears better than over the KBQ firebox.
I think those pork belly pieces are about right. If anything, I would make them a bit smaller, pork belly is really rich, so most people can only stand a little bit. In my experience.

I hope Ernest will pop in and lend a hand as well. He is the pork belly king around here.

I love the KBQ! It cranks out the most incredible bbq, every time! Thanks!

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[Ernest]

KBQ you're spot on for the eggs.

For the belly, if it's a whole slab, divide it into large squares before Sous vide. Something like 3 X 3 inches. So you can serve it sliced 1 X 3.
Best cooked sous vide a day before smoking. Chill, even briefly toss it in the freezer before smoking. Place the squares underneath a weighted sheet pan in the refrigerator after sous vide. That way it's compacted. Makes for better presentation.
Slice into serving portion after smoking and use a cast iron skillet for a quick sear. It won't crisp that much unless you have the skin on belly.
Firebox is much too hot for belly sear. You'll lose the "Jell-O"
I wouldn't torch.

[Ernest]

KBQ I forgot. I normally season the with salt, pepper and a little chipotle powder. Toss a star anise in the bag.

[Robert R]

Did my first cook yesterday on the KBQ! Wow can this thing hold temperature once you have a good coal bed established. Did a pork butt and a couple of slabs of ribs. The overwhelming favorite among my guests was the pork butt. It was perhaps the best I've ever made. Very very moist. Per Ernest's recommendation I did a 24 hour Sous Vide bath at 165 followed by a 2 day chill in the fridge. Used Head Country rub prior to Sous Vide and again prior to smoking. Kept the bag juices to add back to the pork. Then smoked the pork on the KBQ for 4 hours using about 75% cherry and 25% oak. The temp fluctuated between 225 and 250 for most of the cook. Had it dialed in at the 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions for most of the cook. Once the temp hit 165 I took the pork off. Could barely take it off it was practically pulling apart. Then put it in a pan and covered the whole thing with foil. I let it rest in the oven at 170 for 2 hours before pulling it. Didn't have the really thick bark I wanted, but the taste more than made up for it. I guess you sacrifice bark when you Sous Vide. The St. Louis style spare ribs on the other were tougher than I would have liked. I probably should have left them on for another hour or so. On both the smoke flavor was there in the background but did not overwhelm the meat like my Weber Smokey Mountain. Once you go clean smoke you can never go back! I am glad I made the investment in the KBQ. No regrets so far!

[Ernest]

Whoa!!

[hogdog6]

Mmmmm, pork

[JGrana]

Congrats on your first of many cooks. Looks delish@

[Sacred Smoke BBQ]

KBQ Any specs on the friedrich kbq 400? Namely food capacity and price range?

[KBQ]

400# nominal capacity: will hold 24 briskets, 48 butts, or 72 chickens. Price varies with configuration, but the trailer-mounted version shown here <http://nu-meat.com/products/friedrich/kbq-400> is ~$22K, FOB N. Carolina. We'll be price-competitive with gassers for similar capacities and options.

[kaptkobe]

KBQ don't think I could get the wife to swing that just yet.

[EdF]

Clearly a business venture. Could be a great one, though!

[hogdog6]

Got lucky and scored some peach and a little cherry wood today kind of by accident. While working I was driving through an area with a few peach orchards saw some trimmings in a pile. Looking for the farmer I stumbled on the owner of the orchard nex door, he took me to a small pile he was getting ready to burn soon, told me have at it. Lucky I had my chain saw with me. This stuff was from last years trimming so ready to burn, it smells amazing. Never cooked with peach, looking forward to this weekend rib cook!

[Henrik]

Nice score! I'm glad you had the saw with you. Peach is real good smoke wood!

[EdF]

Ought to be real good!

[Spinaker]

Duuuuude!!!! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!!!!! You scored big time!! hogdog6

[hogdog6]

Right! Lucky day.

[hogdog6]

Had a a really good KBQ cook yesterday. Chuck roast 48 hrs sous vide @135 as per Ernest, 30 minute ice bath, 2 hours fridge. Smoked on the KBQ along with 3 racks of BB ribs. Brought the chuckie up to 135 it was like butter, shared some with a neighbor who was outside going crazy with the delicious smelling smoke. He couldn't figure out what cut of meat it was, guessed prime rib, or brisket​​​​​ when I told him it was a chuck roast he didn't believe me at 1st. The peach wood burned and smelled fantastic. Of course the the ribs came out with that amazing KBQ color and color.

[EdF]

Thanks!

[ComfortablyNumb]

I'm planning on putting my KBQ on a table as well. How tall is yours? How is putting wood in the box with it being up so high?

[hogdog6]

Table is 21" tall. It is a little high, I may cut it down 3" or 4". The height is no problem for loading wood but it is near eye level so I won't load or stoke it without my shades or glasses on. But I love it being off the ground. Histrix link back a few pages is where I got it.

[Sacred Smoke BBQ]

Help with the long cook. I've been cooking ribs, brisket, and pork shoulder with the control box temp set with the 188° sitting right on top. Maverick probe sitting on a grate in the middle of the cookbox fluctuating between 238° and 260°. My ribs are perfect. 2 hours naked, 1 hour wrapped... give or take a few minutes to get right tenderness. I use internal temp on brisket and pork shoulder to give me an idea of when to start probe checking for tenderness. They have been coming out overcooked. Yesterday I finally starting checking sooner. I'd swear the brisket was done in the 177° range but I could not bring myself to pull it. I ended up pulling at 192° and it was a bit overcooked. Not bad but certainly not good. The shoulder I pulled at 190° and the money muscle shredded when I went to slice it. Just crumbled. I let the meat rest loosely tented with foil until temp is below 170° before I slice them.
Brisket was 16lbs, trimmed down to about 12 pounds (competition). Cooked for a total 8 hours. Wrapped in foil when bark was set (not sure temp at that point). Ask any questions in case I missed a detail

[Ernest]

Sacred Smoke BBQ Seems like one of your thermometers is off.
When was the last time you cleaned the KBQ temp sensor under the control box?

[Ernest]

I brush it off after every cook and thorough clean once a month.

[cookingmadly]

Where IS the temp sensor? I pulled out the manual, couldn't see any info on it, and didn't see anything that didn't look like a screw. Now, I'm pretty much the least mechanically inclined person on the planet, so that isn't saying much. If someone could point me to it, I'd love to clean it!

[Ernest]

cookingmadly it's under the fan closest to the knob. The one that is protruding. A spring

[Sacred Smoke BBQ]

Ernest Its caked up a bit lol. I'm using maverick 733 for grate temp and in the meat. I spot check with thermapen mk4. All pretty much the same and checked in boiling water. Is it possible that maverick is doing poor job for air temp even though it's accurate in the meat? I suspected that when i first used with slow n sear. And the control box sensor being caked up causes it to over-shoot it's target temp....combined with maverick getting a poor air temp read, then I'm actually cooking hotter? If I'm cooking hotter then my brisket should be done at a higher internal temp......right?

[Ernest]

Sacred Smoke BBQ yep! I think your KBQ sensor is impeded by the cake. LOL

[JGrana]

Like Ernest, I usually brush off and use compressed air on the fan blades and temp sensor after every cook. Even with all that, after a year of moderate use, when I removed the fan blades - wow, the sensor had lots of build up.

[Sacred Smoke BBQ]

JGrana oh boy. I'm afraid to see the build up when I take the blade off. Thanks for the input. Thanks Ernest

[samax]

silly question: why does the caked sensor matter if you set the dial based on probe temp and monitor based on probe temp?

[Ernest]

The caked sensor is just one of the suspect in the scenario. That plus a faulty Maverick thermometer could be the sum of the parts of the issue.

[Sacred Smoke BBQ]

I think Ernest is right on this one. I have suspected the maverick's.....at least mine....ability to accurately gauge pit temp. No problems with reading meat temp. And the caked up temp sensor. I'll take pics and post later so you can see how bad I let it get.....shame shame

[EdF]

What about the convection effect?

[Histrix]

The temp markings on the knob/dial are pretty meaningless. I always just use the knob as a rough guide and then walk it in to the temp I want based on a probe measuring the exhaust gas temp.

My normal operating procedure is to plug the probes into my thermo (Fireboard) and let them stabilize and compare the readings of all the probes involved before I actually use them in the KBQ/meat. They should all read within a degree or less of each other. If they don't then I know that one or more is problematic and may not have been fully inserted into the thermo or has other problems.

[hogdog6]

Yes the knob on mine isn't even close, nor did I expect it to be. I put a thermometer in the hole on the fan box to get my temps like Spinaker has recommended. I compared the temps with my maverick it was so close I don't use the maverick any more.

[Sacred Smoke BBQ]

I know it's useless but I assumed or wanted to hear others say that when they have their knob at 188° then they know their pit's average temp is around 250°. I thought I saw Spinaker say 144° on his dial gives him 250°

[EdF]

188 setting comes really close to 250 in mine, maybe 235. In any case there's about a 20 degree zone around the pivot temp.