Oh No, MCS is Striking and I Found a Used KBQ

[Dr. Pepper]

jhoskins I posted the following photos in response to an inquiry by Sid P , who is about 1 week behind you in his acquisition. First photo shows routing of the temp probe wires, which run under the flat flap at the top corner of the door, not where the sides of the door turn back at 90<sup>0 .

The second group of photos shows how you hang the lid while working on the fire. In the background you can see the black plastic box with the yellow lid, where I store my cut wood. I got it from Costco, I'm sure all the big home supply stores have similar. When full, I can get three cooks out of this (not three briskets!! Although, when I do my next brisket I will follow Ernest QVQ Brisket guidance, so will stretch my wood supply in doing so.)</sup>

[jhoskins]

I used a steam pan at the bottom of the cooking chamber. I wiped down the inside but now I see the hose will do the trick. Great!

[Ernest]

jhoskins Did you use the sheet pan right under the ribs or on the floor of the cooking chamber?
I do a deep cleaning using Bar keepers friend once every 3 months. Other than that, I hose down the inside after every cook and scrub the racks. For the fan, use a stiff brush to dust it off

[saneric38]

I am still torn, and my wife says just let her know where we are going in December (meaning we were going to spend a few days in Houston and also go see the LSG shop). I am going back and forth but leaning LSG. I have access to Pecan trees and have a baby tree growing. KBQ does not recommend Pecan. I have oaks too, but I am still leaning LSG.

[frigate]

jhoskins Glad you have a good first cook. I have been though a lot of cleaners. The ones for stainless steel work a little better. Someone on the site mentioned Zep Original Orange. This stuff you put on and take it off with all smoke build up.

Here is something to try for the drip. Be sure to use Pam on the rack.

[jfmorris]

Wow! Beautiful ribs, and good looking cooker! I hope you enjoy it for many years to come!

[Sid P]

A while ago I felt exactly the same. That 20 x 42 is a great looking hunk of metal, Ry, T-Roy, and everyone else says they work great, and I’d love to see one sitting on my patio. However, when I remind myself that I really just want to make the best BBQ with the least amount of effort, the KBQ wins every time.

It makes great food, won’t rust, is easy to use, store, and move around if necessary, has plenty of capacity, and only costs 60% of an offset. It’s a no-brainer for me.

[jhoskins]

Everyone that has a KBQ swears by them... don't know much about LSGs, but I really enjoyed this KBQ thus far

[jhoskins]

Best ever were 2 racks on my BGE. Low n slow the whole way, no temp fluctuations past +/- 10 degrees or so. These had potential, but the pullback was a bit uneven

[saneric38]

Congrats and Ahhh shucks..... I have my heart set on a 20x42 LSG. I had really wanted the KBQ in the past, and I did a great deal of research. Now I am torn.

[Dr. Pepper]

jhoskins I have never found drips to be a problem. If anything, they're a flavor enhancer.
RE: cleaning. I definitely recommend the kit which BBQBill (what happened to him?) sold, which consists of a simple SS ferule which you slip over the door hinge rod after cutting the rod with a saw. Then, it's easy to slip the ferrule sideways, remove the 2 rod pieces, and remove the door. I use a paint scraper/spatula to move drippings and debris. Coir brush works great on the racks in a sink.

[Sid P]

Sounds like a great first run. On what did you smoke your "best ever" ribs?

[lostclusters]

It is hard not to like a kbq

[jhoskins]

So, details you ask for...
The ribs were very good, not quite my best ever, but not far. I was kind of hurrying them (you can't hurry good Q, I know) because I had my in-law, grandma, and SWMBO waiting... finally ate at 9:15ish... I had spent so much time looking at my KBQ and stacking splits before putting the meat on that it got on SUPER late.
Lesson 2, I had no clue what I was doing. I have prowled the KBQ threads for theory a bit, but I had no real process, I just threw them on and fed logs when it looked like one was needed, I guess that is all I need, b/c my father-in-law who is a very accomplished home-cook gave my a "solid A"... not bad. I did notice some things
1. The ribs on top darkened much faster than the ribs on bottom. Obviously heat rises and sitting next to the convection fan is likely to keep'er moving, I had assumed that the little doohickey in the back would allow more even heat distribution, plan to deep dive the forums for data on this! I rotated the top and bottom shelf periodically, but not with any sort plan. Pullback was a bit uneven from top to bottom in the KBQ and from front to back
2. Ernest 's plan of just salt & pepper on ribs is sooooo good. Holy moly, going to play with that a bit
3. I wrapped because I always wrap, although it may have been unnecessary... more experimenting to come. My bark was still delightful and they were tender, although not fall off the bone. My MIL is very picky with ribs and she only likes fall of the bone, but she was ranting and raving over these because they were super tender on the bite through... found that interesting, because based on my first taste test, I thought she'd accuse me of them not being tender enough for here.
4. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this was to use. I mean, it is easy. It eats through wood, unfortunately I didn't count, but I will in the future, I like the # of milk crates as a measurement.
5. Taking internal temperature is tricky. Need to deep dive a good leave in probe, because I could only sneak my instant read in the top corner. Obviously didn't need it for ribs, but I like to temp briskets and butts with a leave in, so I'd like that.
6. Ribs dripping fat from the top shelf kind of messed up the uniformity of the bark on the ribs below... made for ribs that weren't as "pretty" because they had some dark spots from the drips. Curious how anyone has solved this, seems kind of like a feature of cooking them overtop of each other.
7. Not sure how to do a "maintenance" level of clean on the KBQ, not a deep clean. More investigation needed. Thinking just pull the pan that caught drippings, wipe the interior down a bit (with what? TBD), wash the grates, and empty the firebox obviously.

Overall, I love it. 0 regrets. The build quality is truly impressive, clearly built to last... I did have to try and explain why it was cool to everyone... because it basically looks like a fancy dishwasher. My guests (and wife) didn't really understand how expensive good stick burners can be, nor did they appreciate the nuances of "clean" vs "dirty" smoke and the advantages of live fire cooking. My mother in law was asking how expensive Traegers were, implying I should have just bought one of those, LOL. Its ok, I am happy, and my wife isn't mad. I made it through the break-in cook without disappointing the guests... which is good because 1st cooks are hard. Ultimately, it is the cook not the cooker, but boy, I sure love this cooker so far!

[Dr. Pepper]

Looks great, but what did you think? We're on the edge of our seats.....