Temp Drop

[richinlbrg]

Could you replace the gravy pan with an empty pan late in the cook to crisp up the skin?

[JohnnyC]

yep cdd- gravy was a little week - wife added salt and flour!- yikes not sure if skin will get crispy in Kamado
will try with some chickens in the near future. Thanks all for input

[cdd315]

Johnny, I did the same as you and didn't put heated water in the pan. I left the pan on the cooker to heat for about 30 minutes until temp came up to 325. I have a BBQ Guru though and that helped a lot! It was steaming a bit by then. The problem with doing it like that is I had to pull everything out to add my smoking wood. Put it back together and put on the turkey. The kamado's a great cookers but a pain to add more wood. At the end of the cook the bird looked awesome .. nice color however the skin still wasn't crispy. Also the gravy only reduced 1/3 and was weak. I think the kamado's hold to much humidity and therefore the skin will not crisp up. Next time I might not use a gravy pan, or put in less water, or cook at a higher temperature.

[JohnnyC]

So if next time Do I heat the gravy water first ? Do i bring the kamado up to temp with prepped gravy pan then add bird at 325. How will skin get crispier? Less opening of lid I suppose. Thanks

[Huskee]

Johnny, I've use my wife's hair dryer too. I even tried to figure out a way to tape it to a pole or a stick. I decided to just get the BBQ Dragon already. Best investment for my cooker (after my thermometers) that I've made. Check it out! ------> BBQ Dragon

[Marauderer]

Good job Johnny. Better than my first attempt.

[David Parrish]

Looks good! The skin isn't as crispy as it could be, but now you'll know how to make that happen next time

[JohnnyC]

Finished bird. Before garnish

[Jon Solberg]

WTG Johnny! Nice recovery. Congrats

[JohnnyC]

Was a little worried about ash but was not a problem At an hour later. Skin was not quite as crispy as would like. But I yanked the bird th second it hit 160 as people were standing around hungry. I figured the deflector plate would limit ash People loved the turkey. Thank you

[David Parrish]

Well that was quick thinking. Hopefully you used that on a low setting and avoided ash

[JohnnyC]

Made my own bbq guru with hair dryer and cardboard. Got her back up to 325. Thanks. Was worried. Did not want to take everything out to add more charcoal. Should have plenty

[David Parrish]

No worries. It's easy to miss a step the recipe is so extensive, Luckily, all you're really done is extend the cook time a bit. If folks are anxious and you have trouble getting back to 325 you can take it to the oven to finish. Let it go an hour or so on the grill so it gets some smoke flavor, then make a game time decision on keeping it on the grill or transferring to the oven.

[JohnnyC]

Not warm water. I missed that in the directions. Having hard time getting back to 300. Just be later when we eat

[David Parrish]

Open vents up. You've added a lot of cold mass to your pit. Was the water in the pan warm?

It'll need more fire to maintain heat. The lower temp is going to lengthen your cook time.