Hey Bob Henrick...

[Jenise]

...look what I just ordered!

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[Howie Hart]

I want one! I want one!

[Bob Henrick]

If all one wants to do is burn some meat, that would be a great grill! Now if you want to BBQ, the Kamado is the ONLY way to go. I was out of town this weekend at my family reunion, and I took 16lbs of pork butt for the family to enjoy. Put the charcoal to burning Friday morning and loaded the pork at 9:30am. Kept the cooking pit at a steady 220 degrees (without adding additional charcoal) until I took the meat off at 6:30am on Saturday, and had the meat at the preset (by me) temperature of 185 degrees. I pulled the pork using two forks in a digging fashion. And I only paid $1050 for my grill, barely upscale! a $100,000 rework of the back yard is outside my budget. Ooops, gotta run, spareribs are on sale for $2 a pound!

[ChefCarey]

...look what I just ordered!

Long link embedded here

Chris Schlesinger had it right.

[Jenise]

Bob--just joking, I didn't order one of these. I have a little gas grill that I just adore. Has higher BTU than most but it's not a meatwagon. I don't need a meatwagon--don't need extra burners and all that stuff, and Bob doesn't need or want that kind of thing either. All the fancy Hummer-equivalent equipment in the world won't make us better cooks if we don't know what we're doing in the first place. Were I to add another piece of outdoor cooking equipment, I'd buy a Kamado like yours--the kind of slow, controlled Q you describe in this note is exactly the kind of thing I can't do with any other equipment.

[Bob Henrick]

I knew you were pulling my leg Jenise, and I was having you on right back. But this controlled charcoal cooking is exactly why I wanted the Kamado. OTOH, I can do a fast burn like with steaks where I sear them at 700 degrees then ramp down to 400 degrees to finish them. Total cooking time for 1" ribeyes will be about 8 mnutes and a pound or two of chartcoal. I would burn one just for you and Bob if you ever got in the area!

[Jenise]

I would burn one just for you and Bob if you ever got in the area!

I'd be honored, and I'd bring some wine.

What's the shipping weight on the unit you bought, Bob?

[Bob Henrick]

The shipping weight including crating and 400 pounds of charcoal was 1052 pounds. Shipping cost of all this from Sandy Eggo (San Deigo) to Lexington, Ky. was $406 including residential delivery. The grill it'self weighs 600 pounds. If you haven't seen one check out this link, and if you have look at it again....it's beyooootiful!

http://www.kamado.com

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[Bob Henrick]

Chef, if you ever get a chance to partake of Kamado cooking, I sure hope you take advantage, and that you report back here.

[Paul Winalski]

I have one of those Southern-style barbecues with an offset firebox that looks like a pair of oil drums turned on their side. It works well, but you have to keep feeding it hardwood logs all day, and I find temperature control to sometimes be a problem. It sounds like the Kamodo is a lot easier to use and has a lot better heat control, while achieving the same results.

-Paul W.

[Bob Henrick]

you are right Paul, Kamado does all that but at a price! Still, I am very happy that I got it. I paid $2,000 including shipping and 400 pounds of coconut extruded charcoal, and I do think even at that price it is a bargain.

[Jenise]

Bob, how long is 400 lbs of charcoal going to last? How much did you use to Q that pork butt, for instance?

[Bob Henrick]

Hi Jenise, The first time I did the pork butt (9lbs), was the first time I fired up the grill. I loaded the coal hopper with about 12-13 pounds of charcoal and it was exhausted at the 24 hour mark. Then I did a big roasting hen at 325 degrees for about 2.5 hours, I topped the charcoal remaining from the chicken to where it was probably 13 lbs and cooked two more pork butts which totaled 16 pounds. That cook went from 9am Fri to 6:30 am Sat, and I had probably 7 lbs of chatcoal left.

The 400 pounds of charcoal I got with the Kamado is extruded coconut shell charcoal, and I will mostly use that for long burns of 3 or more hours. and for higher temp burns for stuff like steak I will get regular hardwood lump such as Royal Oak. I am guessing that the 400 lbs will last me a year or longer. I am hoping to find someone in the general vicinity with a Kamado or Big Green Egg who also wants coconut charcoal and maybe we can go together for a palet load.

[Jenise]

Bob, thanks for explaining, that helps put it into perspective. That's about 30 uses worth, give or take.

[Paulo in Philly]

Does that come with male strippers?????

[Bob Henrick]

Jenise, I need to proof my writings better, where I said long burns of 3 hours I don't know what was on my mind, but in actuality I am talking of long burns with slow heat. These kinds of burns are more than 12 hours and often more than 20 hours. For really hot heat I will get something like Royal Oak hardwood chunk charcoal. The coconut charcoal will burn as hot as the Royal Oak, but I have to order it from Kamado and pay shipping across country so when I do that I will need to make an order of at least 400 lbs or more. In any case I would not use something like Kingsford because of all the extraneous material in it. And it goes without saying that I would never use a charcoal starter fluid, which is basically kerosene and imparts a nasty aroma and flavor to the meat. Also you might want to take notice of the fact that Kamado makes their cookers in several sizes from 1 to 9, with an 11 in the planning stage. Mine is a 7, and I suspect I could easily feed 40-50 people if I really loaded it down with meat. It will cook 100 lbs of pork or beef using the same amount of charcoal as for 5 lbs.

[Bob Henrick]

Does that come with male strippers?????

Gawd, I hope not Paulo!

[Bob Henrick]

I am posting a URl that leads to an article in a Houston newspaper. Subject is the Kamado cooker. It is the second story down.

http://blogs.chron.com/cookstour/