We are nuts. Here's proof.

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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby Professor Bunky » Sat Oct 27, 2018 6:32 pm

Thanks for the inspiration, SP! :D

Well, the Kamander is mostly assembled (at least all the screwdriver work is done). Tomorrow I'll finish it up & post final assembly pix. Here's how it was going today:

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One nice thing about this model is how the air intake damper is located up on the shelf. for easy access.
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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby OldUsedParts » Sat Oct 27, 2018 7:05 pm

Looks great, P.B. - - tis the Season to Season now :salut:
I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country—Victory or Death. William Barret Travis - Lt. Col. comdt "The Alamo"
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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby Professor Bunky » Sun Oct 28, 2018 4:21 pm

Thanks, OUP! We consider it an early Christmas present to ourselves.

It's fully assembled and here are a few mor pix:

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And here it is in it's natural environment, where I'm giving it an initial burn in at modrate temps (only up to 400 degrees with the drip pan in place):
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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby OldUsedParts » Sun Oct 28, 2018 5:05 pm

:tup: :salut: that's almost too purdy to get dirty now :dont:
I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country—Victory or Death. William Barret Travis - Lt. Col. comdt "The Alamo"
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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby woodenvisions » Sun Oct 28, 2018 5:47 pm



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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby Boots » Mon Oct 29, 2018 1:17 pm

IT'S A MODERN ART MASTERPIECE!
BE WELL, BUT NOT DONE
Hank: "Do you know how to jumpstart a man's heart with a downed power line?"
Bobby: "No."
Hank: "Well, there's really no wrong way to do it."
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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby Russ » Mon Oct 29, 2018 5:10 pm

I'll be watching this and your experiences with it.

Russ
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Home smoker.

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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby Professor Bunky » Mon Oct 29, 2018 8:13 pm

So here's my first real cook with the Kamander, using a split, pre-seasoned chicken we got at the supermarket. It came out OK in spite of my being at the beginning of the learning curve.

My first problem was that I placed the wood chunk too close to the fire starter blocks. By the time the temperature was stable for cooking, it was used up.
My next problem was I wanted to cook it at 350 degrees, and it took me a half hour of pre-heating to get there (and wasting smoke). But I could only get it back up to 300, once I put on the chicken. This was probably because I didn't start with enough lump (I was still thinking of it as a kettle cook, where I use less coals for a relatively short cook):
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Then, after 1/2 hour of smoking, the temp started to slowly drop. So I wound up adding a handful of hot briquettes, which fixed that problem.

After about 1-1/4 hours the chicken was done. I even managed to remove the drip pan so I could get a little browning of the skin:
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The food grate cleanup up very easily (I did grease it before the cook). However, it took over 3 hours after closing the dampers, before the grate temperature fell below 80 degrees & I assumed the coals were all extinguished. Is this a common cool-down time for a kamado-type cooker?

Once I cleaned it all out, I tried on the new cover I just got:
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We're thinking that the next experiment we try on the Kamander will be ribs. I'm surious to see how easy it will be to go low & slow.
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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby OldUsedParts » Tue Oct 30, 2018 4:59 am

ByJove.jpg
ByJove.jpg (41.04 KiB) Viewed 5105 times
I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country—Victory or Death. William Barret Travis - Lt. Col. comdt "The Alamo"
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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby woodenvisions » Tue Oct 30, 2018 5:34 am

I know u didn't have much Lump this time around but grab a bag of it and Fill that basket up 3/4 full and try another cook.
These style cookers/smokers take a good sized learning curve but in time U'll know the sweet spots.
As for taking 3 hrs to cool off, that's a big sign of an air leak somewhere.
Smart $ says its coming from 1 of 3 areas.
Possibly all 3 areas too but lets tackle 1 at a time.
Go either on line or to a Home and Hearth place and get urself a roll of Nomex.
Carefully apply it to the top of the bottom part of that grill ( directly over the rivet heads )where the top lid gasket touches the bottom part. Some people remove that top rope looking gasket but I've found leaving it on tightens the seal even better.
Make sure that ur seems are perfect. If you match the seem on a 45 degree cut it will be easier and seal better.
Unscrew ur exit vent on top and check the round gasket. It won't hurt to apply a small bead of high heat silicone in the notch.
I would also check the air intake areas looking at that new intake design they are using.
That cooker should cool off from 500 to near 0 within 90 minutes once you close tightly both dampers.
Forget everything you know about the Kettle and prepare urself for some trial and error. It will be worth it in the end :)
As for doing slow and low ribs, I would seriously do the sealing mods first because if you don't there's a good chance u'll be chasing temps for the 225 temps.

Side note..... I've found 250/275 better actually for smoking temps.


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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby Professor Bunky » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:42 am

Thanks for the tips, WV. I did notice when I was generating smoke, some came out where my temp probe wires passed under the lid gasket. Could that be enough of a leak to cause this problem? Would the Nomex fix it?

One other spot I need to look at is at the bottom of the air intake line where there's a pop-off cap (for cleanout) that doesn't have a gasket (just a simple bayonett mount to keep it in place).

I guess one way to check for other leaks is to start generating a bunch of smoke (maybe a single, burning wood chunk) and then closing down the vents & see where the smoke comes out?
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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby woodenvisions » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:53 am

Professor Bunky wrote:Thanks for the tips, WV. I did notice when I was generating smoke, some came out where my temp probe wires passed under the lid gasket. Could that be enough of a leak to cause this problem? Would the Nomex fix it?

One other spot I need to look at is at the bottom of the air intake line where there's a pop-off cap (for cleanout) that doesn't have a gasket (just a simple bayonett mount to keep it in place).

I guess one way to check for other leaks is to start generating a bunch of smoke (maybe a single, burning wood chunk) and then closing down the vents & see where the smoke comes out?
Ur welcome.

Due to the nature of that intake vent you will never get it 100% sealed but I think if you get a bunch of smoke in there like you suggested you will have a good chance of finding the leak.
As for Nomex, I don't know of any kamados that wouldn't benefit from using it.
Its well worth the 20$ for the roll.
As for the temp probe being the leak, that's not enough to keep it that hot that long after shutting it down.
Once you use the Nomex it will really tighten up all your seals.

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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby OldUsedParts » Tue Oct 30, 2018 12:43 pm

Don't know if Y'all can get BBQ Wood Chips up yonder but I promise you they do generate some Smoke fo sho (especially if you pre-soak them) :salut:
I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country—Victory or Death. William Barret Travis - Lt. Col. comdt "The Alamo"
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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby woodenvisions » Tue Oct 30, 2018 1:03 pm

I work for a company that supplies the trucking industry with tractor trailer parts.
We use and sell " smoke bombs " which are used in 48 and 53 ft trailers to find the smallest of air leaks.
Check your hardware store for them.
They cost 3 or 3 bucks and smoke like crazy.
Guaranteed to show ur leaks.

After that just wash it with soap and water and dry

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Re: We are nuts. Here's proof.

Postby Professor Bunky » Tue Oct 30, 2018 2:04 pm

Thanks again.
The lip of the Kamander is apparently narrower than on a BGE, so the standard Nonex gasket would be too wide for it. However, I found a similar product, Fireblack, that comes in a smaller width that should work for me (I used an even smaller size of this product product sealing up my ECB). So, I expect it in a few days from Amazon. This gives me time to do a leak test and well after that, bring it into the garage so it's not too cold to apply the gasket.

Considering how cheap this "kamado" was ($130), I can't complain about its imperfections.

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