Grill Nation

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Fireboard Takes the Heat Off Checking Meat

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You have got to get yourself one of these babies! The Fireboard is a digital thermometer that really makes slow and low smoking the laid back activity it should be — by keeping track of the temperature of both your grill and your meat.

Fireboard with Probe

Fireboard and Probes

But that’s not all – it sends the data in real time to its Fireboard cloud servers so you can check the real-time status of your meal on your phone, tablet, etc. That means you don’t have to hover near your smoker for hours to either lift the lid for a peek, or even to glance at the readout on a thermometer. Just check your phone wherever you are and get assurance that everything is hunky-dory (…or not. And then you know it’s time for an intervention!).

Below is the sort of useful (and very sciency) graph you’ll see on your device that lets you in on what’s going on in your grill (taken from our epic low-and-slow pork shoulder made on our Big Green Egg):

Fireboard Graph

So that’s the graph, and here’s the meat the Fireboard was charting – mmmmm…..

 

Fireboard with Pork Shoulder on Big Green Egg

Super useful — your Fireboard lets you go even more low maintenance by allowing you to set up alerts to warn you if temps go too far up, down, or sideways. Since this can mean the difference between delicious dining or dinner disaster — totally worth it!



Here’s a pic of our Fireboard hooked up to monitor the ambient heat of our PK 360 Grill. Notice how the thermometer’s probe attaches to the grate:

 

Fireboard Monitoring Ambient Heat

Here’s another pic — and this time we’re measuring both the ambient heat (heat inside the grill) and the meat itself. Note the two cables and follow where their probes go  – one attaches to the grate, one nestles into the meat:

Fireboard measuring ambient and meat temperature

Here’s another photo of the Fireboard just hanging out and doing its thing, while we hung out somewhere else doing our thing…

Fireboard in Use (With PK360 Grill)

More than handy, potentially a dinner-saver, and super reliable every time we’ve used it, we’re really pleased with our Fireboard and can’t imagine not using it when we grill. So far, we’ve put it to use with a pork shoulder on our Big Green Egg, and for back ribs, reverse-seared steak, and cedar planked salmon on our PK 360 Grill.

Want to get a Fireboard for yourself?

Check out www.fireboard.com to purchase or for more information.

 

 

PK360 Grill and Smoker Unboxing

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PK360 is Here!

Our Summer of Grill keeps getting better and better! We just received our awesome new PK360 Grill and Smoker – the newest iteration of the popular PK (“Portable Kitchen”) Grill. We were attracted to it for the ability it’s going to give us to set up different cooking zones at the same time (‘cooler’ on one side for slow and low, and ‘hot as heck’ for searing) and its smart ash clean up design (more below). Plus, we were able to take advantage of a sweet Father’s Day discount and scooped up some accessories and bonus gourmet rubs as well. Check out our little ‘unboxing gallery’ here and get inspired…

 

Well-Packed PK360 Grill and Smoker

Funny how the most durable, least fragile things are packed so well (!)…not that we’re complaining. Everything arrived in super shape. Two of us made lifting some of the heavier items out of the box a tad more convenient.



 

Some High-Quality Parts!

You’ll be immediately struck by the high-quality cast aluminum capsule. A work of smoker art — and hard to imagine ever having to replace it.

 

PK360 Parts and Bonus Toys

We went a little grill-happy and added some accessories, like the rib rack (in the orange box), the high-quality cooking utensils (they come with convenient hooks for attaching to the shelves when not in use). We’re especially excited about the The Great Scrape Woody Paddle (pictured to the left of the capsule) which we’ll use for cleaning the grates. It’s just a flat panel now but it will ‘groove’ as we scrape the grate clean, conforming to the exact size of the wire racks over time (for cleaning those nasty nooks and charred cling-ons).

 

Assembling the parts…

Working some assembly magic with an allen key…

 

Coming together…

The instructions were easy to follow and the unit quickly came together…

 

Assembled and Ready to Grill!

A beauty…almost there! BTW, above you’ve got a good shot of the 4-point venting system ‘controls’. Note the circular vents on the top of the lid (that’s one and two); you control vents found inside the bottom of the capsule with the two round black dials under the unit (that’s three and four).

 

Removable Black Durabilium Shelves – Comes Standard with PK360

Two black ‘durabilium’ shelves come standard with the PK360 to provide a handy prep/food staging surface.  The shelves can be removed if you want to lift the capsule off the stand and haul it somewhere (remember, PK= “Portable Kitchen”). We’re considering upgrading to the PK360 Teak Shelves – in our view a bit more attractive – but frankly the standard shelves look and work just fine. (On our first few grillings, we thought we dedicated a hint of plastic smell resulting from the high heat of the capsule, but it seems to be going away with more use.)

 

Convenient Hinged Grid

The hinged grid is ‘grate’ (groan.) Seriously, you can easily lift it with tongs while cooking when you need to make adjustments to the coals without doing contortions over fire. And it stays propped up on its own (as you see pictured) so it won’t flop onto your meat.

 

Raised Vents to Control Internal Airflow

These raised vents (shaped like little ‘volcanoes’, in the bottom of the capsule) are just plain smart… You top them with the ‘lid’ show above that hovers just above the openings on the legs on either side of the hole – this protects your deck or patio or wherever you’re cooking from ash falling through the bottom while still letting air circulate from the bottom of the grill. You control the degree to which the holes are open with dials on the front of the grill, and as we showed you above, you also have vents in the lid of the capsule. (In the picture below, you’ll see that there are two ‘rows’ of vent holes. )

Check out this great features overview demo video at pkgrills.com showing off the 4-point vent system.

 

Manage Ash for Convenient Clean Up

As notes, your vents are protected from the ash during cooking. This ‘plug’ is where you can push all the ash and dump it into a bucket or bin when you want to clean up. Super easy.

 

PK360 Lighting the Coals with Weber Rapidfire Chimney Starter

We lit things up for our first PK360 meal (rib-eye steaks) with our Weber Rapidfire Chimney Starter. Watch for more on the PK360 – amazing griller/smoker so far.

 

More info:

Want to buy one now? Go right to the PK360 page on the official PKGrill site.

Or visit www.pkgrills.com for detailed information.

-Ms. K

Karubecue KBQ C-60 Pit Unboxing and Assembly

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We got our Karubecue (KBQ) smoker last week  – the KBQ C-60 Pit – and ohhhhhhhhhh, baby!

The first thing anyone can see – this is one solid, well-made unit. It’s packed like a dream, too and arrived in absolutely pristine shape. (Wiener dog approved as well…)

 



Assembly instructions were clear and easy to follow and we had it all put together and ready to go on our deck in about 30 mins or so. (Screwing on the back casters was the most awkward part since you have to reach into the unit and find the holes at the back, but nothing crazy. Two of us made quick work of that)

It’s hard not to appreciate the quality of every piece as you fit it all together. Even an allen key was included (doesn’t always happen — usually when you need it most).  KBQ Cares!

We’re stoked about the whole thing, but the firebox (the box you see sitting on top of the unit) and KBQ’s whole ‘inverted flame combustion’ technology is what’s got us more than curious…

KBQ C-60 Pit Assembled

So on a sort of side note, we’re the type of smoker folk that likes to cover things up when we’re on a smoker/pit hiatus. The KBQ doesn’t come with a custom cover, but when we asked the company about it, they recommended this generator cover (sold on Amazon), which really does fit over the unit perfectly. We had to rejig some of the racks inside to fit the firebox into the main cook box, but fit it does!

Exciting to see this come together – more exciting to think of what we’ll make with it. Salivating just thinking about the brisket, pulled pork, short ribs, back ribs… Stay tuned for more pics!

 

Want a KBQ C-60 Pit of your own?

Can’t wait –  go right to the order form on the official Karubecue site.

Or visit www.kbq.us for detailed information, more pics, users manual, contact info, and more.