Lesta80

@byee.. I think that chicken was around 3.5lb or more - Wasn’t huge but there was plenty of space left for a bigger one (that one was spread out!) Super quick to get up to temp and to cool down after a cook - The keg took many hours to cool (material and poor sealing?).. But I still want my full size Kamado for when we have guests over - Minimax will be used on weeknights when it is just the family! I watched a lot of ‘smoking dad bbq’ clips on YouTube - He compare both the BGE MM and the Kamado Joe Jnr - yes they do have the same size cooking area… For me it came down to what was in stock!

So I added a new Kamado this month… A BGE Minimax to use here in Qld, Australia whilst I am awaiting for my Broil King Keg to be shipped over from Canada - We relocated back to Oz after 4 years in North America and it could be 6 months before our sea freight arrives! Very happy so far - I considered the Kamado Joe Junior but they had no stock in town till Feb/March at the earliest, picked up this last remaining BGE Minimax from the dealer in town (still on sale from Christmas). - My smokeware cap and kick ash basket that I ordered separately from the US arrived already, but still waiting on the dealer to deliver my conveggtor diffuser which was part of the package - Supply chain issues! With four of us in the household (two of them under 7yo) this seems to have enough capacity for most of our cooks - But still keen to have my full size keg arrive sometime this year! I think they will make a good team!!

I used to always use KJ Big Block charcoal.. but a few months ago I had a bag that was like you described... Cooked some chicken and I could even taste it in the food. I bought that bag from one of the big hardware stores.. Prior to that, I used to always buy through a local BBQ store. I moved onto different brands (settling on jealous devil) and had much better experience. Coincidently, I realized on the weekend I had a full, sealed bag of KJ Big Block still in the garage and it had the BBQ store sticker on it... Fired it up Sunday night and was good - No smell! I feel like I got a bad batch with that previous bag! I have read in threads that some people do seem to be more sensitive to smoke.. But I’d suggest trying another bag or a different brand!

Hey @Vegas - I’ve had no issues with my ‘current model’ Broil King Keg at low temperatures - See attached a snapshot of today’s cook... I ran it at 220 for an hour to get this screenshot, but have since cranked it up to 235 as I was late getting the ribs on.. The bottom ash tray design can be pulled out to tip out all the ash in one go - It is a great feature, but does result in a poor metal to metal seal... With the Fireboard fan at 60% I can see lots of smoke coming out from around the bottom... I’ve seen a few people rant about these leaks and using high temp sealant on the forum, but for me, it does not seem to impact temperature control. Just replaced my first lid gasket after 3 years, only because it was compressed and stiff. I highly recommend the Keg for the same comments as @prowe - Weight, portability, vent design, no concerns of cracking (though I don’t always cover or clean it well - so may rust out eventually).. Not sure if the Fireboard 2 Pro is waterproof.. But there’s been pretty steady rain (and that frozen rain stuff!) all day, so popped it into a freezer bag for protection!

Welcome to the forum, neighbor! (well same city of 1.3M people!) Heaps of great info on here.. If your fire goes out when you close the vents, your seals are fine in my opinion! Cheers!

Sold! Thanks

Sorry @byee only just saw this response.. Fireboard 2 Pro is fantastic... I use it on most cooks (except this lamb meal as I thought the cold ambient temperature might damage the controller) I really love that for a majority of cooks I don’t need extra cables and a power supply! Good eye! That is a SMAK probe.... I used to use the Weber instant read probes, but any splash of water and they would die! The SMAK probes have been really reliable and I just couldn’t justify the higher price of a Thermapen..

Yup.. PM sent..

Hey all.. I purchased this Signals & Bellows in Calgary in August 2020 (I have receipts) Comes with: Red Signals unit / Billows fan / cables and charger / 1 x pit & 1 x food probe (used) / 2 x food probes (new) Works great, but I am no longer using it - Looking to sell it to someone within Canada $200 CAD or best offer (I will cover shipping costs within Canada / can discuss costs of shipping to USA if someone is interested)

Made this tonight... Absolutely fantastic!! Knew the kids (under 6yo) wouldn’t eat it, so made them a batch of fried rice and snuck a few pieces in... We had ours with rice, coleslaw and salad. I think my temperature was lower than the target 400 Deg until right at the end, so I could leave the crackling in place without overdoing it (was a small piece of meat) - Pulled it off after 90 mins at an IT of 190. Crunch, Crunch, Crunch!!!

Wowser!! I’m glad the Fireboard is all good, but also glad your ok and didn’t get shocked! I have done a nine hour cook with the fireboard driving my pit viper fan running off the internal battery.. I am loving that for most cooks I don’t need to mess around with power cables like I did with my Signals/Billows.. But understand if your doing an overnight cook you would want the power connected just in case.. Very unique incident!!

Hey @byee it was really good! Took around 7 hours but temperature dropped below 200 for a little when I got distracted with work emails! Probably didn’t need the wood chunks as it has enough natural flavour... I used a light coating of Hardcore Carnivore Camo seasoning - This goes really nice on shoulders or boneless lamb pieces. I don’t have any photos of the cooked shoulder... But I found a photo of a lamb rack from a few weeks ago.. Covered in mustard and a breadcrumb/garlic/rosemary combination!

Love Lamb!! Good food will warm you up!! What temperature / time are you planning on?

-13DegF this morning when I fired up the keg and put on a lamb shoulder! (-25DegC). I didn’t see any need to change my normal process - Just threw in some Jealous Devil lump, a single fire starter and some bourbon soaked hickory blocks. 40 mins to get the coals going and reach 210. In my defence, it was beautifully and sunny outside, but cold - It’s not gonna get much warmer than that for the next 5 days in Calgary! Anyone done a cook at colder ambient temperatures?

Nice cooks Mr McG! I have been thinking about a Jnr size cooker, Shows you can do some decent size meals!