LostArrow

Just didn’t like the cost or fragility of the standard spider and ceramic plate heat shield on a Komodo. Decided I would fashion my own . Found a camp chef to 14 inch cast-iron pizza pan ,fashioned a hanger out of some baling wire I had and now have a combination heat shield and drip pan for less than $20 ! Sofar seems to work well, used it as a heatshield for pizza last night and now I’m using it as a combination heat shield , drip pan for cooking butts, found a freezer package with two 8-9 pound butts. I cut them in half as I don’t like cooking them that big. I believe cooking them smaller gives you more surface area for both Smoke and rub. https://imgur.com/a/9LPll9n https://imgur.com/a/Azg291M

I’d gotten used to a cast iron deflector with my Akorn. the Academy griddle & Weber grate From the Akorn didnt work? looked at a lot of options, here is my solution. A Camp Chef 14 in pizza pan ( about $18 .supported with bailing wire ( about $2 if you don’t already have ) Fits perfect, no drilling, no cutting off handles, just a little bending with pliers. https://imgur.com/a/eFDApyG

First cook on my new Vision from Sam’s. Cook a chicken that I had simply brined in salt water and sugar. Seasoned with a store-bought poultry seasoning. Smoke/roasted at about 300° with Applewood. Had forgot to bring the meat thermometer but got lucky and pulled it before it was over done. Was really juicy and tasty with a good light to medium smoke flavor. https://imgur.com/a/IgYXCb4 https://imgur.com/gallery/Coiv3Pz

After my acorn started burning out after six years I found a Vision Komodo at Sam’s on clearance for 399 delivered. Does not come with any accessories what do you recommend as a heatshield for smoking.

My Vision B from Sams ( $399 including shipping) is due for delivery tomorrow. in my AKORN I use a round cast iron griddle from Academy Sports for my shield, can I use the same on the vision?

I got my AKORN April of 2012, its been a good cooker with minimal issues. the support for ash pan has rusted out& while the two clamp supports work for now the bottom has other rust damage. anyone else with this problem

The professional model on sale $594 delivered till 11/30/17 good deal ? My older chargrill AKORN is rusting out on bottom, support for ash pan gone held up by clamps only. It’s made it almost 6 years

The advantage of the cub cadet, with the steering wheel you can still hold a beer

Not under a covered patio. Actually might be less moisture in cooker uncovered.

Red beans and rice is a staple of southern Louisiana cuisine. It originally was the dish for Monday washday. Beans garlic onions bell pepper celery and a couple of bay leaves along with the leftover ham bone from Sunday dinner we're putting a big pot and allow to simmer all day. It was often served with sausage and was served over rice allowing a healthy filling cheap meal. These people were poor, they still are poor and inexpensive feeling meals were needed. Red beans and rice take a long time to cook. Beans are usually soak overnight and then slowly simmered for number of hours before the dishes ready. Pre-cooked canned beans just don't taste the same. For the first cook in my electric pressure cooker I made red beans and rice starting from scratch in just under an hour. Put water in the pressure cooker and turned on sautéed to heat the water while I cut up the veggies. After cutting up the onions celery and red bell pepper I put them along with rinsed 1 pound of red beans in the pot. A couple of Bay leaves and five or six cloves of minced garlic were put in the pot also. 2 tablespoons of canola oil were put to prevent foaming by the beans and some initial salt-and-pepper. The pressure cooker part was put on came to tip within 10 minutes possibly due to the pre heating and allowed to cook for the suggested 35 minutes. 1 pound of smoked pork sausage was Put in then put in the pressure cooker for an additional five minutes. Heat was turned down to simmer and the needed Cajun spice black pepper salt and some Louisiana hot sauce was used to season the Beans. Serve over rice it was really pretty good , next time I might cook the beans about five minutes longer during inital cook

I use the 14 inch diameter griddle from Academy sports as a heatshield. It's weighs about 12 pounds it's very heavy cast-iron it should last forever. It does have a small lip That tends to pool Grease so I have always covered it in aluminum for oil for easy cleaning. Well I was out of aluminum foil the other day when I cook two butts. The cook went fine but I forgot to clean the griddle and it had a good bit of pool grease on it when I fired up for the next cook. The smoke came out black when I started the fire and put the heat shield it smelled terrible didn't even get to do the cook. When I hadn't burned off all the grease On the heat shield but that killed enough time so I had to go to plan B for the cook .

Akorn turns 4 this weekend! Still in pretty good shape. Dropped the grate & had to get a new one. Fried ALL gaskets & little wooden handles on ash pan with grease fire

The Weber Summit solves all my cooking problems Forget about the price! It really is a neat cooker! Solves many of things about ceramic Kamodo's that bother me. 1) limited capacity, with the expander shelf & 24 in grate will smoke the same amount as a 22 WSM 2) weight & inability to move, roll around on performer cart. 3) ceramic being fragile , & prone to crack. 3) ease of use , propane lighter & ome touch ash system. 4) save money by using on sale Kingsford

FoodSaver Professional About six months ago I bought a food saver professional. This is my third food saver my first was a manual model that lasted about 10 years, my second was a automatic model which still works but I've never liked. The automatic model worked fine if you use the food saver bags, never worked well with generic bags. The automatic model also after ceiling 3 to 4 gallon bags overheated and requires a 20 minute cooling time. Food saver professional model is simply the food saver game saver silver model without the 12 V adapter system. It was about 40% cheaper. It's supposedly also came with a larger vacuum motor . She supposedly is good for up to 25 vacuum and seals without a resting period. Found on sale for $112, food saver always run sales. Well I like it, is small enough that it sits on the counter easy to pull out and use. I've never used to seal 25 bags, but it'll seal 6 to 8 bags without a problem. Works great with the generic bags. Of course I'd a chamber vacuum sealer, I have a friend who has one. However it's such a bother to get out he only uses it for really big jobs and ended up buying a smaller food saver like sealer to supplement it. I think this is a good model for most of us.

What a deal! Look even if gloves aren't great they will work if you are quick!