KAMADOCOOKERS.COM

New Kamado Cookers on the Way...!!

2012-01-16T05:51:43Z

Greetings to all those Kamado Chefs out there.
We would like to let you know that Michael Jones has agreed to our taking on this fabulous business, and he has offered to continue to be available on a consultancy basis.
My name is Mark , and although not a qualified chef like Michael, I enjoy my cooking.... especially turning out top quality meals in my cooker whenever I can.
Along with my wife and family, we aim to keep up the supply and support system that you have come to appreciate and rely on.
We are currently organising the new shipment and will be finalising orders very shortly when we will then confirm the pricing,your preferred colour choices and advising the estimated time of arrival for this years' first shipment.

Regards,

Mark Trimmer

All you ever wanted to know about charcoal and some more!

2011-09-27T23:13:29Z

All you ever wanted to know about charcoal and some more!

Extracted from charcoal manufacturer’s website Belng international.

About Charcoal

Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen. The resulting soft, brittle, lightweight, black, porous material resembles coal.

The resulting soft, brittle, lightweight, black, porous material resembles coal. Note that the current trade nomenclature for charcoal is "lump charcoal" and that products sold as "charcoal briquettes" are made from a mix of materials, such as low-grade coal, sawdust, wax, and starch binders, and often do not contain any true charcoal.

History

Historically, production of wood charcoal in districts where there is an abundance of wood dates back to a very ancient period, and generally consists of piling billets of wood on their ends so as to form a conical pile, openings being left at the bottom to admit air, with a central shaft to serve as a flue. The whole pile is covered with turf or moistened clay. The firing is begun at the bottom of the flue, and gradually spreads outwards and upwards. The success of the operation depends upon the rate of the combustion. Under average conditions, 100 parts of wood yield about 60 parts by volume, or 25 parts by weight, of charcoal; small scale production on the spot often yields only about 50%, large scale was efficient to about 90% even by the seventeenth century. The operation is so delicate that it was generally left to colliers (professional charcoal burners).
The massive production of charcoal (at its height employing hundreds of thousands, mainly in Alpine and neighbouring forests) was a major cause of deforestation, especially in Central . In England, many woods were managed as coppices, which were cut and regrew cyclically, so that a steady supply of charcoal would be available (in principle) forever; complaints (as early as the Stuart period) about shortages may relate to the results of temporary over-exploitation or the impossibility of increasing production to match growing demand. The increasing scarcity of easily harvested wood was a major factor for the switch to the fossil fuel equivalents, mainly coal and brown coal for industrial use.
The use of charcoal as a smelting fuel has been experiencing a resurgence in South America following Brazilian law changes in 2010 to reduce carbon emissions as part of President Lula da Silva's commitment to make a "green steel".
The modern process of carbonizing wood, either in small pieces or as sawdust in cast iron retorts, is extensively practiced where wood is scarce, and also for the recovery of valuable byproducts (wood spirit, pyroligneous acid, wood tar), which the process permits. The question of the temperature of the carbonization is important; according to J. Percy, wood becomes brown at 220 °C (428 °F), a deep brown-black after some time at 280 °C (536 °F), and an easily powdered mass at 310 °C (590 °F)Charcoal made at 300°C (572 °F) is brown, soft and friable, and readily inflames at 380 °C (716 °F); made at higher temperatures it is hard and brittle, and does not fire until heated to about 700 °C (1,292 °F).
In Finland and Scandinavia, the charcoal was considered the by-product of wood tar production. The best tar came from pine, thus pinewoods were cut down for tar pyrolysis. The residual charcoal was widely used as substitute for metallurgical coke in blast furnaces for smelting. Tar production led to rapid deforestation: it has been estimated all Finnish forests are younger than 300 years. The end of tar production in the end of the 19th century meant also rapid re-forestation.
The charcoal briquette was first invented and patented by Ellsworth B. A. Zwoyer of Pennsylvania in 1897[2] and was produced by the Zwoyer Fuel Company. The process was further popularized by Henry Ford, who used wood and sawdust byproducts from automobile fabrication as a feedstock. Ford Charcoal went on to become the Kingsford Company.

Production methods

Charcoal has been made by various methods. The traditional method in Britain used a clamp. This is essentially a pile of wooden logs (e.g. seasoned oak) leaning against a chimney (logs are placed in a circle). The chimney consists of 4 wooden stakes held up by some rope. The logs are completely covered with soil and straw allowing no air to enter. It has to be lit by introducing some burning fuel into the chimney; the logs burn very slowly (cold fire) and transform into charcoal in a period of 5 days' burning. If the soil covering gets torn (cracked) by the fire, additional soil is placed on the cracks. Once the burn is complete, the chimney is plugged to prevent air from entering.
Modern methods use a sealed metal container, as this does not have to be watched lest fire break through the covering. However onsite attendance is required. This is often carried out by the last forestry workers to live in working woodland in the western world. There has been a resurgence of this particularly in the UK. A good example of this is Bulworthy Project where charcoal production supports an experiment in low-impact living and nature conservation.

Types

Ogatan, Charcoal briquettes made from sawdust
Commercial charcoal is found in either lump, briquette, or extruded forms:

Lump charcoal is made directly from hardwood material and usually produces far less ash than briquettes.

Binchōtan, Japanese lump charcoal

Briquettes are made by compressing charcoal, typically made from sawdust and other wood by-products, with a binder and other additives. The binder is usually starch. Some briquettes may also include brown coal (heat source), mineral carbon (heat source), borax, sodium (ignition aid), limestone (ash-whitening agent), raw sawdust (ignition aid), and other additives like paraffin or petroleum solvents to aid in ignition.
Extruded charcoal is made by extruding either raw ground wood or carbonized wood into logs without the use of a binder. The heat and pressure of the extruding process hold the charcoal together. If the extrusion is made from raw wood material, the extruded logs are then subsequently carbonized.
Japanese charcoal removes pyroligneous acid during the charcoal making. Therefore when burning, there are almost no stimulating smells or smoke. The charcoal of Japan is classified into three kinds.

White charcoal (Binchōtan)
Black charcoal
Ogatan, Black charcoal that is made from hardened sawdust. Used in the Izakaya or Yakiniku restaurant.

The characteristics of charcoal products (lump, briquette, or extruded forms) vary widely from product to product. Thus it is a common misconception to stereotype any kind of charcoal, saying which burns hotter, etc.

Uses

Charcoal has been used since the earliest times for a range of purposes including art and medicine, but by far its most important use has been as a metallurgical fuel. Charcoal is the traditional fuel of a blacksmith's forge and other applications where an intense heat is wanted. Charcoal was also used historically as a source of carbon black by grinding it up. In this form charcoal was important to early chemists and was a constituent of formulas for mixtures such as gunpowder. Due to its high surface area charcoal can be used as a filter, as a catalyst or as an absorbent.

Metallurgical fuel
Charcoal burns at intense temperatures, up to 2700 degrees Celsius. By comparison the melting point of iron is approximately 1200 to 1550 degrees Celsius. Due to its porosity it is sensitive to the flow of air and the heat generated can be moderated by controlling the air flow to the fire. For this reason charcoal is an ideal fuel for a forge and is still widely used by blacksmiths. Charcoal is also an excellent reducing fuel for the production of iron and has been used that way since Roman times. In the 16th century England had to pass laws to prevent the country from becoming completely denuded of trees due to production of iron. In the 19th century charcoal was largely replaced by coke, baked coal, in steel making due to cost. Charcoal is far superior fuel to coke, however, because it burns hotter and has no sulfur. Until World War II charcoal was still being used in Sweden to make ultra high-quality steel.

Cooking fuel
Prior to the industrial revolution charcoal was occasionally used as a cooking fuel. Modern "charcoal briquettes", widely used for outdoor grilling and barbecues in backyards and on camping trips, imitate this use, but are not actually charcoal. They are usually compacted mixtures of coal or coke and various binders.

Industrial fuel
Historically, charcoal was used in great quantities for smelting iron in bloomeries and later blast furnaces and finery forges. This use was replaced by coke during the Industrial Revolution. For this purpose, charcoal in England was measured in dozens (or loads) consisting of 12 sacks or shems or seams, each of 8 bushels.

Automotive fuel
In times of scarce petroleum, automobiles and even buses have been converted to burn wood gas (gas mixture containing primarily carbon monoxide) released by burning charcoal or wood in a wood gas generator. In 1931 Tang Zhongming developed an automobile powered by charcoal, and these cars were popular in China until the 1950s. In occupied France during World, wood and wood charcoal production for such vehicles (called gazogènes) increased from pre-war figures of approximately fifty thousand tons a year to almost half a million tons in 1943.

Purification and filtration
Activated carbon
Charcoal may be activated to increase its effectiveness as a filter. Activated charcoal readily adsorbs a wide range of organic compounds dissolved or suspended in gases and liquids. In certain industrial processes, such as the purification of sucrose from cane sugar, impurities cause an undesirable color, which can be removed with activated charcoal. It is also used to absorb odours and toxins in gases, such as air. Charcoal filters are also used in some types of gas masks. The medical use of activated charcoal is mainly the adsorption of poisons, especially in the case of suicide attempts in which the patient has ingested a large amount of a drug. Activated charcoal is available without a prescription, so it is used for a variety of health-related applications. For example, it is often used to reduce discomfort (and embarrassment) due to excessive gas in the digestive tract.
Animal charcoal or bone black is the carbonaceous residue obtained by the dry distillation of bones. It contains only about 10% carbon, the remainder being calcium and magnesium phosphates (80%) and other inorganic material originally present in the bones. It is generally manufactured from the residues obtained in the glue and gelatine industries. Its decolorizing power was applied in 1812 by Derosne to the clarification of the syrups obtained in sugar refining; but its use in this direction has now greatly diminished, owing to the introduction of more active and easily managed reagents. It is still used to some extent in laboratory practice. The decolorizing power is not permanent, becoming lost after using for some time; it may be revived, however, by washing and reheating. Wood charcoal also to some extent removes colouring material from solutions, but animal charcoal is generally more effective.

Art
Charcoal is used in art for drawing, making rough sketches in painting and is one of the possible media for making a parsemage. It must usually be preserved by the application of a fixative. Artists generally utilize charcoal in three forms:

Vine charcoal is created by burning sticks of wood (usually willow or linden/Tilia) into soft, medium, and hard consistencies.
Compressed charcoal charcoal powder mixed with gum binder compressed into round or square sticks. The amount of binder determines the hardness of the stick. Compressed charcoal is used in charcoal pencils.
Powdered charcoal is often used to "tone" or cover large sections of a drawing surface. Drawing over the toned areas will darken it further, but the artist can also lighten (or completely erase) within the toned area to create lighter tones.

Horticulture
One additional use of charcoal was rediscovered recently in horticulture. Although American gardeners have been using charcoal for a short while, research on Terra preta soils in the Amazon has found the widespread use of biochar by pre-Columbian natives to turn otherwise unproductive soil into very rich soil. The technique may find modern application, both to improve soils and as a means of carbon sequestration.

Medicine
Charcoal was consumed in the past as dietary supplement for gastric problems in the form of charcoal biscuits. Now it can be consumed in tablet, capsule or powder form, for digestive effects.
Red colobus monkeys in Africa have been observed eating charcoal for the purposes of self-medication. Their leafy diets contain high levels of cyanide, which may lead to indigestion. So they learned to consume charcoal, which absorbs the cyanide and relieves indigestion. This knowledge about supplementing their diet is transmitted from mother to infant.
Also, see Activated charcoal, medicinal applications.

Smoking
Special charcoals are used in smoking the hookah (Argeeleh in Arabic, Nargeleh in Turkish or Narghilea in Romanian). Lit coals are placed on top of foil which is placed over the tobacco bowl; through indirect heat the coals "cook" the tobacco to a temperature that does not burn it but produces smoke.

A Kamado History, well recent anyhow

2011-07-14T02:26:48Z

Extracts from the NYT July 2011

Written by Erik S. Lesser for The New York Times, one of the best storys on Ceramic Cookers that I have ever come across.
The story does fails to mention that the secret is out and Grill Dome Kamado's are now sold in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and other nations of the EU and now in Ireland!
Also doesn't mention the fact they a Kamado is cooker that will be passed on from generation to generation as they last decades, name something that you own that fits that bill? let alone something you cook on?
Its one of the reasons that retailers have not picked up on Kamado's as they are a one off sale, you wont be back in a few years to purchase another, unlike the gas/steel cooker market, Its pretty old school mentality that doesn't exist in todays society, save your penny's and then purchase something really good quality that will last you for ages, our 'cheap and disposable' consumer mentality is one of the reasons why the world is choking itself, wasted energy and resources re building the same thing you just built and sold a little while ago because consumers wanted it cheaper!...who cleans up the mess thats dumped into land fill, who pays for the re build of that cheap piece of S%^! you just purchased? We all do, the cheapness is costing us in the long run! And the government doesn't give a Rats! everyday there is cheaper nastier copy of something that comes into this country, most do not meet any basic certification standards nor are tested for safety or quality, is just cheaper and nastier and sold by someone who doesn't give a rats either.

There are website dedicated to the cause.... but maybe the next time your purchasing something of value, stop and ask yourself, 'is this good quality, will it last?'

Recently I saw a 'cardboard commercial' fridges that you throw away the outer evey 4 weeks, and replace with this months favoutite design or colour, it had no insulation, no energy performance data, didn't work and consistently will waste energy and resources all the time, not to mention wont keep your beer cold!
Look out soon for the battery powered cardboard car!

and now onto the story!...

Ed Fisher (MD of BGE) opened a store here called the Pachinko House to sell the upright pinball games of that name that he imported from Japan. He also shipped in ovoid earthenware grills called kamados. But they only collected dust in the back of that strip-mall storefront until he began cooking chicken wings with them and fanning the smoke toward the street to attract shoppers.

“We were selling something called a kamado from a place named after a pachinko,” recalled Mr. Fisher, who first saw the charcoal-fueled cookers in the 1950's as a Navy lieutenant in Japan. “That didn’t sound American, and that was not’t easy. But once I got people to try one, once they tasted the chicken we cooked on them, they were hooked.”

Giving them a distinctive green, dimpled surface and a catchy name helped. So did that cool shape, which looked somehow countercultural when compared with conventional grills.

Now, more than 2,000 retailers across the nation(USA) stock BGE's, the brand of ceramic kamados that Mr. Fisher eventually developed, with sales, he said, growing by more than 20 percent every year for the past two decades.

More than a dozen competitors have entered the market, latching onto a customer base that proselytizes as well as cooks. Sometimes known as Eggheads, devotees are sold on manufacturers’ claims that kamado grills light faster than other grills, require less charcoal and hold and distribute heat more evenly, and that meats cooked on them are more moist and succulent.

At first, the eggs caught on as compact backyard barbecue pits. But as the fervor grew, fans began using them for many things that could be made in an oven, as well on a grill, whether Bundt cakes or pepperoni pizzas.

“I was a Weber and briquettes kind of guy,” said Michael Barry who has prepared everything from turkeys to apple brown betties on a ceramic cooker in his San Rafael, Calif., backyard. “But then I heard about Big Green Eggs, and then I cooked on one, and I never looked back.”

The metropolitan Atlanta area, where egg-shaped cookers have gained wide popularity and where four kamado companies are based, remains the de facto hub for ceramic cookers. It is also the region with the most passionate fan base.

A half-dozen or more restaurants in the area feature kamado cookers, including Kevin Rathbun Steak, which serves a pork shoulder entree slathered with Korean chili paste and smoked on a Big Green Egg.

At Muss & Turner’s, a creative suburban deli, cooks work three Big Green Eggs. Outside, on two 24-inch-diameter cookers, they roast turkeys and chickens. On a third, positioned inside, next to the deep fryer, they grill hamburgers.

“It draws them in,” Todd Mussman, one of the owners, said of the grill’s devotees. “It’s like these cookers are the common ground between backyard barbecue heroes and professional chefs.”

In the universe of kamado users, some of whom gather regularly for a growing roster of ceramic-cooking exhibitions often called Eggfests, the backyard is still the place where new techniques are perfected and where communities of users are forged.

Just east of Atlanta, in Decatur, Billy and Kristin Smith have established a monthly Big Green Egg supper club. No matter which of the eight couples hosts, the focal point is always the backyard, where a Big Green Egg stands, wreathed in smoke, looking like a Humpty Dumpty stunt double on the set of a pyrotechnic-dependent action film.

For a recent Sunday evening gathering that began with shucked oysters set in muffin tins and roasted on a Big Green Egg, Mr. Smith cooked a garlic stuffed boneless pork shoulder that was done in 90 minutes. Ms. Smith baked a peach and blackberry cobbler that, after an hour on the hickory charcoal-fueled Egg, tasted lightly and pleasantly of wood smoke.

“I can do anything I want on an Egg,” said Mr. Smith, a trial-and-error cook who has honed his techniques over a couple of years. “Anything you can imagine, I can cook. We’ve done prosciutto pizzas. When you crank the coals, you get this perfect, fire-crackled crust.”

While the Smiths connect with fellow fans at cookouts, Doug Hanthorn, who tends three Big Green Eggs and one $3,600 Indonesian-made Komodo Kamado in Raleigh, N.C., has built an online community focused on the wonky pursuits and pleasures of the cookers.

On NakedWhiz.com, he charts developments in the world of kamado cookery and rates hardwood lump charcoal, which aficionados prefer to briquettes because, they say, it leaves less ash and its smoke has a cleaner flavor.

The Primo Grills and Smokers factory in Norcross, Ga. Most kamado grills are imported.

In conversation, Mr. Hanthorn touted the fuel efficiency of these cookers. “The smaller the fire you have to build,” he said, “the less oxygen you need to feed that fire, and the less air flow you have to introduce into the chamber, which could dry out your food.”

But he is also keen on their adaptability. “I can cold-smoke salmon at 100 degrees,” said Mr. Hanthorn who has been using kamado cookers since 2001. “And I can sear steaks at 1,200 degrees. They’re as versatile as anything on the market.”

Pitches for kamado grills often rely on technological citations. When Dennis Linkletter introduced a new Komodo Kamado model, he posted online references to NASA-inspired innovations, including “elastomeric industrial insulation” that incorporates “nano ceramic spheres, created in a high temperature vacuum.” No matter, all the ceramic cookers, including the Commet Kamado sold by a California firm that promises “galactic technology,” are based on traditional kamados. Eric C. Rath, a co-editor of “Japanese Foodways Past and Present” (University of Illinois Press, 2010), said that similarly shaped earthenware cookers were first used to steam rice in Japan in the third or fourth century.

Selling customers was tougher back when Mr. Fisher, of the Pachinko House, began importing kamado grills more than 30 years ago.

His success inspired the other kamado companies around Atlanta, most of which still import cookers. Only Primo grills are made here, in the suburb of Norcross. Kamado Joe grills are made in Yixing, China; Grill Domes in Noida, an industrial district in northern India; and Big Green Eggs are manufactured in Monterrey, Mexico.

Tarsem Kohli, who once made cookers for Mr. Fisher, used a similar promotional technique when he started Grill Dome in 1989, cooking mango powder-flavored chicken wing drumettes to lure passers-by. (The recipe works for drumsticks, too.)

“Sooner or later, the big boys are going to get into it,” Bobby Brennan, the president of Kamado Joe, said recently. “If Weber doesn’t make one soon, somebody in their strategy department needs to get fired.”

More good charcoal news

2010-10-31T04:10:00Z

This article found its way into my inbox this week, have read many similar in the past and thought it was to good to pass on, along with all these points food tastes much better cooked over charcoal flames anyway!

Could backyard barbeques save the planet?

Carbon negative barbeques could play a key role in fighting climate change.

By Katherine ButlerFri, Oct 22 2010 at 1:07 PM EST

From - http://www.mnn.com/

Backyard cooking usually invokes a cloud of smoke hovering over both barbeque and cooker, hardly presenting an image of eco-friendly earth practices. But The Guardian reports barbeques can in fact help flight climate change with just a few simple steps. Recently, climate change expert Durwood Zaelke pointed out that bbqs can be rigged to generate rather than consume energy, all through the use of biochar.

Biochar is an extremely stable type of charcoal that is made from heating crop wastes, wood or other biomasses. It creates energy instead of consuming it, as it releases more combustible gases than needed to produce heat. In some parts of the world, a special stove creates biochar, turning it into a charcoal that can be mixed into soils to boost crops. This process allows the captured carbon in the biochar to “sequester” for thousands of years in the soil. In the meantime, it boosts crop productivity. Biochar contains microscopic pores great for housing helpful bacteria and fungi for soil nutrients.

Zaelke, who is president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, believes that these outdoor ovens could be applied on a large scale throughout the westernized world. As he told the Guardian, “Done on a wide scale, this could help people of all political persuasions to painlessly do their bit to tackle climate change, at the same time as adding to the productivity of their gardens.”

Zaelke focuses his efforts on reducing the quick-warming chemicals that go into our air. Black carbon, methane tropospheric ozone and hydrofluorcarbons all warm the planet much as carbon dioxide does. But unlike carbon dioxide, which is warming the planet over a thousand years, they do so in short bursts and then cool down. As Zaelke points out, cutting them out from the atmosphere may promote cooler temperatures more quickly.

Further, using a biochar barbeque would in fact help suck CO2 out of the air and return it to the soil, where it could enhance crops. While it would be on a smaller scale, experts believe that if sufficient amounts of biochar were produced, the planet could reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. In the meantime, crops would be enhanced to the point of increased food production. And as Zaelke points out to the Guardian with a wink, "It would help make sure my environmental friends don't criticize me when I'm grilling my steak.”

New Thermometer

2010-10-26T13:23:00Z

The ET8 My Test Kitchen ET8 - ET72 Side by side

Finally we have our hands on some stock of the fantastic Maverick ET8, all the features of The ET72 model that many of you know or are using, except its not remote!
So we are doing our bit for a healthy Australia, this model means that you may have to get off your butt to go and see what the meat tempreture is before its cooked!
It does however beep when it's 'nearly done', 'done' and 'over done' , how good is that!
Its really stylish looking unit, bit bigger but thinnner than the ET72, has a timer built in also, supplied with batteries, priced at a more price friendly level! $34.99

Surely makes a great Christmas present!!!

Orders email kamadocookers@bigpond.com or check out our store http://stores.ebay.com.au/Kamado-Cookers-Australia

Charcoal Household tips

2010-09-24T05:08:00Z

Here is a piece from a website called ‘lifehacker.com’ , handy tips for more ways to add value with your charcoal!

Use Charcoal Briquettes for Cheap and Non-Toxic Odour Removal

Grilling season might be coming to a close but don't put the charcoal away yet. Charcoal is a cheap and non-toxic deodorizer you can use anywhere in your home.

Household design and tips blog Apartment Therapy highlights the odour-banishing power of charcoal:

As for how to distribute them, you can simply lay a few out in a metal tray. Other options: sew pouches for them or use an old sock, then hang them in inconspicuous areas. Line a basket with foil or plastic and lay the briquettes inside. Or simply set them out on a tray on a shelf or side table: the black little pillows actually look kind of cool!

Be sure to get natural briquettes without mesquite or easy-light additives.

The upside to buying additive-free charcoal is that it's usually cheaper than fancy BBQ charcoal so you can stock up on it and place it liberally.

Charcoal Savings- Purchase in Bulk at Wholeslae Rates.

2010-08-26T09:45:00Z

Here's a chance to battle the GFC! Get your cooking costs DOWN!

Charcoal at Wholesale Rates!, only catch is you need to purchase in bulk.
Team up with some friends to share a load, if your stuck for takers in your area, drop me aline and I will see If I can match you up with a keen buyer.

Clean burn, easy light, low smoke/ash, medium chunk, medium to high burn/temp

Wholesale Purchases Only Minimum Order 20 x 20kg, Max 40 x 20kg

General freight only (You must have forklift at other end)

Great to do a Co-Op buy with your friends and save over 50% of Retail prices, if kept dry charcoal will last for years.

$29 per 20kg Bag + FREIGHT Inc GST

Save over $30 per 20kg on normal retail Costs of charcoal!!

NEW !!!

Now also available is 10kg Natural Tube Charcoal 100% Natural no chemicals or fillers very clean burn, (in a plastic lined cardboard box) much higher BTU’s than standard charcoal and much longer burning, cleaner less ash, just a bit harder to light, great when used in conjunction with natural lump (this is my secret demo charcoal recipe when I do all day cooks at events and demo’s !!)

$19 per 10kg Box + Freight Inc GST

You can mix an order of both products so long as it’s a minimum of 400kg in total, (eg 20 x 10kg + 10 x 20kg)

(Freight Prices Shown are per pallet, does not vary for smaller orders) To Order Click Here –

http://stores.ebay.com.au/Kamado-Cookers-Australia

We Also have available FIRE LOGS! $15 for 10kg
Made form compressed saw dust these are great in wood heaters, easy clean and covenient .
These products can be mixed and matched to from one bulk order.

Further questions email , kamadocookers@bigpond.com

Kamado Cookers Sydney Good Food and Wine

2010-08-06T13:58:00Z

Kamado Cookers Launch into Sydney at the Good Food and Wine Show July 2010

Finally we did it, brought our fantastic cookers to the people of Sydney!

A large stand in a great position with a ‘lifestyle’ scene and full working cooker demo kitchen, pumping out over 600 portions of Pizza, 20kg’s of Ribs, and hundreds of tasty BBQ chicken drumlets, lamb cutlets, all seasoned with amazing rubs from Screaming Seeds , http://www.screamingseeds.com.au some fillet steak was all tastily sampled (and exchanged for some great Red Wine!) by hundreds of excited and interested Sydney foodies.

Most people were extremely impressed by the cookers and excited to something new in the marketplace that provided a real alternative to the boring old steel gas grills that we call BBQ’s in Australia. Everyone soon learnt though that you need real fire and smoke to create a proper BBQ experience and were amazed at the incredible cooking properties of ceramic cookers.

It was great to meet some existing Kamado customers and create some new members to the ever increasing tribe of Kamado chefs around Australia.

Speaking of cooking heaps of Pizza, here is an image of my little Master Chef proving that its child’s play cooking Pizza’s on the Kamado, in fact in perplexes me why anyone would want to spend thousands of dollars more than the cost of our cooker just to cook a pizza! We can cook Pizza’s and a whole lot more a lot easier!

This Pizza is Olivia’s (age 8!)own creation, a combination of Pumpkin, marinated fetta with garlic and herbs, semi dried tomato, zucchini, salami, basil , pepper and mozzarella and kalamati olives!. See the pizza recipe on the website recipes for a really easy base recipe. http://www.kamadocookers.com.au/images/recipes/bread/Pizza.pdf

Key Pizza Tips:

Clean out cooker of excess ash first.
Use new Charcoal.
Extra firelighters, at least 4, buried under 1^st layer of charcoal
Pre heat with lid open longer, 15-20min.
Pre heat with bottom vent open wide and top vent 75% open a further 5-8 minutes.
When temp reaches 250c shut bottom vent down to 75%
When cooker hits 275 place double Decker grid in high position and place pizza stone on.
Pre heat floured stone 5+ minutes (temp gauge will drop 20-40c) ignore this, the stone is blocking the heat getting to the thermostat properly.
Place pizza directly onto the hot floured stone and bake on average 8-10 minutes depending on dough thickness and ingredients.
Remember to get cooker temp down to around 150-160c before completely shutting down.
Do this by closing bottom vent first, leaving top 75% open , until temp drops below 200c, leave the pizza stone in, then close top vent to 50+% closed, then close completely, this will take at least 15 minutes before you can shut it down.
Better still drop the temp really low say 110c and cook something low and slow overnight!

Happy Cooking!
KamadoChef

June Update - Sydney Upcoming Demo

2010-06-22T21:56:00Z

Good food and wine show Sydney July 16th-18th!, I'm getting nervous! All those people!
If your in Sydney and at the show make sure you come and say hi, will be doing live cooking demo's, Pizza's, Kasmari Lamb, Piri Piri Chicken, Smoked pork ribs in Tang Sichan and bush honey to name a few, and of course we will have a 'show ...special' on the cookers! more info ..http://www.goodfoodshow.com.au/

There are recipes on the website now to download free!

http://www.kamadocookers.com.au/recipes.php

Here is a photo of last months arrivals! Most have gone to new homes and with Sydney Good Food Show coming up I would advise not sitting on the fence if your considering purchasing, next delivery won't be until late spring.

Another , 'how to display your cooker Idea' from a very clever customer Melissa Ramsay, intersting point also that hubby Richard runs an oven cleaning business, email me if your wanting his contact (Brisbane), any way point is he loves his cooker because he basicaly never has to clean it! Classic!

New Arrivals May 2010

2010-05-14T13:01:00Z

They are finally here!

Finally our babies have arrived, all safe and well! With extra packaging and some improvements.

It’s a really busy time at the moment getting them out to all the patiently waiting new owners, thanks for hanging in, your support is much appreciated.

Seems that the product is starting to take off (hence delay in availability!) around the world as well as here, the cookers are now in Canada and Europe so I will have to be on my game to be the world’s biggest distributor outside of the USA! In the states also it has grown some legs with some larger retailers picking it up and also getting some great reviews against its competitors, aka kicking their but!

Check out our updated www.kamadocookers.com.au site , especially the resources, some video links and a great book about woodfired cooking in general that is worth getting hold of.

Am posting a couple of more recipes out to you ‘Charlies Chocolate Soufflé’ and ‘Roasted Rabbit’ both really nice...then I said I would never do it.....BUT...I will be posting them on the website soon for all in sundry to use..and this is where they will get added to also in the future.

And another ‘said I’d never do’ .... have bowed to the pressures of the modern world, we now have a FACEBOOK SITE search Kamado Cookers Australia and add yourself to the like list. There is also a discussion board for you to exchange ideas, tips etc...maybe also link up with local owners nearby and get a bulk order of charcoal to save some $$$

On the Subject of Charcoal.... take note that BIG GREEN BAG of Charcoal that you can get at National giant BBQ chain is a BIG BAG of AIR! 19 POUNDS not KILO’s! Do your maths, it’s a great product and does burn a bit longer than many others but it’s not worth up to $60 a bag!

Dont forget there are really nice tables now available and can be flat packed all around Australia, just click on 'Tables' on the website.

2010 Kamado Cookers Update

2010-03-28T10:50:00Z

March 2010.
At long last they're coming, NEW STOCK! Brand new Kamado Grill Domes fresh from production are in transit now.
Selling these things is one thing, getting them is another! There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to getting a 'hand built' cooker from the northern region of India, packed safley into a container then by road to sea port. It then travels to Singapore before swapping ships and heading to Brisbane, then to our warehouse for unpacking then repacked and onto transport again to you!

Rest assured that these are not mass produced cookers in some giant factory, they are a labour of passion and that follows through to us selling them.

So thanks for waiting, cook up a storm when you get yours and don't forget to tell your friends!

******
WET WET WET
If you live in Qld this time of year can be down right depressing we get sooooo much rain! Has been a big wet this year and was also last year, but what does it mean for Kamado cooking?

1.You get wet cooking out doors if your cooker is not under cover!
2.Mould! Yep good ol' mould, it's wet and warm around here, and especially inside your cooker (they will let some moisture in through the seals and lid) combined with left over food particles and fat on the cooking grid and no cooking for a few days and nice grey smelly mould forms!

What to do? Take your grid out and scrub with hot soapy water, scrub out your cooker with a brush to remove mould, empty your used charcoal, it will be mouldy and damp also.
Leave lid open wide on a warm sunny day to 'air and dry out'.

Put new charcoal in, clean cooking grid and away you go.

Probably best to leave your cooker at least under some sort of roofing.

Charcoals ain't all the same!
Good news is according to some recent statistics I have seen and just judging by what I see in the shops charcoal cooking is on the rise! More brands are available now than a few years ago, some imported and some Australian, here are some indicators without being 'scientific'
These were all tested in 2009/10 summer.

1.   Argentinian sourced hardwood natural charcoal, was chunky, nice thick paper bag, 10kg bag clean product little dust or waste, bugger to light but once lit burned well and long, little flavour or odour slightly smoky , priced well, found this is that big monster hardware part of the business group that owns half of retail Australia!                                                                                                                                              6/10.

2.    Indonesian natural hard wood, small to med chunky, nice paper bag, 3 kg clean product little dust or waste, easy to light, medium burn time, little flavour or odour, no smoke, priced ok, possibly the most popular and easily available, in BBQ stores and hardwares.                 8/10

3.    American 'oak' from that 'green' kamado company!, nice paper bag, here's the catch though! it's 19 pounds in weight not kilos! Which makes it expensive, its a big bag of air really! great charcoal, medium to large chuck, clean, little or dust, easy to light good burn characteristics, no real smell or odour a little smoke, available at the BBQ store chain that you see on TV, cost brings down the score.     6/10

4.    'Natural Coconut charcoal' well as natural as a perfectly formed pillow shape of charcoal can be, last time I checked coconuts were big brown hairy things....this stuff is CRAP avoid, stinks, extremely ashy, hard to light poor burn, full of god knows what fillers, same price as all the other stuff, actually leaves a horrid taste in the food also, found mine at that big giant hardware chain!    avoid.                 2/10

5.    'Natural compressed coconut hexagonal shaped briquetes' better than above, low flame short to med burn time, little smoke or ash, no flavour harder to light, nothing special and kind of expensive for the amount in a box.                               5/10

6.    'Australian Red Gum' , comes in either a small bag 3kg or big 10 or 20kg bags the big bags have decent size chunks, the small bags do not much too small. I had high hopes for this seeing it's one of the more common and easy to get especially in the southern states. Very easy to light, very flamey burn med to high temp, little or no smoke flavour or odour but really short burn time is the killer, so best suited to grills, pizza etc not any long cooks. Is good value.                       6.5/10

7.     'Australian Gidgee' , still is the leader in Natural charcoal in Australia best light, burn characteristics by a mile, best flavour and odour and low smoke, downside can be ashy and comes in 10 or 20kg bags that are mostly 'single lined' which makes it a very messy product to store and handle, reduces the overall score, but is best allround product still, but not that easy to get, especially in the Qld wet season when the production facility can be flooded in for weeks!                   8/10

8.    'Compressed Natural logs' normally hexagonal tubes with a hollow centre, the 'match' company has their own brand in a 4kg paper bag and we access an Indonesion product in a 10kg plastic lined box.
Both product are very similar made from compressed saw dust and wood chips etc, compressed by a special machine to form the tubes, they claim 100% natural and no fillers etc are used.
No smell, no odour massive heat once they get going and longest burn time by far, very little ash, great value also. Downside? Really hard to light on its own. The best way to use it is mixed in with natural lump charcoal or as the base with the natural lump on top, once the natural is up and burning strong it will get the tube stuff fired up. Highly recomended I use this, but you must blend it with the easier to light lump charcoal to get it fired up otherwise it's a disaster.                          7/10

Yet to test as it's hard to get all over Australia is 'Mallee Root' it's from the Mallee regions of Vic and SA, from all reports amazing burn time, temp and flavour just real hard to get.

Remember we use 'natural charcoal' in our cookers not BBQ briquetes or unburnt timber, natural charcoal only.

Happy Cooking

Michael

Kamado 2008 review

2008-12-15T14:39:33Z

Hi and I said I would never do it!
Guess you can't ignore technology for ever...must say now thoughthis is a one way conversation blog! Definatley no time in our lives to stuck on a computer all day chatting away!

This is the first Kamado Cookers Australia Blog, not a bad idea to keep our customers informed on whats happening.
We also have a lot of genuine interest in how our business is going from our customers which is really great, seems that everyone really likes their cookers and wants to see us enlighten the rest of the world to what they are missing out on!
Thanks for business and your many words of support and positive comments, they mean a lot as we start out to tackle the big giants of the BBQ industry marketplace with their million dollar + marketing budgets!.

Above I said 'world', we have been sending Pizza stones all over the world this week, NZ, USA and UK to name a few!
Also have had cooker sales inquiries from Thailand, USA, and UK!
So who knows, we have sent cookers to NZ, which is a really easy exercise and not too expensive on the freight, so your fsamily and friends overseas can enjoy Kamado Cooking also.

In short..2008 what a crazy busy year.
We set up a small band of loyal retail dealers from Cairns to Melbourne with some success. Did 3 major expos that exposed us top over 40,000 people and several BBQ store demos and some local food markets,mostly all in Qld.
We also gave away 3 cookers! In promos.
And had fleet of cookers feature in a local Surf Club Promo.
Furtherest sales went to Kunnunarra WA and Hobart TAS!

We have had to endure a business big bump being the collapse of the AU$ against the US$ which was scary and resulted in price increases.
In amongst all this is a full time job, family and sport so has been just tad busy you may say!

2009?
There will be changes to get things rolling, we will be ramping it all up a notch or three! So a busy year planned.
After all the cookers we have sold in the last 18 months we know that we have a superior product and much better way of cooking, the superior flavour, moisture of the food and no greasy fat trays to contend with, just to name a few advantages.
Not to mention an attractive conversation piece in your outdoor area, rather than a boring old dime a dozen gas steel cooker.

The Challenge is educating the general public without spending a kings ransom and also encouraging people to have a go at cooking at home.
Most times unless you are dining in one of the very best Restaurants in Australia (and I am talking top 10% $250 Dinner for two you will be able to produce much better food at home! And you as sure as hell can make a much better pizza with nice fresh tasty healthy ingredients for the same cost or less at home than the big name franchise operations!
Sorry the only thing we can't help you with is the dishes! At least you don't have any dirty trays or pans when cooking with the Kamado cooker!

With the 'economic' stresses of the world currently their wouldn't be too many finance and or personal budget experts that would not be recommending to cook at home rather than going out for meals. Invest in a Kamado, sharpen up you cooking skills, impress your friends and save money! What a Sales Blurb!

Events to look out for us at will include, the Good Food Shows, ABC Home Garden Shows, Qld Home Garden, to name a few.
Video's on the website, AU website,You tube, Face Book to name a few media's more recipes and the start of a major project which will be our own Kamado Cookers Australia Cook Book (probably won't be ready until 2010).
Increasing our range of products on offer is also on the plans.
Thanks again for your support in 2008, look forward to seeing some of your recipes, set up photo's feedback and tips.
Don't forget the website, which also has direct email links to us on it also.
www.kamadocookersaustralia.com

Happy Taste Buds for 2009!
See you at a Demo soon, or maybe on the water!

Michael
Kamado Cookers Australia

Kamado Cookers Australia does not recommend or suggest that small children should or could be cooked in the Kamado at any stage!! Personally once they are this stage and size they are a little bit tough!