First Cook w/Vortex....

[mrbill]

First cook w/lump and first time using tatonka dust.

Got my vortex(small version) earlier in the week and fired it up for the first time today. Did some bone-in ribeye's via reverse sear and served with homemade cheesy potatoes. There was a bottle of tatonka dust in the box with the vortex. I have seen other folks use it, but have never used it or eaten food cooked with it,  so I dusted the steaks with the mystery powder. I also used lump for the first time. Filled the chimney w/a mix of kbb and royal oak lump. I wasn't sure the small vortex would hold a full chimney, but it did(just barely). The vortex worked as advertised and really does a good job at concentrating the heat in the center. Steaks tasted pretty darned good w/the tatonka dust on them. I've never had a problem with heat using kbb, but adding in the royal oak lump really brought the temps up fast and held them there. my performer's lid thermo was pegged the entire time.

cliff notes-vortex, tatonka dust and royal oak lump all get the mrbill seal of approval

now for the pr0n-

chimney dumped, grate set in place as the temps come up




steaks on(indirect for a bit then seared at the end)




steaks done




gratuitous furnace shot





my steak




my plate

[1buckie]

Thanks for the pics, the review & the seals of approval......

[WNC]

Steak looks great, nice job with the new vortex!

[mrbill]

thanks guys.

eta-fark! just noticed it seems as if my lid bail nut fell off on one side. you can see it's there in first pic. but in the second, it's gone and what appears to be the washer is laying on the cooking grate. it's dark now, so i'll have to try and find it after work tomorrow(hopefully it's still in the bowl).

[BBcue-Z]

Looks great!!
Congrats on the Vortex

[MossyMO]

Congrats on three first time successes together, sounds like the Royal Oak/KBB, Tatonka Dust seasoning and Vortex all went well together!

[austin87]

That's either some tricky camera work or you have some real balls.... That "gratuitous furnace shot" looks like it's straight down on the coals!

[mrbill]

a little of both. i was over the coals, but not as close as it appears(zoomed in a bit).

[THUNDERDOME]

Awesome cook!

[Grill_Jitsu]

Did you have an issue fitting all 3 steaks over the Vortex at the same time or did you do a round-robin?

Looks great, btw!

[mrbill]

Did you have an issue fitting all 3 steaks over the Vortex at the same time or did you do a round-robin?

Looks great, btw!

could only fit one at a time.

[austin87]

@Grill_Jitsu I have a medium that I haven't gotten a chance to cook on get and I don't think I could fit two large rib eyes completely over the flame at once with the smaller side up. Close, but it would tight and would probably need a little shuffling for complete coverage/browning.

[Grill_Jitsu]

@austin87 I have been using the baskets and with those full the heat is super close to the grates with plenty of room for 3-4 steaks... I still want to get the Vortex to try it out vs the baskets.

[austin87]

When the baskets are pushed together you definitely get more direct space than the small end of the medium vortex. The shape of the baskets pushed together is a little more oval but probably close to the larger side of the medium vortex of that's a helpful visual.

[THUNDERDOME]

A lot of 'grillers' only use the Vortex wide-end up for the increased searing area.

The baskets just dont bring the heat up to the grate imo, and the side vents in the baskets push heat away, The funnel shape (acting as conical reducer) projects all heat upward w/ the Vortex