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Dude, that's just twisted!

You know Syzygies deja vous, I recently popped a roast out of the freezer unlabeled and was wondering the same. My curious eye seems to think that a Chuck roast, has the cut & shape, grain and color, similar and in the same neighborhood. You can eliminate the flat, it has the markings and some orentation of being the point in the raw, but I'm leaning towards a tender chuck roast having seen something similar recently at the market and just purchased. Well, if your disappointed in the texture hold your head up high on appearance and a fabulous bark. I'm thinking a packaging mishandle, label or the new butcher on the block, happens to us all, don't despair and be thankful it wasn't bear. It might yet remain a mystery, however we can definitely rule out rib eye and tenderloin. When in doubt, ask the family dog...they gotta nose for these things.

Definitely a great marble going on there and a nice finish. Finding a new butcher...too bad, someone that's done you right so many times. There's always mail order, but that can get expensive, best of luck Remi and a safe and Happy New Year to all.

Well i'm thinking i need to go find a steak now lol

We usually have something fancy for New Years, and this year I purchased some lovely scotch fillet from a legendary Melbourne butcher who is about to retire- had him slice them nice and thick for a reverse sear. It was also a chance to debut the RFX probes I received for Christmas, and to make a first stab at a Bernaise sauce. All in all a great success. Happy New Year!

As is an annual tradition, I planned a brisket for a dear friend's birthday party. After I'd sourced the meat, she canceled. No party, everyone had the flu.

 Marin Sun Farms at Rockridge Market Hall confidently told me this would be a great brisket. The cautionary tale I had in mind: In Think Like a Chef, Tom Colicchio has a stellar recipe for braised beef cheek. I tried this with a California beef cheek, and it was like Charlie Chaplin’s stewed boot. We figured organic cattle smile too much. The cautionary tale I should have had in mind: Berkeley Bowl once tried to sell me a cyrovac pork shoulder. The symmetry was unsettling. I realized still in the store that it was a pair of pork butts. I was being a clod, thinking more of the first story than the second, and didn’t react to the unusual shape. I’ve never seen a brisket this tall and squat. I got one thing right: Rather than going to Las Montañas for generic chiles, I just used up my hoard of chiles from Boonville Barn Collective, and ordered more. Best rub I’ve ever made. I never would have made the party; after eleven hours at 275 F this meat was nowhere near done. An Akaushi Wagyu brisket this size would have needed 8 to 10 hours. Slicing a hunk off the end for dinner, the flavor was great, but no collagen or marbling to suggest further cooking would help. And it didn’t look at all like brisket. No deckle. So I parsed the rest into pieces to use as an ingredient various ways. Chinese noodles? Hash? I’m thinking Borscht. I’m guessing this was a legendary cut that I’ve never been able to find before, that was sold to me by accident. I’ll hold back my guess in hopes others will weigh in.

I'm disappointed with myself that I bought a BBQ Guru UltraQ. The web app was so broken I stopped trying to use it. The phone app displays stale information without labeling it as such, which is inexcusable. My meat probes stopped working, and I can't bring myself to waste money trying to figure out if it's the probe or the UltraQ. Effectively it's an attractive bright display, where one changes settings such as target temp using their phone app. Sometimes restarting the app and power cycling the UltraQ is necessary for changes to take. I once loved BBQ Guru. I now believe they're giving "stupid country hicks" a bad name. They have to already know this. They're never getting another penny from me. It's great news that longer GGG probes are coming. I'm confused. My emails with them describe their probes as 3", and I measure my 23 Ultimate KK as having a 2" wall. 1" sticking out in my experience is plenty. Are GGG measuring wrong? Do other KK owners have thicker walls?

I just found a drawer full of old Maverick and Oregon scientific temperature probes from 10 or maybe more years ago. They probably still have old corroded batteries in them. I just pitched them. For the time being, it’s all Thermoworks all the time!

Here's an incense burner that'll make you look twice. I enjoy the odor/scent incense imparts to a room, so over the years I've collected a few incense holders of unique design to pleasantly aid the eye with a sense of calmness smoke offers. My niece seeing my collection thought I needed a piece to match the smoking elements in house and yard, but with a twist. The piece incorporates a downdraft design allowing the smoke to escape from different areas mimicing a realistic interpretation. Although I found it unusually distant as compared to my traditional Japanese holders, I do believe it has a place. However, with as much enjoyment incense smoke contributes to your well being, still nothing beats the smell of a brisket slow cooking in the back yard.

Picanha on the roti to celebrate an unusually warm 70 degree December day in St Louis.

Wow, what great cooks those were, Tekobo, mouth watering dinner. 👍👍A special mention to the potatoes, the colour- perfection.😍

That's neat!

That’s where Dennis really thinks things through. I bought a 32 last year, and loved it. I did notice, that as i get older, lifting the grates on a 32, particularly when hot, is noticeable. Then i bought a 38. It has three piece grates, as does the 42. Between the split grates and the fire splitter, it’s super easy to manipulate everything. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Welcome to the new Obsession! I understand your madness @Syzygies. I made bigoli three days in a row on a short six day Italian trip, tweaking the recipe and listening to my bigolaro crack and pop as I pushed the dough through. It happened whether the dough was wet or stiff and my husband thought the noises were due to air finally making its way out as I pressed my balls of dough through the body of the bigolaro. So, do I want your modified handle? Yes please! And your dough recipe. Even Evan Funke, he of the very thinly rolled sfoglie and devotee of 00 flour, notes that bigoli is made with whole wheat : https://www.cleaneatingmag.com/clean-experts/how-to-make-noodles/ That is good because with my diet controlled diabetes I want to eat pasta but I don't need it spiking my sugars. That said, my only really successful version of bigoli this trip was with 00 flour. We return to Italy at the end of January. The experiments will continue and I hope to be able to share a successful recipe using buckwheat and wholegrain flour. In the meantime I look forward to reading through all the links supplied above. I do not plan to diversify my extruded pasta shapes in the short term. I have just two dies - one for bigoli and one for maccheroni. Alongside hand rolled pasta (I am learning at La Vecchia Scuola Bolognese) I should end up with all the pasta shapes I can handle. Handle. The power of suggestion. I will DM you to arrange getting hold of one of yours. Thanks.

I agree! The bit of advice I did not take at the beginning was to buy as large as I could afford/had space for. I therefore started with a 21 and 23 but a few years later I saw the light, sold them and went for a 32,23 and 16 combo. That 32 is a multi tool and if I only ever had one KK it would be the 32. I no longer hanker after the 42 (plus free goat). I can lift and wash the grates in my 32. I dread to think of the sheer effort required with a 42.

Hi Tekobo! Let me send you a custom handle! With some reworking, your torchio can take on any powered machine. I'm gearing up to make bespoke handles from Jatoba hardwood and laser cut stainless steel. Or if you like to do your own woodworking I can send you the DXF file for fabricating the boss plate. The handle shown above is a prototype using an oak dowel. Here is my response to being asked about my bigolaro on the Rancho Gordo Bean Club Facebook group: This is a "Torchio Model B" bigolaro by Bottene. They also make the powered Lillo Due for home and restaurant use. The Model B accepts the same bronze dies, opening up a vast catalog of shapes. https://bottene.net/en/products/bigolaro/ https://pastabiz.com/torchio-hand-press.html https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchio_da_pasta This design is one that has been in use for centuries in the Veneto region, primarly to make "bigoli" noodles. These are fat round noodles sauced with an anchovy, sardine, liver, or duck sauce. The noodle recipe is tuned for ease of extrusion through its namesake bigolaro, requiring less pressure than a powered extruder. Bigoli noodles are an obscure corner of the pasta universe. As we prefer homeground flour, we have long dismissed dried noodles, even from whole wheat, in favor of Atlas or similar (Otello is an upgrade) laminated egg noodles, or hand-formed shapes such as busiate. Shapes are nevertheless a major part of the Italian pasta experience. Pairing shapes with sauces for Italians is a profoundly deep enterprise. One cannot fully dry extruded pasta at home with the same care as an artisan factory: Varying climates is why there was an early trade in dried pasta. If someone tells you they're happy drying extruded pasta, they're telling you two things: They're happy, and they're drying extruded pasta. An Italian would not be happy; they'd find someone who can do this right. Pasta dried for part of a day is neverless a wonderful third category, that opens up the entire experience of pairing shapes with sauces. This is what most restaurants with extruders do. Pasta: The Story of a Universal Food https://www.amazon.com/Pasta-Story-Universal-Silvano-Serventi/dp/0231124422 I am thankful beyond words that Bottene chose to modify the design to accept Lillo Due dies, but we are left without guidance for how to best use dies designed for greater pressure. With a maniacal attention to detail, the "a serious bunburyist" blogger has managed to make good use of a variety of bronze dies, but even he has moved on to a powered machine. The basic problem is that a dough wet enough to extrude will come apart (gravity unwinds fusilli) and stick together. https://ibunbury.blogspot.com/2010/06/confirmed-and-secret-bunburyist.html Am I an insane mathematician, for figuring out what to do? (My hands played one, once.) https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/03/11/a-beautiful-hand People go to more trouble than I went through when a drug is involved; pasta is also worth it. People roll their eyes that we grind our own flour, but they grind their own coffee? Same thing. What I'm about to describe is not hard. I don't want to clean, or store, or lug around a heavy powered machine. I love hand tools, such the better-than-vintage woodworking tools that Lie-Nielsen makes. https://www.lie-nielsen.com I've had my bigolaro for fourteen years, but only recently has it become our daily driver, the routine way we make pasta. That was a long road. A few years ago I destroyed the boss socket in the stock handle through misguided experiments with too-stiff dough. After some hilarious failed improvisations, I learned to respect the forces involved. I fabricated replacement boss plates from 1/2" thick stainless steel using the custom parts service SendCutSend, and mounted these plates to longer wood handles with better leverage. https://sendcutsend.com What broke next? Further misguided experiments lead to howling noises that I labored through; I wanted dinner. It turns out that all grease is not the same; who knew?! If a grease doesn't publish a Tinken Load and Four-Ball Wear Test, it will simply skip town under duress, leading to a howling metal-on-metal contact that grease is supposed to prevent. I replaced my worn threaded shaft assembly, and applied a grease a factory might choose, for a radical upgrade in performance. If one makes a single modification to a stock torchio, this is it: Disassemble the threaded shaft assembly, take it outdoors to strip any incompatible grease, and lubricate it with the best grease one can source. Apply a bit more for every use. If operation isn't dead silent under extreme loads, you're doing this wrong. https://www.grainger.com/product/CRC-Extreme-Duty-Food-Grade-Grease-12G591 I also upgraded how I mount the bigolaro to the same overhang I use for clamping other kitchen tools. I slightly enlarged the holes to accept 5/16" bolts and oversized nuts, washers. Now the bigolaro is effectively fixed to the foundation of my house. Believe it or not, there was some play using a 1/4" bolt, nut, washer combination. Now, one has a device that accepts Lillo Due dies, and with 20 pounds of force at the ends of a 26" handle can extrude with more power than a Lillo Due. One cannot now simply use a Lillo Due dough recipe, because the mechanics of extrusion are different. A powered extruder uses a twist screw, while a bigolaro is a piston that compresses the dough waiting in line. Nevertheless, one is now free to work out a more flexible range of dough recipes, less likely to fall apart or stick together after extrusion. In our case we use freshly ground flour (primarily durum and Kamut) and a sourdough process that improves flavor and glycemic index. I've settled on adding 4% psyllium (the same hack factories use to make gluten-free pasta) and extruding my dough cold after an overnight fridge rest. These steps both enable and require a higher hydration; for my specific dough I like 43%. My pasta doesn't fall apart or stick together. Now that I've figured this all out, I need to write up a web site with handle plans that even an apartment dweller can assemble (e.g. order 1 1/4" square staircase balusters online). I should also offer to make handles for people. Ideally, I can convince someone who already sells pasta woodworking to make handles. Probably this constellation of ideas is overkill; after one appreciates the issues in play, one only needs to address a subset. Start with the grease, then the handle, then tweak your own dough recipe. A torchio should be in as widespread use as an Atlas crank machine, rather than in a cupboard like a twice-used rowing machine. These challenges are easily surmounted, and the results are worth the trouble. What can we do to make this practical for other people?

I have to say those were all nice creative festive cooks, although I have to give the nod to Tekebo for pitchin the change up. In the states though we like things straight down the middle......a nice piece of beef of rare quality sets up a Christmas dinner as traditional. I did one myself, but by the time I put it down and reached for my camera it was gone....c'est la vie.

Beautiful looking cook! I have to agree that two cookers is a big advantage. It took me a while to get a cooker larger than the 23”, now it’s like where has this been all my life. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This experiment was a big FAIL initially. The doughs were way too wet to put through an extruder. I remembered @Syzygies once lamenting the fact that some bread recipe writers do not take account of the amount of liquid introduced by the levain. Well, without counting the liquid added by the levain, the hydration of this Chad Robertson recipe was at 45%! Waay too high. My neighbours kindly and friends kindly ate what I produced but it was substandard. I finally ended up with a very stiff dough, somewhere between 28% and 32% hydration depending on how you count the water added by wetting my hands while kneading. It was really hard work turning the lever to push the dough through the bigolaro but the result was worth it. Bigolaro action: Really simple but delicious pasta recipe called bigoli in salsa, made with just onions and chopped up anchovies. The dough was fermented for 18 hours. I think the pasta tasted better than any I had made before but I will do a side by side test without levain to see if that is just my imagination. And the KK action came in the form of roasted short ribs (should have been low and slow but I fell asleep and they cooked hot and fast instead!)

When I was trying to decide what size KK to buy, all those years ago, @ckreef's advice was to buy two. He was adamant you needed more than one to make sure you got all the components of your dinner ready at the same time. Well, I took his advice and here is Christmas dinner, cooked on my 23 (high heat throughout) and 32 (very low and slow for most of the time and hot at the end to cook up the pigs in blankets). Happy Holidays everyone! I never normally have turkey but here is a boned turkey leg which I seasoned and then my husband added lardo and rolled it up for roasting. Rolled turkey leg and standing rib roast in the 32 after first having been browned in the 23. Potatoes were roasted in the 23. And the pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon) were cooked on the 32 when the other meat was taken off to rest. I finished off the skin on the beef roast with the MAPP torch before resting. The cook was edge to edge perfect, with the very low and slow time it had in the 32. It was an outstanding Christmas meal, with just the Brussel sprouts and sauce cooked indoors. Deeeelicious!

Great news!

Hmm, one word: YIKES!

Chris Young seems to have confirmed that they are working on a longer probe: https://www.reddit.com/r/combustion_inc/comments/1pvmkxb/stumps_smoker/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Happy Holidays, everyone! 👍👍