It's great if the person posting the photos leaves details about the cook but let's not make any comments about the posts, just photos (or don't feel bad when they are occasionally erased..)

Grilled up a delicious CAB cowboy(bone in) ribeye today. I coated it with BT Leigh’s Something for Beef and then rubbed it into a paste with some W Sauce. I reverse seared it at 275° and basted it with a butter, olive oil, spices, herb, some fresh squeezed lemon, and a little white wine vinegar baste until it rose to 100°. I let it rest and cranked up the fire to 600° and seared it on the lower grate, turning and basting it every minute until it got to 125° and then let it rest in a board sauce. Whoa, fantastic!

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I cooked up a local farm Tri Tip using some techniques from Adam Perry Lang’s Charred and Scruffed cookbook. I generously applied a steak rub and then put W Sauce on top, rubbed it into a paste and let it rest like that for about 15 minutes. I made a chimichurri baste and let it blend overnight. I’ve been loving using a basting brush made with fresh herbs that I tie to a wooden spoon handle. I reverse seared it indirect initially at 275 off the heat, basted and turned it every 5 minutes until it got to 105 internal, then pulled it to let it rest.

While resting I cranked the temp up to 550 and put the tri tip directly over the fire on the lower rack, turning it every minute and basting the newly flipped hot side. I pulled it at 125 and let it rest in a board sauce for 15 minutes before cutting it. After I cut it I poured the board sauce over the slices. OMG, fantastic!

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One thing I found interesting was that the indicators for cold smoking (bronzing and a tacky pellicle) were less pronounced than I expected.  But after a day in the refrigerator, opening the door filled the kitchen with smoke aroma and the color continued to develop.  

Best bacon we’ve ever had

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Here is the pan with chains on the lower rack:

Closed down the vents a bit to keep the steam trapped. 350g of ice generated steam for a solid 10+ minutes.

The finished product. I like the look of the crust -- comparable to what I'd expect in a CI Dutch Oven.

George Baralis

Happy Memorial Day !! Thank you to all who have given the ultimate sacrifice. Because of them we are able to enjoy the peace and freedom we now have !!.  I have done 3 cooks using Kingsfords Professional Competition Briquettes on my KK. They are made with premium wood char and produce low ash. They are safe for use our KK's.  Naked whiz rates them very high and also recommends them for ceramic use. Also bought them at Costco on sale $ 17.99 for a 2 pack 18 lbs each reg $22.49. So $.50 per lb. High heat low ash long burn time what more could you ask for ? Perfect for quick grilling of steaks, burgers, dogs as well as longer cooks without breaking the bank. No problem lighting with my Grillblazer gun with No sparks or popping when lighting!! Used 1/4 basket when I grilled a tomahawk steak, flat iron ,chicken, dogs .burgers ,and Kebobs along with corn on the cob. I maintained between 375-425 when grilling and did that for approximately 3hrs30 minutes. Was extremely happy with these briquettes I would highly recommend them to all!!!  Enjoy the holiday and hopefully its sunny where you are as its been pouring here since Friday and not ending till Monday afternoon !!

P.S.  Costco also has Briquettes under the Kirkland name for the KK low ash and high temp as well, I will be using that next. $14.99 for 30lbs. Will update with a comparison after my cooks!!

George Baralis

I celebrated Greek Easter this past Sunday and would like to share my cook. It started with me dying our traditional Red Easter eggs. I learned that to get that deep red color you must use brown eggs! As you will see they came out great!! I also made my homemade spinach pie as well as Stewed greek style fresh string beans seasoned with spg, oninons ,quartered whole tomatoes, fresh dill ,garlic and cinnamon using single origin olive oil. I also roasted small red & white potatoes seasoned with SPG,Greek Oregano Olive oil. And finally a 6.41 lb boneless leg of Australian lamb seasoned with slices of fresh garlic placed inside the entire lamb with SPG, Greek oregano cooked on my KK using the Spit Rotisserie . I Used 3/4 basket filled heavy with XL jealous devil lump. Cooking temp was 350-400 degrees took only  2 hours for the cook. I also made my Greek sweet Easter Bread called Tsoureki,  Hope you all will enjoy the pictures!!  For appetizers in keeping with family tradition going back years and in honor of my late Mother's Hungarian heritage  I still cut up some Hungarian Kielbasa along with greek Kayseri & Kefalograviera Cheese as appetizers with the spinach pie & eggs!! For Dessert my homemade Greek Baklava11

Thank you

George

I put the pork brisket on the dome rack and got a just-right bacon flavor accent on the beef belly under it.  Try ordering that at a restaurant!

Dry aged beef belly smoked to probe tender (195f) and rested overnight @150f in a sous vide bath.  Sides were pickled onions w/Tasmanian Pepper berries, baked beans w/peppers, onions and dark chocolate, slaw and cornbread --you definitely need to balance the insanely rich belly.

If I were to change anything I'd back off the smoke a touch.  It was great but more summer afternoon loud crowd/loud music vs. quiet winter thaw celebration... but the pork over beef is staying in the rotation.  

Has anyone else found other amazing KK meat stack combinations?

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.

Johnny Harris- Style Barbecue Sauce

2 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp fine ground black pepper

2 tsp white sugar

½ tsp salt

4 cups catsup

1 cup yellow mustard

1/4th  cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup real cider vinegar (may experiment with other vinegars, like champagne vinegar or sherry vinegar)

¼ to ½ cup packed brown sugar (prefer dark) (May substitute honey, and add dark molasses. Should be to your taste.

2 tbsp butter

3 Tbsps fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Combine catsup in mustard in large pot. Warm on low heat. Stir in all ingredients except butter and lemon juice and mix thoroughly. Cook on low and stir frequently until well blended- 15 minutes.

Remove from heat. Cool for 15 minutes. Add butter, stir until thoroughly blended. Add lemon juice to taste.

Best if heated before using. Do not boil.

This is the base recipe, and it is good for all meats- beef, chicken, pork, etc. I also usually use both honey and dark molasses (as above) for the sweetener. Taste at the end and add more honey or sugar or salt if needed. You could add cayenne pepper or hot sauce if you wanted it hotter- most of the heat in the recipe comes from the black pepper. I have also added several shots of espresso sometimes; tried dark chocolate once to good result; tried adding (separately orange marmalade or raspberry jam to give it a more fruit base.) You can also experiment using different vinegars (like champagne or Spanish sherry), but this is usually a lot more expensive for very subtle difference. You could also try adding a little cinnamon, Chinese five-spice, or both (not more than a teaspoon.)

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90 minutes in: temperature is a perfect 170*, one shoulder is 102*, the other is 8o,1: I will have to switch them on the grill in another hour or so. Stay tuned. Photos of the completed project later tonight.

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I really wanted to do something different other than just smoking another Wagyu Prime Rib for the holiday (yes, I know how weird that sounds to say, lol) and I was fortunate enough to acquire this beastie 2 days before Thanksgiving. Prepped with salt, pepper and garlic (kept it simple) and smoked it on the Ultimate 23 for 8.5 hours at 225 degrees using Coco Char with a combo of hickory and plum wood and end result was amazing, the flavor, juiciness, tenderness (and that A5 richness!) were absolutely insane, it literally dissolved on your tongue!

Calling this one a HUGE hit with the family is an understatement, will definitely be doing this one again in the future!👍☺

Thank you, Dennis, for making such an amazing grill!!🙏👍👏😊

I’ve been looking for a good meat thermometer because cooking meat perfectly has always felt a little challenging for me. I want to make sure every meal is cooked properly and safe to eat. I’ve checked out several options online, and while many have glowing reviews. 

I’m still not completely sure which one would be the easiest and most reliable to use.

Alpha Grillers Meat Thermometer Digital

https://www.amazon.com Alpha Grillers Meat Thermometer Digital/dp/B00S93EQUK

AMMZO Digital Meat Thermometer Digital

https://www.amazon.com/dp AMMZO Digital Meat Thermometer Digital/B00S93EQUK?&linkCode=ll1

Has anyone here bought a meat thermometer for home use?
Which one do you recommend?

Can this prove to be effective, or are there better ones to compare it with?

Thanks in advance.

OK, it’s been so long since I posted the form I can’t remember how to embed a YouTube video in a post so here’s a link:

Oh well, I guess that’s how you embed it!

Thanks!