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We buy a lot of bulk meat at Sam's/CostCo/BJ's and portion them out into vacuum bags and freeze them for use later. Never had enough room in the refrigerator freezer, so we purchased a 7 cubic foot chest freezer. Every time there was a sale, I would buy more meat and stick it in the freezer. After a while, that freezer was stuffed full of every kind of meat available and we had no idea what was in there and where it was. So Mr. Bright Idea bought a white board and mounted it above the freezer and started writing down everything that went into the freezer and erasing what came out. That worked for about a month until I found out that not everyone in the household was following the rules (the names will not be revealed to protect me). Not to be swayed from my mission to know exactly what and where everything was in the freezer..........I divided the freezer into sections, got a clipboard & wrote everything down....................then LOCKED the freezer and hid the key. I'll fix those derelict freezer raiders!!!!!!! My locked freezer and hand written lists worked great all winter..................until this spring when I couldn't find something I was specifically looking for a recipe. WTH?????? So I did what any self respecting communist freezer dictator would do, took a total inventory of the freezer. Much to my dismay.........there were many discrepancies. WTH x 2?? I marched upstairs and confronted the other members of the household. When they stopped laughing & giggling....I was informed that they found the extra key to the freezer and were messing with me most of the winter. They couldn't believe it took me so long to figure it out. I threw away the lists yesterday!!!!!! Back to freezer diving!

Can't wait for tapa talk to start working again lol. Gave them some pepper berry on the bottom some pepper berry ,hard core carnivore black and some swamp venom on top served with wagu fat air fried chips and some veg I let these go to fall off the bone .

Yes, your dad was right! Mother-in-law wasn't feeling well so the three of us worked our way through a sausage pizza and then a pepperoni, mushroom and chilli pizza (notice I cannot quite bring myself to call them pies). I thought the first pizza might have needed a bit more cooking on the crust so I left the second one in for the same time at a slightly higher temp. The verdict? Father-in-law: Liked both equally and was particularly complimentary about the crust. Me: Liked the sausage pizza for flavour but the crust on the pepperoni pizza better The Husband: Liked the pepperoni, mushroom and chilli pizza best and wanted more but settled for some extra wine instead. That leaves us with two balls and more sausage for lunch tomorrow. Hurrah! Thank you very much @Pequod. Best pizza night yet.

Last night - St. Louis Ribs, Garlicky Potatoes cooked next to the ribs, and not shown were Crowder Peas put up last year.

Woo hoo!!!!

This made me laugh A LOT. The key thing a totalitarian regime needs is threat of violence in the event of non-compliance. As a programme director I am skilled at this and do not have to issue any actual threats. This is my white board. It gets refreshed once a month and stuff stays where it should.

Speaking of Tabasco sauce, I read an article that they were doing a special batch for their 150th anniversary - WOW, 150 years in business!! I had no idea that they'd been around that long? So of course, I had to order some - just because. It's their "Family Reserve" batch, but aged a full 15 years and they used Champagne vinegar! I threw a couple more interesting looking items from their online store into the box for grins. Needed a bottle of "regular" Family Reserve for comparison - it's only aged for 8 years! Box just arrived this evening. Looking forward to trying some of these out, especially the wood chips made from their aging barrels!

Of course! The pizzas were a bit square anyway because The Husband had put the dough balls into square containers to prove. He was pleased that that tied in with the square cutting directive. Engineers, eh? We are easily pleased.

Mushrooms are definitely approved! I'm making 4 of these tonight myself. I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

Ha ha. Just back from London. The Husband's pizza balls are looking good and the 21" is warming up. Hoping mushrooms are in one of the approved columns because we've got a whole load: Ooh, they look a bit fuzzy in the picture but I think that is because of the cling film over the top. Will report back much later...

I've done both ways, too. I have a Kamado Joe half-moon CI griddle (for the Classic) that I use. I put in the basket splitter and put the griddle over the lump side. I can only get 4 patties on there - which is enough for two burgers (I do two 2oz patties per burger - more surface area for crispy bits). Works well when it's just the wife and I. If any of the kids are home, I have to do it in shifts. No big deal, though - I smash them very thin and they are done in about 2 minutes.

HUH?? Not me! @Jon B. - sounded just like me up to the white board part. I'm not that organized, but should be. About every couple of months, I go freezer diving myself and take stock of what's there, trying to move the newer stuff lower and older stuff higher. Occasionally find a "hidden gem" but more often something very old that needs to be tossed! Even FoodSaver packed stuff will eventually freezer burn - like the 3 yr old shrimp!!!

I've done both. Using the lower grate is hotter, but you have to reach in more to smash and turn them. If you've got a lot of smoke going, you can get a face full. Conversely, main grate has better access, but you have to crank up the heat more to get the griddle as hot.

That's funny. Freezer communist dictator being over thrown by the people he tried to control - LOL Seriously I tried that freezer list idea. Didn't last long for me either.

Dodgy scales are the worst .to me pizza is like takeaway I want pizza tonight . That's why my recipes are simple and taste so much better than takeaway.never got into the lets prep the dough six months before dinner thing lol.but I want to try the soth side .maybe I'm to slack lol

Welcome! Nothing like diving right in. Some questions, answers and suggestions. Do you bake bread or pizza? If so, get the baking stone. Regarding a stoker, I use a BBQ Guru CyberQ on occasion. It works well. I like the spit rod with OctoForks. You can get the OneGrill rotisserie motor from OctoForks as well. Get a cover. Consider a Baking Steel Griddle. Great for smash burgers and certain types of pizza (NY Style). Also great indoors. Consider a sous vide circulator if you don’t have one. The sous vide/outdoor grill combo is killer for certain things. Get a grill floss. The Meater is nice. Also get a thermapen from Thermoworks if you don’t have one.

Been buying those at CostCo recently. They are excellent!

Hello everyone! A little intro, I am 35 and live in Wisconsin with my wife. I worked in fine dining restaurants for about 12 years then I started welding and now I am a CWI for the company I work for. I have drooling over Dennis’s product for a few years and my wife finally gave me the go ahead. I just called Dennis and I have settled on a 32” with a cold smoker and gas insert to get it started in the lovely winters here. I have A LOT of cooking equipment but only for indoors. So I am basically going to buy everything I need at once. Dennis and I talked about a side table with cutout. I am going to have him build it because I was thinking this setup, but with slide outs. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking of having it pre-drilled for an extension cord and power strip. Also maybe something to hang the propane tank. As for the odds and ends I will need I am scratching my head and need some advice from the members here. I just ordered a single Meater Thermometer to try and if I like it I was going to buy the “block.” I was also looking at Octofork rotisserie and basket. I was also looking at getting some sort of stoker for those over night cooks that I am soooo excited for! As as for the rest of the stuff that I need or should want I don’t know where to begin, so any help would be awesome. Cant wait to join the family!!!

Jon, that is an absolute riot. I guess it was payback time and they did a number on you. :(:(:(

Amusedtodeath, mouthwatering dinner.

Alright, here are mine from tonight. We added a bit of cheddar because my wife decided the cheese (straight mozzarella) on the last go wasn’t quite to the Chicago standard. The cheddar was a nice touch. We did 3:1 mozzarella:cheddar. No other pictures because my daughter and her fiancé were over and he’s an Army guy...always hungry...and I wanted my share!

Lovely looking ribs @amusedtodeath. And great photography.

Yay! Glad it worked for you. Now for the truth. Did you cut it square?

Tyrus, oh my Tyrus, wherefore art thou? Hast thou forsaken me? Awww, come on....come back, you are amongst friends. @Tyrus, @Tyrus, @Tyrus

I put my baking steel on the main grate and let it get heat soaked at around 500 degrees. Goes very fast. Stay on top of it.

CostCo labels them as "Beef Ribeye Cap Steaks".

A meat purveyor at our local Farmer's Market has three such freezers in a truck. You just walk into the truck and search through for what you want. No system there either.

Makes sense awesome .I can see this in my future lol

I spin chooks at 400F. Takes almost exactly 1 hour 40 minutes to reach perfection. I add the veg after about 30 minutes, and then stir the veg with tongs periodically thereafter. Gotta take the roti rod out to put the veg in, but works great.

Right on the basket and splitter handles

Not sure how I missed this thread before. I assume these are the 3 hot sauces you sent me a sample of? You are correct about the red being very mild. I started by tasting the red. Basically fooled me into thinking the other 2 wouldn't be that hot. Yea I was wrong about that. Very tasty.

I'm a six months in advance pizza person - LOL I started my dough process last night to have pizza for Saturday or most likely Sunday lunch.

Congrats mate .sounds like your kitchen is full that's 3/4 of the game there .the occys are something I'm looking to get one day lol but for starters rotrie rod ,pizza stone .griddle check out your local camping store I got a nice round one for a fire pit that fits great.Thermo pen is very useful after you have cooked enough you will wonder why you bought the stocker

Baking Steel Griddle are on sale right now, I think it's 20% off. I agree with you on the Joule.;) Yes, get Denni's pizza stone or two since maybe since you are getting the 32inch KK. BTW, WELCOME.

Definitely charcoal basket splitter.

Thanks for the reply! I know I can’t wait to, to wait! If you know what I mean. I was actually just looking at the options from sunbrella for covers for both the table and the grill. Funny you should mention the Sous vide, I actually have 2 of the joules units... I love them and recommend them to anyone that will listen. I was planning on getting a stone for pizza and breads. i will definently look into the baking steel and the thermapen. Thanks again for the reply.

Choc cherry stout ! Oh boy, you got me there. Delish

Thanks for posting your pizza dough recipe @Aussie Ora. I asked for it because I was puzzling about why my more recent dough balls were not quite as plump. Since asking for your recipe I have tried out the South Side Thin recipe that @Pequod includes in his post here. It is more dense/has less hydration than the Ken Forkish recipes that I have tried so far - more work when kneading. More importantly, I discovered two things as I prepared my ingredients for this recipe. 1. I should have been multiplying my yeast quantities by 1.25 because I was using dried yeast and not instant dried yeast and 2. my drug dealer scales for measuring small quantities had somehow changed mode from grams to carats and I was using far too small quantities of yeast in my more recent tries. Dough with right amount of yeast and sausage with right amount of wine are now in fridge waiting for pizza night tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Looking forward to the authentic Chicago experience, with or without the paper delivery bags.

Huge hunk o' fish and some green stuff.

I was happy with our Tuesday evening meal. KK came through... Wagyu strip steak, asparagus(sorry, I keep posting pics of asparagus, but it's in season - along with broccoli and cauliflower, but somehow only the asparagus is getting posted...and yes, we like it charred), shiitake mushrooms sauteed with ghee, garlic and good sherry, and not shown baby carrots. I did the two level cook for the steak and was well pleased with that - I'm getting more comfortable with that method. Okay, I'll confess, I also sous vide a little lobster tail for myself with Joule, as wifey doesn't like lobster! Seared it on the fire afterwards with the steak. Shockingly, everything timed out perfectly.

Just another chook spin. This is why I like my 23 better for rotisserie. Can balance a pan of veg below the chook to catch the drippings. Great stuff!

Cut up an eight ounce Wagyu filet on a couple of skewers and added a couple more skewers of shrimp... Cooked all the way down low very fast. Turned out tasty, but almost overcooked the beef.

Made a pulled pork sandwich for lunch today. It sure is nice to have previous cook leftovers in the freezer. Now let's see if I can get it folded. Well that worked.:)

Well today was bottling day. To finish off the discussion above, I did find some mold on the surface of the red pepper batch, but not the others. Just scraped it off before I dumped the mash into the chinois to strain out the fibers and seeds. Next, mixed in rice vinegar with a pinch or two of salt and into the bottles. The aji (yellow) and chocolate ghost (brown) also got a bit of roasted garlic paste to add some flavor to balance out the heat. The red came out much milder than I was expecting, so it only got half as much rice vinegar as the hotter two, to not overly mask the flavor of the peppers.