Leaderboard

My friends know I love pork and regularly buy me piggy cards and ornaments. However, even The Husband thought I had gone a bit over the top when I told him I had bought a half pig in order to get pork shoulder for a Chicago Southside Thin. Here are the two boxes I picked up last Friday. Lots of chops and steaks for a summer BBQ, cheek to try to turn into guanciale and fat to turn into lardo. Bonus! We are now on a driving holiday in Italy and I succumbed to my bulk buying gene when I came upon this hoard. Tee hee. No, I did not buy the lot. Just one and they boned it out neatly so that we will have lovely proscuitto for pizza for months to come. And finally, a gratuitous Mangalitza photo for @tony b. I had wanted to try meat from one of these wooly pigs for a long time and pestered a Welsh farmer for a couple of years to get one sent to me in the post. It took us a whole day to process it and turn it into sausages, fat and joints for cooking. We liked it but not as much as the 55 day hung Middle White pig that we buy from another farmer so the only repeat is the blood sausage that they make with bits of fat and bacon. Pig with extra pig. Yum.

Why do you think that I named it "purple crack?" I use it in just about everything anymore. Great on fried eggs, mashed potatoes, salad dressings, mixed in with dry rubs for grilling. I even used it making beers (Purple Crack Wheat - a blueberry wheat beer with pepper berries and a Purple Crack mead) and brining pork belly for bacon.

It's really awesome how Perth has embrassed the charcoal low n slow style of BBQ .the kj's are doing the rounds and the egg is coming to town but predominantly it's the webber and the stick burner and the odd pellet smoker .KK has had a good run lately .seen this new player in the market not tried it but love the packaging . Outback kamado Bar and Grill

Purple crack-kabobs, purple crack creole, purple crack gumbo, purple crack etouffee. Pan fried purple crack, deep fried purple crack, stir-fried purple crack.

@amusedtodeath, going to have to try some jerk chicken myself. I know it doesn't have to be all that hot but there is some pleasure in the pain!

That would be awesome, I got a little sneak peak of the tiles that are going on my BB32, being built as we speak: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah - thanks for the heatbeads tip. That's all I use nowdays. I was using gidgee but found the lumps small. That said, bonfire said that you can ask Ralph to get bigger lumps. Heatbeads from Bunnings is convenient. Not so much on my wallet as I seem to walk out with all sorts of stuff when I go to Bunnings....

https://www.wildwestsmokerproducts.com/product-page/jarrah-charcoal-a-grade-most-dust-removed Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow I hadn’t seen that brand before. It’s amazing how the charcoal / low n slow bbq cooking has exploded in Perth, even in the last few years. When my team first competed in 2015, the organisers struggled to scrape 12 teams together to organise a comp. These days, if you aren’t registered and paid up within 24 hours of a comp being advertised then you’ve missed out! I reckon that there are close to 50 teams in WA these days, such a great amount of growth in such a short time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just a real thin layer mate to start of with once you relive how great it is you can add more

Sooo... more boxes of goodies came today! It included 6ozs. Of crack berries. I have been in 4 and 5 diamonds from 14 till my mid 20’s, spent some time at SBCC for culinary and hotel managment and done some traveling to some nice resorts around the Caribbean and never once heard about these little gems. So Let’s have some ideas on what to do with them.

I’ve been baking bread and pizza for a few years now but had never tried baking a loaf in a Dutch oven, tonight that changed. Baked at 235c in the Kamado for 35 minutes with the lid on, and another 10 minutes to finish it off, not bad for a first attempt! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In preparation of my new Big Bad 32 arriving, i done one of the final “farewell” cooks on my Saffire, it’s been a great Kamado but can’t wait to get the KK experience. I picked up some meaty ribs from Urban Griller when the BBQ team got together to cook a whole pig. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm a big fan of Walkerswood Jerk paste and Boston Bay. Vernon's is also good. The Shizzle - voodoo hot is another one to try. I've even gone to the lengths of getting pimento wood and leaves to put into the dutch oven smoker pot, along with allspice berries to amp up the traditional flavor.

Nice stash.

I am a fully paid up member of the Marmite hating brigade and I refused to even taste Vegemite, in spite of living in Australia for 15 months. Big BUT coming up though... Type in Typing Room and marmite butter into Google and you will find many converts to this weird taste. They include me. The Typing Room serves IPA rye bread with Marmite whipped into butter and it is seriously addictive. I still haven't quite got my head around actually buying some of the stuff and trying to make the butter myself though. Could work well for you @Bruce Pearson - make some beer based bread and whip your Vegemite into some butter and you could be on to something. Good luck!!!

Yeah, we need to do a Perth KK meetup hahaha. Aussie, Bonfire, Steveoncoals and Alimac23

Bonfire told me that you are near me Steve. Innaloo Bunnings stocks Heatbeads Lump Charcoal.... I found them great. I did also try the Hestons B lump charcoal - also from Bunnings. That was okay too but I Heatbeads are a bit cheaper For the non Perth people, Innaloo is a suburb in Perth. So is Cockburn..... jokes galore about these 2 suburbs

Haha so true, a bad egg all around! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Some of the cheap mangrove I’ve used absolutely stinks when it’s getting going, it was OK for high heat cooking but that stink carried into the meat when used for low n slow, no matter how long I let it settle for it had that swamp smell to the smoke. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In saying that I've tried mangrove to gidgee. And yeah heatbeads all the way but I might try some jarrah. .but stick with what I know Outback kamado Bar and Grill

I’ve written to the guru folks and asked them about whether they realise he cost delta between UPS and DHL .... hint hint. Will keep you posted.

There’s a lot to be said for the heatbeads lump, great size, great price and readily available Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So very generous Tony. We get the Australia tax.... basically pay more for everything Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Where do you get this aussie Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Apparently the kinder, gentler, more helpful, less snarky @cschaaf lives here.... good to know... @Chanly1983... I am new to the Tasmanian pepper berry game, but have found it to be good on just about everything. Have a nice dedicated mill and it bounces back and forth from the stovetop to the tabletop. Had to throttle my husband back and put him on a ration, he was getting a bit out of control... lol. I’m with you on the Staub. I have both as well and the finishing on the Staub is always top notch whereas the Le Creuset is nice, but often (at least in my experience) has minor imperfections. That dark interior can be a bit iffy to keep clean looking though. A quick wipe of oil will do the trick, or a nice acidic tomato based cook....

Thanks MacKenzie, I had some this morning for breakfast, it turned out well. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When Aussie suggested spreading a thin amount on a piece of toast he meant a really thin spread. Not peanut butter amount, not even regular butter amount, the absolute thinnest amount you can spread on toast. BTW have a glass of milk on standby, you're going to need it - LOL

I've changed the name to Cold/Hot smoker because the cold name had people believing it was only for cold smoking. I use it whenever I need any smoke profile added. It's a surefire way to get clean smoke right out of the git-go.. No waiting for the grey nasty bitter smoke to clear before putting in your food. The secret is to keep the smoke tube clean and to make sure the wood is dry.. I've been microwaving my chips in a bowl for 5+ minutes to remove excess humidity in the chips before long smokes.. They steam a lot.. Then again it's VERY humid here in Bali during the rainy season.

And if that floats your boat there is always Marmite too.. Is Vegemite and Marmite the same thing? A second blind taster considered the Marmite milder, but still found the Vegemite delicious despite its more harsh taste. The final taster found both “gnarly.” Marmite was more sour and less flavorful, while Vegemite tasted “more like fake meat.” Clearly, yeast extracts are not for everyone!

@Chanly1983just type the @ symbol then start typing a username. You'll get a popup list with matches. Click the one you want and they will get notified of your reply.

@Bruce Pearson I'll give you credit for throwing your money away like that. But I will say everyone needs to try it once if nothing more than to say you tried it.

@tony b inspired me with his shawarma chicken thighs... I did a load of boneless, skinless thighs marinated in Jerk paste from Jamaica, mon. They turned out great. 325-350 degrees on the main level. For the side were farmers market English peas and King mushrooms. Heat level on the Jerk was a bit high for the wife, and I have to admit I was a bit teary eyed also, but I put some ranch dressing on the table to help quench the flames in our mouths!

In general, briskets take longer to cook than pork butts, as a reference point. Actual time depends on cooking temp and size of cut (whole packer cut, or just the point or flat). A whole packer cut cooked indirect at 275F generally takes 12 - 14 hours. If you drop the temp down to 225F add on another couple of hours. A point or flat, knock a couple of hours off those times. YMMV

Oh, hell no. Do I look like MacKenzie??