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Some T bones and a dodgy side lol. Outback kamado Bar and Grill

Yet more funky cow in my life. A week ago two briskets (aged 5 weeks) and one rib of beef (aged 9 weeks) arrived. The scene was set for impressing my Texan friend with an awesome brisket cook. Beautiful rib of beef cut into individual cow chops. Don't be put off by the mould. He sent me the end pieces so I could see what the outside of the joint looked like at the end of the aging process. Here is a nice clean "chop" from the middle of the joint. I was a little worried when I came to cook the brisket on Sunday morning. It was only 3.8kg and small compared to the Longhorn brisket (to the right in the photo) that I have cooked in the past. Decided there was no point into separating into tip and flat in this case. Heated my smoke pot up on the stove in the IDK. I have found this works and doesn't require me to light an extra fire outdoors. Carefully trimmed the brisket and did the Franklin salt and pepper treatment. Screwed up the cook by making a change. I normally cook to 88C internal temp. When this little baby looked like it was going to cook far too quickly, I throttled the fire AND decided to go up to the 95C internal recommended for "smoking" brisket. Big mistake. It looked more like a piece of leather at the end than a juicy brisket. I panicked and hauled out a couple of cow chops from the freezer. Cooked them when the guests arrived. Most said they wanted medium but ended up clearing me out of the rare chop because they loved it so much. It turned out to be the star of the show, particularly as one of the couples had lived in France for a while and were happy to be having "cote de boeuf" again. The brisket didn't turn out too bad either. They all liked it but I know the next one will be so much better.

Just the opposite, Bruce. It's revered for imparting almost no flavor, just like Dennis' cocochar. That's why his stuff is a good substitute for the binchotan. @Pequod - I'm trying the stuff from the Korin website - Aramaru and the Sumi, as they are affordable. The Sumi is very much like Dennis' cocochar, extruded with a hole in the middle. The Aramaru is like lump, but more "stick like." Once lit (which takes some doing!), they both burned quite steady, produced good heat, little or no smoke (except when meat juices dripped on it) and lasted a long time. Had I been using the super premium white stuff, like tekobo ordered, I'd sure as hell be trying to learn how to snuff it out at the end of a cook!!!

tekobo - "Who am I kidding? Binchotan, economical??" You must have seen the box of 20 sticks for almost $500 US.

@Pequod, I have some binchotan briquettes that I bought last year. Have not used them yet, waiting for the konro due September at the earliest. Along with the konro I ordered a box of Kamitosa White Binchotan (Maru). I read a number of sites before placing the order and this sounded like good stuff. I also asked the Korin customer service people for more info and this is what they came back with a couple of months ago: "The Kamitosa white binchotan for both items you have listed have the same weight and are both from Japan but the Komaru type have thinner pieces than the Maru. Unfortunately, due to high demand for the kishu binchotan, the manufacturer has reached its capacity and we do not have an ETA for this item at the moment." Keen to hear if you find out anything more/interesting about the different types of Binchotan as there is plenty of time to change my order if I need to. I don't expect to be buying this more than this once and I am looking forward to the experience of trying it out. I also did a quick search on the internet and found a number of sites that talk about quenching the binchotan either using water or in a cast iron pot. I am hoping this will indeed turn out to be an economical choice if I can eke out my supply by re-using the logs a few times. Who am I kidding? Binchotan, economical??

The factor he's taking into account is the WAF. (Apparently the Mayan EVFO pizza is a myth.)

I got the bargain $249.50 box. Now, I'd better get back to work to earn that money back!

I’m looking forward to my next trip to Dallas. I’ll be looking for “funky brisket” on the menu at my favorite BBQ joint. If not listed, I’ll ask for it. Look forward to seeing what I get.

Here's another good video to contemplate. Again you will need to read the subtitles but so worth it. I learned a little something or two. Going to give this a try one day. (so many pizza's so little time)

Here’s one source: https://www.cooksinfo.com/italian-flours. According to this, our All Purpose and Bread flours are closer to Italian type 0. And then there’s this: http://nybakers.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=9_15. Based on ash content, it seems type 1 is more consistent with French type 65 or 85. And this: http://www.theartisan.net/flour_classification_of.htm. Italian type 1 doesn’t seem to be something we’d find the equivalent of in the wild. More of a specialty flour, but type 65 at NY Bakers would be close.

@Shuley‘s recent cook reminded me that this has been on my to do list for far too long. In keeping with my current theme of cooks inspired by foreign cultures, tonight I finally got around to Detroit! Yes, it’s in the USA, but Detroit deserves special recognition and qualifies as foreign...to me, at least. Biggest city ever to declare bankruptcy, population 1/3 of what it was in 1950, and one of the highest murder rates in the country. And yet with all of that going for it, they also figured out their very own variant of deep dish pizza. Being a Chicago Deep Dish aficionado, I had to cook this for comparison and to see what all the fuss was all about. I’m using Kenji’s recipe from Serious Eats to the letter. The right pan, brick cheese, and the thick sliced pepperoni he calls for. One of the big differences from Chicago Deep Dish is the use of a cooked sauce with multiple ingredients: The dough for this pizza is very high Hydration, has no oil, and is kneaded a long time. Chicago Dish Dish crust is a biscuit. This will be bread. Assembly: Got the 23 heat soaked at exactly the right temp. Pizza goes on. Admiring my 23 and noting the need to clean the cap whilst I wait. Done! Beautiful! Nailed the blackened edge! This is an excellent pizza that deserves a spot in the rotation. Very different from Chicago style, but that’s not a bad thing. Hats off to Detroit!

Bizarrely, marmite has a role to play in my access to this beautiful lump of rump. The restaurant that served us the wonderful marmite butter also served mutton. My friend's teenage son said the mutton was "life changing" after he had eaten it. I asked the chef for his supplier's name. And so began a long saga. The supplier only sold to restaurants and his website said sales were "by invitation only". I badgered and begged and even threw in a bit of needle by telling him that I regularly buy from one of his main competitors. Eventually he gave in and has been supplying me with ever more wonderful old sheep for the last couple of years. When I asked for another sheep a few months ago he sent me a note about a scheme they have going to improve the welfare and sale value of old dairy cows. Once dairy cows become unproductive they rest and feed them a special diet for a further 7-8 months to get them in tip top condition and then sell the meat at a premium. Under normal circs I might have thought this was a wheeze to con me out of my money but I had seen the Netflix programme about steak which included the mad Spaniard who specifically breeds bulls/cows to an old age to deliver what they considered to be the best steak in the world. I was all in. The supplier managed to persuade me that I didn't need half of a 440kg cow and that I should try a rump first. Hung for 60 days, the aforesaid rump arrived last week. Here it is with most of the mould rubbed off and cut into steaks: I know the green from the ageing process looks off putting but I tell you, these are some of the best steaks I have ever seen or smelt. We ate some chopped up raw and had an off cut with chips for lunch yesterday. Both very very good. KK action tonight. Will report back.

A statement from one of the the Thailand Boys trapped in the cave. "Pipat Pho, 15 (nickname: Nick) - wrote in his letter he wanted his parents to take him for barbecued food once rescued" I'm a certified cave diver that has had a few scarey dives. This rescue will be the scariest adventure of their lives. I wish them the best. Pipat Pho (Nick), come to Reef's Bistro. You can have all the barbecued food you care to eat.

Huh. Very curious about the brisket. I've been in the long slow cook school for brisket, but I'm very picky as to which briskets to cook this way. I look for true marbling of fat and other solubles. I've always imagined that the leaner brisket benefits more from the quicker, hotter cooks. The Golden Gate Meat Company sells fantastic briskets from the Ferry Building in San Francisco, and by prearrangement they'll dry age for me. I've tried eight days and four days. Everyone loved eight days but I thought it came out too soft, almost eat-with-a-spoon. Four days was better, but I've been skipping the dry aging since. The jury is still out for me, here. It may be funky cow is the ideal source for some cuts but not brisket. I remember when beef cheeks were all the rage in NYC bistros. My attempt here was dismal. Laurie blamed the too-hip-for-words sourcing, said the cow had smiled too much.

What a great meal, both meats are looking very tasty and sounded like they were a hit with the guests too.

If one has the option, I agree that firing up 2 KK's is definitely the way to go. For the Sunday cook I finished off the brisket in the 23" and started the ribs on their way in the 21". Texan friend arrived early to help with sides and when we needed to blacken some green pepper for the succotash I was able to up the temperature in the KK vacated by the brisket and do the blackening direct on the coals. I then throttled the fire until shortly before I put the cow chops on. All sooo convenient and reduced competition and chaos in the IDK. I must say, her cornbread jalapeno muffins are to die for.

I guess I missed this the first time around. It all looks good to me and sounds tasty. As for firing up two KK's - it takes about the same amount of time as firing up one and usually makes cooking two different items easier. I fire up two KK's all the time. I even fire up 2 KK's and my Akorn Jr all together from time to time.

Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut

Sort of a “panless” pan pizza. Some interesting techniques. Now I need to go investigate type 1 flour...

Thanks, CK. I did enjoy that watch.

Oh I haven’t forgotten...just haven’t broken the good news on the Konro to the wife yet!

The one factor you're not taking into account is the Fun factor (with a capital F). It's just way more Fun on a WFO and you can still do the Chicago thin. I know for some people it's all about the pizza. For me the final outcome is important but the Fun factor is a big part of the WFO experience.

Yum yum yum looks wonderfully tasty

Nice job. Those short ribs look amazing.

I needed flavour flavour for dinner, Peposo, should do it. Add some just picked spinach from the garden, add some rice and we have lift off.:)

Summarizing: Cooking is all about heat transfer. The temperature of the cooking medium is a rough guide to that, but not the entire story. Heat flux is also proportional to thermal conductivity of the interface between the thing imparting energy and the food absorbing it. For example, a baking steel has much higher conductivity than a baking stone, so at the same temp the steel will transfer more energy to your dough than a stone in the same amount of time, while the top is being cooked at the same rate with both. Place your hand in boiling water and you're immediately burned. Place your hand in a 212F oven and you're fine. Keep your hand in that oven long enough and you'll be burned. When baking pizza on a steel I generally dial the temp down 50-100 degrees from baking on the KK baking stone. Similarly, the "right temp" for your WFO depends on the thermal conductivity of the floor tiles and the type of dough you're baking.

What happend to the BMX.lol. Outback kamado Bar and Grill

Lol. Outback kamado Bar and Grill

This is so beautiful really well done . Outback kamado Bar and Grill

Funny . Outback kamado Bar and Grill

The Husband recently received an email about magnums of wine, explaining why they were the better way to store wine in the long term. It included a story about Winston Churchill. Apparently Churchill said that a magnum was a perfect amount of wine for two gentlemen to share over lunch, particularly if one of them wasn't drinking. Well this amount of meat was the perfect amount for four people, particularly if two of them are older and don't eat quite so much as they used to. All trimmed up and ready to go. We bought two KKs so that we could cook at different temps concurrently and also so that we could get the timing right for serving. Even so, I often try to sequence things with one KK because I can't quite bring myself to light two KKs at once. Today I reminded myself that I ought to be true to the cause and bravely lit both at once. Here are the obligatory veggie shots, this time in the 21" And the now for the meat shots. I have still never done a reverse sear. The steaks were only about 1" thick and I wanted most of them rare so there didn't seem to be a need for a reverse sear. No fat collection mechanism either. I do like the taste of the smoke from the burnt fat, particularly as it is only from a few minutes of burn. I am keen, however, to hear if there are other and better ways to do this. Done And yum Let's hear it for the dairy cows! This is just another picture of cooked meat but I can assure you that it tasted exceptional. Not butter soft but with texture and great flavour. If this takes off it will be a good way of helping to keep dairy farms afloat, alongside promoting the sale of baby male calves for humane rose veal.