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Superbowl tri tip cook. Smoked to IT 105 over a piece of peach wood, reverse sear on the 23. The veggies were cooked on the 16 TT, portabella caps with onion and tomatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus brushed with a nice balsamic vinegar, and a roasted jalapeno

Cooked ribs and quail for Super Bowl meal. I’m pulling for the Chiefs. I also tried a new lump charcoal. It did ok.

Balsamic Vinegar from The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey in Colorado. We have been using this vinegar for years, it is better than anything we been able to source from grocery stores or the oil and vinegar shops. I use it for salads, dressings, brushing on veggies prior to grilling, the sweetness is great for a tomato salad with a mild cheese. Put it on your ice cream. If you like a nice balsamic you might want to give this a try. https://abbeywinery.com I

My "non Super Bowl" dinner (I watched the Puppy Bowl instead - Go Team Fluff!! - ha, ha!) - nice Bavette steaks from Porter Road, 2x baked spud, sautéed mushrooms, steamed broccoli, olive bread and some chimichurri sauce.

What the... I haven’t seen that one on the KK Shopping Channel!

Started some bread yesterday and baked it today on my new Tandoori oven. Stretched the dough out this morning just before baking. One side done.

I promise I won’t do weekly updates but we broke ground last week. I sold the bbq island, granite table, chairs & hot tub. moving the pool equipment this week. Bought a fire magic 30 flat top griddle to complement the KK outside of the crackhead neighbor hammering the brand new fence in the middle of the night because the new fence “wasn’t sturdy” construction has been going good. Current pictures below. I’ll post another update in a few months. Thanks for all your help, particularly @Basher for all your input offline

P.S. This is a photo for @Basher. I looked up on the train when I went through last week and noticed where I was. For a meeting tomorrow I have been practising how to say Ystradgynlais.

Reading the FAQs that @Pequod shared, I now have a name for my "problem". I am moving from a stiff starter to a liquid starter and I may well not have got the liquid starter reliably rising and falling as it should. I am away for a few days now but will get to it when I have a few consecutive days at home to allow me to refresh the starter daily. I have to fess up to yet another new toy. I kind of backed into this one. A friend brought me a gift of some koji condiments over New Year's. They are made by a couple of Japanese women in London who turn up to market once a week with limited stock and shut up shop when it is all sold. My friend had to go early and lie in wait to get me some. Very very delicious. I don't live in London and don't have time to lie in wait so instead bought the Noma guide to fermentation. The conditions for making koji are very precise and I was struggling to figure out how I would get the right heat and humidity combination. I finally came across a post that recommended using an egg incubator or a bread proofer. Duh! A bread proofer was so obvious and so useful. Before now I had been running up and down stairs to the only room that had the right temperature for proofing in the winter. Now I can use the proofer for bread and, when I get to it, as a koji making chamber for the 48 hours that it takes. For once this was not a KK shopping channel purchase but good to have validation that both @Pequod and @MacKenzie have one of these. I got the extra rack so I could fit two proving baskets in there, one above the other.

Thx pequod. Definitely next time with this dough will either go for a lower temp or the baking stone. Two weeks ago I made pizza using a neapolitan dough recipe (only 00 flour, yeast, salt and water) and the first pizza ended up with an undercooked bottom with the baking steel at 550F. Had to crank it up to 600 to get a nice crust on my other two pizzas. I think I liked better the ckreef dough recipe though, so I will probably use it again next time.

We recently upgraded our Instant Pot to one of the newer, fancier models with a sous vide function. Decided to run a little test to see if this thing could potentially replace my Anova circulator. I set the temp to 130F and let it preheat. At the end of the preheat cycle I took the water temp and it read only 122. Decided to let it run for another 30 minutes and take the temp again. It’s a bit better, but not sufficient. Time and temp have a big impact on sous vide cooking, and undershooting can be downright dangerous due to bacteria. I rate this a fail. Will stick with my Anova stick.

Yep, the Brod & Taylor proofing box and even a grain mill... Over. The. Edge. Down. The. Rabbit. Hole. Let me help you with another purchase: https://www.challengerbreadware.com/shop/challenger/challenger-bread-pan/

Haha Tekobo. No one can pronounce that word unless they have had Welsh lessons! [emoji38] Actually I find the language mesmerising, very melodic. Have you heard the Welsh pizza complaint? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Definitely need to match the dough recipe to the temp or, more accurately, the heat transfer rate. Baking steels have much higher heat transfer rate than a stone, so temp must be dialed back accordingly. 00 flour is unmalted and Neapolitan doughs lack browning agents (like oil, sugar) because they are designed for high heat environments. So, doesn’t surprise that such a dough needs a higher temp steel or even higher temp stone. A good NY style dough tends to do well at 650 on a stone or 550 on a steel in my experience.

More cooking this weekend. Yesterday did a piri piri chicken on the rottisserie. Delicious but I think the simple salt and pepper chicken on the rottisserie was better. Lunch time today gave a try to ckreef's pizza dough recipe, with the grill set up at 575F and a baking steel, it came out delicious. But on the next try I will need to stretch the dough a little more because the crust was too thick and also will use the pizza stone I got from Dennis because the baking steel got too hot for that dough at 575F. Dinner if course needed something nicer than pizza so opted for a paella. Not enough hours on the weekend to cook everything that I want to try KK on. 20200201_182048.mp4

Indeed!

Looks like there is room for improvement.

Basher, that is a riot.

Thanks Paul! Cabrito is great. My freezer is bursting at the seams at the moment but I see a goat in that 32's future.

I did buy some fancy pants stoneground grits when I was last in Texas. Just have to get around to cooking them!

Nice looking cook. I am sooooo happy for Andy Reid!

Herbie, things are looking extra tasty on that KK.

Yum. They look good Herbie Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very nice! When using a baking steel, 550 is as high as I go. Also, it helps to use a heat deflector. I use repurposed Grill Grates like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Refrigerator-Magnets-Lovers-Office-Decorations/dp/B01NGZQHJ1

I was definitely put off by the high price, despite the recommendation from Brock.

Hey Tekobo, thanks for forwarding this article. I agree that the article was not very favorable. I think I will hold off on this for the time being and continue to play with the toys already in my arsenal. Congrats on your new 32” BB!!! And happy early birthday! Paul PS - I’ve never cooked cabrito before but this was cooked up for my dads 50th birthday back in 1992....very tasty!!!

Aussie I just bet that lamb post and salad post from Pascalpro made your mouth water.

Roadkill yum Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Lamb ribs are tasty as but not as meaty as pork or beef Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Nice lolly pops .awesome salad Sent from my SM-T835 using Tapatalk

Trust your instincts.

First cook since returning from duck hunting in Arkansas. Chicken and Beef tonight. However, duck soon. I’m looking through the forum for great recipes. 85900A3E-49B3-46BB-A9E0-8531A5ADCFEB.MOV

By way of comparison, I give you my trusty Anova stick:

I don't know but when mine has increased to 2.5 to 3 times in volume it will float so that is when I use it. I put an elastic band around the container at the start of feeding then it's easy to see how much it has expanded.

Some more info from my pal Maurizio: https://www.theperfectloaf.com/frequently-asked-sourdough-starter-questions/

It’s nice to know these things. I have such a lousy sense of taste, it always amazes me people can taste the onion and smoke that’s on; like the salt you have. Maybe that’s why I don’t cook so much. The tastiest thing I have cooked on my KK is a pre seasoned tri tip. I cooked one in my pressure cooker about a week ago, I know why not the KK? But I read about cooking in the pressure cooker and wanted to try it. I seared it and then pressured cooked it. Turned out pretty tasty. Gave half to my friend and he and his wife they loved it. Lol. Hey everybody have a great day!!!

Not all salts are born or made alike. There are so many with taste differences and purposes. This one paired well with both, light on the onion and with a touch of smoke making it a surprise addition, thanks for asking

That is Dennis for you, he speaks the truth and he never ever tries to up sell you for the sake of a bigger profit. I totally trust his advice.

Before this I had a large BGE for about 10 years. That has an 18" grate and I found out that in 10 years I could only recall twice needing more space than what I had. If you look at the comparison between 21" vs 23" KKs the difference on main grate size is so small that once in a blue moon that I might need more than 21", the 23" will not be the answer (the 32" would, but that is a completely different ball game). With this information at the back of my head, I called Dennis and had a conversation with him, which reinforced my initial thoughts. Therefore I used the money difference between the 21" and 23" to get a bunch of accessories for my 21".

Sourdough Pain de Campagne with fresh milled Red Fife and rye. A batard in tube form

Tekobo he would have to us his middle finger to give it the finger. LOL😊nice cook Tyrus how did the salt taste?

Ha. I don't know if you Americans also use the expression "giving it the finger". Looks like you are giving the MEATER the finger. And with justification, looking at how well your cook turned out.

Nope! One of my "go to" beers at the ball game/hockey game. (fyi - homebrewer here and official beer snob. LOL!) btw - nice job on that brisket!

Thx guys. Yep, Lagunitas tastes like beer should (hopefully not starting a war here😉)

After almost a week of freezing rain and snow, I finally got a break in the weather to fire up the KK for dinner! I had a piece of picanha in the freezer, so onto the KK it went after getting a generous rub of flaked salt, freshly ground pepper and some garlic seasoning. Lower grate, direct, over coffee charcoal, with mesquite and coffee wood chunks, Dome around 400F. Plated with a nice side salad, crusty bread, smashed roasted potatoes and sautéed mushrooms! Up close and personal!