Leaderboard

Bone in leg of lamb on the spit over mesquite wood. Marinated in olive oil, garlic, mint, rosemary, cumin, Peruvian salt & black pepper served with pearled olive oil & garlic cous cous with lemon zest & thyme as well as cast iron Yukon gold potatoes with salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary & olive oil. finished with homemade Tadziki sauce

That sounds great Troble, i will call on you for that. It is lovely to have something to dream about. When I was a kid we lived in Palo Alto. We have stayed in touch over the years and have a few family friends to visit in the Bay area. We might manage to stop in Carmel on the way down and one of my husband's ex-Royal Navy friends is based in San Diego so we will definitely make it to your town. Valle de Guadalupe sounds like a great place to end our journey. Just waiting for The Husband to wake up so that I can persuade him that this is a great idea.

Early morning for me. 18lb beast of a brisket. Think it may have had the thickest fat-cap ever on a cow. Trimmed it last night, put it on just before 5am. Trimmed a lot of the fat between the flat and point so they are almost separated. Cooking it at about 275-300, hoping for a finish time sometime around 3 so I can rest it, so cooking it a bit higher temp than usual. Photos are just over two hours in, and it’s already darkening nicely.

Do it! Just remember this is in Mexico 90 minutes south of San Diego. But there are 10-12 restaurants down there on this level. It is my source of cooking inspiration and my wife and I usually make the pilgrimage at least every fall and occasionally in spring to sample. when you get ready to plan I have a full on OCD itinerary I put together for my 40th birthday last year I’ll share with you A candle at the end of the tunnel ! Mrs RD & I spent a month backpacking around Ecuador at the beginning of the year - I've shared @Troble fabulous pictures with her. So, we've done an eco trio , maybe we can do a gastro trip. Now considering maybe backpacking in Mexico for a month or so and coming up to that corner as a finale. We'd naturally come up to San Diego - would need to try that beer that @tony b has recommended. We were in SD twelve years ago on a family trip - memorable seafood on the quay. Yes, looks a brighter day today....

It’s done, in the cooler, wrapped in lots of towels, in foil with some broth. Temp was 199-210 depending on where I probed. Butter soft almost everywhere. 7 hours from start to finish, no wrap, never stalled at all. Bark looks great, hope it survives the foil. I’ll update when I cut into it in...five hours.

@Basher yesterday’s breakfast was for the parents. Today’s breakfast is for the kids may I present homemade Mickey Mouse pancakes from scratch served with crushed bananas, sliced blueberries and chocolate chips inside....pancake batter also contains hints of vanilla extract

I should clarify that the pints-n-chips reference is not original. Currently stalled on the 'is a Scotch Egg a meal' chip substitution debate. For those wondering what the hell I'm on about, the British press were trying to clarify the rules in what constituted a 'substantial meal'. Pub snacks - pork scratchings, crisps, nuts with a pint are not a substantial meal. But then there are hot bar snacks - chips, scotch eggs and so on. Then a public debate ensued over the ambiguity. I think I tuned out when the size of the egg that was used to make the Scotch egg was being debated.

Troble, I'd say you have a leg up on this caper. It also appears that you have the judge's approval.

Tee hee. Poor @Troble. The English (and a British Nigerian) are coming! Hey RokDok. It feels like some elements of our lives intersect. I have not been backpacking but The Husband spent a couple of years working in South America and I got to visit Chile, Brazil and Argentina as a result. Actually, that is a bit of a stretch, those countries are not much like Ecuador and Mexico. I guess the first challenge is getting out of this tier system and making a connection in Ye Olde England. Using @Braai-Q's nomenclature, we are still in a pints-with-chips tier. Hopeful that we can soon move into the pints without food tier so that friends visit indoors. Baby steps, and a vaccine, will get us across the Atlantic ocean eventually.

Local supermarket has been stocking Angus Reserve flat iron steaks lately. I'm getting into them. One last night on the sear grate, bourbon barrel chunk, rubbed with SuckleBusters Texas Pecan. Plated up with roasted spuds, sauteed shrooms, chimichurri and a side salad. Topped it off with a nice Merlot. A nice Saturday night meal.

@AJR if you get done early just wrap it in foil, wrap in a towel and put in a cooler. You can store it for up to 4 hours with minimal impact on the meat

@Basher I probed it and it was about 140 everywhere I poked. When I carved it I found some medium pieces his I like it (I’m not a rare guy I like pink and juicy but not rare, red and gushy) my wife likes her meat well done so it’s always a challenge cooking a big piece of meat to find the right balance. I think I achieved that this cook fkavor were great especially on the outside bud as I found with my adobada cooks this summer and with some of my lamb/gyros attempts this summer I think I prefer to slice the meat into 1/2 inch - 1 inches thick pieces and have that marinate overnight then take those pieces abs stack them on the spit. It allows for more flavor penetration deep into the meat, although I’ve served it previously by slicing off the outside as it gone done, so I’ll continue to experiment. I appreciate all your advice @Basher but as I mentioned in our last message I can’t utilize the lower grate abs rotisserie at same time there’s not enough space, seems that’s an advantage of your 23 over my 32. I would have liked to have done the potatoes in the KK but I had to put them in the over since the rotisserie was in use really liking the lamb though. Kids like it cause it’s tender, wife likes it causes it’s not too fatty and I like it so next time I’ll try your balsamic marinade @Basheri was shocked I didn’t have any in my pantry yesterday

@tekobo @RokDok all sounds good to me I love to travel and that what got me into cooking really. At the end of 2006 I sold all my possessions (including my house before the market tanked) and I bought a one way ticket around the world my ticket took me from San Diego to Rio de Janiero, Buenos Aires. Auckland, Sydney, Bangkok, Paris & finally NYC. I spent 11 months traveling around the world by myself when I was 27 years old. I’d generally stay in an country a month abs tahr trains and busses all around surrounding areas and if usually know someone in that country that I’d stay with for a week to give me a lay of the land. To say thank you for hosting me I always cooked a last meal for my hosts, people would want “American Food” but we dk t really have that outside BBQ. So I would cook “Mexican food”, I’d get skirt steak and make a carne asada marinade, and if research a place to buy tortillas and beans abs I’d make refreshing beans, and somehow would find a package of tortillas somewhere in the city I was in, but the hot was always guacamole. Everyone in the world had avocados usually but they had not experienced guacamole which was my speciality, so it was always a hit I’ve since realized how much I show my affection abs appreciation for people through serving them food. when I discovered this region that’s so close to my house abs this place Bruma that is so serene it was the first time I had that feeling of being in a magical far away land, but conveniently it’s only 90 minutes from my house so now we go every year. They say Valle de Guadalupe is like Napa in the 70’s or 80’s, up and coming but the locals are already starting to complain about how crowded it’s getting its being written up in NY Times, Conde Naste etc and the restaurant that’s on site at Bruma called Fauna (which is absolutely amazing but indoors and dark/not great for photo taking) was recently listed on the Latin America 50 best restaurants lists in the world this week. So the region is getting wide acclaim. It’s a very special place that I firmly believe is one of the true special regions of the world, based on my travels. I would love to share it with you. I’ll will dig up my itinerary and post it when the wife wakes up

Do it! Just remember this is in Mexico 90 minutes south of San Diego. But there are 10-12 restaurants down there on this level. It is my source of cooking inspiration and my wife and I usually make the pilgrimage at least every fall and occasionally in spring to sample. when you get ready to plan I have a full on OCD itinerary I put together for my 40th birthday last year I’ll share with you

Thanks @Troble. I genuinely haven't thought much about my first cook. Having had KKs before, it doesn't feel like a "first" cook either. I think bread followed by pizzas on the 32 is going to be the first big test of whether I made the right choice in moving up a size. Being able to get three loaves on at once with steam will be great and I can a) crank it up a little for the pizzas and b) use that cook as a test of Dennis' factory burn in. All good.

Our politician morons are just as bad. The UK is going to be a disaster getting into Europe with Brexit and I expect 12h will be light compared to what's coming with the Channel Tunnel. It was only today that it was revealed that COVID vaccines are coming in through military routes to circumvent the expected delays at ports. I've often driven over to Europe for a long weekend and we cancelled our pre-Brexit trips due to the pandemic. Equivalent trips to yours. One of my favourites is heading into Paris to Caractère de Cochon. Solo (picture below) always supplies us with incredible smoked ham and it was a Christmas tradition of ours to head over and stock on a few things and have a few days of good food to warm up for more good food over Christmas. You can probably see in the mirror, some of the extent of the ham he does. We shall miss him this year. I've found that a well positioned sticker declaring your love for a country or location goes down a treat. Having kept a car in central London, they suffer damage from bad driving and just mindless drunken vandalism. I had a black car. Not quite murdered out but it did have a slight drug dealer vibe so I put a Jamaican flag over the parcel shelf. Nobody would dare touch a Yardie's car. Funny how these things make a difference. Perhaps a 'I left my heart in Tijuana' sticker will help...

@tony b I thought you’d be happy to have something to sink your teeth into, a good distraction from this crazy world we’re in right now the Anthony bourdain episode is worth watching. I looked for it on YouTube and couldn’t find it but it’s on the Apple store for $2.99. Worth investing in that episode prior to planning a cross country or international trip

Hot & Fast brisket is a good way to go sometimes. You had extra time, so why not a batch of burnt ends??

To quote the movie Sandlot - "Yer Killin' Me, Smalls!"

Here are the last two itineraries I made for our trip in 2018 and for my 40th in 2019. My wife likes to know where we are going so she can look up the places on her phone to see the pictures of the food so I started making these the last two trips. These couple pages represent many hours of research so please enjoy. You literally cannot go wrong if you utilize these Valle de Guadelupe 2018.docx Troy’s 40th Itinerary_2019.docx

That is crazy. I started the wrapping thing by accident when my brisket got done early once and it stuck with me. I usually wrap and rest my brisket for 2-4 hours with 2-3 being the perfect timeframe and 4+ starting to dry out. I’ve done a few when it’s rested for 5 hours. you’ll be fine

Thanks for posting. Looks absolutely fantastic.

Troble that looks superb. It looks to be medium rare. Were you happy with the flavours. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ha. New sofa arrived from Italy on Thursday so that has kept us occupied and distracted me from waiting for KK angst. The ship has been hanging around at sea, not far from the port for days and was predicted to dock at 9am tomorrow morning. This morning the ETA at dock suddenly changed to 8 December. Oh well, the KKs almost certainly won't make it through customs and to me this coming week. Fingers crossed for the week after. COVID, Christmas and Customs. What could go wrong???

That's a beauty.. I love the terra blue when it's that dark but it's really rare.

@tekobo congratulations- I just caught up on this thread. Can’t wait to see what your ordered, but also equally curious as to what you plan to cook first to show off your newfound setup. Any ideas?

Cooking in the dark is it fly by night or something else. Tri-tip with a Plowboys BBQ Bovine bold rub, a good accompaniment. Wendy's chilli brought to bear over a fire in the Columbian or Peruvian clay pot and tested to it's max. It held together.

Post-Thanksgiving burn-out Pork Chop dinner. A nice, thick Iowa chop, direct, main grate, apple wood chunks, 350F. Rub was a chipotle based one. First time using it. Not bad. Sides of melting potatoes and steamed broccoli.

So near and yet so far. The MOL Treasure will be going by near Portsmouth, where I live, in the next hour or so on its way to Rotterdam. Should be heading back my way in a day or two. The Husband says there is no point going down to the sea front to see if I can see the ship go by. He reckons it will be about 20 miles out at sea. Boo.

Pizza night here. Made two loaded pizzas so there will be some for a snowy day. Pizza Crust.

Thanks all for your tips. I used bits and pieces of what you all suggested and from Amazingribs.com. I wetbrined the turkey overnight in a stock pot, and I spatchcocked it. I seasoned with butter, a dry rub, and a sprinkling of herbs from the garden. I cooked it in the 300-325 range and removed it at 155 breast / 160 leg temperature. I put a lump of apple-wood in the fire basket, but I forgot to wait for blue smoke before putting my turkey in, so I probably got some black smoke on it. It still tasted great and was very moist. Highly recommend smoked turkey - easy to execute and delicious!

I am glad that sear triggered multiple posts from you Tyrus. So good you greeted it seven times! It was a divine combination for a weekday dinner. The space left on the plate was for sweet potato fries which were still cooking. The orange mush on the right was one year old home made kimchi which was delicious and just right in combination with the duck, mushrooms and fries. One to repeat.

Quite a few out there, most are pretty good. MEATER+ is the only "no wires" probe that I'm aware of and consequently, the only thing that will work on a rotisserie cook. For regular cooks, I use the Maverick XR-50 - up to 4 different probes. Good range on the receiver. Battery life is pretty good too. And if I'm using the Guru fan, I'm using it's probes, which are very good. From experience, once heat soaked and stable, the difference between dome and main grate temperatures is only about 20F.

Exciting times indeed tekobo! I can’t wait to see what you eventually with, when they arrive! What’s the first cook for both of them going to be? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No secret there - a 16, a 23 and a 32. As for fatigue? It is not possible to be fatigued while you are waiting for a KK, or three. Dennis sent me photos of the finished KKs in September and I have been sneaking a look at them now and again to remind myself of what is coming my way. You can't buy love but you can sure buy KK happiness!

Thanks @Troble that’s what I’m going to have to do, and maybe even throw it in the oven to reheat. What stall?? Already at 185, and feeling pretty tender in a few spots. Who says you can’t do a Brisket in 5 hours?! SMDH. My last one, a smaller one, wasn’t ready after 13 hours.