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Nixtamalisation report - A+. It is well worth diving down this rabbit hole. I have done this twice now and the second time was even better than the first. In reverse order: Every tortilla in the batch bubbled to order. Not @Syzygiesfull tortilla rise but enough to get me whooping for joy. We tried some tortilla in the hollandaise sauce from the previous course. A combination to die for. I wrote to Tony at Masienda after my first cook and he advised me to use plastic bags to line my tortilla press in place of the grease proof paper that I normally use. Big improvement. Peeled off so much easier. I also asked him about needing to use masa harina (dried masa flour) to get the wet masa to the right consistency. I felt like a pregnant mum who had wanted a natural birth but ended up screaming for the epidural. He reassured me that it was perfectly normal. I didn't want to have to ship more masa harina over from the US and so I asked if I could make my own. He said I could dehydrate my masa and then grind it myself. Here it is, with the bonus that the masa harina is made from the same corn as the wet masa. Fresh masa straight from the grinder, ready to go in the dehydrator. Dried Ground No pictures of the front end of the process but this is what I did: Cooked 500g of corn with 2000g of water and 15g of cal. It took about 1hr and 15 mins for the bolita amarillo corn to get soft(ish) to the bite on the outer kernel while keeping the heart of the kernel hard. Heated slowly and it didn't read over 90C until after 45 minutes. Didn't let it get to boiling. At the end, overall weight was down to 2000g. I decanted the hot mix - corn, nixmatal and all - into a fresh container, added 500g of ice and placed in a sink full of cold water and ice. Once cooled, I left the mix to rest for 24hrs at room temp and then stored it in the fridge without grinding. One recipe that came with the corn said never to put this stuff in the fridge and the other said it was OK to put in the fridge for a couple of days or so. Latter much more convenient, given the need to use the masa within a couple of hours of grinding. When I was ready to grind, I washed the corn in lots of running water (some recipes say not to be too vigorous with your cleaning, others say to be thorough). The Premier grinder is awesome. It comes with rudimentary instructions and I watched a Gujerati woman on YouTube before assembling and using the kit. Dead easy to use and you need to judge the amount of liquid you need to keep the ground corn going round smoothly. A few interventions with spatula needed during the process but it works pretty well on its own for 40 minutes. I suspect I could have stopped at 20 minutes but twice as long was good. I added in my powdered masa when I came to make up the balls and all was good with the world. The Husband said he could understand why Mexican chefs would cry when they tasted tortillas made with fresh masa made from good corn. The best compliment came from one of our guests when he said what a difference it was to eat a tortilla that was not just a tasteless conveyor of its taco contents but a player with a stake in the game. Thanks @Syzygies P.S. No I am not mad and this is not difficult. I cooked the corn two days before I needed to use it. All of the process on the day fitted into the prep for a four course meal that was cooked fresh on the day in a total of three hours active cooking time. I continue in search of the perfect tortilla but, in the meantime, this was pretty damn good.

Just another addition to Tekobo’s international restaurant menu. Well done. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Truly inspiring @tekobo very happy for your success. I’m still sticking with driving 15 minutes to pick up some fresh pressed tortillas from my local Mexican markets but you’re well on your way to being featured on “Taco Chronicles U.K.” I’m certain

NICE !!!! Looking forward to seeing pictures of that beast !!!!

My 42" is En Route to Buffalo NY to cross the border. Still has an ETA of the 28th but it bounces between that and the 27th. Getting closer every day though!

Here is my babies home

Can’t wait to see this one !!!!!!

Wow, great idea. Every time I feel insecure that I'm just not as committed as tekobo, I think back on the Tomato estrattu dehydrator I built a couple of summers ago, and I relax. We love to sous vide potatoes (cold water to 185 F = 85 C for up to two hours) then chill them, then dry them before browning in ghee. The dehydrator is great for the drying step. Making my own masa harina? Wow.

Troble, I have every confidence in you.

My butcher called me today and asked me how to prepare it. We had a lengthy conversation about it, I’ve known this butcher 20+ years no joke. He’s gotta cut it so I can basically spatchcock it and we discussed head on vs off. I plan to cook it on its belly, back up the first few hours then flip it and sauce/mop it a la Rodney Scott to finish it. My concern was when I flipped it and out the stomach facing up that it would not lay flat with the head on. My butcher assured me it would lay just fine with the head and that when he was cleaning it out it was laying find on it’s back/stomach up now the dilemma I’m facing is whether to put the rub and inject it early or just do it day of/morning of. Picking it up tomorrow cooking it early Sunday. Planning for 6-7 hours at 225. butcher said the pig weighs exactly 24 lbs went shopping today got all Ingredients but switched out the Angel food cake & strawberry desert with bread pudding & French vanilla ice cream, added a green bean dish and added a fruit salad 10 dishes (including pig) plus 3 homemade sauces. My wife thinks I’m nuts, but I think I can pull it off

@Troble, I imagine your first decision point re: head on or off will be whether it is a 20 or 30 lb pig. @tekobo's was 9.8 Kgs, or the lower point of your range. I can't wait to see the next episode!

For some reason the search function doesn’t seem to be working this week, when you go to page 2 it gives you an error but I stayed up till 1:30am watching various YouTube videos on cooking a suckling pig. Feel better but still unsure if I’m going to chop the head off and butterfly it or not, will have to see what it looks like tomorrow when I pick it up

You have more gumption that me! I'd never tackle anything this involved.

Troble, lifting the grate and then sliding the pork off at the table sounds like the perfect solution to me. Hopefully with be able to keep the meat in tack this way.

@tekobo you know removing it from the grill was something I hadn’t thought of. I just assumed I’d pick up one end and get my friend to pick up the other but the meat would likely fall apart and be too soft. Now that you brought it up I think I’ll have to lift the grates and carry it over to a table where I’ll have a sheet laid down and then perhaps I can slide it off the grate on to the sheet/table @Basherafter @tekobofirst adventure I’m keen to try to putting it on the top grate and avoiding the basket for the time being. I’d like to keep things as simple as possible this first attempt and I’m also planning on using the double bottom drip pan on the lower grate to ensure there’s no big flare ups from Joyce’s going into the fire. I don’t mind the longer cooks and frankly I have a loose plan that will all be finalized once I see the pigs actual size. I don’t mind starting low and slow and then needing to turn up the heat later if needed, hence why I was planning a longer cook. Like I said I regularly do pork shoulders at 225 that take 12-15 hours so I just can’t wrap my head around a 25lb hog taking 4 hours.

Birthday is a month away Tekobo so definitely cooking on this before and probably on the birth day. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As Tekobo said Troble, you will see when the trotters can be pulled off with tongs and a light flick of a knife. I’m with Tekobo on the temps. Reverse engineer back the cooking times for your convenience. Minimum 4 hours will be plenty. It’s a big enough day for you with the guests without fussing over the cook for 12 hours. Maybe 6 hours at 250f or 4 hours at 300f? Are you cooking in the roti basket or flat over the grill? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@BOC I do the exact same thing with my 32. I’m too lazy to use the splitter most of the time

@tony b I’m sure it would’ve been amazing as always from you

Yesterday's tacos. "Hand" of pork and a few purple sweet poatoes, waiting to go into the KK first thing in the morning. Covered in salt. In the KK after about six hours. Broken out and shredded Taco with purple potato mash at its base and pork, sauce and coriander layered on top. Yummy!

Murphy was working overtime on this one!