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A very good friend of mine died last September, very tragically, on my birthday none the less. He was a big marvel and Avengers fan and we had a long conversation about the Avengers campus at California Adventures and the shawarma cart & Infinity Stone hand /drink holder they sold there. Since he didn’t have kids I promised to bring him home the shirt and drink holder. Unfortunately he didn’t make it to accept it but I went to Disneyland l/CA Adventures with my family last week and I bought the shirt & cup holder as promised. Made the chicken shawarma meal tonight that he would’ve been here for. Some meals mean more than others and tonight was a special one…..

So actually, this haw been VERY helpful. I went out and checked the clasp before starting in on a full scale gasket replacement, and to my surprise, it was a lot looser than I thought. I could almost turn the nuts by hand. So I loosened it up, reset the position of the bottom clasp, tightened it, and it looks, like from what I can test, that I have a good seal.So maybe I have put off the gasket replacement for a while? I am going to make hash and chili out of the toasted brisket and count my blessings. Thanks, y'all. Stay tuned. Doing spare ribs, probably on Wednesday.

So sorry to hear about your loss. He would be proud of you for following through with your promise. A man of his word.

Caraway Seed Sourdough 200 g Sourdough starter 350 g Brewed Coffee, (90°F to 110°F) (start 275 g) 525 g APF(start 375 g APF, 75 g Rye ) 10 g Caraway seeds 11 g Sugar 12 g Salt 50 g yellow cornmeal, for coating the pan Stir together all of the ingredients except the cornmeal and salt in a large bowl. starting with 450 grams of the flour and 275 grams coffee. Let the shaggy mess rest for 20 minutes covered. Then add remaining 75 grams of APF, 50 grams of coffee and salt, Mix then let rest an hour. Then stretch and fold. Stretch and fold two hours after that and another 2 hours after that, the third stretch and fold is optional. Then refrigerate overnight in a lightly oiled bowl covered. The next morning let the dough come up to room temp for two hours. Then place loaf in a floured Banneton bowl, covered for 4 to 6 hours. It should become nice and puffy. Gently poke your index finger into the top of the loaf, if the indentation remains, your bread is ready to bake. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 450°F Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and cut to shape for dutch oven with tabs for handles. Put the cornmeal on the paper and gently roll the loaf on to the sheet and score the loaf however you like. Immediately put it in the oven. Turn oven temp down to 435°F immediately after putting the bread in the oven Bake the bread for 30 minutes and remove lid, cook an additional 20 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when you tap it on the bottom. The interior temperature of the bread should register at least 205°F on a digital thermometer. Turn the oven off, crack the door open, and allow the bread to remain inside for 10 additional minutes; this helps keep the crust crisp. Remove the bread from the oven and cool it on a rack. And wipe any excess cornmeal off the bottom.

Pumpernickel sourdough 200 g Sourdough starter 325 g Brewed Coffee, (90°F to 110°F) (start 275 g) 525 g APF(start 375 g APF, 75 g Rye ) 12 g Cocoa Powder 11 g Sugar 80 g Molasses 12 g Salt 10 g minced onion 50 g yellow cornmeal, for coating the pan Stir together all of the ingredients except the cornmeal and salt in a large bowl. starting with 450 grams of the flour and 275 grams coffee. Let the shaggy mess rest for 20 minutes covered. Then add remaining 75 grams of APF, 50 grams of coffee and salt, Mix then let rest an hour. Then stretch and fold. Stretch and fold two hours after that and another 2 hours after that, the third stretch and fold is optional. Then refrigerate overnight in a lightly oiled bowl covered. The next morning let the dough come up to room temp for two hours. Then place loaf in a floured Banneton bowl, covered for 4 to 6 hours. It should become nice and puffy. Gently poke your index finger into the top of the loaf, if the indentation remains, your bread is ready to bake. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 450°F Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and cut to shape for dutch oven with tabs for handles. Put the cornmeal on the paper and gently roll the loaf on to the sheet and score the loaf however you like. Immediately put it in the oven. Turn oven temp down to 435°F immediately after putting the bread in the oven Bake the bread for 30 minutes and remove lid, cook an additional 20 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when you tap it on the bottom. The interior temperature of the bread should register at least 205°F on a digital thermometer. Turn the oven off, crack the door open, and allow the bread to remain inside for 10 additional minutes; this helps keep the crust crisp. Remove the bread from the oven and cool it on a rack. And wipe any excess cornmeal off the bottom.

My KK is so old the wheels are square 👺

A dog food scoop works well for getting the bulk out from the top, then the shop vac.

Mine is so old that Dennis included two sticks to rub together to start a fire in it.

I've been making caraway seed rye and pumpernickel, i'd be happy to post the recipes if anyone would like them

Well the chickens look good 😁

There's your winning lottery ticket!

:::waving::: I still have my pre-Dennis cooker (aka Mexi-K). That MUST be more than 20 years, right? I lost track of time. The neighbor's tree fell on it and took off a tile or two on the legs, but otherwise it's intact. Still has its Johnnyboy Jammies (cover) on it, although that's surely worse for wear. The K doesn't get as much use as I'd like, though. I'm just one person, and I just don't usually want to fire up the grill for a single burger or steak. And forget about using an entire pork butt! I KNOW supper would taste better, but, you know, inertia. When I fired it up a couple of years ago, the fireman from across the street came to investigate. So much smoke, he figured that I was either electing a new Pope, or my house was on fire. Turned out to be neither. And yes, I do still knit. xo all!

Forgot to take pictures while cooking but did a quick reverse sear on an 8 Oz filet earlier today. The onion rings were air fried

Yes, it could be your age. You're just too young to get the knack of it in one or two tries. Those pebbles are really nice looking. Best of luck on your first cook.

halfway into making this shakshuka, i realized the tomatoes took off all the seasoning on the carbon steel pan. time to invest in some cazuelas…

Last spring we were looking for a nice housewarming gift for friends who were finally moving into an incredible home they had built. There were very nice comments about Dustin and RealSharpKnife.com on KitchenKnifeForums. A Kurosaki Fujin 210 gyuto caught my eye. I already had a Kurosaki Shizuku 210 in R2 steel (purchased elsewhere) that I really liked so I bought the Fujin with custom handle. Our friends still love it. Here are the 2 of them.

some wood fired action on the alfa today. i think i've made pizza once on this thing. every other cook has been non-pizza. baton bread yakitori skewers (roast, dip in tare sauce, roast again) hasselback potatoes garlic haricot vert chilean sea bass (tarragon buerre blanc)

I’m still just using my oven in the house 😬

mine did not come with one as it is already 6". it only has one shaft placement position. unlike the larger grill baskets that come with 8">6" reducers and 2 position shaft baskets.