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35% fresh milled spelt + 35% fresh milled red fife + 30% Cairnspring Trailblazer (T85). Sourdough, not desem.

Fired up one side of the big grill for a big ribeye that was dry aged for 50 days, shrimp, and a foil packet of diced taters for today's supper, plus a couple of pork chops for later in the week, all grilled over hickory and a bit of oak. Steak was nice and tender and supper was very tasty!

The crumb. Very soft and incredibly flavorful. Not sour at all. Definitely more Desem in my future.

i just sold it along with a bunch of probes and the guru fan. honestly, i hate cooking with all this stuff. all the wires, the cables, keeping it away from rain, using the app. keeping it powered... i don't use it anymore. i don't overnight cook anything, i don't walk away from my cooks. i can run the kk with my eyes closed. so yea, i'm happy to close this chapter of my life. haha..😅

After watching Guga's video (2023 BBDO LETD LCS Let's Deliver Carbon Capture BL 15 OLV BUSLDR SOC TRUEV HUM NO 15s YouTube Truevi), I thought that I'd give the compound butter idea a go, seeing as I had the HonDashi in the pantry already. Chuck steak rubbed with Rodney Scott's Porcini, Garlic & Herb pepper rub, grilled on the lower grate. Top half-grate is spinach & cheese stuffed portabello mushrooms with garlic panko crumbs. Plated with some nice cheesy polenta. I did mix in some of the dry rub into the compound butter to tie it all together. I did notice the added flavor that the HonDashi added. Interesting. I'll probably try it again sometime.

Yes. I owned and gave away the Lodge Double Dutch Oven, recommended by various books and predating the Challenger, because it only made boules. I considered and rejected the Fourneau Bread Oven for exactly the downsides they note. The Challenger just works, and it bakes bâtards. I used to always bake a pair of loaves and give one away, which favored my aluminum disk in a cake pan for steam. I now bake one bâtard at a time, which favors the Challenger. The KK appears to handle my steam method just fine, but when we spent more than my first two cars on an Italian range for our kitchen, we blinked. We'll still use my steam method for free form baking in the KK, but like @Pequod the Challenger has become my default both inside and in the KK.

They look great !!!!

You will love retirement, i have hobbies that keep me so busy i don't have time to do something stupid like getting a job lol

Exactly this. I have the same. Still use my FireBoard but only for internal temp and cook tracking. Used the fan twice ever…though it would be piece of mind for overnight cooks or when I’m out on the lake. It was a good crutch to have but the temp control just on the KK is too easy to keep for overnight. Most cooks I don’t even use the FireBoard anymore. Most often used cord or cable now is just the cold smoker attachment. As terrible as it sounds, now that I’ve got it dialed in, I use it for all of my long smokes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Totally. I bought the KK for its simplicity. I hate overcomplicating it with all the wires and electronics.

I have a propane Ooni that will have to suffice for now. I had contemplated building a roll-off roof observatory in my backyard, but it would be very expensive, and I'd have to fight the HOA. Renting space in New Mexico is cheaper, and I get about 200 clear nights per year in excellent sky conditions. As I get closer to pulling the trigger on retirement, people are trying to convince me I'd get bored—utter nonsense. If anything, I have too many interests in food-related things, astronomy, etc. And then there's the University of Virginia down the road, which offers free auditing of classes to...<ahem> senior citizens. I don't think I have time for this silly work thing anymore.

Living in northern California...not really.

My gallery is here: https://www.astrobin.com/users/jpridder86/

My desem starter is gaining strength and smelling fruity and floral as it’s supposed to. Should be able to do a 100% fresh milled desem bread this weekend.

I just keep it simple with All Trump and KA Whole Wheat. No complaints on these two CA61CBD9-AF37-4C3D-A881-482DB95933F8.heic