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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/06/2016 in all areas

  1. CC, I understand your point on the CyberQ (I said DigiQ, but I incorrectly Identified it, sorry about that.) It is not indispensable, but I work from home and often get interrupted while prepping to entertain (which my wife and I do frequently). I use the DigiQ with an app on my iPhone called 'CyberCook'. This app lets me keep a record of my cooks that I can refer to allowing me to make small tweaks on subsequent cooks. I also find it useful to monitor temp remotely via 3 independent probes (think 3 roasts or 2 pork butts and a chicken cooked concurrently). I can increase or decrease my pit temp and maintain it via the guru fan (to +/- 5 degrees) when I'm away from the house and need to cook a few Briskets. It gives me a better sense of when the cook will finish if I'm running errands while cooking Low n Slow. Sometimes I find myself cooking overnight and the alarming lets me know if something is going awry or is finishing faster than expected, and it will wake me up just before the cook finishes. It is not for everyone, but in some circumstances it provides assistance when assistance is either unfeasible or inconvenient.
    2 points
  2. Ken and Ryan (and anyone else who has a KK 32” and a smaller KK): For direct high heat cooks (burgers, steaks, etc.), I tend not to heat soak the grill. I do what I need to do to get Smaug up to 500-600ºF on the dome thermometer, which takes me 10-15 minutes tops, cook what I want to cook, and then shut down. If you’re doing that sort of cook, how much more charcoal will the KK 32” burn than the smaller grill?
    1 point
  3. As Ken noted, you don't NEED a Guru, but's really nice to have one in my book. But, I will second his suggestion to get the rotisserie. I held off until now (just received mine) and I can't wait to use it! Like we tell newbies here: Don't fight it, just go out now and buy a bigger belt, because the amazing food you're about to produce on your KK will be so irresistible that you will need it!!
    1 point
  4. Dennis called me this afternoon about my rotisserie basket - blew me away! After all this surgery, he's still focused on his Customers!! He's doing well, but the shoulder is going to take some time and serious PT to get better. Fingers crossed that the eye surgery recovery goes smoothly as well; he still has some slight swelling that's affecting his vision a bit, but still major improvement in his vision over before. He's one of the great storytellers, too! Loved our chat!
    1 point
  5. Hello fellow KK aflicted home cooks, I've been experimenting with Pizza using my sourdough starter as the base and am starting to get some rather good results, IMHO thought that I would share my technique and see what refinements others may have to offer. My sourdough starter has been 'alive' for about 10 years now. It is an excellent base for sour batard, baguettes and numerous other rustic breads so I thought "Why not make a pizza?" If you have access to a sourdough starter, my dough building recipe is as follows, yield is about 3 pizza's with a medium thin crust. These are not Napolitano style pizzas, those I have yet to attempt due to difficultly getting the pizza to slide off my peel with the amount of ingredients I like to put on them. So think 'thin crust' pizza here. for the Dough Combine these ingredients in a bowl and mix/knead into a dough ball and knead it until it has formed a good gluten structure and looks Silky (2 minutes on medium speed in a kitchenmaid mixer with a dough hook is about right for me): 8 oz. Sourdough starter at (166% hydration) Add 9 oz. fresh water 18 oz (by weight) bread flour 1/3 oz Olive oil Let the dough rest for about an hour, then knead in (by hand) about 3/8 oz. of salt (use good salt like Pink Himalayan Salt). Salt inhibits the gluten formation of the dough, so it is best to let the gluten form without salt and then knead in after the dough fully hydrates by sitting for the mentioned hour. If you don't have an hour 30 minutes is fine. Once the salt is kneaded in, form a ball and place into a Stainless steel bowl to rise. Depending on how vigorous your starter is and the temperature of your environment, you will then wait till the dough doubles. Then you can portion into smaller balls of dough ( i used 12 oz. per pizza crust) to complete their rise (again doubling) before you form your crusts. I roll mine out on a floured wooden peel to about 14" in diameter, roughly 1/8" thick. Obviously it is easier to make the dough a day before. In this case after you knead in the salt, you can put the dough ball into an oiled Stainless steel bowl, cover with plastic wrap and then place it into your refrigerator. Then when you get up in the morning, you can take the amount of dough you want to use for tonight's bake, form a ball and let it come up to temperature and rise. It will rise a surprising amount in the refrigerator overnight believe it or not. You can hold this dough in the refrigerator for up to a week and it just gets better with age. At some point you will find that the dough is fully risen in the fridge and you must then use it, but it takes a long time and the sourness of the dough increases as it "ferment's" under refrigeration. KK preheating regimen is as follows: Fill charcoal basket and light in 3 locations equidistant from each other. Use the upper grate with the sear grate with pizza stone on top, (longer legs bearing on the upper grate so the pizza stone is way up in the lid dome. This keeps the shorter handles upward facing and the stone rides at about that height. open from draft and rear clean out door so lots of air is flowing. Dome lid is screwed open about 3 revolutions allowing for free flowing draft. It takes my KK, a 23 OTB about 90 minutes to heatsoak the stone to 400- 425 degrees. I have found that any temp of 450 will cook the crust faster than the toppings resulting in too much char for my taste. If you have fewer toppings you can use a thinner crust (Napolitano style) and cook at higher temperature resulting in a cracker like crust, but I've not yet achieved consistency with this style of pizza. To build my favorite pizza I use the following: Pesto for the sauce lightly coating the area of crust to be topped. then I add Fontina and mozzerella cheeses, Sliced Mushrooms, sliced red onion, sliced fennel bulb, slice kalamata olives, thin strips of prosciutto, small balls of Mild Italian sausage, rings of Bell pepper and that is about it. once toppings are in place, I roll the edges to keep the sauce and cheese from running off the edges (about 13" in diameter now) and take the wooden peel with the pizza to the KK at 425 degrees. I use a steel peel to make sure that the crust is adequately loosened from he wooden peel then place the wooden peel on the stone and gentle shake the pizza off the wooden peel using the steel peel to help it along onto the stone. It generally takes about 7 minutes to really set and hold shape, then I use the steel peel to rotate the most cooked side of the pizza to the area where the pizza is least cooked, this keep the pizza cooking evenly. I am basically rotating the pizza on the stone to balance out the browning of the crust. A raw pizza, cooking pizza and some results are attached below. I think they are the best Pizza's I've ever had, but I know there is always room for improvement. Let me know if you have any tips or tricks that I can try to improve the results. I assure you that the crust is better than most folks can imagine! Buon Appetito!
    1 point
  6. Thanks Ceramic Chef! those are some kind words indeed. Much appreciated!
    1 point
  7. VacMaster VP215 Today (April 6, 2016) only, VacMaster is selling (at least in the US) the VP215 for 30% off, using code CHAMP. That comes out to $630, less than I paid for my smaller air pump VP115. I recognize the pecking order here. I love the size of my VP115. The oil pump of the larger VP215 is an extra step but worth it by all accounts. My VacMaster has worked for years in light duty home use. The vacuum is chamber machine league, blowing away any clamp machine. Would a better oil pump create a more extreme vacuum? Likely, but I haven't actually needed this. Would an oil pump survive moisture better, following the above notes? Of course, but I've been careful, and I'm factoring in the expense of replacing my machine against the cost of a several times more expensive machine I wouldn't need to replace. Light duty home use here, and I have other expenses. We still have no problems "processing the hunt" e.g. taking an hour to repack a 3 kilo tin of the best anchovies on earth into 4 anchovy packets. For subjective impressions of quality, any chamber machine beats any clamp machine. I'm comparing with very expensive clamp machines. After this, 4 mil bags beat 3 mil bags. One should move to 4 mil bags before worrying about which chamber machine. Many people covet the VP215 as a step up from my VP115. I also covet expensive machines like the Henkelman. It would take personal experience with a machine failing at a quarter of the price, to make me jump.
    1 point
  8. I'm going to list my favorites for you, you will need to prioritize as you see fit. I personally cannot live without any of the following: Dual bottomed Drip pan. Why? It preserves juices without burning them to a crisp, captures dripping perfectly during a turkey cook. Fantastic for low and slows that tend to shed a lot of fat (brisket, ribs, etc.) Large baking/pizza stone. Nothing like cooking your own pizza or baking fresh sourdough bread Teak Side tables, absolutely beautifully built, sturdy as can be and certainly required if you do not have a table near by. They look great too extra basket with splitter. very convenient and works great for Reverse sear cooking. Minimal reconfiguration of hot grates, etc when using the basket splitter A non KK accessory that I truly love is the CyberQ Wifi with the Guru Fan, makes long cooks effortless and allows me to fine tune low n' Slows remotely KK Cover, mine is in Persian Green and fits like a glove to protect my investment Map gas torch for lighting charcoal, really effective and efficient. takes about 90 seconds and you know you are good to go grill floss for keeping the grates free of gunk, inexpensive and highly effective ultimate Rib Rack, really lets you maximize your baby back affliction, if you suffer that way... I think you will find that having a lot of friends is pretty good to. you'll want to cook a bunch of deliciousness often and without those friends to help you consume the amazing food you may need a physician to help manage the side effects. I think the friends are a better investment than the physician (no disrespect to the medical professionals among us)... Ed, I can tell you one thing for sure: You ARE going to have MORE FUN than you ever thought possible COOKING ON A KK! Welcome aboard
    1 point
  9. @dstr8 - dadgummit all anyways! Now I'm starving for lasagna after drooling over this cook! Major league kudos to ya.
    1 point
  10. Good luck, sk.:) It is a tasty looking fatty.:) and gravy to boot.:)
    -1 points
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