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I went to my butcher looking for a Pork belly and he came out with the meatiest porka I ever saw, a 12 and 1/2 lb'er. Gorgeous and skinned perfectly wrapped in airtight vacuum seal. I'll skip the naked pics and show you the finished. Dry brined with maple syrup and some Makers Mark with the pink curing salt, brown or turinado sugar, salt, cayenne, pepper and some dry thyme. Sliced in two because the piece was quite big to cure as a whole then after a week set on the Lang Smoker over apple, cherry, at 180-210 for 3hrs to 150 degrees. These pieces were sliced up approx 1/4 in. or a shave less to serve as appetizers. The imagination with larger slice gives way to a Konro or even in the KK, but easily done in a skillet. At restaurants nearby they serve these cooked on a bamboo skewer or clipped on the ends of a serving tree dressed in butterscotch sweet sauce and drizzled with Turbinado sugar. Served with your favorite drink, it pairs well with all, it's bacon of course. That old Case xx I found at 2nd hand store worked out as a nice slicer, fingers intact.

Let's not forget that some of the most influential posters here are women. I talked my wife into buying my first ceramic cooker. She figured it would be an upgrade if I stopped using her ex's offset firebox. She bought me my KK 23" Ultimate. And when I put her on the phone with Dennis she was completely charmed. @braindocare you sure your wife didn't just want to talk with Dennis?

This is a non-KK cook, however I was asked to post this recipe so figured this was the best spot. Aji de Gallina is a very traditional Peruvian dish that I like to say is simply a "Peruvian Chicken Curry". It also happens to be my wife's favorite dish and she is from Peru so i have taken a keen interest in learning how to cook it well over the 12 years that we have been together. Here is some info on it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ají_de_gallina I've used a variety of different recipes over the years but when we went to Peru back in 2014 I picked up this book "The Art of Peruvian Cuisine" by Tony Custer and it is really a masterpiece of a book. https://www.amazon.com/Art-Peruvian-Cuisine-Vol/dp/9972920305 Volume I is traditional food, Volume 2 is Peruvian fusion. I've pretty much settled on a recipe that is very similar to the recipe found in the Art of Peruvian Cuisine Vol. 1 I have cooked this dish a lot and I will say that both my mother and law and father in law take to go tupperware's of this dish when they come over and they tell me that I make the best Aji de Gallina in the family (including the family that still lives in Peru) and that they can't find a better version where they live in LA so i'm super confident that if you follow this recipe it will turn out good. it's pretty simple to make. Boil 4-5 chicken breasts in water (sometimes i do 4 sometimes I do 5 however many come in the bulk package I buy) Place whole loaf of white bread in blender along with 1-2 cups of walnuts (today I used a whole package which is closer to 2 cups, no noticeable difference) Use water from boiling chicken to blend with white bread and walnuts Cook one whole red onion in pan for 5 minutes, season generously with oregano & cumin, add garlic (i used one entire head of garlic but I like a lot of garlic, maybe start with 1/2 a head and see how you like it, but i double the garlic amounts on every recipe I encounter) This is the only tricky part......add 2 tablespoons of Aji Amarillo paste. I've done 3 tablespoons and it's a bit too spicy, i like it hot and 2 is the right amount, if you don't like it super hot go with 1 tablespoon, the Aji Amarillo paste is super spicy be careful with that ingredient. Sautee in pan until ready Add mixture from blender stir Add one cup of chicken stock (don't cheap out, get some good stock you will taste the difference) Add one can of Evaportated milk Pound out chicken breasts until they are stringy, add each breast in one at a time and stir continuously this is where the secret trick comes in. I like to take a Aji Amarillo (canned is all i have) and slice it up and add it to the sauce. I really think this gives it a nice depth of flavor without it being too spicy. i only use 1, I've used 2 before and they are too spicy so be careful but if you can source canned Aji Amarillo get them they are fantastic ingredients. I am trying to grow them at my house this year as I think that's the only different between my food and Peru right now if that I don't have access to fresh Aji Amarillo. Make sure you deseed the Aji Amarillo as the seeds are super super spicy Once thoroughly mixed add parmesean cheese. Mix. I also like to add a bit of salt here at the end when I am done and then I let it simmer for 15-30 minutes. Serve with White Rice. Traditionally it's served with a hard boiled egg, but I never do that. We just at it with rice and I make it look pretty for the picture then we mix it all up. The dish will be even better the next day as the flavors settle overnight so I typically make this size of a batch and we eat it for 2-3 days. @jonj @tony b @MacKenzie @tekobo @Tyrus @Basher - you should have a bottle of Aji Amarillo paste in the package I sent you so this is in your wheeelhouse should you desire. It's a simple, easy but super tasty dish. I hope you enjoy it.

Midweek cook with some left over Annatto marinade Turned out pretty good And plated Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(2) Bacon - The Simpsons - YouTube

Happy Birthday. Funny, most are in the position of asking the wife if it's affordable or too big from the 23. Glad to see you bought a cover, that you'll never regret. The extra cookers are always a wonder, if you have kids on their own, gift it to them otherwise it's craiglist ,or local area listing on the internet. For me though, I like my toys, whomever has the most when they die is the winner (BBQ wise), just a bit confused if I win, where to send the trophy.

G’day folks. Haven’t posted many cooks lately because I’ve been busy with a few things. Still cooking and eating 😳. One of my major distractions has just been eliminated 🤔. Another distraction has been building my time machine. It has the ability to look into the past! Here it is: Here it is looking at 2.5 million years ago: 2.5 million year old light. This is pre-processed. I’ll post the fully processed image later. Something streaked across the sky during exposure. Here’s a look at 7500 years ago. Also pre-processed.

Hey Tyrus: I was a little confused about how you knew I bought a grill cover. Then I realized what’s going on. I should have been more precise in my first post. I have a grill gazebo where I’ll place the KK. However, you are also correct. In fact I did buy a Sunbrella grill cover from Dennis. BTW, I guess we are almost neighbors. Wonder if there are any KKs in Rhode Island. Syzygies: I was emailing and using whatsapp with Dennis. As far as I know my wife did not call him. But she has a funny look on her face right now, lol.

Got it. Thanks!

Good question @tony b I generally just fill it till it’s full because usually a full load of bread blocks a lot of water absorption, that being said I have made that sauce “too thin” by adding too much water so I generally fill it, blend it, mash it and I’ll add a bit more water if necessary. You want it thick out of the blender because you still have to add 1 cup of chicken broth and a whole can of evaporated milk. So it will thin out when you add to it

Thanks, I'm definitely going to try this soon (need to do my Al Pastor first!) One quick question - how much of the boiled chicken water do you add to the blender with the bread and walnuts? The consistency in the picture of the blender looks pretty thick.

Indeed! But, the silver lining on the POSK dark cloud was that it introduced me to ceramic cookers, which ultimately lead me to Dennis and his KKs. My POSK K7 kept its tiles on pretty well, but the top hat area crumbled around the spider assembly. RIP!

I got a new position at work which keeps me really busy so I've only done limited grilling lately and not much time on the forums. I swore off buying new grills so I couldn't do that again but I never said anything about a new truck. Me and Mrs skreef wanted to get a bigger trailer (a 5th wheel) and our Nissan Titan was not going to cut it. Back in January I started looking around for a HD truck. Ended up doing a factory order of a Ram. From order date to dealer delivery was about 11 weeks. Here she is: Ram 3500 6.4 Hemi, 4x4 crew cab, short bed Laramie lv1, towing technology package, bed utility package, and 5th wheel/gooseneck prep GVWR 11,000 Max Towing 14,525 CCC 4025 GCWR 21,500

HURRAY! Fingers crossed, I'm scheduled for my 2nd shot on Monday afternoon.

I found some dried whole aji amarillo chilies so I thought I'd rehydrate and give them (actually 1) a go when I try this recipe. Thanks for posting it @Troble.

Great Troble, nice description. I do appreciate a bit of heat nowadays in my food although it took many years of adjustment and tolerance to break the pepper barrier. Coming from northern european ancestry the diet was simpler and tamer, luckily we've turned the corner. That pepper looks like a familiar foe of mine, the Habanero....I'll wear gloves, eye protection and a mask..........unfortunately it's all genetics with this hot stuff. I can eat horseradish by the tablespoon and woudn't blink an eye, we'll exercise the caution and follow your warning

You musta read my mind Mac, when I did this you always come to mind as making some great bacon. I believe you have a slicer because your cuts always look perfect. Definitely try out a sweet mix on these for guests, it's a winner.

Looks delicious, Tyrus. I hope to be doing one in the near future, once we open up from COVID restrictions so I can get the belly.

Make sure you have some cold drinks

A source of stories you'd have to get us drunk to tell is the Kamado Fraud Forum. It concerns Richard Johnson's ceramic cooker company. He first put tiles on ceramic cookers; his tiles didn't stay on. Various of us here first owned ceramic cookers from this company; you'll see the acronym POSK for these cookers (no one remembers what this stands for). My tiles all fell off, and the KFF featured a photo of my repair. After seeing the lax supervision and workmanship at Richard's factory in Sacramento, I wondered how anyone's tiles ever stayed on. I gave my POSK to a neighbor when I bought my 2009 23" KK Ultimate. My neighbor now has an impressive collection of barbecues; the POSK is no longer part of the collection. My 2009 23" KK Ultimate has all its tiles. It still looks good as new. Richard abandoned a Kamado factory in Indonesia. Dennis has a thriving wood flooring business. His workers mentioned they had friends who'd lost jobs to an abandoned business making ceramic cookers. Dennis, being a good guy, decided to resurrect the business to help these workers. Dennis, being a tad obsessive, got very interested in improving the product. While there remains a superficial resemblance (tiles on a ceramic cooker), the Richard original is junk, while the Dennis modern incarnation is the best ceramic cooker on the market. Think styrofoam cooler versus a Yeti Tundra cooler, Portland cement versus modern ceramics. I was actually aware of the earliest Dennis KK models when I bought my POSK, but I fell victim to preferring "originals". Both Bob Dylan and Manfred Mann sing versions of "Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo)". I prefer the original, even though it's close to unlistenable. My bad. I should have realized that Dennis was the real deal; I missed being one of his first KK customers. I made up for this in 2009.

@tony b looking good! Super easy cooking. Can’t wait to see your al pastor!

Hi, No idea, I just joined a few days ago after ordering mine lol

I'm very excited to join this elite community! @C6Bill - Are there many other KK owners in this part of the country? Maybe we can set up a southern New England KK owners group. @MacKenzie - Yes I do. Also, hard-working and full of surprises. She was outside with me for a couple of hours on Sunday helping to clean the Fire Magic. When I started buying Japanese knives a couple of years ago she embraced the change and now uses nothing but. I'm a lucky guy. 😁

@tekoboi had to slightly bend the handles on my lower grate to make my double drip pan fit. Dennis sent me this video. It was super easy to adjust IMG_6811.MP4

Looks tasty, Tony.

So, 1st cook with my "cheapo" Trombo King vertical spit. Chicken Shawarma from Trader Joes. I used the double drip pan. Main grate, 325F for an hour before starting to slice. Started slicing off about every 20 minutes. All done. Flour tortillas (purchased!), tzatziki sauce, tomatoes and red onions. Side salad. Crazy Hazy IPA from a local brewery. Close up. Easy, peasy cook. Soaking the vertical spit in PBW. Left the drip pan in the KK to cool off. It will get soaked likewise today. Next up - the Al Pastor tacos!!

Seriously true!! 🤑

Very nice truck Charles! Guess the 5th wheel mobile home will be next lol! My daughter wanted a pet so she bought herself a Great Dane puppy. Alas they grow very fast so she bought a pickup truck to haul him around! The things we do for our pet friends lol

Ckreef they put that steering wheel on the wrong side. Do you think they can fix that? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, I finally bought a Bonfire, which was delivered last Friday. The KK Shopping Club pressure was too much to resist. I haven't had a chance to try it yet as it has been pretty rainy, super windy, or both here for the past couple of weeks. It sure looks good, though. Now I just have to get the chain saw running...

Don’t know how I missed this post, but here’s the chart I consult for my back yard. My skies are Bortle 4. https://www.cleardarksky.com/c/CfMtnOvrVAkey.html?1 Our local astronomy club also does observing from a local microbrewery close to this location (Bortle 3’ish): https://www.cleardarksky.com/c/FnMtnObkey.html?1 I know you saw this one on Instagram. Post it here for the locals too.

Astrophotography is a fun blend of science, engineering, and art. Hits a lot of my interests in one activity.