Leaderboard

I got an E-Mail notification early this morning from KK that my grill had shipped, I called the shipping company this morning and they stated that the shipment was out for delivery today, lol! I hadn't even set up delivery, I had to call them and convince them to bring it tomorrow even though it was already in transit to me today. So I should be getting it tomorrow. Stoked!

The purpose of my trip, is geocaching.. If you are not familiar with it, geocaching is kind of an electronic treasure hunt carried out with computers, gps units, and compasses.. Lately smart phones cover most of it. On of the goals is to find a cache hidden in each month, since may 2000. Finding later ones is no big deal, but the ones from the year of 2000 and some of them in 2001 are far and few between, as nobody even knew what it was back then. Add to that, people quit caching, pass away etc. So I live in Arizona but I need once cache in Kc, Mo.. Another called Mingo, near Colby KS (oldest surviving cache) and there is going to be an event with around 2000 people in Colby KS to honor the 20th anniversary of that cache. (including me). So I am flying out Thursday to KC, have one night there, then driving to Colby on Friday to attend the event over the weekend. I am going by way of Wellsville KS, where my mom was born in 1922 at the parsonage of the Wellsville KS First baptist church. I hope to stop by there on the way and see it, if I can get somebody to let me in. All that to say, I will leave KC MO early on Friday, and be driving West, to complete my mission I have one in Colorado, and three in Utah, and my mission will be complete!! Its called the Jasmer challenge.... If any of you are geocachers, my cache name is. Cache__Monkeys. (with two underscores) Now there is more information then you ever wanted!! )

Yup, my shipping notice from Dennis came very early this morning. Hey Forrest: I’m real curious if the trucking company will have a pallet jack or something to move the KK to its resting place.

So, honestly, how good is commercial KC barbecue? The best barbecue I've tasted in my life, including any made by myself or friends, or tasted at a competition, was a brisket in Elgin, Texas. I flew some back to New York, and friends who could afford to do so started ordering it shipped. (It was of course best fresh, on the spot.) The Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook is one of the most inspirational cookbooks on my barbecue bookshelf, more for thought patterns than recipes, and suggests this quality is widespread in Texas. Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto has the best actionable advice of my books; I've never been there but I suspect the line is worth the wait. In my experience, a random town such as College Station doesn't come close to these standards, and yet Texas achieves standards that leaves the rest of the country behind. I nearly became a professor at Duke, and during several visits I intensively explored the barbecue scene. I drove several hours to what was supposed to be the best barbecue in the state. Blocks away, I asked a wizened old guy sitting on the corner for directions. "Why would you want to go so far, when [pointing on the same block] is better?" I should have taken his advice. Commercially available North Carolina pulled pork was uniformly so bad that it taught me to abandon the apparent ropey standard in favor of a slightly less cooked but juicier version that can't hold for as many hours. I'm not trying to dis commercial KC barbecue, I just fear that people most familiar with good home-cooked barbecue will be disappointed. The quality of barbecue that KC places can deliver at affordable scale is impressive. Working class locals appreciate this tradition, and these places can keep other kinds of popular restaurants at bay. Nevertheless, with the wrong expectations one will be disappointed. When I visited India for a month, I went with the wrong expectations. At a Hyderabad conference, I was essentially a well-cared-for hostage, with few opportunities to try restaurants. (Mumbai is another story.) While no culinary moment blew me away, I came over a month's time to appreciate the rhythm of Indian food, something no cookbook can convey. KC barbecue is a part of life in KC, even if no culinary moment will blow you away. Go in with those expectations, hoping to come to understand the rhythm. I would be thrilled to stand corrected, here. I have met far more naturally talented cooks than I have become. I've worked hard for modest reward. At a far more talented scale, Bruce Springsteen should be a far better musician given the work he has put in. Also from my experience in research mathematics, I've come to understand and accept that life is like this. In cooking, it is most effective to find ways to replace talent with reproducible technique. Sous vide is widely despised because it does this so effectively. I am known on this forum for the smoke pot, and the bread steam generator, two devices that reduce talent to technique. Many friends have told me that my barbecue is the best they've tasted in their lives. I'm certain that my barbecue is typical of much of our collective barbecue on this forum, and in a different league than most commercially available barbecue. This is because Dennis has made the ultimate contribution to reducing talent to technique: A Komodo Kamado really works.

Making me hungry Tony! Nice cook. Have you ever had German potatoe salad? My dad used to make it and it was delicious.

This bloke is excellent. Showing how he cooks beef and lettuce over fire. It’s about a 20 minute video. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think most "restaurant" food can be made better at home, if you study how to do it, and perfect your craft. However KC bbq, is a whole different style I am told, and I haven't experienced it. Like the place I mentioned in Atlanta, Woods Family BBQ, it was an experience. A couple next to ask, dressed in their Sunday best, and in typical GA hospitality, struck up an conversation with us, and when they found we hadn't eaten there before, gladly gave us the low down. They were eating a smoked short rib, looked the size of a small loaf of bread almost, really great bark and deep smoke flavor.. When you can taste smoke hours later, I am a fan.. They had a "side dish" where they took a small bag of Fritos, dumped in a scoop of Brunswick stew (chopped bbq) and a handful of cheese. Simple but something I had never thought of. So regardless of the specific dish, I look forward to the entire experience, and perhaps as you say, the "rhythm". I am going to research the books you mention as well.. thanks! Warren

Surprise Forrest. Congrats too!! Just in time for the weekend.. Send us pics. The delivery company has had mine since Tuesday. Still waiting for them to schedule the delivery....so close. Hopefully, tomorrow. GrillnBrew, fingers crossed for Memorial Day.

Can you fit lunch into your schedule? Or eat at one and get something to go (takeout) from the other for the ride/flight home.

Can't go wrong with the Burnt Ends at Arthur Bryant's!

I'd eat that! It was 83F here yesterday, so I got to eat dinner outside on the deck for the 1st time this year!! Since I had been hanging out at a buddy's brewery in the afternoon with friends, dinner had to be a short prep one. First a shot of my buddy's beer - a very nice watermelon sour (Berliner Weiss). I also brought home some of his excellent blonde ale to go with dinner. A couple of snags (cheddar brat and apple & maple brat - the split one). Direct, main grate 325F, with apple wood chunks. Plated with homemade potato salad, spicy German mustard and that very nice blonde ale.