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Early anniversary dinner, screw going out. 8 times out of ten I’m thinking I could have made something better at home. Only thing is the cleanup, I’m exhausted! Those oysters were monstrous and delicious. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Flat iron, carrots, air fryer potatoes

I was inspired by @remi cook of my Peruvian polo a la brass so decided to make it tonight. Never disappoints @tony bi ate at a good Peruvian place yesterday and struck up a conversation with the chef who asked me where I sourced ingredients in San Diego…told him I grow my aji Amarillo and we got to discussing the Peruvian green sauce…the real stuff used a herb called Huacatay and I purchase a plant yesterday https://thegrowers-exchange.com/products/huacatay?variant=40098478522449&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&utm_campaign=gs-2019-12-19&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj-iu7pTDhQMV0MzCBB1mJQ-HEAQYASABEgLDnfD_BwE I am going to make it my mission to nail down the authentic version of this sauce this year. The jalapeño substitute is fine but the real deal is so much better. This chef used jarred Huacatay but he asked me to bring him the real stuff along with my fresh aji Amarillo which I’ve already started growing this week….stay tuned for updates but I’m gonna figure this out this year….going to Peru for two week over Christmas so I will get this “Peruvian crack” recipe nailed down this year

i used my rib rack for the first time today. i've had it sitting in my shed since i bought the 19. i don't think it was made for beef ribs, but i couldn't get the single bones to stand up without falling over. i also used wood chunks right on the coals. still works great this way and less hassle.. used only half a basket of charcoal and for almost 8 hours i only burned through half that. what a charcoal miser..

Don’t think you understand. It’s not a question of whether you’re actively making bread. It’s a question of…do you have this toy, just in case. 😈 Here is today’s loaf of 40% fresh milled white sonora which will be going to my wife’s co-worker. She happens to have prolific chickens, so we’ve been the recipients of excess eggs. Quid pro quo.

I'm hoping to rotisserie roast a whole hog for a family gathering this summer, but since I'd never done one I decided to do a practice pig. I ordered a 70 to 80 lb one from a local meat shop last week with the plan to pick it up Wednesday afternoon, dry brine it overnight, and have it roasting by 10 am yesterday (Thursday). My brother and I went to pick it up and things went a bit awry: not only was the pig 93 lbs - it was also frozen solid. Evidently, the supplier didn't have any pigs ready to slaughter in the sight range I'd requested, so they sent the closest thing they had. The front legs were frozen straight out by the head and the hind legs were straight out from the back of the pig so it didn't fit in any of the coolers we had available so we loaded it in the back of my pickup truck and carried it home. It was wrapped up tight in plastic; when we got it home, we suck it in a couple of industrial garbage bags (one over the front end and the other over the back end tapped the open ends of the bags together with duct tape, and lugged it upstairs and dumped it in the bathtub on top of a tarp, then filled the tub with cold water. My brother got to my house before 8 am Thursday morning and the pig was thawed so we lugged it back downstairs and opened up the plastic to discover that the pig has been butterflied - very good if you're wanting to smoke it in a smoker or open pit, but not for spit roasting. The spine had even been split open on the inside so it would lay nice and flat. We cleaned it up and washed it, then seasoned the inside and got it on the spit the best we could, tying it on with heavy twine. Neither of us is good with knots so we tied a lot. Got the motor mounted on the spit and the spit on the tripods. It was very damp here so I started two chimneys of lump charcoal to establish a good bed of coals while my brother applied soy sauce to the pig's skin. When the charcoal was burning good, I dumped it in the fire pit, added hickory, and we started up the rotisserie at around 9:15 am (about the same time a couple of cousins showed up to help). Most of the pig was done by 4:45 pm or so, so we stopped the rotisserie and focused on getting heat on the areas that weren't quite to temperature. We took it away from the fire about 5:15 pm and let the pig rest while I hunted for a 10 mm wrench to remove the spine clamp; the wrench had evidently wandered off on is own adventure after I'd used it that morning. Due to the pig being butterflied, it flopped around a lot and because of that and shrinkage, we had to stop and add additional twine to secure the pig to the spit. Also, with the legs tied up stretched out in front and behind the pig, the pig was wider than the firepit so the legs didn't cook very well. We also burned a few patches of skin. I had invited friends and family to come by and get pork to go; the general consensus was that it was very tasty except for the burnt patches of skin and the undercooked legs. I fire up the big grill to finish up the legs after most everyone has left. So, the verdict: I think things went pretty well considering it was my first attempt; I certainly learned a lot. A lot of the issues we encountered were due to the pig being frozen and butterflied; I have some ideas for handling those issues if they reoccur. I think we can handle the undercooked legs by bringing the hind legs up under the pig to shorten up the total length instead of leaving them stretched out behind. Oh - we also had a major grease fire when the oil in the propane deep fryer my brother was using to fry french fries at lunch caught fire, but that's another story. We also had a few rain events and some pretty strong wind gusts, plus a tornado warning after the cook was done. PXL_20240411_150948483.TS.mp4 PXL_20240411_172236138.TS.mp4 PXL_20240411_183900220.TS.mp4

I had a severe craving for a nice sandwich yesterday. The scratch that cured the itch... roast beast, turkey, hard salami, swiss cheese, onions, tomatoes, olive tapenade, oil and vinegar, on pumpernickel. A nice cucumber tomato salad on the side.

i don't understand pan pizza, but here is an attempt at it. it did not taste like pizza hut..

Please excuse this delay, I wrote this out last night and then closed the window by accident and lost it.. Did not have it in me to start again! Dennis.. I'm sorry to say you probably need to forget everything you know about controlling temps from your last Kamado. It did not have forced airflow because of the gap between the firebox and the grill wall. With glazed pot grills, air goes around the firebox and through the charcoal. In your KK, all the air is forced through the charcoal. The hot air leaving the damper top crates vacuum, which sucks fresh air through the front door and forces it through the charcoal. Air will always take the path of least resistance and will find the best way to feed the burn.. even or uneven, it all has to do with the resistance/how the air travels through the charcoal. Once your charcoal is burning, you can almost forget the lower draft door settings for low and slow unless it's completely closed. I always use the pencil-sized hole on the right dial, but if the top is choked down, you can even open the lower vents all the way without affecting the airflow or temp. The volume of air entering the grill is only what is permitted to leave the top. Temperature is airflow, and the best way to limit the airflow is with the damper top. With pressure or vacuum, a lot of air can be sucked or blown through a very small hole. Likewise, with no vacuum or pressure a large hole will have no airflow. Watching this video might help visualize the airflow differences.. Click on this YouTube - Komodo Kamado Grill Basics For low and slow cooks, the heat coming off the walls creates uniform heat distribution, not where in the basket or how many places the charcoal is burning. (high temp grilling yes) For low and slow temps, you are only burning about a large orange volume of charcoal. It should be in one place, as there is not enough charcoal burning to distribute it around the basket. The heat rises, and the hot air hits the foil and is well distributed. (does not need any fancy gizmos designed by Harvard students-LOL) As long as it does not directly hit your meat, you are good. I do not suggest cooking on the lower grate with a 32 or 42 using the splitter to create indirect heat for a low slow cooks. The walls on the far side down below will not be properly heat-soaked. I always light my low and slow cooks in the middle of the charcoal basket, but don't worry where the burn ends up. I do not suggest heating your grill to 600º first if you plan to cook low and slow. Once you know your damper top setting is for, let's say 235º, light your charcoal, set your top, forget it, and walk away. The damper top settings will always be the same. Actually, they will be the same after the damper top rope gets flattened and hard; when you first get your grill, the rope is flat, and as it breaks in, your settings will change a bit, but once flat, they will be the same always. I do suggest taking notes about your cooks, but the most important thing is to have fun with it!

It's a good combo, that or the Thermoworks Billows with damper. Those seem to be the two most of the folks here use now.

Perfect! I am just sowing my seeds here in the UK so I will track down some Huacatay and maybe the Aji Amarillo so that I have the ingredients ready for when you reveal your new and improved recipe. I do already have a LOT of chilli plants underway so I am less sure about the Aji but we'll see if we can fit that in. Looking forward to joining you on this journey!

@CaptMorg82 - Congratulations on the Anniversary. Yeah, I'd stay home for that meal! Looks fantastic!

Wow @CaptMorg82! Marry me!

Outside of semantics - half my charcoal basket extinguished itself during the cook, after being lit. The firebox doesn’t care if it indirect or direct. Why? Did the fire go out? Never had this in my prior 20 years with the BGE. So maybe we need to understand better process’s. Is it a build up of ash where the air vents are? Would be great to see more set up’s and cooks @DennisLinkletter from our pro. I did clean out the ash and let the lite go way past my target and it seems my charcoal had a much more even burn. It was too hot to really check tonight - will take pics in the AM. Check out the bark and color on these beef short ribs! Thats all that matters!

That's super exciting. Congratulations. The only blessing or wish I can offer is that she should grow up to love and enjoy food. Look how much fun we get to have!

You are a bad bad boy @PQ! I have looked this up. Good reviews. Expensive in the UK and out of stock in the US. As I noted to a friend who said he thought it seemed a bit clinical: there are two ends of the spectrum in the sourdough world - nerds and naturals - and both make excellent bread. I am in neither group sadly. All of the above is just stalling activity, I know. If/when I ever get back into making sourdough bread this would be a good tool. In the meantime I am going to focus on my pizza game this summer. There are some awesome doughs to use up those grains of yours in this book: https://amzn.eu/d/03mX8pi You will just have to brush up on your Italian. Or use Google translate.

@jeffshoaf I'd say you had quite the adventure, it will be burned into your memory.

@jeffshoaf one of those situations where you need an asado cross handy. i always wanted to do one of these whole pigs but i live in an apartment. 😅

@PVPAUL, good to know! I've been hoarding my remaining stash as carefully as my coco char.

Hey @tekobo your post made me laugh….I too have a hard time comprehending @Syzygies post and find myself reading them over so I can hopefully understand and learn from them!!!! Both of your post made me think of many topics for discussion. I’ll comment on a few of them. Freezing masa / tamale dough. I tried an experiment once where I froze a small quantity of prepared masa for tamales……my results at the time were NOT favorable. If my memory serves me right it seems like the texture was funky / not like it was before and I never went that way and scrapped that idea. Freezing tortillas, I do this often with our family tortilla recipe which uses flour and cornmeal and they are fine this way…not as good as fresh but still very good. I have not done this with homemade masa tortillas but am intrigued to try this knowing you’ve had success with this. Tamales - Fully made tamales freeze well. Our standard family recipe calls for 7lbs of masa and we yield about 100-120 tamales from this. We will vacuum seal these and if you steam them when reheating they are almost as fresh as when coming out of the original kettle. Masa is pretty forgiving so I think there is a pretty good range of viscosity that will still yield good tamales. Many years ago (mid 1970’s) my father went to Mexico to visit family. During the visit we learned a trick that we believe makes our masa lighter / or more fluffy. I will cook a cup of rice in microwave with a higher ratio of water to rice then typical. We also add some beef boullion to the water. Once done we add a little more water and blend this and add this straight into the masa. Don’t tell my family I shared this secret with you!!! I also have a recipe for taking fresh sweet corn, cooking and making this into a masa of sorts for a sweet tamale…..still working on this one but just shows you wide ranges of corn for making masa. Tamale fillings - Yes you can put pretty much anything you want for filling in these. We have done a number of different fillings, but it always seems like the family favorite is pork that is pan fried and cooked in homemade mole sauce. One funny story is that many years ago I was watching an episode of one of Anthony Bourdain’s travel food shows where he is somewhere in Mexico. In the episode (that is somewhat tequila fueled) Anthony is sampling an Iguana tamale….with a tail sticking out of the end of it…..he leans into the camera and quietly says……this is the worst tamale I have ever eaten!!!! Buying me a McLauren Spider……..Ha Ha. Many years ago we had a school / church auction in which we put up a Mexican dinner for a party of 6 that ended up in the voice auction. I was a little apprehensive ……thinking that it would fetch maybe $250 - $500….. I was shocked that we sold it for $1,200 and because it did so well they immediately asked if I would do it again….we ended up selling 2 more at $1,200 so we raised $3,600 for the kids….so to speak! Needless to say I felt very much under pressure to cook a much larger menu than I was originally thinking. No I could not cook up a meal worthy of a McLauren Spider……but hey if you want to send me one I will not turn you down!!! On a bit of a high today, as we had a video call to meet our first grandchild as my daughter lives out of state! Looking forward to meeting her soon!!! All the best, Paul

@tekobo -- new toy you need to up your breadmaking game. Note the photobombing grains in the back, ready for milling.

You can certainly let t ramp up to 600F. However, it may get a bit high and not come back down to your desired temp in time. This is why I switched my method. A nice even layer of hot coals across the entire basket seems to work well. https://tmgpits.com/products/tmg-torch-charcoal-chimney

This site talks about the use of Huacatay in the green crack sauce. You need to scroll down to H to see their recipe. Looking forward to trying it (and @troble's variations) out. https://www.realseeds.co.uk/herbs.html

@Dennis I had similar problems for a while when I first got my KK. It was super frustrating for me. However, I found a very simple solution. I know fill a charcoal chimney with lump. Once the lump is red hot, and going strong, I pour those hot coals over the entire charcoal basket. I can now burn a complete basket of lump and avoid these dead spots. For small cooks it isn't too big of an issue. I had the most issues on longer cooks where I needed the whole basket to burn and it wouldn't. I also now only use the Fogo Premium; not XL. Sometimes those XL chunks just wouldn't burn.

Yes, Fireboard 2 Drive or Pro and a Pit Viper would be the best. I have the FB Pro and Pit Viper. Love it.

I know this thread is a little old but wanted to see if anyone would suggest anything different in terms of a control unit and fan. I think it's time to retire my Rock's BBQ stoker. From what I read, learning towards a fireboard 2 with a pit viper fan. Thanks,

I feel like there are issues here which are perhaps not being completely understood by those commenting? The charcoal in Dennis' short rib cook did not extinguish- his only concern is that the burn was uneven. As Dennis L has said, in a low and slow/ indirect cook there is no reason to be concerned about how even a burn is... the end result is exactly the same. The heat distribution is even in an indirect cook- the whole KK is heat soaked, and which bits of charcoal are lit doesn't much matter. I've certainly never sat there 'reading the charcoal' after a long low and slow cook! As Dennis L has said- different issue if you are cooking with direct heat when you are grilling over the charcoal. In that case you've usually lit lots of spots, and things progress hot and fast, and you can see the fire (as you are grilling), so you won't have a problem! I've only ever had a single episode of my charcoal actually going out on a low and slow cook (a different issue from Dennis' problem above). In that case it was a low and slow cook, and I had lit a fist full of charcoal roughly 1/3rds from the left edge of the basket- and quite bizarrely it burnt gradually towards the left of the basket, and having burnt all of the charcoal in that spot, then there was no way back to get to the other 2/3rds of the basket.... So now I'm more likely to light towards one edge when cooking low and slow (especially if overnight when I never get up to check!)

Charcoal is illusive, finding a store brand with the idea it's going to be a reliable source might be hard to match up to all your expectations in the KK. A fresh open bag vs one open and sitting to the humid air is a concern, but another of a better quality may give you better results. Also, positioning...taking the time to orient your coals so they catch from one to the other is sometime over looked for just a quick dump in the hopper. It's best to distribute medium size pieces to large for long cooks and adjust because your airflow is on your side.

Not at all. The genesis of my plan to go to my local bakery was seeing an ad for sourdough starter from California. "Wow" I thought, Tartine starter, here in my kitchen. And then I came back to the real world and realised it made much more sense to walk the five minutes to our bakery, get theirs and start using it asap with no yeast or other intermediate stage. Good to see that the KK shopping channel still lives. Congrats on your purchase.

Everything is airflow.. My mantra is "Charcoal always burns at the maximum volume for the given airflow." If it's not hot enough, open the damper top. It's too hot, close it a bit. If your fire went out and it was not an issue with the moisture content of the charcoal it did not have enough oxygen to burn. I'm guessing the top was too tight/closed and the exhaust was not getting out. For 235º the top is barely cracked, and it's easy to close it too much and kill your burn.. We've all done it. I usually put my hands near the damper top to feel for the hot air if there is no smoke to see. I drive my cooks from the damper top.. If it's not leaving the top, it's not getting in the lower draft door. The vacuum is from the hot air exiting.

the pictures aren't loading for me but sounds good..

@David Chang good question however, it is fresh lump kept indoors and dry.

That is odd but it may be that semantics do matter. I can light my KK but if the fire doesn't take properly I can come back in 10-20 minutes to a cold KK. When you say half the charcoal basket was lit, was it actually burning away and then just stopped? Yes, getting the quality of cook that you are looking for is indeed a big part of what matters but we do worry about other stuff too - we wouldn't own a KK if we didn't care about getting good quality and service. If my KK was using too much lump or didn't hold a steady temperature I would worry. I don't worry about uneven burn and actually like the fact that I can light the charcoal in one spot, get to the temp that I want, snuff the fire out and come back the next day to a largely unburnt basket.

@David Chang good question however, it is fresh lump kept indoors and dry. I use Rockwood lump and believe it’s top rated by naked wiz. Thanks David

That is a high pressure cook you are going for @jeffshoaf. Here is hoping your supplier gets you what you want the next time around, if only to reduce some of the variables. Good luck and we look forward to seeing the results!

Indeed, a good "practice run" for the main event down the road.

Hey Tony, I was able to source the Pimento wood right from Amazon. It’s pretty pricey but for my smoking pot I don’t use a lot so I pretty much have a 10 years supply…..unless I end up opening up a Jerk Shack!!! Cheers

I’ll stick with the opinion of the guy who designed it. But that’s just my opinion lol

So I did the jerk chicken cook yesterday. The smoke pot filled with Pimento wood, Pimento leaves and allspice berries worked great! I did the marinade as mentioned and I think I need to kick up the seasoning and flavor a bit. Otherwise the texture and cook went very well in spite of the very crappy weather here yesterday!!! I look forward to continuing to work on the marinade and seasoning. Cheers, IMG_4468.mov

made a pizza for lunch with spicy salsiccia. i'm not a fan of the donut pillow cornicione but i need to remember cold dough doesn't want to stretch as much...

Recent loaf of whole grain sourdough, don’t laugh but I made that for my dentist. They made me some spaghetti sauce that was absolutely amazing!!!!!

trying on baked wings two of the many spices we bought from the grand bazaar in instabul this year. one was potato chips spice (true to taste) and kfc spice (close but not really)

my dinner 75% of the time when i cook alone...

After the multi-week below freezing period last month, we have been rewarded with several days in a row of high 50°s - low 60°sF temperatures. I waited a week for yesterday's unseasonably warm weather to unwrap the wood oven to make pizza. A couple of 14" New York style pizzas, one artichoke, mushroom, and goat cheese; the other pepperoni, mushroom, and black olive. Today's job is to clean and re-cover the oven and store the associated paraphernalia for a few more weeks until Spring. Oh well, the pizze were good!