jeffshoaf

I had my first cook that made good use of all the space available on the big grill yesterday. Three spatchcocked chickens that were dry brined with salt and garlic powder for 24 hours, rice-stuffed peppers, and skewers of miscellaneous veggies. Got some 20 inch skewers from Amazon on prime day and they just fit across the grate frame. I also grilled asparagus, cherry tomatoes, and some greens in grill baskets but didn't get pics of those. Everyone was happy with the results!

Also, several of us are using the MSR stainless camping pots instead of cast iron pots. The MSR pots have clamps to hold the lid on place so you don't have to mess with flour paste to hold the lid in place. Available from Amazon.

Lesser ceramics lose heat so more heat has to be continuously added = hotter fire to maintain the same temperature = more airflow = more moisture loss.

That's the kind of thing i had in mind while looking! I think "stick blower" - i thought DeWalt had one but all i can find now is larger than i wanted. If i get tired of pumping the manual one, I'll look again; it wood be nice to have one that uses the same batteries as my DeWalt 20v stuff so i don't have to deal with another charger.

You got the best looking and cooking tiles and color!

I'be used my big Ego 56v battery blower to encourage fires when cooking in an 8 gallon potjie (annual family chicken stew) but that blower is too big and powerful for using in the KK and Santa Maria and i couldn't find a smaller battery powered blower that i wanted so i ordered an old-fashioned manual bellows from Amazon on prime day. It was delivered yesterday just as i was starting the fire for a pork chop cook on the Santa Maria. I'm thinking it will work week for the kk, Weber kettle, Santa Maria, and Solo bonfire as well. Unlike you, I've mainly used the solo for wienie roasts.

2nd cook on the new grill. Pork chops, stuffed apples, and chard/lettuce on the big grill over oak. Still learning how much wood is needed, but only lit one split too much. Very tasty and have leftovers for another meal. PXL_20210623_202659797.mp4

I used a weed burner with mapp gas fit deck years but after igniter failures and bring too lazy to make a special trip to get gas, I've switched over to using the Weber paraffin starters, sometimes combined with a chunk of lump wrapped in a paper towel and doused with cooking oil. I usually use the KK for low and slow roasting but if I'm doing a fast and hot cook, I'll use a chimney starter with the paraffin starters. I just ordered an old fashioned hand driven bellows from Amazon on prime day sale; it's primarily for use with the Santa Maria grill to help get wood splits going but i can see using it with the KK as well.

Yeah, it's a bit overkill for one steak and sides especially since i have to lug everything downstairs ( the KK, kettle, and gas grill are all conveniently located on the deck upstairs). That being said, it was a great steak - the taste was noticably better than over charcoal and the double heat management (coal placement and grate height) is very easy. I might have to get a Santa Maria attachment for the kettle! My plan for this is for larger cooks and pool parties. I'm hoping to have a family reunion with 30 or more people this summer and was thinking I'd smoke some butts for pulled pork overnight on the KK and grill chicken and veggies on this new beast. My sister likes the goat she's got at Indian restaurants and she's already wanting to get a whole one for me fix on this.

Seasoned the grates and griddle and did the 1st cook. Dry aged ribeye, mushrooms, onions, and a grilled salad with chard, kale, and lettuce, plus some chicken for pasta later in the week. One of the best steaks I've ever had!

I ordered the finamill a while back and have put it to use. I got a bundle with 3 pods and I'm using them for my most used items - salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. While I had hoped it would be a big more powerful (it occasionally sounds like it's in pain as it sold down while grinding), I'm liking it. I've been using manual grinders that require two hands for salt and pepper and it was a struggle keeping them clean while applying and turning meat over to get all sides prepped; that struggle has gone away now since i can use one hand to handle the food and one to handle the finamill. The relatively long grip and smooth grip is also easier to clean than my old grinders. They're working on a rechargable one but i haven't found an ETA for it or whether it will be more powerful than the current unit that's powered by 3 AA cells.

Arizona barbeque Outfitters: http://www.azbbqgrills.com/ They make to order and are pretty busy - I ordered back in February and beat a price increase due to their materials cost going up.

My Santa Maria from Arizona barbeque was delivered during a storm on Friday and i got it uncrated and moved into position Saturday with my brother's help. I definitely needed the help since it weighs almost 800 lbs and we had to move it through an area landscaped with brick chips. It'll be later in the week before i can season the grates and do some grilling but i think I'm gonna like it!

Be prepared for sticker shock... Plywood and other construction materials prices are ridiculous right now.

For me, the killer ingredient for baked beans is molasses.

Looking at all the good eats posted in this thread makes me think the thread is mis-named - none of these are "everyday" cooks!

Overnight Boston butt with smoke from hickory chunks in the big msr pot. My inventory of lump was pretty bad - ended up using the bigger pieces of jealous devil and royal oak with one piece of coco char. Now i have a few pounds of jealous devil and royal oak smalls and 2 or 3 pieces of coco char left. Regardless, the butt was tasty! So tender it feel apart when i picked it up.

I wish they would put "Dodge" on the front instead of "Ram" - much more appropriate for incoming traffic!

My first bone-in dry age is a short loin that's in the SteakAger now; the meat market where I got it will slice it for free when it's ready. Some folks on the SteakAger FaceBook page are using a Sawz-all with a stainless steel blade - I bought a Dewalt with a battery operated drill and their version of a Sawz-all a while back so I may try this since my back issues may it painful and numbing to do much hack saw work.

Stumbled across this newish item today - looks interesting: https://www.finamill.com/ Anybody have one?

Turkey breast over pecan in the big MSR smoke pot.

Thanks! I'm thinking my next attempt will be grilled over wood using the Weber kettle whilst waiting on the pending Santa Maria grill.

16oz ribeye, dry aged for 32 days, roasted with mesquite and reverse seared. I used a small MSR smoke pot for the mesquite (I'll use the bigger MSR for long cooks - the small one would probably be sufficient for those too but i have to justify having both!). Storms were rolling thru the area so i rushed the roasting part of the cook and didn't get as much mesquite flavor as i had hoped. Also planned on grilling the veggies as well but did them in the vermicular kamado due to the storms.

I'm waiting for my Santa Maria to be built and delivered so i don't have any experience yet, but i can tell you why i went with brick-lined with brassero. Of course, i could be totally wrong about any or all of these points! o Brick-lined should be more efficient for longer cooks since it will radiate back the heat it has absorbed. With a mesh bed, any heat radiating down will be lost. You'll also be heating up the metal that makes up the firebox and losing some of that heat as it radiates thru the metal. While the cooking methodology is different, i considered this as similar to how a ceramic cooker like our kk's differs from a drum or thin metal smoker like a Smokey Joe. o The added airflow from underneath should let you build a hotter fire, i decided that this is offset by the big benefit of the Santa Maria design - if you need more heat, lower the cooking surface! That extra heat from extra airflow will come at the cost of much higher fuel consumption. The fall-thru ash is a nice feature though. o I decided that i wanted a brassero because i think it will be handy for longer cooks - i initially thought about just having a wheelbarrow as a burn barrel but i really don't want to be shoveling hot coals from a one area to the grill, especially when there are others standing around. My back also doesn't like me doing a lot of shoveling; of course, there will most likely be some post - cook ash shoveling. Mine will have the brassero in the back instead of at the side of the firebox - although that will make it a bit more difficult to load it, the wood burning in the brassero will be adding to the cooking heat, especially if i decide to add a rotisserie later. Like most of my acquisitions, I blew my budget on mine: