jeffshoaf

@Tyrus, I'm surprised those cherry chunks don't have a better bark.

I'm having this and the non-working quote issue too, but I just assumed it was one of the occasional oddities I get using Chrome on a Chromebook tablet.

You can use roll bags in a chamber but sealing without vacuum is a bit slow, at least in my Avid Armor. It uses vacuum to close the sealer bar so it has to pump a bit before sealing. Should be ok to use to use up existing stock and to pack stuff that doesn't fit in the chamber, but I wouldn't want to use roll bags beyond that. I've not done the math, but my understanding is that pre-formed chamber bags are less expensive than suction machine stock since chamber sealing doesn't require textured bags.

When we went on a Caribbean cruise years ago, there were several stops that featured a live band. I think every one of them played a song with a similar story with each verse ending with something like "don't tell your mama but that girl is your sister and your mama don't know." Of course the last verse ended with "don't tell your daddy but your daddy is not your daddy and your daddy don't know."

Not to steal Tony's thunder, but I recently filled up my little freezer with 99¢ /lb bone-in Boston butts... I now have 7 in there, plus one that is my sister's, plus a big rack of St. Louis ribs ($1.59 /lb), a turkey (my sister's), a turkey breast ($1.49 /lb I think), and some other odds and ends. The butts are all around 8 lbs. I'll have to admit that Tony's looks better than mine right now!

The yakitorium, of course!

He's in Oklahoma for most of his videos but does travel for events. He has a video on Bertha; if I remember correctly, it's a recreation of a wood-fired cook stove that came out in the late 1800's-early 1900's and was towed behind the chuck wagon on its own trailer. https://www.hastybake.com/products/bertha-cowboy-stove#:~:text=Kent Rollins' signature wood-burning,stove will last a lifetime.

Anybody watch cowboy Kent on YouTube? I find him very entertaining and informative; he doesn't KK (don't think one would work well on the chuck wagon) but he does use a variety of cookers. Hasty Bake recently came out with a Kent Rollins signature steel "barrel" smoker and he uses it in some videos; those techniques should translate to the KK well.

Nudge, nudge...

Both Thermoworks and BBQ Guru provide probes with a 90° bend that would not go thru my KK's port but I was able to straighten them enough to work by carefully bending them by sticking then in a space between the slats in my KK side shelves. Thermoworks does have straight probes available but I didn't check to see if they would swap them with the standard process when I ordered mine.

I have the BBQ Guru cyberQ and the Thermoworks Signals/Bellows and external battery combo. I highly recommend the Thermoworks; I can't recommend the guru. The Signals can be used as just a 4 probe remote thermometer with or without external power or you can add the Bellows fan to get temperature control; the fan requires external power via either the provided AC adapter or the optional battery. The fan moves a lot of air so it requires the optional damper when used with the KK. The battery in the signals will last over 24 hours; the extension battery week power the signals and the fan for a long time as week - I think I've gone 17 or 18 hours and it still had some charge. The signals displays all 4 probe settings at the same time locally or you can connect it to WiFi and monitor by their very nice all on your phone; optionally connect to the internet and you can monitor anywhere. You can set your alert temps on the signals unit or vids the app. You get high local alerts on the signals and remote alerts on you phone. The signals, Bellows, and battery are all water resistant - you can use then in the rain. My only non-nit picky complaint is they use standard USB connectors for everything but everything needs 12 VDC instead of standard USB 5VDC voltage; they do provide enough AC adapters to cover everything but you have to remember to use this instead of one of the many USB adapters you already have. Again, highly recommended! The CyberQ requires external power via the included AC adapter. It has a one line backlit LCD display and membrane type buttons to configure it; these are painful to use due to the limited info that can be displayed and the poor tactile feedback from the buttons. It can be used stand-alone, but I'd only do that out of desperation due to the limited display and buttons. Once you connect to WiFi, you can use their cloud app to configure and monitor the unit from anywhere with any device via a web browser; this works ok but it comes with all the limitations of a web app and depends on you having an internet connection at all times. You get temp alerts via text and/or email and on the unit itself; this is a big issue for me since my main reason for using a remote thermometer and temp control is to do long overnight cooks - I don't want to check my phone every time I get a text or email while I'm trying to sleep to see whether it's an alert or just a regular text/email that can wait until morning. I've also had issues with the unit forgetting my network credentials when it goes unused for a while even tho it remembers the target and alert temps of my last cook - and even tho the unit has a local webserver you can connect to to do the network configuration, I've not been able to get it to actually get it connected to my network, leaving me too use the terrible UI on the device itself. Not recommended! BBQ Guru does have a newer controller that is supposed to address a lot of these issues but they've had a lot of software issues, including some that made the unit unusable or useable but with issues that could ruin a cook. They also outsourced their firmware development and haven't been able to provide updates in a timely matter, even when an update breaks the unit. I don't tend to rely on technical support much, but my customer support experience with high companies had been good - but I must caveat that statement by telling you that my last interaction with BBQ Guru was 7 or 8 years ago and may be different now. Hope this epistle is helpful!

Have you tried such a long hold on pork butts? I do a lot more butts than I do briskets. I'm thinking about getting an electric smoker (cabinet type, not the drum type) to use for long holds. I'm hoping to find a used one for a good price; I think they go for around $50 if the temp controller is bad; add an aftermarket PID controller and an insulated one should hold temp within a few degrees and a water pan should help keep the environment humid. I do a cookout for the extended family each summer; last year I smoked 4 butts overnight and then grilled 7 spatchcocked chickens on my big Santa Maria grill. I'd like to do a similar cook for another big group of two. I've been getting good results with minimal sleep interruptions by running the KK or insulated gravity feed smoker at 200° F overnight but it's hard to really get a good night's sleep while keeping an ear cocked for an alarm from the temp controller - I'd like to get a better night's sleep so I won't be so tired when all the company is here. Getting a good result with a long hold on the butts (and maybe briskets in the future) would let me smoke them overnight two nights prior to the gathering, hold for 24+ hours, get a better night's sleep, and focus on the grilling and other prepwork the day of. If you saw me, you'd agree that I need as much beauty sleep as possible! A bit of KK blasphemy... The very long hold would also open up the possibility of doing a hot and fast cook ask during daylight hours the day before using a stick burner. I have a bad itch for a stick burner but really don't want to stay up all night feeding one and wouldn't want to do a hot and fast cook the day of the gathering with all the prep work and grilling as well.

That's purty! Please tell us more about this warning cooler - sounds like a candidate for the KK Shopping Channel! May be something I'm looking for since I recently tested my oven for use as a holding chamber and it failed.

David, have you used the Anova to rest or hold a roast (a brisket or pork butt, for example) after smoking? I'm wondering if the sous vide mode could be used to keep it moist during a long hold.

Step up and get both like I did! I've had the Vermicular for a while now. It's my go-to for sauces and some veggies.

I guess I've entered the "grumpy old man" phase of life.... A couple more: "Delish" - something about hearing this just rubs me wrong "Unami" - this one isn't too bad but it's way overused

I spend way too much time on smoking, grilling, and pizza-making forums plus some time on YouTube and find several things that people do and say that really irritate me; I try to limit any response I make to constructive and/or educational comments (unless it's an attempt at humor), but sometimes it stresses my restraint... Assuming most folks have some of their own pet peeves, what are yours? Here are a few of mine: Calling charcoal "coal" - since there is an actual substance named "coal" and there are coal-fired ovens, this can just lead to confusion. Also, an appropriate term for burnt wood that hasn't been reduced to ash is "coals", opening another avenue for confusion. Calling pizza "za" - I don't have a logical reason for not liking this but it really irritates me.

The store opened in January; it's name is actually US Chef'Store. I'm disappointed in the prices for supplies and tools but they have some pretty good prices on some fresh and frozen meats and some very good prices on others. They also have some meat cuts I've not seen locally before. Prices on deli meats and cheeses are pretty good too, but you do have to buy the chunk and not slices. Some example prices on fresh meat: Whole chicken wings: $42 for 40 lbs Chicken wing drummettes and flaps: $47 for 40 lbs Chicken drumsticks: $23.55 for 40 lbs Whole chickens: $1.69 lb Beef brisket: $2.65 lb Prime beef brisket: $4.39 lb Beef eye of round:: $3.75 lb Beef shoulder clod: $3.55 lb Ground chuck 81% lean: $2.55 lb Pork butt: $1.29 lb They also have prime grade brisket and other beef loins at competitive prices. Local grocery stores have pork butts on sale pretty regularly for 99¢ lb but I don't know if there's any quality differences.

I think the issue would be retrofitting a temperature sensor in an effective location and then calibrating it across a fairly wide range of temperatures and materials. Most (all?) of the pid controller temperature sensors I'm semi-familiar with are immersed in the controlled medium (air or some fluid), but it's been a couple of decades since I was immersed in electronics so I'm definitely out of date. Any idea on how the Breville manages it? The Vermicular and Instant Pots with sous vide modes have it a bit easier since they only have to work with one pot. I assume all of these are using some type of sensor that is physically touching the pot/pan but I guess an infrared sensor is a possibility.

While I tend to agree, I feel the need to point out that lots of folks say similar things when they see the price of our KK's...

The Vermicular Musui-kamado controls the temp to the degree in sous vide mode but it's set up to just use the included enameled cast iron pot. I don't think it gets as hot in sous vide mode as the Breville does but might meet your needs. I tested the control with a pot of water and it was really accurate. It's not inexpensive in the USA but I don't know about over yonder.

If you're interested in the Spinn, it's on sale again at the black Friday price I missed - $649. Price good thru December 31.

Pork loin cook using the new Ninja grill's "roast" function.

Air fried a handful of frozen steak fries. Tasty but next time I'll add a light coating of oil to see if they crisp up a bit more.