Amphoran

Beautiful, Trish! My days work was three racks (no pictures, so I'm talking theoretically, I know), one rubbed with Dizzy Dust, one with Swamp Venom, and one with DJ's Cajun Blackening find. Everybody agreed that SV and CB were hotter than DD, but it was interesting that there was no consenus which of the two was spicier, though they were clearly different. One came on fast and one slow. All were very tasty, though, and now there's only a pile of bones for Rufus the cat to work over.

You have to carefully calibrate how much you add, because batches of peppers are highly variable. What I aim for is a real good jalapeno nose, and just a little heat. Hot and cold at the same time. It's my wife's favorite.

I just kegged a batch of jalapeno ale - what time is dinner?

Here's an image (mock-up, but an accurate representation) of the unit I'm building for a new micro vodka distillery in the Yukon. In use everything would be covered with insulation. For scope's sake, this takes about as much ground area as a KK, but the top of the columns is just under eight feet high. It can produce fifteen bottles of vodka per hour. Cheers!

And ours.

My history was very similar to what you're going through. I started out looking at BGEs, but was worried that even the extra large wouldn't let me cook enough for the large gatherings that occur relatively often. Internet searching on ceramic cooking led me in a variety of directions until I came across this forum - where the tone was completely different from all the others. The deciding factor for me was the general approbation Dennis received for his total committment to customer satisfaction and constant improvement of his designs. When I bought mine, I had never seen one in person or cooked on one, but had absorbed a lot of experience of the people on this forum and had developed a sense of trust, which has been completely borne out in my experience. Go for it! You won't ever regret the decision. Cheers, Mike

Yeah, you're right! I hadn't seen the picture close up when I responded to your post. Later I realized that my original post was to a different thread, and went back and looked at the pictures full sized, and saw what you were referring to. It DOES look like its stuck right in the bone, doesn't it! Mike

Trish, If you're asking me, the probe was in the thigh, because that is the meatiest part of the leg. I thought I had put it in parallel to the bone and a ways away from it, but one can always be fooled. However, the far-from-done condition of the legs indicates that I wasn't reading bone, but somehow my setup was keeping heat from reaching the bottom part of the bird effectively. Mike

That's pretty much in line with what I've been thinking, and I wasn't all that thrilled by the herb-butter blanket. I'm thinking next time just brine, rub down with a little olive oil, salt and peppr, and KK. Maybe just a handful of rosemary sprigs in the cavity. The two chunks of applewood was just about right for a nice subtle smoke flavor. Cheers, Mike

Yeah, I'm confused, too! I was using the guru for only the second time. The charcoal burned weirdly which may or may not relate - rather than burning evenly down from the top, it ran down through the mass in a few streams. The basket still looked full, but after a couple of shakes, it collapesed by about half. was your bird stuffed in any way? I threw in the halved onion, quartered apple and lemon (and half bottle of wine) per Mad Max's reipe, and that pretty handily filled the cavity. That, of course, adds significant cooking time. I had my guru food probe in the thigh, and was shooting for 180 thigh and 160 breast, but when the thighs made it only to 175 after five hours, I checked the breasts and they were up to 185, so I pulled the bird. The roasting pan had a fair amount of liquid in it, so it wouldn't be radiating, but would be at around 212-220. (Drippings made great gravy, by the way!) Next time, I'll try the drip pan on the second level and the turkey completely exposed on the third, will put nothing in the cavity, and probaby raise the temp to 350. Thanks for the info on what worked! Mike

The difference I see is that my roasting pan is about 2-1/2" deep, and your half sheet pan there is shallower. I think that the pan simply trapped cool(er) air and prevented good heat transfer to the lower 1/4 of the bird. I was confident about it because Mad Max's pictures showed him using an even deeper old aluminum pan. I'm sure the brining saved the breasts which were still nice and juicy.

So how DID you deal with the keel bone? Saw? There was an article on doing a butterflied turkey (referred to as "pollo-style" in Sunset Mag about 10-12 years ago, and their recommendation was to have a butcher cut the spine with his bandsaw, and then cut about halfway through the keel from the underside. Never found a butcher in these parts willing to try that.

The three-finger salute worked its usual magic, so here now is evidence that it *did* happen! Cheers, Mike

I wish I could say mine went as well. I cooked a 15.5 lb bird for 5 hours, and the thigh still read 175. Checked the breast, and it was 180, so I pulled it out. The breasts were great, the drumsticks were done, but the thighs were far from done. I followed Mad Max's technique to the letter, including putting the bird in a v rack in a (shallow) roasting pan. Indirect, on the top grill, at 325, with a couple pieces of applewood. Everyone thought the bird was fantastic, but I'm disappointed in the failure of the thighs and breast to come to temperature at the same time. I'm ASSUMING that the missing instruction in his method is that the bird should be room temp before icing the breast, and mine was definitively at refrigerator temperature. I considered using the same setup as Firemonkey, and next time I try this, I will do that. I believe that the roasting pan really blocked a lot of heat from the lower part of the bird. I'll toss the bottom half of the carcass back on the grill tomorrow and finish it off. It was far too late when we discovered their condition today. And now the card reader won't read! I guess that this discussion is hypothetical until I can reboot and post the picture! Hope everybody had a very happy Thanksgiving. Mike

I'm doing a brined Mad Max, using DJ's breast brine. Will pull it out of the brine in another hour or so, dry in the fridge for two or three, then on the grill about noon.

FEATURE IDEA A LOX port!!

Clever! A GREAT solution!

If you REALLY pinch the clip, it will fasten right onto one of the 3/8" grill rods.

Mine arrived this afternoon, and man, is that one industrial-strength rib rack! My ancient Weber rib rack goes out to pasture immediately! I'd highly recommend one of these if you like ribs like I like ribs!

Living in Seattle, I've made the Morton Thomson turkey many times over the years (It was published in the local paper every year). It's not as much work as it seems, and it does indeed make a totally succulent turkey! Due to the frequent "in and out" moves to repaint the bird, though, I'd do it in the regular oven rather than attempt on the KK. Mike

Received mine direct this week, and have to chime in and agree - Grillfloss is a great product! I was pretty suspicious that anything so simple could work so well, but it took on some pretty burned-on gunk with aplomb - stuff that my brass bristled brush (now discarded) didn't make a dent in.

That part of the world uses a LOT of 190 proof ethanol for beverages. It is not called everclear there, but often is called "Polish Spirit" The amount called for, a pint in a gallon will result in a strength of about 10%. You shouldn't be able to taste it at all. When I was in Austria just before Christmas a few years ago, I was introduced to a hot spiced red wine that they served in coffee cups at the outdoor Christmas markets. In a coffee urn or large stockpot they would put several gallons of red wine, then cut a lot of orange slices into it, a handful of cinnamon sticks, a smaller handful of cloves, and some sugar - not enough to make it sweet, but enough to round it out. Served just below boiling on a very cold snowy night, it was delish!

Stewsan, Which did you get, the bulkead? I got the 4.5 inch inducer tube, and it was a loose slip fit which did require silicone. I found the 500 degree black at a NAPA store, but they also had a 700 degree copper colored silicone which is what I used. It worked great. Mike

I've always been very happy with their spices and service. I'm waiting on a delivery that will include some of the Cajun seasoning, then I'm going to send a little to Jasen to see how similar it was to that he was bragging on, because that source doesn't exist west of the big muddy. Mike

Indeed! Just wanted everyone to know I wasn't whining there! I just figured they were in construction or transit, and I'd hear sooner or later.