Amphoran

Atomic Armadillo Adornments!

I think so. When I was in Libya a couple of years ago, one of the most popular soft drinks was "bitter soda" which I'd never seen before, but quickly came to love. I've never been able to find it here, though it was a Coca Cola product!

The original recipe that I received from a friend called for less lemon and sugar, but when I brought it out at parties, people complained that it was "thin". Several experiments lead to the current recipe. The acidity of the lemon is significantly masked by the bitterness of the quinine. (FYI if you want to experiment, the original recipe used 8 lemons (1 pint) and 3/4 pound of sugar.) If you like it lip-smackingly bitter, you can put in an extra gram of quinine, which will bring you very close to the solubility limit.

And if you want to be dangerously decadent, make three gallons of tonic water, add a gallon of gin and carbonate that. G&T on tap!

Use Quinine Sulfate (not HCl). If you have a friendly doctor, have him write you a prescription for 325 mg capsules (not tablets). If not, you can order USP quinine sulfate on the web from a variety of places as a chemical. Aquarium stores often stock it as a fish medicine. Get USP in a sealed original manufacturer's bottle, and you'll be fine. 4 gallons tonic water (for a 5-gallon corny keg): 3 gallons plus 3 quarts water 1 gram quinine sulfate (or contents of 3 325 mg capsules, discard the gelatin capsule itself) juice of 12 lemons (or 3 cups bottled lemon juice) 1.4 pounds sugar Mix directly in the Cornelius keg: Add lemon juice to water and stir Add quinine and stir thoroughly Add sugar and stir thoroughly Close keg and refrigerate until chilled. Carbonate to 60=90 psi: Shake until you arms are numb. Rest Repeat Keep very cold, and back off the pressure when dispensing. This stuff will not spoil, so you can also just keep it in a keg or carboy in the refrigerator, and fill a seltzer bottle with it and charge for a liter at a time. Enjoy! Mike

I mostly made british style ales, so I kept the freezer at about 45-47, just a hair cooler than proper cellar temperature. I'd usually make up a keg of tonic water and keep it in there too, for the summer. That took much higher pressure than any of the beers, about 60 psi, but it was well and thoroughly carbonated!

I'd be happy to describe how it was done - surprisingly inexpensive, as long as you have the basement space for a chest freezer. The little gas regulators can be obtained from C&H sales for about ten bucks apiece and tapped into a single manifold off the C)2 bottle. Cut a 2x4 or 2x6 to the width of the freezer, and a piece to the depth, then rip it diagonally. Screw these together with the diagonals facing up, and you have a nice chock to hold the lid slightly ajar while still sealing. (I put some foam weatherstrip on the top and bottom of this to help the seal. Then put your taps through the board at front, and you're good to go. Surprisingly easy to put together and manage, and almost maintenance free.

Back when I was brewing a lot, I kept six different brews on tap at all times by getting an old chest freezer and an industrial thermostat with a bulb that could pass under the gasket and control the freezer. A 20 lb CO2 cylinder with several downstream gas regulators allowed me to keep each brew at its proper carbonation level (5 gallon Corny kegs). I miss those days! Mike

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!

Yup, and the easiest way to make two tabs is simply cut one of the crossbars long (if you haven't already welded the thing together...)

How about this? Invert the design - two cross bars and several shorter bars running front to back. Then you only have to cut four small notches to hold the ends of the cross bars, and no danger of shifting. Just lift out when putting the main grill in, and the main is fully supported.

Assuming that the little grill is 1/4" you could also dremel out that width around its periphery, then usually just leave it in place. The main grill would just sit directly on top of it, using it for support in the rear!.

My sister has a traeger with the new digital controls, and I recently was with her while she cooked all day with it. The big thing I noiced was that there was a LOT of airflow through the unit, and I asked her about low and slow. Her response was that it really dried the meat out if you tried that, except on the "smoke" setting, and that the smoke setting required constant vigilance because it went through pellets so fast. Don't get me wrong, she likes her machine, but she mostly cooks shorter and hotter. She's going to get her first look at the KK on the fourth of July, and I'm looking forward to her thoughts on the comparison.

That's a Mexican molcajete! Made from a fairly coarse basalt, which has some control over the particle size it produces. Try making guacamole in one - much better than in the food processor! Mike

Happy Birthday Dennis! Mike

At last the handles arrived from Harbor Freight, and I was able to test my idea for further simplification. I used a 1/8" female NPT coupling, and threaded the ends of a 3/8" tube to 1/8" NPT. First attempt I used soft copper 3/8" OD, second attempt I used a brass 3/8" OD toilet riser tube. The brass is stiffer and touchier to bend, but it doesn't bend out of shape as easily as the soft copper does. I cut the bracket from some 16 pound copper sheet, and followed DJ's dimensions. The spark wire is a simple piece of 12 gauge pulled out of some romex. It is the perfect size to push into the socket on the handle. Note - whatever the spark wire at the end piece is, it WILL NOT ACCEPT SOLDER. I ended up making a couple of wraps of the copper around it and then squeezing tight with heavy pliers. The ends were then wrapped with self-fusing silicone tape. The 12 gauge wire is stiff enough that it holds its shape quite well. I WANTED to thread it through the tube, but the insulation is not quite good enough, and if it is in contact with the tubing, the current leaks though at the point of contact, and no spark jumps at the end. Works like a champ! Thank you DJ, for the great ideal Cheers, Mike

The other approach would be to simply get a replacement gas barbecue regulator at Lowes or Home Despot. About five bucks, and the one that the burner is designed for.

I second the thought on the ras-chipotle sauce! Raves all around. I make two versions - one with the amount of chipotles the recipe calls for, and one with double. The turbo version always seems to disappear faster.....

three racks of ribs.

I use bear claws, and pull a butt apart in about 4-5 minutes. Mike

That's what the original says. Central Louisiana, late '50s - I'm assuming a small bottle of Tabasco. This is a very different sauce than anything in circulation nowadays - it is amazing how much tastes can evolve in just a generation or two!

I've been looking at that flex gas hose, but it always has large connectors on the ends. The diameter is also significantly larger than 3/8". I've got some ideas up my sleeve, but they'll have to wait on Harbor Freight.

Yeah, I ordered online, they took my money, and called the order "shipped" on the 29th. Yesterday I received a postcard saying that it was backordered. So I guess I won't be building one this week, but I have some ideas.....

Harbor freight is backordered on the torches. Deej must have spawned a run on the bank!

I found this link. Is this the same recipe? http://www.bbqu.net/season4/404.html Mike