Saucier

I also have a down an dirty salsa recipe.... Now mind you, I have taken up to 3 hours on making a batch of salsa, roasting all the chiles, blanching the tomatoes and removing the skins, using a molcajete etc... Pretty nobody but me noticed the difference, so wasn't a wise use of my time... Now..... 4-5 large jalapeños 1 bunch green onion 1 bunch cilantro juice from a lime .5T salt I process all that in a food processor until combined to your liking on consistency 9 or so Roma tomatoes, halved, seeded and cored. Then chopped into maybe 8 pieces each. Add them to the processor and pulse to desired consisency.. Put It in the fridge overnight if you have the time and let the flavors meld. You can drain off excess liquid if you choose. I dont drink them, but bet the juice would be good in a Bloody Mary... You can add Serranos or whatever you like to get the heat you want... And one thing about making it HOT, is people are more likely to treat it like a proper condiment, instead of a side dish LOL

Why you are most welcome !

Well, doesn't really have anything to do with the smoker, but here is my taco meat recipe... I have tried using fresh chopped ingredients before, but didn't end up with the texture I like, so after many trials here is how I make mine. It takes about 2oz meat per taco, so when done and you are portioning it out for later consumption, it is a guideline. I package 8oz, so gives two people two tacos.. YMMV I use the leanest beef I can find, don't like it greasy. This also gives me a reason to make chicken scraps into stock, as this is the perfect use for it 3 lbs Ground Beef 1 cup Dark Red Chile Powder ¼ cup onion powder ¼ cup Garlic Powder ⅛ cup Seasoned Salt 1 tablespoon Ground Black Pepper 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon Dried Oregano ¼ teaspoon Slap Yo Mamma 5 whole Bay Leaves 1 pinch Saffron 1 quart Chicken Broth 1. Brown the beef in a large dutch oven: 2. Add other ingredients and simmer until most broth is reduced and the beef is sticky. Remove bay leaves and serve!:

I made this.. Awesome.... My loin was about 3lb, took 70 min @ 360f... Beautiful too!

Got some chicken thighs and quarters... 450 or so dome for an hour I think I will check them @ 45 min next time.. Still very good, but a couple minutes less would have been cool Salt/pepper/garlic/onion... basic stuff.. but good

Here is a good SV mashed tater recipe, uses too much butter, but the rosemary is great... I dont always cook it all together, sometimes just the taters and then mash as usual with milk and butter... But this a good one... I posted it in Sous vide..

Sous Vide Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary 2 lbs. Russet potatoes 5 cloves garlic 3 sprigs rosemary 8 ounces unsalted butter 1 cup whole milk 2 teaspoons kosher salt Smooth, buttery, and subtly laced with garlic and rosemary, these dreamy mashed potatoes bring the humble potato to new levels. Set your sous vide to 194 F / 90 C. Rinse and peel the potatoes. Thinly slice them into 1/8-inch pieces. Smash and peel the garlic cloves. Seal the potatoes, garlic, rosemary, butter, milk, and salt into a zip or vacuum seal bag (I set my vacuum sealer to 25 seconds) and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 1.5 hours. Open the bag and pour the liquid through a sieve into a small bowl (reserve for later). Discard the rosemary. Empty the potatoes into a large bowl and mash them. If you have a potato ricer or food mill, now’s a great time to use it. If you want a really over-the-top, super smooth texture, pass the mashed potatoes through a tamis, chinois, or sieve, using a plastic bench scraper. Whatever you do, DO NOT use a food processor, electric mixer, or blender – due to the starch in the potatoes, if you over mix the potatoes you’ll end up with a gluey texture. Gently whisk the melted butter and milk (reserved from before) back into the mashed potatoes to get a smooth and creamy texture. Second try…. 2 lbs russets (after peeling) 1/2 cup coconut milk, 2 TBL ghee, 8 cloves garlic minced, 1 tsp table salt, a few grinds of black pepper Servings: -- Yield: 2 quarts NOTE the original recipe called for a LOT of butter.. Was overwhelming to me, so as noted, next time I switched it up a bit and was much happier

Also, thanks for the comments ! Much appreciated

Well, what can I say, came out fantastic! Took 3:45 to bring it to 125 internal, wrapped in foil and a towel, and put in ice chest to rest for 2 hours.. Strained and tossed the veggies from the pan, made some gravy, and added some mushrooms, because they needed to get used up. and they taste great ! Here is how it looked... And yes, there were sous vide mashed potatoes to help sop up the gravy!

Well, been a day or two since I posted a cook, so what the heck! I got myself a 9lb whole top sirloin roast... Rubbed it with seasoning salt, ground pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder then a light coat of Kitchen Bouquet. Got a deep pan underneath with water, 2 heads garlic, 2 onions chopped, a dozen baby carrots, few stalks chopped celery, 1T black peppercorns, 5 bay leaves etc. Short preheat to 250, then put the meat on, and popped it up to 280... Royal oak lump with hickory chunks ! Meant to take a pic before I popped it in, but forgot,, so here is a pic of it just starting to bathe in the holy fire! We shall see how it goes roast.HEIC

I use the Tormek water cooled system here... Had it for years, works great, as the angle is always consistent which is nearly impossible to do free hand.. I use the guide for grinding, but do free hand it for the strop wheel... A little pricy to start, but once you have done your knife collection once, easy to touch up with just the fine grind and strop... http://www.amazon.com/Cooled-Sharpening-Tormek-T4-Quality/dp/B00N0VJ90S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449408398&sr=8-1&keywords=tormek

Thank you sir!!

I pulled it apart, it is a BFB0712H Delta Electronics Cheapest I see it is like 40 and up to 70 bucks!

Thanks! Do you happen to know which fan replaces the guru Pit Viper ? If not I will figure it out and share it once I do...

Yes I meant other than from guru... There was a discussion long ago about where to get cheap computer fans to replace them.. I just never saw the supplier that them listed....

Does anyone have a line on CHEAP replacement fans for the Guru ? Your help is appreciated!

Sous vide I got interested after having been served some great food prepared that way in a restaurant in Oregon and talking to the chef.... I popped for a thermo circulator and just put in in a stainless steam table pan deep enough for the water to circulate in... I usually cook chicken breasts in it, after pasteurizing in the bath. It is the best chicken breast ever... It tastes like chicken through and through and if you want to add any flavors to it I have seen it recommended to add olive oil, spices, herbs or whatever to the bag before sealing.. I have had poor results with adding anything to the bags, as it concentrates the flavor only in the part of the meat that it contacts.. Better to add what sauce you want afterwards and if you are looking for browning, hit it with a butane torch at the end.... Here is a great explanation of the whole thing by a smarter guy then me, if you are interested in the science behind it.. This is a great resource for cooking times/thicknesses etc... http://amath.colorado.edu/~baldwind/sous-vide.html I talked to the chap that wrote it once, and he is a really cool guy and answered some questions for me. We also cook potatoes in it.. Seal your spuds in a bag(s), I cooked at 180 untill they were at least squishy by hand (2 hours maybe)? The beauty of this is that the spuds will hold for ever in the bath, and unlike boiling them in water, you lose NONE of the vitamins or nutrients by cooking/holding the this way. I was charges with making mashed potatoes for a dinner party of 25, and deduced I would need more capacity then my pan would hold, and also probably over powering my circulator. I bought a cheap electric roasting pan from wallyworld and put the circulator in it and turned on the roaster during the initial startup until the water & product were up to temp, then turned off the roaster and let the circulator do its thing. Cool part is it can be cooking off to the side, not using up stove or oven space during the busy kitchen time, and unless you start too late, time is not a problem.. It will hold for ever in the bath. Just take them out, put them in a pan and mash them up with butter/milk or whatever floats you. You can also put the bags after cooking in an ice chest or whatever you do your holding in, and transport them elsewhere. Its a great technique..

Off to AZ We are off to Havasu City, and will be re-smoking/warming a ham we bought from Larry's Meats in Union City OK (on advice from a Tx buddy). Should be good!

Lobels I ordered some steaks from Lobels not long ago. Very expensive, and well worth it.. I sure can't afford it very often, but a couple of times a year, I can swing! But man, it costs a bunch! I just put it in my head, that a high end meal out for the same number of people would cost about the same. Makes it easier to see the CC statement!

Re: rant Thats my kind of rant doc ! Add to the list socialized medical care.. the list goes on.. Put me on the scotch list too with Larry! I like scotch with a heavy peat flavor, normally LaPhroiag or Bowmore. Just picked up a new one, hard to come across though,, I think I got two bottles of the 4 existing in the California warehouse. Octomore! Boy is it goooooooooood.. A real slow sipper

Sure I would be happy to post to "Mitt" forum, but not sure what that is.. Enlighten me!

Gun control I am not in favor of gun control at all, trust me on this one... But the part about having to claim guns on tax returns isn't true. This has been floating around the net for awhile, and I checked with the NRA who also concurred that its false. Even snopes got this one right. http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/taxreturns.asp I hope this doesn't give them ideas though!

Alrighty! Thanks!

I am fixin to smoke up a turkey, 23lbs, and plan on cooking @ 325-350... Whats the best guess as to how long this will take?? Thanks!!

Mini Pack MVS 31 I use the MVS 31 from this site... http://www.chambersealers.com/chamber-s ... ealers.php Pricey, but commercial quality, and with a chamber sealer, you don't need channel bags. Our most used size is 6x9 more or less, would have to go check exactly, but the bags are like 175 bucks for 3000. We go through lots of them. The great part of this machine, is you can really pull a heavy vacuum on them, and the lack of air prevents freezer burn for a long time.. We also use it for sous vide cooking.