Syzygies

Our rule of thumb is two pounds of tomatoes per packet, which we scale as the batches go wetter or dryer. I.e. we expect 10 packets from a 20# box of Romas. We weigh what we end up with, and divide by 10. Other times, we use the 225g to 250g rule, and it's close enough for how we dry. We had a first-ever disaster this morning. Our neighbors had left us a beautiful but seriously out of hand tomato patch to pick. I'd composted what was too far gone, but saved everything that "looked" right, sometimes using the good half of a tomato with a gouge on the other end, and using many tomatoes that were starting to split and riper than ideal. I tasted as I worked, and thought I was ok. Then I overloaded all 12 trays of our dehydrator. I couldn't get out of my head an unfamiliar smell, from picking the overly ripe patch. Then this morning, the entire batch lost to mold, drying at 155 F. Lessons: All the canning / preserving books say this: Use ideal, unbroken fruit. Any fruit that's less than perfect, eat it now or compost it. Like with wine, if you won't drink it don't cook with it! Go with thinner slices (smaller Romas split in half are fine, but a 1 lb monster in three slices is not), and be generous with the salt. (At least 1/2 tsp per tray?) The "12 tray" rule of thumb may not apply here, 8 trays may be all one unit can handle in this application, we'll buy a second unit next year to end up with two 8 tray units. (That said, we've never had this problem before.)

One could, and that is indeed simpler. I believe that one can taste the difference, doing it my way. The gases that emit are flammable, and I like to give them a chance to at least partially burn through the hot coals. For this same reason, one doesn't want to use a smoke pot at higher temperatures: At higher temperatues, the gases create a self-sustaining fire (pictured above through my draft door; pretty, huh?), and one no longer needs the charcoal. I in fact got the idea for a smoke pot from how one makes charcoal, which I also tried. (As a mathematician and as a functional programmer, I've spent my entire life trying to train myself to think abstractly, as in smoke=poach, grill=sear.) Here's a good tutorial: Making Charcoal Had Danny Meyer asked my advice before opening Blue Smoke, I would have recommended that he devise a "gas oven" for his commercial pit, where the gas source was a separate chamber that heated logs to the point where they emitted this gas. A modern abstraction of the classic "two fire" approach, I'd bet it would work spectacularly well.

Quite the contrary. I always thought the Greeks had it right, believing in many Gods.

gooshy semi-precious tomatoes We haven't opened a can of tomatoes in five years, and I now recoil at the taste, surprised that restaurants don't do what we do. Tom Colicchio's "Think Like a Chef" is a seminal cookbook for being more a conceptual text than a recipe staple-job, a modern-day Richard Olney "Simple French Food". (As a pool player is thinking ahead several shots, Olney teaches how Friday's feast becomes ingredients for Sunday brunch when guests stay the weekend.) Colicchio has a recipe for "precious tomatoes" that one roasts in the oven. One can also roast in a cazuela in a ceramic cooker. We used to do this. Lots of work. They're not actually called "precious tomatoes", but I then found that Thomas Keller has a similar recipe in "The French Laundry Cookbook", and "precious" is the only word I can remember from that book. (Or is it "importance"?) It seems that everyone has a recipe for "precious tomatoes". The concept is sound: Put up garden tomatoes as an ingredient year-round, and there are far better ways to do this than canning in jars. Meanwhile, friends back east like to pass for Italian immigrants, and go get boxes of Jersey Roma tomatoes at Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, to make into sun-dried tomatoes. They were good, but I've seen the trays in the sun on islands off Sicily, and what we were doing was not that. I'm also into ingredients, not appetizers, what would I want with 20 jars of dried tomatoes in good olive oil? So it came together for me, how to make "semi-precious tomatoes" at scale. As in, our neighbors are away this weekend and asked us to pick their patch that had gotten past them. 54 lbs. Last week at Monterey Market in Berkeley, a beautiful 20 lb box of organic San Marzano tomatoes. Earlier, 45 lbs from the best stand at our local farmers' market. And what we don't eat as salad each night from our own crop. Find one of those Bedmo 20% off coupons, and take it in to buy a Nesco® American Harvest® Snackmaster® Encore™ Dehydrator and Jerky Maker model FD-61. Then go to Amazon and buy eight more trays, to max out the dehydrator at 12 trays. This handles 20 to 40 lbs of tomatoes at a time, depending on how you slice. Set a giant pot of water to boil, and immerse batches of 6-8 tomatoes for 60 seconds each, letting the water return to a boil between batches. Then set tomatoes to cool, and skin them, removing blemishes. Tomatoes are a fruit, any bit that looks more like a vegetable has to go. Arrange thick slices on dehydrator trays. Sprinkle sea salt to taste; I find it easiest to use a salt grinder over each tray. Dry at 135 F to 155 F for 8 to 16 hours, until the flavor is quite concentrated but the texture is still "gooshy". Rest overnight in the fridge, so moisture can redistribute, then package and freeze. (We now have a chest freezer.) We like packages of 225g to 250g each. Ziplock bags work fine, but a vacuum packer is better. We use these anywhere one might use a canned tomato, sometimes adding water to plump them back up. The classic would be a putanesca sauce, combining a packet with garlic, 6 TB olive oil, herbs, chiles, olives, capers, perhaps anchovies, to go on fresh pasta. This would be second-to-last to go, if we were forced to give up specialized food habits. I'd stop fermenting my own hot sauce, and making my own stock, long before we'd give up these tomatoes. We also grind our own flour for absolutely everything, and alas, we would give up these tomatoes before we'd use storebought flour.

Hickory chunks and apple chips. More flour paste than necessary. Set in with fuel. More than needed for a 20 hour shoulder, but easy to reuse what's left. 16" unglazed terra cotta plant saucer, covered with two sheets of foil, as drip pan / heat deflector. (This isn't a KK; we hope to replace it with one.) I drilled three 1/8" holes near the center. That's plenty, but I don't think it matters too much. The issue is to allow gases to escape without allowing enough oxygen back in to start a fire inside the pot. So three 1" holes would defeat the purpose, but four 1/4" holes might be fine. On the other hand I'm a big fan of "minimum effective dose". Three holes in case two are unlucky, get blocked by chips of wood, and 1/8" is plenty big enough.

This idea has also been around for a while as a sous-vide technique. See for example A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking: In science we're used to independent discovery; when an idea is ripe it starts coming up everywhere. Even Einstein was only a decade ahead of the pack with relativity, and that's an unheard-of lead. Independent discovery reminds some folks of the best ever criticism of Henry Miller: The rest of us are just thrilled to see many apostles out there. Whenever clear common sense flies in the face of habit, it takes many apostles for change to take effect. In other words, thinking of it ain't the prize, getting people to do it, that's what's hard. So yes, hurray for the Finney Method!

Yes, I just set it on top of the charcoal. I see no difference using 1 qt, 2 qt here. Sometimes for a 20 hr cook I'll build up the coals around the sides, even though that's invariably more fuel than I need, then start the fire right under the pot using a blow torch. Lately I just start some coals with an electric starter, then build the rest of the fire as I set the smoke pot. Principle of least effort. I typically start the fire an hour before the meat goes in, to let it stabilize. This is in conflict with maximizing the smoke ring; I understand that some BBQ competitors like cold meat to go into a cold cooker, to maximize the period before the meat gets too hot to continue forming a smoke ring. But hey, we're cooking for ourselves, and as the only smoke-flavored food on the table the taste comes through loud and clear.

That's the first gas-powered offset firebox I've ever seen!

I tried using a few chiles in mine, but it makes my lips smart! What am I doing wrong?

Cambro food box sized nicely for shoulder Here's a box sized nicely for pork shoulders (12 x 18 x 6, fitting a 16 lbs shoulder): Cambro Food Box 12186P Cambro Food Box Cover 1218CP There's also a clear variant (less likely to stain) for twice the money, and other heights. Also recently tested for ribs. My source was Chef's First, in their bricks-and-mortar incarnation as East Bay Restaurant Supply. edit: This box is good only to 160 F, the more expensive clear plastic box is good to 210 F. An issue only if you want to use it after a cook.

Yes, it's simply a different, perhaps smoother taste. One can master working either way. My wife likes this way and won't let me go back. It isn't politics, it's food. See which way you like the taste! A one quart pot is fine, I also have no problems with a two quart pot being too much. I buy my smoking woods in 40# bags from Lazzari's warehouse; were I buying retail, two quarts at a pop might give me pause. I vary the ratio of chips to chunks to play duration, more chunks for 20 hour shoulders, more chips for ribs. Sealing is "optional" but the issue is if the lid goes ajar, there's convection through the pot, defeating the purpose. An alternative that was popular was "pipe bombs" with threaded end caps, holes in the middle. Much more money to avoid working with flour paste, I passed. I make up flour water paste in a tiny ziplock bag, push the bag around to get the consistency like toothpaste, then slit a corner. This is a trailer-park version of those cake decorating tubes, in the spirit of rolling pasta at the beach house with a wine bottle. Then squeeze a ring of paste around the lid, wipe up with a paper towel. Takes longer to say than to do, once one gets the hang of it.

Here's what I use: Permatex High-Temp Red RTV Silicone Gasket Maker http://www.permatex.com/products/automotive/automotive_gasketing/gasket_makers/auto_Permatex_High-Temp_Red_RTV_Silicone_Gasket.htm A lower temperature rating (650 F), but it has an NSF food safety rating ("Certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 51"), unlike anything else in that series. I go over the stated rating without issue. (Although, quoting the best line in the Simpsons movie, "So far!") Some think lead poisoning from wine vessels helped take out the Roman empire, and I'm sure they were telling each other at the time, "Hey, these crocks work great." So, I don't know if it matters, but the NSF rating makes me feel better. I also spent $100 on a pH meter to make sure my fermented hot sauce doesn't give my friends botulism; call me cautious. While we're reciting toxin risks, let's mention that galvanized metals have no place in a cooker (e.g. no galvanized heat deflectors). They off-gas nasties.

You should keep going! "Thermodynamics" is an awfully big word for turning a fan on and off. The basic algorithm for deciding what fraction of each cycle to turn on the fan is a cross-industry classic going back many decades, any number of $50 universal controllers on eBay employ exactly this algorithm and a temp probe reading circuit. And this algorithm would be far easier to implement in code on a gumstick controller. Here's the problem in a nutshell. Suppose you want a 225 F fire. If you turn the fan on all the time at 220 F, none of the time at 230 F, and a proportionate amount of time in between, your "process" will reach an equilibrium somewhere in between 220 F and 230 F. Unfortunately, perhaps not exactly 225 F. So the algorithm is a robust procedure for deciding to move the 220 F, 230 F interval until the equilibrium is exactly at 225 F. Easier said than done, but not rocket science!

Re: better solution I also think he should build a wireless interface into the device. I wrote him to suggest this, didn't hear back. So these other stories don't surprise me. On islands off of Sicily, they skipped the whole land-line phone thing, went straight to cellular. If my daughter's netbook can pick up every base station in the neighborhood, this can't be hard. Meanwhile, BBQ Guru replaced their PitMinder with a no-display model, only two buttons. Can't help but think of the evolution of film cameras, where abruptly it became cheaper to go digital than to build mechanical controls. Then the film itself went digital. We can't be far off from the day where a wireless web browser interface to a BBQ controller will be less expensive than those two remaining buttons.

Using a Smoke Pot For smoke, I have a two quart cast iron dutch oven, with three 1/8" holes drilled in the bottom. I fill it with apple and/or hickory chips and chunks; 40# bags from Lazzari last a long time, even two quarts at a time. I seal the lid with a flour/water paste, pretty much what Moroccans do to keep their couscous pots tight. I set the pot in with the charcoal. Typically, I use a propane torch to light the charcoal under the pot. This is modeled after the procedure for making charcoal; the wood off-gases and turns to charcoal without ever actually burning. I only use this for low & slow; somewhere near 300 F the pot gases catch fire, and can generate an extraordinary amount of heat. (After a small starter fire, making charcoal is self-sustaining.) In other words, I'm only using part of the smoke I could be using. This is a selection process, and selection processes change taste. Armagnac tastes different from moonshine, in part because of a different selection process while distilling. Our smoke becomes one ingredient of many, in balance with the other seasonings, even using two quarts of smoking wood at a time. My wife won't let me do this any other way, after tasting the difference. After many cruel disappointments at commercial establishments serving BBQ with no smoke, one can become obsessed with smoke. It is unlikely that all of one's guests will share this distorted obsession. One can also get over this, and realize that smoke is an ingredient, to use in balance.

You must have a couple of Webers, right? How about "Big Steve and the twins?"

It would be nice to arrange a "universal" hole, that could be adapted to either the BBQ Guru, the Stoker, or any brand yet to emerge. (Brands do also disappear.) Were I to order a Stoker (and a KK with said breathing tube) I'd probably want to go back and forth to my dead-simple Pit Minder, depending on the cook. The draft door adapters are unwieldy, unnecessarily big, and an unwanted intellectual challenge to insert properly. That's why I drilled a Guru port into my old K.

We ordered the shoulder, one day notice, from Diablo Foods: 3615 Mount Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA. Twenty minutes away for us, but the best butcher this side of the Berkeley/Oakland hills. I'd be stunned if there isn't an outstanding butcher in Napa that can also order this. We have various family up there; I can ask...

Oh man, it melted in our mouths with tortillas from fresh masa. I'm a veteran of many butts, but I'm never looking back. Clearly this thread tapped a well of expertise with the whole shoulder. My vote (skin down) is why look back, I'm buying shoulders from now on.

Looks better now!

Boy am I glad I checked this thread! I though about taking the skin off, but I'm thinking the meat by the skin will come out real moist. I started to put the shoulder on skin up, but after this discussion I raced back out to flip it over. Picnic to the left? I've cooked plenty of butts over the years, and I don't recall anything looking like a leg stump. (The cooker in question is a "Sacramento skinless" #7 Kamado, we're waiting for it to actually crack in half before we buy a Komodo Kamado.) Thanks.

This is my first time with a whole pork shoulder (butt + picnic). The skin on may be a nice effect, keeping meat moister, we'll see. But does anyone understand the markings? Is P for Pig?

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 6, 2009-- Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced the release of its barbecue controller, “Kindling™,†which is now available on Amazon's home page. Amazon was able to release this device so quickly because of similarities in function to its “Kindle™†line of e-book readers. An electronic paper display makes sense for barbecue, said Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, because pit temperatures don't change so quickly. Users can control their pits remotely over Amazon Whispernet using the Sprint EVDO network. The kicker? For adjusting pit temperatures, the “Kindling™" sports a touch screen, like the e-book reader being developed by Amazon rival Plastic Logic. "It's rather embarrassing" confesses Bezos. "The Kindle had a touch screen all along, but we originally planned to go with Verizon for wireless connectivity. Verizon likes to cripple functionality on anything they get near, you know, like what they do to Bluetooth on their cell phones? When we switched to Sprint, we just plain forgot to turn the touch screen back on. Doh!" Asked if he worried about rival Plastic Logic entering the barbecue market, Bezos was dismissive, saying Plastic Logic already had their hands full. "Have you seen Barnes and Noble's pricing for e-books? Anyhow, Plastic Logic can't get text-to-voice to work on AT&T's network. The books all sound like someone talking over an iPhone."

Hi. Does anyone have a strong recommendation for a Foodsaver alternative? Our top-of-the-line Foodsaver is getting a bit beat. There's masking tape jammed into the "is the lid closed?" sensor to trick it into working. For actual boil in pouch, I always make two seals, as one can give; other brands are like "dental tape -vs- dental floss" and make an 1/8" wide seal one might trust. Requirements: Able to process 20-30 bags in a row without overheating and stopping. Able to handle liquids. Single seal won't give when used boil-in-pouch. ("Channel" bags ok, they're 20 cents each if bought from anyone besides FoodSaver.) Thanks, Dave

Yep, you must do something. (Cheesecloth?) A fully cooked butt is enough of a challenge moving from the grill to the foil/towel cooler without falling apart.