Pequod

It's crossed my mind. Have been searching my memory for any brisket pranks I may have played in my past. Clear so far...

Reminds me of Ken and BJ, the enormous pigs they had at South Farms at the University of Illinois when I was a grad student there. From a distance they looked like normal size squeakers, but then a bicyclist would ride by them to provide scale. Mercy! HUGE! Made other pigs look like pork chops. They became porcine rock stars, with a big story in the Daily Illini telling all about them and their particular...function. One of my fellow grad students was finishing her thesis and receiving LOTS of phone calls from prospective employers, but she was NEVER there so I took the calls and left her handwritten messages (this is before voicemail). I got tired of playing secretary, so one day I left her a note to call Ken and BJ with the number for South Farms. I was bad. I miss pork...

I don't think there's any way I could do away with pork permanently. If I can eliminate the persistent problem which I believe to be due to oats (Instant Pot Oatmeal! Easy and delicious! Heart healthy too...when they aren't trying to KILL YOU), then I can tolerate the occasional pork-induced flair up.

Been going through a series of weird, never before experienced dermatological issues for the last year, with strange, unexplained flair-ups even whilst on medication that is supposed to address such things. Most likely cause is allergies...but to what? I managed to deduce oats as a primary actor on my own. First round of allergy tests confirmed oats, but added crab and pork to the list. Have never previously had issues with any of these. Current course of action is total avoidance until fully cleared up, then will add pork back in to see what happens. The pulled pork pictured above on Saturday resulted in a flair up on Sunday, so that seems to be for real...for now. I had 53 good years. Time to pay the man... Tofu. Chickpeas. Kale. That's my fate. Hate cats. HATE 'em! And haven't been near any in a looong time. Yeah!

Been going through a series of allergy tests, and so far I've come up positive for...PORK. CRIKEY! Could this have been my last pork butt? What about BACON???

Just my opinion: 1. I'd think at least 6 at a time on a 42. I've done two on the main grate of my 23 and pretty sure my 32 could handle at least 4. To size it up, just lay them all out in their cryovac on the grates until it's as full as you'd be willing to go. 2. Matter of personal preference and what you're comfortable with. My advice would be to stay with what you know and not mess around. Personally, I like 275 for brisket, but that's just me. 3. Same temp will give you the same result. At 275 I think you'd be looking at around 10'ish hours. 4. I wrap in pink butcher paper just after the stall and this does shorten cooking time. My 10'ish hours estimate above is based on wrapping. But, again, I'd stay with what you know. Or you could try doing just one at 275 with butcher paper wrap and see how it goes.

After 16 hours, a meateor! This was marinated in Gojuchang for over 24 hours before hitting the smoke. Will be pulled and tossed with Stephen Raichlen’s Korean BBQ sauce and served with kimchi on a bun later today. Saw someone (don’t remember who) had trouble with running out of fuel on a long cook. Here’s my half basket after running 18 hours on coco char. Could have easily done 24. And the temps were sub freezing overnight as well.

Virginia Tech...and loving it!

I just so happen to be using mine today due to an overnighter. Here’s a pic of it in action and the bracket. If yours didn’t come with it, you can find it here: https://bbqguru.com/storenav?CategoryId=5&ProductId=187. You can probably also find it at Kerblam! (that’s Amazon for you non-Whovians).

I just use the little stand it came with and set it on one of the side tables.

Crikey, @MacKenzie! You are hardcore! No pics, but it was 32F here for Thanksgiving and I had the 32 cranking (notice a theme? 32...32...it's gotta mean something...). Was trying to avoid the same ol' brined turkey routine, so did a Tea-Rubbed Maple Turkey (recipe from Milk Street) that was off the charts. Smoked that with a bit o' peach wood (just a hint to accent the tea rub). Also did a smoked beef tenderloin that had the guests swearing off turkey for life. Just a salt n' pepper rub smoked with a bit of cherry wood (again...less is more here). Doing a Korean Style Pulled Pork on Saturday. Gotta get my daughter fully fueled before we send her back to school to power through final exams. She's majoring in Physics...love that kid... ...and here it is before 8:00 AM and I've got 90% of my Black Friday shopping done thanks to Kerblam! (my new name for Amazon thanks to the latest episode of Doctor Who).

Ooooh. Suya Pepper fish tacos would be awesome!

No signs of a Konro delivery yet, so this was done on the KK. Starting to look like the Konro won’t arrive in time for Christmas, so some other cooker may need to pinch hit so the family doesn’t feel bad. Maybe I’ll let them get me a pizza oven. Anything to keep them from feeling bad...

My daughter is home from Virginia Tech and what does she request? Suya! Made this with The Suya pepper @tekobo sent me. The traditional onion and tomato are included in the form of a board sauce, with extra Suya pepper sprinkled on top.

Crikey! If you haven’t named it yet, might I suggest Eagle? For it most definitely landed, at a spot you might call Tranquility Base, and had a bunch of us about to turn blue. And you are about to experience one giant culinary leap. ...and with that, I will exit stage left with a huge, geeky mic drop.

Great idea and looks like they came out great too. Do you recommend this book?

It was a beautiful fall day, so...it was a two sourdough kinda day. Let’s start with a batard using fresh milled whole wheat, spelt, and rye in my KK23 steam oven. Here it is just after starting the steam. And about 10 minutes later. Just admiring the view. And 45 minutes later, there be bread! Crumb shot! Also made a sourdough pizza using about 12% fresh milled whole wheat for flavor and texture. Yup, both sourdough and fresh milled in a pizza dough...it’s real, and it’s spectacular (Seinfeld reference). On the Blackstone (hadn’t used it in forever). Boom!

This loaf was done in a Lodge combo cooker in the oven as I’m tweaking too many variables already — new proofer, different ratios of spelt and rye, hydration, etc. Next weekend I’ll take it to the KK and use @Syzygies steam oven technique. The fall leaves should make a nice backdrop too. Properly scored bread will have pronounced ears, but will it listen?

Today I made some instant pot apple butter, a loaf of sourdough (proofed in my proofer), and some yogurt (also in the proofer). Yogurt is kid of boring, but here’s the apple butter and bread. Pretty decent crumb. Nice ears too.

Yogurt is planned for this weekend...after it proofs a loaf of sourdough!

My new toy. Picked up a folding Brod & Taylor proofer. Maintains a humid environment at precise temps for proofing dough. Here it is in action doing what it does best: proofing. This will become English Muffins for tomorrow's breakfast. A completely frivolous purchase, but what the hey.

@Syzygies - thanks for your tips in this and other posts. Thus far I've managed up to about 60% whole grains (the rest being Giusto's Artisan) without need for add-ins to compensate. I have a bottle of ascorbic acid on hand just in case my luck changes. Have been pretty successful with flavor and dough "management" (for lack of a better term) whilst using combos of hard red wheat, spelt, and rye. These form the basis of my "go-to" breads so far. I also have a bag of Einkorn that came with my Mockmill. Haven't quite figured out what to do with that yet... Anyone have a good Einkorn recipe hanging around? Maybe I'll check at Wegman's...

This week’s loaf is Trevor J. Wilson’s Champlain Sourdough, which is mostly white bread flour (I used Giusto’s Artisan) with a touch of fresh milled spelt and fresh milled rye. Trevor has an ebook called “Open Crumb Mastery” in which he contends that open crumb is 80% fermentation and dough handling and 20% other factors. Whilst most amateurs are fixated on hydration, Trevor says they’re looking in the wrong place. This loaf was only 70% hydration, using techniques from his book. I think I believe him. Next week I’ll begin experimenting with a higher proportion of spelt and rye, and also replace about half of the bread flour with high extraction hard red wheat. I’ll also boost the hydration a bit (75% for starters) due to the higher amount of whole grains. Once I have everything dialed in, I’ll move my indoor baking back out to the KK.

HEATHEN!! Whoops...there I go again with the filter off...

Exactly! Milling is super easy. Turn it on and dump in the grain. Out pops flour. Coffe is a great analogy for the difference in flavor too. Freshly roasted and ground just before brewing makes a cup 10 times better than the swill most people think of as coffee.