Pequod

Looks good from the cheap seats. Not to hijack, but am contemplating a Blackstone for my Christmas list (which usually means I buy it and "let" wife wrap it). Love my KK for pizza, but am thinking the Blackstone would be more fuel efficient and quicker to heat. What else can be cooked on a Blackstone other than pizza?

I managed to spread a little hate on sous vide, chicken breasts, and tofu all in one post. A new record! I have no use for tofu. The other two have their place, but not my favorites to work with.

Looks like a butt to me. What does it weigh?

This is my Guru Member challenge cook for boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Let's face it. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are pretty bland, and also pretty easy to mess up. They rank barely above tofu on my list of things I like to grill. To make them work requires two things: 1) Flawless execution -- don't overcook them, or you'll be sorry, and 2) Something else. For #1, lots of folks like to sous vide to the perfect temp, then just flash them on the grill to get the grill marks. This is a grilling challenge, not swimming, so we're not going to go there. Assuming flawless execution on the grill, we're left with "something else". We can marinate 'em, rub 'em, immerse them in sauce, and we can look for flavor and texture combinations that send them off the charts. I went with the latter. Let's get started. Here they are. Just an inch above tofu on the flavor scale: We flatten them a bit so that they're an even thickness throughout -- keeps those skinny ends from overcooking while waiting for the fat ends to finish. I have a secret seasoning blend. This is the only hint I'm giving you. Flattened and seasoned. The cheese says it has to stand for an hour. I hope I have it standing on the right end. Onto the lower grate of the KK with some lemon halves: Then topped with the cheese as it approaches temp. Melted: Then topped with prosciutto and arugula. Mission accomplished! [Insert Food Network celebrity voice here] The chicken was perfectly grilled and juicy, while the cheese added a buttery note. The saltiness of the prosciutto and peppery arugula accented by the acid from the lemon just sent it over the top. This dish may actually have me cooking boneless, skinless chicken breasts again. Still not excited about tofu, though...

Here's an explicit example. Suppose your recipe calls for 500g flour and 300g water, and you want to substitute 100g poolish. Since a poolish is 100% hydration, it contains 50g flour and 50g water. You would then use 450g flour, 250g water, and 100g poolish to maintain the same hydration as the original formula.

The same amount that is in the preferment. Same for the liquid. Watch the video that I linked for you above. It explains everything.

I use preferments all the time. Take a look at this: https://stellaculinary.com/cooking-videos/stella-bread/sb-009-converting-any-bread-recipe-sourdough

I'd buy one!

True that!

I've used Oakridge Dominator quite a bit on ribs. It's a sweet rib rub and my family prefers it. I prefer rubs with a bit more heat, but Dominator is very good.

I have an Anova SV. It's useful as a time management technique. You can hold foods in the water bath for a long time. I tend to use it more for veg than proteins. Let them cook in the water bath while I'm grilling the meat. Otherwise, I agree that it isn't a substitute for grilling or smoking. I've seen those articles about making sous vide "smoked brisket" and asked myself why? Much easier to just smoke a freakin' brisket than to torture it in a water bath. Sous vide reminds me a lot of when microwaves first became affordable in the 70's. There were all sorts of cookbooks and promises that it would replace your oven. Now everyone uses it for reheating leftovers and popcorn because that's all it's really good for. That, to me, is sous vide.

Thanks! It all came out VERY well. Yup, love my back yard. I live in a zoo -- the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. We needed an oasis to preserve our sanity, so when we found this house we pounced on it. Unfortunately, as the leaves fall we can start to see neighbors' houses on the other side of the creek that runs through the woods. But we also see more deer and foxes. The dog is Kodi. He's old and super-friendly.

This is my November Guru entry for the "Let Us Give Thanks" challenge. My niece's family -- all eight of them -- will be out of town for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so today is our holiday celebration. We started yesterday with the sourdough. This is a 78% Hydration dough with 30% whole wheat flour and 10% of the entire flour coming from the starter. Here it is after mixing and before the folds and overnight bulk fermentation. Today we did final shaping and into the bannetons for proofing. We baked these in the oven because the KK was busy with other things. A dark chestnut. Just right for this loaf. Early this AM we put the pork loin into a brine of apricot nectar, water, garlic (lots), salt, and sugar. Recipe from Adam Perry Lang. After eight hours, we mixed the rub, and then rubbed up the loins. Onto the KK, using the cold smoker with apple wood chips. Need more pics of that KK: Meanwhile, I prepare the glaze of apricot preserves, cilantro, garlic, and lemon juice. Next, I'm making the prune, rum, chocolate cake. Recipe from Milk Street Kitchen. The prunes, rum, and molasses after a short turn in the microwave. The mixed cake into the springform pan, then into the oven: Out of the oven: Our guests arrive, and Kodi gets re-acquainted with my grand nephew. He's wondering whether this little dude is a puppy or something he can eat: Next, use the indoor grill to pre-char a cedar plank: The pork loin comes off the grill. And the Camembert goes on after cranking the temp to 400. Still cranking apple wood smoke: Finally, everything is ready: Satisfied customers:

Is that with the smoke pot? What rub are you using? Details!

Sad news. Best wishes for speedy recovery. Hope all is sorted out smoothly.

Soaking my cold smoker in PBW today. The water is already pretty brown after two hours, so hoping for good results tomorrow AM.

I don't have the 32 (yet...planned for spring), but I do have a 23 and love it. The answer to your Tenderloin question depends, of course, on the size of it, but I'd guess you'd prefer a 32 for that.

Carne Crosta is hands down the best thing you can do to a steak. I did a head to head comparison with Lanes ancho espresso, and prefer the Carne Crosta by far.

True story: my 16 year old daughter started telling me about drop bears one day and swore they were real. She said they were even listed on an Australian government website, and she showed me this: http://australianmuseum.net.au/drop-bear Took about a day of my explaining Aussie humor to her to convince her this was a joke. Still...Look up and Live IS my motto!

Oakridge is awesome. My favorite commercial rubs. You can look up individual rubs here: https://www.oakridgebbq.com/

I think I'm going to give my cold smoker a PBW bath this weekend. That looks grate! (Not misspelled)

Looks great! Good idea with the deflector.

Just one heads up on the Smoke -- the included meat probe is the type with a bend that won't pass through the probe port on the KK. You need to order a straight penetration probe -- or two if you want to use it to probe two meats at once.

The Thermoworks Smoke will have a wifi add-on available in 2017, but isn't there yet. It has a 300' range even without, which is sufficient around the house. What I despise most about the Maverick is how hard it is to set and use alarms. I don't bother using this feature because it is too hard to use...and I have advanced degrees in engineering! Ridiculous! The Smoke addresses all of the deficiencies of Maverick with Thermoworks quality.

I like it a lot. Similar in functionality to a Maverick, but much better built and MUCH easier to set up alarms. Using again today. Here it is in action. Not much to see. Was actually making a short video of the smoke from the smoke pot.