billg71

I tried them on a couple grills, they work well but, as noted, they're a "bugger to clean".

Great article, thanks for posting!

Oktoberfest Hot German Potato Salad

Assuming you're in the US and celebrate Memorial Day, of course.

I have an Aukashi brisket from Heritage Foods that's been sitting in the freezer now thawed and ready to go. Planning on doing some German potato salad and Texas beans for sides, recipes courtesy of Meathead's Amazing Ribs site.

Do you have anything special planned? Let's hear about it!

Best,

Bill

I like the Fogo but I've found it's not really sized well. The small bags have a lot of small pieces and some medium, the large bags have some medium but are mostly large chunks, at least the couple bags I tried. It's clean(no foreign objects) and burns well but I had to bust down a lot of the big chunks in the large bags.

I've done one cook with the Coffee Char and it worked well. But I still found too many large chunks(say medium-fist size) that had to be broken up to get a good mix. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Best,

Bill

I guess this comes under Misc. Banter since it doesn't have to be cooked on a KK(and, to be honest, I never have).

The recipe is from the Roosevelt Lodge at Yellowstone National Park: It's right there on the 2nd page of their menu. 

Try it, it makes a great side or even a main course served with toast or crackers. I add another half-pound of ground beef to the recipe since I tend to cook it as a meal in itself, like chili.

The nice thing about it is that you can cook it just about anywhere you have a heat source. I usually do it outside on the Genesis side burner but we've been drowned with rain the last couple days so I cooked it on the cooktop today. I've browned the meat and onions on a burner and left the rest of the cook under a rack of ribs on the smoker. It's just one of those recipes you can cook pretty much anywhere, anyhow, in anything.

Best,

Bill

He wasn't my fave Bond but, as Tony said, anybody who makes it to 89 had a good run!

RIP Roger. You're missed.

I grew up in the SE where ketchup was the universal lubricant but I had to go away to prep school before I ever saw someone put it on eggs.

So I guess it's a NE thing. Unless it rubs off my hash browns onto my eggs it's not something I've developed a taste for.

I'll never drive a Ferrari Enzo or a Bugatti Veyron or play a pre-war Martin 000-42 but I can cook on my KK anytime I want. That's good enough for me.

Thanks, Dennis!

About 5 years ago I adopted two cats, they're the basement cats since they don't get along with the upstairs cats. One female, one male, spayed/neutered, obviously house pets that had been abandoned. They have great personalities and since I spend a lot of my time in my basement office and workshop, we've really developed a relationship. They get fed a combination of premium canned food and dry food.

But they're both overweight despite my limiting their diet. They get(combined) less than the manufacturer's recommended food for one normal adult cat. The male is a little chunky, the lady has been described by the vet as "grotesquely obese", she weighs in at  25 lb..

So I found a kitty torture bowl on Amazon and I'm giving it a try. So far, so good, but they're not happy with it although dry food consumption has gone down. Its only been a week since the new food bowl arrived and I hope it'll help but they complain so much I feel bad.

Is this just tough love or am I torturing my kitties?

Thanks for your thoughts,

Bill

Vitamin D, 4,000 mg/day. After a couple months if you get sick you need to see a doctor.

Sorry to hear of your ailment, hope you get well soon!

19 hours ago, Requis said:

im leaning toward the welder mat...thoughts

You just spent maybe $10K on cookers and a table and you're looking to save $600 and put them on a welder's mat? Really? Isn't that kind of like ordering your new AMG Mercedes with vinyl seats?

I dunno about leftover pavers, why not trot down to the local tile store and find something that would complement the KK and the teak? "In for a penny, in for a pound" and all that.

Seriously, you've just bought two of the best cookers in the world, real works of art. You've spent more money to make sure you have a safe place to put them, why not go the extra half-mile(or kilometer) to give them a home that complements their beauty?

See how little trouble I have spending your money? Just ask, I'll be glad to help.

Congrats on your new outdoor kitchens, I'm sure we'll enjoy them! And where are the pics?

Best,

Bill

For tri-tip I reverse-sear at 250-275 to an internal temp of 120 or so, crank up the heat and sear to medium-rare. I tend to keep seasoning to salt and pepper but YMMV.

@tony b, that's why I don't eat any pork that isn't locally sourced and responsibly raised. There are a couple of "pig farms" here in North GA that I've had the misfortune to drive by, it turns your stomach. There are a lot of chicken farms, driving by one or stopping next to a Tyson truck at a red light has ended eating factory chicken for me.

I grew up in rural South Carolina in the 50's and 60's, any red meat we ate(including chicken) we either raised ourselves or traded for from a neighbor. Back then pork wasn't "the other white meat" and it tasted a whole lot better than what you can buy at Kroger today. We ate a lot of fish, it came from the river and we caught it, didn't buy it from a grocery store.

Nowadays I buy meat from the local Farmer's Market or Whole Paycheck. I pay more for responsibly raised meat but I'm OK with that. I'd rather pay more to eat better than pay less to subsidize Monsanto or Cargill. Although the IRS will insist I subsidize them and a few more assorted agribusinesses.

1 minute ago, 5698k said:

My father owns and operates a small cattle farm in Mississippi, so I can agree with about 97% of this. Particularly the parts about better tasting, healthier beef.


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God bless your father, we desperately need more farmers like him! Next time you see him tell him to keep up the good work, there are folks who appreciate his efforts.

No, thank you, Dennis! If you didn't make the greatest cookers in the world we wouldn't be here. We're here because of all the hard work you've put into making the KK exactly that: the greatest cooker in the world!

Best,

Bill

Dunno about it being a "great post" but here's my uncrating:

@Requis,

We don't use a lot of Trex here in N Georgia but I think 8" spacing would be OK for a KK and outdoor kitchen. Most of the load is carried on the joists anyway, as long as they're properly sized and supported you'll be OK. Personally, if I was going to spend what Trex costs for decking I'd just go ahead and spend the extra money for Ipe(pronounced Epay). I just did a quick search on pricing, Trex is running around $2.50/linear foot($5.45/sft) for the grooved stuff, Ipe is $3.83/lft($8.36/sft). So it's about half-again more expensive than Trex. BUT:

You can make arguments either way but Ipe is a renewable resource and responsibly grown and managed, it comes from a tree and trees consume CO2 and give off oxygen. Trex is made from sawdust, glue and assorted petrochemicals and it takes a lot of energy to make it, no oxygen is produced but lots of CO2 as a byproduct. Ipe can be sanded down and refinished, once Trex is worn it looks awful until it's scrapped and replaced. If you drop something like a hot coal on wood it'll scorch and can be sanded down and repaired, Trex will melt and burn(as @tony mentioned.

If you're getting the idea that I'm not exactly a fan of composite decking you're absolutely right. Drop by your local Home Despot and pick up a 16' piece of Trex and see for yourself how floppy it is. Then go pick up a piece of plain old PT Pine decking for comparison. Ipe is to PT Pine as PT Pine is to Trex. Now decide what you want to be walking on.

OMG, now I've gone off on my "Composite Decking Rant" again! My apologies, I'm a bit opinionated when it comes to wood butchery.

Honestly, I'd be more concerned with the weight from the stone and granite than the KK. Your Fusion stone weighs in at almost 15 lb/sft., granite countertops around the same. If you have a 3' tall cabinet faced with stone and a 24" granite top you're looking at 5x15=75 lb/sft, 7-1/2 times the usual dead load for a deck. My customers are inevitably amazed when I tell them what I have to do to their deck to keep their outdoor kitchen in the air but gravity is gravity and there's no going to court and appealing that law.

I've probably given you a lot more information(and opinion) than you wanted but these are all things you need to consider. It looks like your carpenter has a good grasp of the situation, work with him and you should be good to go.

Congrats on the new kitchen! Share some pics as it's progressing.

Best,

Bill

Just a follow-up:

I've been using the FiAir for the last couple months every Saturday to juice up the coals in the PK for the second phase of reverse-seared burgers and it absolutely rocks! I'm still on the original cheap batteries it came with, it fits in your pocket(well, mostly), doesn't need to be plugged in and it's quiet to boot.

When I think of how many $25 gadgets I've bought that didn't work I smile every time I use this one!

Best,

Bill

Way Cool! I need to fence the back yard and raise some fresh eggs!

This one?

You should give her one of Joel Salatin's books or Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma". We pay for cheap food every paycheck in the taxes deducted, every month when we pay the premium for our health insurance. If you think your employer "gives" you your health insurance you're kidding yourself.

Great, Mac! Folks who feed birds often forget they need water, too.

We had a "frozen precipitation event" here in Atlanta last Friday followed by a cold front, I spent more time hauling water than messing with feeders.

Total weight of 2 lb, 10 oz for $150 = $57.00/lb plus shipping. I can do a lot better than that for dry-aged beef from my local Whole Foods. Their dry-aged tenderloin runs about 25.99/lb if i remember.

You can get 8 lb, 8 oz. of Aukushi/Angus Wagyu for $365 from Heritage Foods, that's $43/lb for some of the finest beef you'll ever put in your mouth: Steak Lovers Package

Plus shipping, of course.