Keith B

Just now, Keith B said:

I cooked ribs this weekend using the cold smoker and the fruit blend cookingpellets. The tar residue was aweful!  Following the cook I pulled the cold smoker out and the part that inserts into the guru port was coated in tar.  I put my plug back in and yesterday it was essentially glued into the KK.  I was spinning a chicken last night and wanted to remove the plug to get the coals up to temp faster.  It wouldn't budge.  I tried again once the KK got up to temp and it came right out but had the tar all over it.  The first time I used the cookingpellets I did not have any tar residue.  Not sure what changed this time around.  They were from the same bag as last time.

Oops, I was actually using Lumberjack pellets and not CookingPellets.

33 minutes ago, Pequod said:

No, not Traeger! Everything they make is awesome! I saw it on Instagram!!!

I cooked ribs this weekend using the cold smoker and the fruit blend cookingpellets. The tar residue was aweful!  Following the cook I pulled the cold smoker out and the part that inserts into the guru port was coated in tar.  I put my plug back in and yesterday it was essentially glued into the KK.  I was spinning a chicken last night and wanted to remove the plug to get the coals up to temp faster.  It wouldn't budge.  I tried again once the KK got up to temp and it came right out but had the tar all over it.  The first time I used the cookingpellets I did not have any tar residue.  Not sure what changed this time around.  They were from the same bag as last time.

Aussie,

I am jealous.  Mine came wrapped in bubble wrap and not the newspaper like my last order.  They were a fun read.

18 hours ago, Braai-Q said:

Thanks Keith. Interesting to hear about the Meater Block. I'd have to wait for it and it's a Thermoworks Smoke vs Meater Block debate for me but the app/wireless is swinging it for me. Problem is as I'm not a backer of the KS, I'd have to wait for shipping which was said to be Q2 which is a bit vague.

If you have a Meater+ and get a Block, can you run 5 probes? I've tried to determine an answer from the website and downloaded the app as well but it won't play until it finds hardware. 

I must be honest, the language of the Meater was a bit off putting, referring to the end of the probe as 'the pointy end' and some of the language in the interface seems to cater to people who if they need that sort of dumbing down, probably shouldn't be near fire.

I would expect the Meater+ and the block to work independently from each other but I can not say that for sure.  I backed the campaign over two years ago and had given up on it until I got the shipping notice.  I can say that any shipping time prediction should be taken with a grain of salt.  We were promised the product repeatedly over the last couple of years.  

I was commenting above about my experience with the block.  It seems solid but if I had to have something soon, I would have no issues with any Thermoworks product.

I was a backer on the Meater campaign and took delivery of the Meater block a few weeks ago.  I have been impressed with unit and having four probes is great.  I used it the other night to do a reverse sear on a rack of lamb that was cut down to two bones per piece which left me with four pieces total.  Perfect for the four Meater probes.  The ambient temp sensors all stayed within a degree or two of each other and the lamb came out perfect.  I also have the Thermoworks Smoke and it is a solid performer.  I will say that since I got the Meater, I have not used the smoke.  It is also nice to be able to insert the probes before taking the meat out to the grill and they are super easy to clean.  The big bonus is that you do not have to deal with the wires and no need to cover the block  from rain as it is inside.  The Meater block sits inside in my pub (other side of the wall from the grill location) and the connection is solid.  

I got an email from Sally at http://pepperberry.net.au/ and she said the freeze dried pepperberries (aka purple crack) were available again so I ordered a kilo of them.  They are out for delivery today  I have ordered from them in the past.  They are easy to work with and the previous orders have been great.  I need to keep this order locked up because as soon as my family and friends find out that I have resupplied they will be at my door looking for handouts!

Hello,

Check out this link to get a feel for the quantity of food that you can fit on a 22" Hi Cap.  Mine is the standing version but identical in size to the table top.

Fully Loaded my 22 Hi Cap

Great news Dennis.  Will the coffee lump be available for purchase on the KK website?

I still have about 20 boxes myself.  Great to hear about the shipping arrangement.  What is the word on the possibility of getting Coffee Char?  That is my favorite charcoal.  Like Robert said, I have been burning my CocoChar slowly.  Time to start using it more!

On 8/24/2018 at 4:28 PM, tony b said:

Very nicely done, sir! 

Thanks everyone!  The crowd might have been influenced by the four beers I had on tap.  They were drinking quite a bit before dinner.  The poppers were the first thing served and they lasted about ten minutes!  For the party we had four of our homebrews on tap, a Vienna lager, a black IPA, a New England style IPA and a Gose.  We also had a hard cider that my son and I made.  My son also made some fruit syrups (strawberry, mango and blueberry) to mix with the cider for anyone who wanted a fruitier drink.  The brisket, ribs and poppers were totally gone by the end.  There was a bit of the pulled pork leftover.  That crowd could eat and drink!  It was a good evening!

We hosted a cookout at our house this past Saturday with forty guests.  The menu consisted of pulled pork, brisket, ribs, jalapeno poppers, smoked mac and cheese (no pics) and smoked baked beans.  We smoked the mac and cheese and baked beans on Thursday and reheated them in the oven for the dinner.  The three pork shoulders and 16lb brisket went on at 9:00pm on Friday.  These were both done and pulled at 11:00am and six racks of ribs took their place.  I used pecan pellets for the butts and brisket in the cold smoker and went with apple wood for the ribs.  Everything turned out great!

Pork butts are on.

The brisket is added to the top grate.

These are done and ready to come off.

The ribs go on.

We cooked fifty poppers in the vision grill while the ribs were finishing up.

Unfortunately with the amount of work we had to do, I did not get any additional photos.  The food was a huge hit and I now know the limits that my 22" can do at a given time.  

Wow, that looks like a celebration breakfast for sure!

1 hour ago, Pequod said:

Nicely done! Homemade dough is sooooo worth the little bit of extra effort, and ckreef's tutorial is a great place to start. I've tried the KA Pizza Blend flour and like it a lot, although it is a bit fragile -- can tear easily if not careful. My favorite flour for thin crust pizza is All Trump's unbromated. Hard to find, but worth it if you can get it -- I get mine at Pennsylvania Macaroni online. 

I had no issues stretching this to a large 16" pizza.  The dough was easy to work with.  I am using a 1 1/4" soapstone for my pizza stone and I probably needed to let it heat up more.  The stone temp was around 375 and the KK was at 500.  It takes forever for this stone to heat up, I let it go for two hours.  It heats evenly and retains the heat for a long time.  Do you have any experience with a baking steel?

First homemade pizza dough from ckreef's tutorial.  We used 100% KA pizza blend for this dough.  The pizza turned out awesome.  We had been using store bought dough from Trader Joes and this was much better.  It was also extremely easy to do.  I may start to mess around with different flour combinations but this one is a keeper for sure!

The taste is unique and I find myself using it on everything.  I did two prime ribs for my company Christmas party and the rub was equal parts kosher salt and purple crack with some rosemary and thyme added as well.  I used a mortar and pestle to get a coarse grind on the peppers.  My guests loved the prime rib.  The peppers were not overpowering at all and really added to the flavor.  

We also served two pans of chuck roast burnt ends which were demolished.  

Just now, 5698k said:

http://shop.thespicelab.com/index.php/no-55-tasmanian-mountain-pepper.html

Is this it?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

These look just like mine.

1 hour ago, Tyrus said:

Thank you, that I will try. Made the inquiry but, unsure as to quanity for personal use. A kilo is 2.2 lbs, that's alota pepper.

It is a lot but what I did was separate it into two ounce and five ounce portions and vacuum packed them.  Hopefully they will stay fresh long enough for me to use them.  You can also get with some friends and split the cost and the berries.  I have given some of the two ounce packages to family members (my son has already asked for more).  I have used them to make pepper vodka which we use in bloody mary's and I know Tony B has used them to make pepperberry beer.  All kinds of uses for them and they are that good!  Combined with a pepper grinder they would make a great gift as well.

18 hours ago, Tyrus said:

That's funny,...I recently looked up Purple crack because of Aussies posts and found a kid out California smoking some purple crack in a bong. Supposedly it's a pleasant smoking pot, he was enjoying the experience. However, I am interested in the spice Purple crack also, and hope to find it on one of my journeys. Do you think Whole Foods may have it? 

Whole foods will not have the pepperberries.  I ordered mine from the same company that Aussie Ora uses http://www.pepperberry.net.au/Whole-Dried-Pepper-Berries---1Kg.php.  I ordered a kilo of the dried pepperberries and the shipped price to Virginia was $116 us.  They have other sizes available as well when they are in stock.  I did find one place in the states that listed them but they are showing out of stock right now, https://kalustyans.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=13015&search=pepper+berries 

They are worth the price.  Like Tony B said, I put them on everything.  A whole kilo will last a long time!

@tony b I just got finished kegging up the three beers I brewed a few weeks ago. 10 gallons of a breakfast stout clone, 10 gallons of a vanilla bourbon barrel porter and 10 gallons of gose. All my fermenters are empty. I am brewing a vienna lager this weekend.

Awesome deal!!  Tri-tip is one of my favorite cuts of beef and it gets a premium price here in VA.  My butcher charges $14.99 a pound for choice tri-tip.  I order mine online from Harterhousemeats.com.  They have 36oz tri-tips for $19.99ea.  I usually order 5 at a time to qualify for free shipping.  The quality has always been great.  Still not as cheap as yours (I am jealous).  We have tri-tip almost once a week.

4 hours ago, Bruce Pearson said:

Good thing he didn’t Bite you and wrap you up up in a web cocoon lol

Haha, it would take a much bigger web than that!

Oh man, I am so sorry for your loss.  You are in my prayers!

It must have been a busy night with lots of bugs.  He has some repairs to do!  This was last night.

No, I think it is a wolf spider. I had to use the flash in order to see the web. It is a light brown color.

This spider was working hard on this web.  I was walking through that area an hour or so prior to seeing this.  I almost walked right into it.  Amazing that it could build such an intricate web so quickly.  The anchor points are on an umbrella that is 8' tall and my gazebo roof which is 10' away from the umbrella.