tekobo

I am still amazed by how little fuel a KK uses to do its job. This is my 16KK fire basket after 12 hours of cooking low and slow. A 3kg lump of pig. The capocollo - pig neck and shoulder. Closest US cut is a pork butt.

@David Chang I took your question seriously and devised a test for our Italian friends. I showed them a picture of your proposed cake/bread. They immediately said "columba" followed by "Easter/Pasqua". Test No 1 passed. I then asked if it could be eaten at any time of year. They said "why not, but how?" I explained that you were in Hong Kong and had the means to make it. As a further test I asked if they would eat columba now if I put it in front of them. They said "yes, but it is impossible. It is not Easter." So there you have it. A sample size of two not very catholic Italians wouldn't be offended if you proceed as planned but they remain bound by the rules of seasonal availability that prevail here in Italy.

An Italian would probably whole heartedly agree that there is no point in a panettone lesson before November. Given the lecture on seasonality that I got when I went in search of my favourite panettone in January, I reckon there must be a law that says you cannot eat panettone in a month that does not begin with Dec. Whereas I agree wholeheartedly with your approach. Free the panettone!

Sadly I agree @jonj. My MEATER Block just never worked as well and consistently as you would like. Maybe the latest versions are more reliable but I have learned to work without one. @jdbower I realise that my question was just trying to lead you into the age old debate about whether or not blowers are really worth the hassle and the wires. Your responses highlight the reasons people use them. Where external conditions can vary significantly during a cook and/or when you want to have the assurance that your cook is going as planned, then these systems are a help. I don't have huge variation in either of my locations (sheltered back garden in the UK and sheltered terrace in Italy) and I am happy taking the risk of variations in my temps (usually due to me fiddling with the top hat when I needn't). I have a 14 hour cook just starting, something I have never done in my 16KK, so I may well be singing a different tune by the end of today!

The thought of any KK owner being described as "moderate" made me laugh. A lot.

Hi there Jeff. I always claim that my KK holds temps just fine without any blowers or additional controls but I don't have any proof because I don't generally use a pit probe nor even a MEATER thermometer. If you are up for the experiment I would be curious to see the temperature trace from your pit probe with a chosen set position of your top hat and no blower.

Good panettone is one of my favourite things. Never occurred to me to try to make it. Yours looks great @David Chang

Beautiful baguettes @David Chang. My favourite. What do you do with them with you have them in quantities such as this? Freeze? Gift? Gorge? I vote for gorging.

I am taking it slow, reading the instructions for a change. They recommend a trial run without any jars, just to get used to how pressure canning works. Taking the canner up to pressure and then releasing it went fine but I was shocked to see that the inside of the pan, where it was in contact with water, was black after that first run. The instructions say that there will be discoloration but I was not expecting a ring of black in the bottom of the pan! Having looked online, it appears that aluminium pans do go black when heated and it's nothing to be worried about. Of course, if the internet is wrong and someone thinks this is an issue please tell me. Apart from that I am happy with progress and even happier that I selected a model that is compatible with my induction hob. It makes regulation of temperature and pressure so much easier.

Congratulations @DennisLinkletter! You were right to mobilise us. Well done and I hope this helps to introduce more people to your amazing product. It makes me weep when I see people, including Michelin star chefs, wasting their money on inferior kamados.

What a beauty. Welcome to the KK family @moebutt!

Pressure canner arrived from the US today by the magic(?) of Amazon. Will read the instructions carefully before I dive in.

Good looking clams @Tyrus. I would normally be a purist and want to eat them with minimum additions but I suspect that, at this size, they are intimidating "au naturel" and on the flip side they are large enough to stand up to the added flavours. If only there was a way to taste cooks online!

Yes, to pour on the chicken and brat kartoffeln that went with it. That is the most delicious chicken fat you will ever eat!

Chicken dinner, always a winner.

I feel bad ignoring Birbal kumar's kind message but, given it is his first message on the forum and in response to a very old post, I wonder if he is a real person or a spam product. Birbal, I look forward to hearing more from you about grilling and your KK/plans for one.

I don't think I could have carried the coins required to buy that beauty. Everything is bigger in the US. My allotment neighbours would look at me in horror if I tried to reverse that down the dirt track to my plot!

I realise now that I should have said I was freaked by savoury porridge not savoury grits. Will take the leap soon, I promise!

Hey @Pequod. Breakfast grits with egg? Blew my mind. But why not? I have just started making breakfast smoothies with tomatoes and today's with tomato, a chilli, basil, salt and flaxseed actually tasted nice. I think savoury smoothies are the way to go and will try savoury grits too soon. Thanks!

I remember your recipe from here: And a bit lower down in the thread I actually made the recipe and said I enjoyed it. I think I was telling the truth at the time but a few bowls of polenta later I am back in the not keen corner...

I am so pleased my memory served me right on this one. The recommendation came from @amusedtodeath in 2018 But ever before I joined the forum I see that @MacKenzie had already blazed the trail here in 2016: It's a great little device and mine folds flat for storage. Hey @Tyrus I have clean grates and a dirty car. I like it that way round.

I know it is sacrilege but I can't get on with shrimp and grits even though my Texan friend swears they are delicious. Grits bread may well be the way to go with my grits supply.

Looks good @David Chang. Certainly much lighter than my Famag so no need to give it permanent space on a counter as I have had to.

I found the video below which includes a couple of UK homesteaders' helpful description of the traditional approach to canning which does not address concerns about botulism. They also have a recommendation for a canner to import from the US. They do say that items with significant amounts of oil will create problems in the pressure canner, including interfering with the seal. So it is back to the drawing board for my recipe for beans in oil but this exploration has led me to understand that shop bought shelf stable veggies in oil generally also include some vinegar to lower the PH and reduce/remove risk of botulism. If I never make or sell a thing I will have learned a lot from the process of trying!

So... the good news is that this piece of kit works. It has significant capacity and you can stack the bottles two high if you wish. I had just one layer for this experiment. The less good news is that it is not a pressure canner and will therefore only heat water to 100C, not hot enough to kill the bacteria that cause botulism. So, it is great for acidic foods but not for my test case of broad beans in oil. The other factor I have to consider is the impact on taste and texture. The jar on the left in the picture below was not processed in the canner while the one on the right was. Will try a taste test soon. The weird thing is that pressure canning does not appear to be a "thing" here in the UK or the rest of Europe and so the kit is not readily available. Maybe there is a different approach to reducing the risk of botulism. More research required. Like you @jeffshoaf, I was looking forward to making some tomato passata and processing the jars in this piece of kit. I am not so sure now that that will make them shelf stable. That said, they will be fine in the fridge for months once processed in this way.