tekobo

My KKs will be arriving soon and I am trying to experiment with the accessories that I have bought so far so I won't be overwhelmed by the newness of everything when the KKs arrive. I swing between being terrified by all that I will have to learn and comforted by the fact that you all say that KKs are so intuitive to use. I am gently settling into the latter mode and looking forward to the excitement when they arrive. Anyway, on to the business at hand: I have been trying out my home roti and found the forks to be so feeble that I had to pierce the skin with a knife to get them in! OctoForks to the rescue. I set them up yesterday and here is my first attempt at balancing a whole chicken on the spit: As you can see, I got the centre of gravity all wrong and it was never going to rotate smoothly. With the forks up close and personal to the sides of chicken, I wasn't sure that I liked the fact that the skin on the sides wouldn't see the heat but the skin on the back, which I don't eat, would be beautifully browned. So I switched to this configuration: Still not perfectly balanced but the OctoForks made a really stable cage for the bird. These are really robust birds that we bought in Italy, in the region that invented slow food. The first time I cooked one, I roasted it as normal for an hour and it came out really tough. The thigh meat is almost gamey. Since then I have found that a slow roti makes them nice and tender. This time the chook was in for two and a half hours at 150 degrees C and came out OK. There are a number of areas for improvement. First, try this out in a KK to see if what you say is true about how well it cooks chicken. Second, take the wing tips off and crank up the heat at the end to crisp up the skin. Third maybe brine the chicken and add more purple crack than I did this time. I do have a MEATER now but hadn't managed to charge and pair it in time and so left it out of this cook. Any advice about positioning the Octoforks? It would be good to see photos of your cooks with whole chickens to help make my first KK chicken cook as good as it can be. Or should I just do what Dennis says and go with a spatchcocked bird? Why am I even thinking of defying Dennis?

Hi @MacKenzie, interesting to see that cheddar cheese makes it all the way to Nova Scotia from Somerset. No, I am not familiar with that brand although, as you know, I am a big cheese eater. The pack that my friends sent me last week was from a range of artisanal makers. They took the traceability gig really seriously and each cheese was marked with the name of the person who made it. Thank you Stacey, Charlotte, Trisha, Michael and Charlie, your cheese was delicious. I hope Ivy's secret cheddar recipe made your bread super tasty.

That made me laugh a lot! I did try some on my egg this morning and, moderated by bacon, rocket and a nice baguette, the flavour came through nicely and wasn't harsh. I would use szechuan peppers sparingly and will do the same with these and see how I go. I think the purple crack experiment is going to be fun. And even more fun will be hearing from other KK owners as when they bite into their first one.

@MacKenzie, the time difference means that sleep, rather than fried egg, is on my mind at the mo. Will take yours and @Tyrus's advice and maybe try it on beef too. I think it is definitely an interesting flavour.

I can tell you...purple crack is not floral at all when you eat it! My stock arrived on Saturday and I tried it out straight away on a fried egg. Unfortunately, I hadn't tightened the grinder and ended up with large flecks of the stuff in my egg. A cross between a chilli and a clove I think and, as my father-in-law said as he picked bits out of his teeth afterwards, "if you are going to leave that on the table you'd better warn your guests!" Having sorted out the grind, I am now trying to decide if I like it or not. Tried it in chicken gravy tonight and it imparted an interesting note. Not sure.... Will be good to hear what @Tyrus thinks. I had already ordered mine from another supplier and it may be that the @Aussie Ora's supply is different or superior. Or it may be that clovey chilli is an acquired taste!

it may well take me until the summer to get this into her schedule!

Hmmm. I have a potter friend. Might see if she thinks making such a spoon would be an interesting project. Race to see if I have success there before you make it to the source

You have some very nice friends. That spoon is fab! Any idea where s(he) got it or what it is called?

That looks yummy @tony b. Looking forward to getting my own supply soon!

Thanks, @Aussie Ora. Sounds like you are an enabler

I am on the hunt for the legendary purple crack. Having realised it isn't really called purple crack and that, hopefully, my search permissions won't be taken off me for having searched for crack on google I am looking for a source of this spice. Can someone in the know confirm that we are talking about Tasmannia lanceolata? These guys appear to export the stuff from Tasmania in good, catering size packs http://www.tasmanianmountainpepper.com.

Thanks for two great tips @tony b. The discount code in the UK was only 10% off on a £79 price for the single MEATER so I asked my brother in Texas to order one for me at $55 once the US 20% discount was applied. Weird transatlantic pricing policy but there you go! I can now wait, with unbated breath, for whatever time it takes for the block to appear. Thanks also for your tip about the brewers' cleaner, PBW. I soaked my Argentinian grill racks in it on Friday and, with a bit of elbow grease, they came up looking like new. I can't find your clapping emoticon but imagine I did find it and it is right ....here.

Hi @Pequod. I have been periodically mailing the folk at apption labs to find out where they are at with the meater block because that seems like the more versatile option. Extract from last correspondence on 14 Nov: Currently, our factory is beginning pilot production of the MEATER Block. This trial batch will help us work out any manufacturing bugs prior to the start of mass production.We have already purchased all the long lead time parts, so we can move quickly into the mass production phase as soon as the results of the pilot test align with our high standards of quality. Currently our plan is to begin fulfilling meater.com pre-orders early next year. If you haven't seen it already, check out the video we posted that showcases a prototype Block in use:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjnkznZyV4Y It was good to see the meater block in the vid. Still holding off ordering but seems more real. Wonder what @ckreef thinks

Here in the UK, we have none of the pressure of family expectations or turkeys to cook but all the pleasure of a night of football to look forward to. Hurrah! Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Yes, there were feedback posts on the amazon website saying how it was cheaper to make alternatives to PBW. But they also said that PBW as the thing to have if you could afford it. I'll focus on finding it as cheaply as I can and wearing gloves when I use it! Given you are also waiting for a MEATER block and given air is needed to sustain life, I recommend you go easy on the bated breath thing.

I am sooooo reassured!

Thanks @tony b. That clean looks amazing. Made me wonder what it would do to my fingers! I have looked PBW up and it is available on amazon.co.uk. Will give it a spin. I forgot to say: Keith said the kabob (kebab to us in the UK) fittings were put on hold but should be available in 2018.

To close this one out: on @MacKenzie's advice, I contacted Keith direct through the octoforks website. He was very helpful and I am now the proud owner of two pairs of octoforks and some roti baskets. I hadn't really considered the latter until I saw what you can do with fish in the flat baskets. I also think it would be kind of fun, at least once, to spin a bunch of chicken wings in the big basket to see how they come out. I'll make sure I am not on cleaning duty that day!

Ha! I love the way you are all so complementary about each other's cooks. Until...there is cause for concern and then you all weigh in! As a newbie I am not sure that I will take any photos until I have done a full sweep of the area for any offending materials AND I might even get my bro to Photoshop my shots to make sure they look their best. Or maybe it will be more fun to just join in and accept the ribbing. We'll see. Hoping to be an owner soon, very soon.

Hello @Keith OctoForks. I get the feeling that I need some octoforks in my life. What would you recommend for a newbie? A couple of pairs? Do you yet have the kabob fittings? Couldn't see them on the website if so. My dad is due over in the US next month so I am planning to get him a spare case to load up on BBQ stuff for me!

And the very best news of all??? These two babies are to be mine. All mine, all mine, all mine. In the wonderful journey that is doing business with Dennis, we have discussed all aspects of life but have not touched on the dirty subject of money. I trust and know that his COGM (had to look that up!) will come up with a sensible figure and he will meet the promised date of getting them to us for when we return from our hols in November. I'm a believer. And just look at those babies!

It is hard to think of anything to say that will ease the pain. I hope that the fact that we are all thinking of you both helps in some way.

Tee hee. We need some rules around here. No one, but no one, is allowed to use the five letter word that gets @ckreef so riled. If you are in any doubt, the word starts with a b and ends with a k. All good here and thanks for stopping by @churchi. I am like a kiddy in a sweet shop but am restraining/entertaining myself by bothering local cocochar suppliers now. Just waiting for the day when an email from Dennis drops into my mailbox with photos of my new best friends.

Thanks ckreef. You are going to be my meater block meter. If they are true to their, most recent, word you should get yours in a month or two. And I'll send my money then. Keep us posted!

Thanks @tony b, for backing this cool product. Your posts about using the Meater gave me confidence that this was something real. I exchanged a few emails with the Meater team last week and they say that they expect to start to fulfil backers' orders for the block from Q4 2017. Late comers like me won't get one until mid next year. Feeling sufficiently confident to place a bet and send them some money. Looking forward to wireless cooking and the alerts to stop me over cooking stuff. Given I like most things blue or rare, that will be welcome!