tekobo

So, I finally looked at the instructions. Who does that??? I now know that you can see the UV light (when you have worked out how to turn it on!). I have replaced both the filter and the light now. They are meant to last a year. On my list as a maintenance item now although I will likely run them for more than a year given I don't keep the dry ager on continuously these days.

I had fun re-visiting this thread just now. Some old friends are still around, others have moved on to pastures new. All good. In the hood. As @Tyrus would say. So...a cooking programme here called the Great British Menu has these new style konro grills called kasai being used by the chefs who come on to compete. I was curious because, up until last year, they were using the traditional Japanese konro grills. It turns out they are British made and had some fun new accessories available. They are not sized the same as the traditional konros and I found that my medium konro approximates to their Little Kasai. What a treasure trove of fun accessories! https://www.sousvidetools.com/japanese-bbq-s I could not resist and am now the proud owner of a heat mat, a 50:50 plancha and a skewer rack. I can't wait to use them!

Gosh, I am so sorry to have missed all your kind wishes for my birthday. @MacKenzie - a whole pork belly, no less, in my honour. Thank you! I took the tack of starting my celebrations a week early and am due to finish with a party tomorrow. It has been huge fun, meeting up with small groups of friends every day in the name of my birthday celebrations. All the 5's this time!

Now that's interesting...

As steam escapes 😤 from the nostrils of fans of all of the thirty other teams in the league. What fun! A date it is, sometime in the next three years I reckon.

I know the feeling Jon. I was all jittery before the game started. Had wings here but no pics. It was a great game, shame about the ending for my Eagles. I do like Mahomes and the Chiefs so it was difficult to wish them ill but I do hope that we will meet again in a future SuperBowl and that we come away with the victory. Same time next year?

That's great @Bunji. Dennis has pretty much always thought the design through, it just isn't always obvious to mere mortals 🤭 It would be good if you could close out this post with a photograph of what you ended up doing so anyone with the same problem has an understanding of what they need to do.

You are right, it’s difficult to drop the temp if you have heat soaked your KK. However, if you get it up to high temp quickly, crackle the skin in half and hour and turn the cap right back down, you can lower the temp without snuffing out the fire. That said, it sounds like @C6Bill has got good results using his method too.

Converting your temps to Celcius, I think your 500F should get you crackled in about 30mins. Good to allow 1 hour but do check so you don't end up with burnt skin. I would then crank the top down to get the temp down to something closer to 350F for the rest of the cook to allow the inside to cook slowly. Which KK do you have? I would advise using a split basket or something to catch the fat to reduce smoking. Getting good pork crackling in a KK can be difficult because of it's tendency to keep food moist but your high temp start should improve your chances.

That sounds and looks like heaven - for some people! I'm sitting at the edge of this rabbit hole, tail twitching but not diving in!!!

Great looking kitchen @Basher. I hope it has been worth the wait. The meat is sure to be worth the wait. Looks soooo good. The recommended settings on my dry ager for aging meat are Temp 1.5C and 82% humidity. When I cure sausages I change that to 12-15C and 70% humidity.

Super cool that your 2006 KK is still going strong. I am in the camp that does not see the need for a controller. More things to plug in and more things to go wrong. I have found my KKs to be rock solid on temp when they are dialled in and if some variation in fuel or wind causes a fluctuation in temperature it is never enough to cause me a concern.

@Basher they live on the English side. Goodrich. The last time we visited was en route from Wales to home in England.

Hey, I like you @jonj. May the best team win. Hopefully it will be a good game.

Chicken in chicken stock in sous vide. Game changer, thanks @Syzygies. Was intrigued by this method but didn’t want to lose gorgeous juices into a stock pot. This way the enriched stock will make an even better sauce. Thanks for the intro to this cooking choice @David Chang, definitely going to try it. @Braai-Q has access to some great local chicken. Trouble is, it’s local to him and about three hours’ drive from my house. Will have to wangle a visit soon.

Hmmm. Those potatoes look good. Going to try that for sure. Thanks @Troble!

When I first read this I thought, "but Richard doesn't have any paying guests". And then I worked out @Tyrus' sense of humour. Yes, the piggies do have to check out to make it over to my plate. Tee hee. I thought, "I've played cricket there", how very Australian to denote a place by the fact that you had played cricket there! I did a quick search for Pig in my photo album and found that my birthday visit to the farm was in Feb 2012. Picture of sleepy mama pig to follow.

By coincidence I just received a regular mail shot from my friend Richard Vaughan with a video about his farm and the Middle White pork he supplies. We have been buying from him for about 20 years now and have visited his farm a couple of times over the years. One was a birthday treat for me but he wouldn't go for the challenge of picking out a piglet that was born on my birthday and sending it to me when it was old enough. In spite of not indulging me I will still give him 5 stars for customer service and an awesome product.

P.S. A little German gets you a long way. Or at least to some meat porn on the Schwabishe Hall website: https://shop.besh.de/unsere-spezialitaeten/fuer-den-grill/vom-schwein/P23/C387/O418

Hi @tony b, I looked up the Swabian pig. Here in Europe it seems to be that you can only get hold of it if you are able to buy direct in/from Germany. Haven't checked the others out yet but I was indignant when you said my rare and special Middle White was a Yorkshire and is widely farmed/husbanded(?) in Iowa. Well, you were pretty close. Your Yorkshire appears to be a Large White pig. Guess where the Middle White comes in? It's a cross between the Large White and the, you guessed it, Small White. Every day is a school day.

Keeping my feet dry on this one, no thanks to @MacKenzie! The KK shopping channel still works on me but my current interest is @jeffshoaf's Ninja combo grill and air fryer. Another few months of resistance and I will feel I deserve it when I finally get my hands on one.

Really interesting @David Chang. I have never dry aged pork for very long, just a couple of days at the most to dry the skin out. That said, I do buy pork that has been hung by the farmer for 55 days before it gets to me. What breed of pork was that? Do you have access to Middle White pork? I understand that the Japanese value it too so you might be able to get hold of some where you are. It is simply the best pork I have ever eaten. That said, I haven't tried many other breeds since I found Middle White. I will try aging in the dry ager next time I have a suitable piece.

That must be a record! Full marks for pulling so many people into the pool and for finally jumping in.

That looks gorgeous @David Chang! How did it taste?

Ooooh. Yummy looking cooks all round. Making me salivate! Your daughters look so proud @Troble. It is great to have this time with them and even better that they are learning to handle dough so early in their lives. I keep thinking that I should get into the habit of just making and playing with dough every week, just to start to get the feel and confidence that real bakers have. Football cook this weekend owed a lot to the forum. Small stack of chicken shawarma and a couple of octopus legs, both marinaded in @Troble's al pastor marinade. Chicken drumsticks using rack from the KK shopping channel with Yardbird Rub as recommended by, I think, @C6Bill or @tony b. Smoked with pecan wood chips in @Syzygies smoke pot. Delicious and kept me going through the whole weekend of games. Fly Eagles Fly!