tekobo

I missed lots of yummy cooks over the last few days. And some that I can't pronounce or spell - okonomayi? Hungry now. Been down my hiding-from-all-potential-sources-of-news-on-American-sport hole while I got through the late night play off games from the weekend. The wings were magnificent on Saturday night as was that smoked shoulder of mutton that I made for tacos on Sunday night. No pics. All in tummy. Who won? Tiles. Of course.

Thank you all. The Husband is now getting himself a coffee to get him through the You Tube video of the guy comparing the TSPROF 03 with the TSPROF Blitz. So far, he has watched 7 minutes and tells me that the potted summary is that if you have more money than God and don't want to move it you get the TSPROF 03. I somehow suspect we won't be getting that folding bed for the spare room that we told his mother we needed for our Christmas present. To contribute to the knife debate. I am very happy with having just two go-to knives - a cook's knife and a vegetable cleaver. We have four specialist knives to share - a bread knife, a jamon knife, a boning knife and a filleting knife. I sharpen them on a steel and rely on The Husband to get out the whetstone periodically. I like the idea of learning to sharpen the knives well myself and look forward to the outcome of his journey down the TSPROF rabbit hole. Our go-to knives were made for us by a nice man about four years ago. His prices have gone up by more than 50% since then but I am still very happy with mine. https://blok-knives.co.uk

Hi BOC, the UK site says shipping Oct 12th! In any case, I don't really want something with a permanent spike in it hanging around my kitchen. I like the DIY version. I have all the components bar the pineapple. Can get one of those next time I venture out into COVID Central i.e. outside my front door. In the meantime, KK23 is lit. Wingfest for tonight's football. It is that bittersweet point in the season. Lots of great football but the knowledge that it will soon be all over and your team won't have won. Yay all the same.

I guess you are saying there is not enough room? Too dark and cold here for me to go out to experiment in the 32 here. I did look up the Trompo King. Why don't I have one yet? 1. The UK site doesn't have any supply 2. The US site won't ship to the UK even though their help folk said they would 3. I wonder if I really need one and whether the "self basting" in the horizontal rotisserie format is a better solution. Rest assured, reasons 1 and 2 are the prime reasons. I am wondering if I can adapt make something similar here. We do have a local blacksmith who made our staircase and gates. I wonder what he (a vegetarian) will think of a commission to make a shawarma spike.

Hey @Basher. I have a copy cat donabe shelf ala @Syzygies I use black rice cooker the most, every other week. The white steamer whenever I want to steam something and want to be reminded how beautiful donabes are. The big donabe on the far left gets used for nice stock based winter meals and the soup and stew donabe on the far right hardly ever gets used which is a shame. Note to self - reach for this when next making a stew. Our favourite recipe so far is this duck and tofu hot pot from the Donabe book I recommended earlier in this thread.

Same here. You mean some people go on holiday without taking their own gear with them? Weird...

Welcome @Wilsonj. Don't panic. It is a bit like getting to know your long term partner. This one doesn't need a pre-nup and will forgive you for pretty much every mistake you can/will make along the way. Assume it will take a while to get into your stride. Make sure you enjoy the journey.

This feels like an important part of the story to me. I pretty much always start with a full basket of charcoal. Don't be afraid that you will waste it. You preserve most of the charcoal when you choke off the fire by turning off your top vent and bottom vent at the end of your cook. Having a full basket means you have more of a chance of getting to a good temperature during your cook. When things have cooled down the next day I re-set by dragging any partly used coals to the centre of the fire basket and arranging new coals around the outside. Helps you contain the heart of the fire and means you don't have a raging fire across the whole basket next time you light it. I hope that all makes sense!

Surprised by that. I have not tried this in my 32 but here are clearer pictures of the setup I used in the 23 in the summer. In the summer I used the upper/pizza grate turned upside down in the 23. In the shot above I just used the lower grate throughout.

Here been busy but continue to be inspired by y'all. Chicken shawarma inspired by @Troble. Just four thighs made a good meal for two. I used a shop bought ready mix of shawarma spices. Delicious. The chicken went into tortillas made to @PVPAUL's family recipe and method. I cooked them first in a cast iron pan and then passed them directly over the flames. All topped off with a hot pepper mash sauce inspired by @tony b. See? I've been thinking of you.

I do have PBW but this works better for me for regular cleaning. I clean my grates after every cook, usually the day after, when they are cool. A quick soak gets most stuff loose and the grates are out of the kitchen within half an hour. Soaking in PBW takes longer and I'll probably do that in the summer when I can leave the tray (or a paddling pool) out in the garden. One thing I have never done is to clean the grates down with a wire brush or spanner while hot. Given the sheer scale of the grates in the 32 it would make the indoor job easier if I had already got rid of some of the debris before I brought them in. One to do while the meat is resting methinks. My mileage varies. Often. 🤪 I could have looked up how to rig up a siphon but the benefit of having a husband who used to work in a ship's engine room is that I just have to ask and, mostly, a solution is found. It was worth marrying a Clankie just for that!

This finally arrived today: Srendi® BLACK Large Plastic Builder Children Kids Play Mixing Tray Spot for Cement Mortar Sand Plastering Toy Fun Game School Play Time Colour MIXING TRAY by EASY SHOPPING 4 HOME LTD Learn more: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077SJ3216/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_GFE6Fb2968KK3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 It works for me in that I can soak a 32 BB main grate in it indoors and in the warm. I can reach it from either side of the island to scrub. I was worried about emptying it but The Husband came to the rescue with a siphon. It took a while and then, when the water got too shallow for the siphon to work, I gently tipped what was left over into the sink. Happy with this solution.

Good luck, I hope you sell soon. What size are you going for in blue?

Wow. That looks great @Troble. We are currently mining the "Taco Chronicles" on Netflix and The Husband and I have made a pact to have tacos every other week (alternating with pizza), what's not to like? Going to have to adapt some of the ingredients but I am very much looking forward to trying this out. You say adobado, they say al pastor, I say yummilicious!

Happy New Year! 2020 taught us how much we can change when we have to. I look forward to seeing what the coming years will bring.

Happy New Year all. Good looking NY cooks too. Pleased to hear your folks are on the mend @Troble. It is uplifting to hear of treatments working and vaccines being rolled out but there is a long way to go before things are on more of an even keel. Here is to finding ways to prevent these types of crises in the future.

That's an impressive story Bruce. I showed The Husband your photo of the marlin and he said wow. I then explained the size of the boat you were in and he said some words that I can't repeat here. Suffice to say that he was impressed!

Oooh. I have just seen your cook on the Everyday Cooks thread. Looking good!

Sounds like good advice @AAAsh. Good to get it verified by the designers when you can. On to more exciting business - where is your KK???

Thanks Pequod. Steam - yes. Shop bought pizza stone - yes. Temp - out of control at about 300C (it was late and I have not yet got the hang of the temperature settings for my 32). Taste - delicious. It was the kamut porridge loaf out of Tartine No 3 with an extra twist of soaking the kamut flakes in whey for a couple of days before making up the porridge. Nuts - in a good way.

Good looking pizzas wibblylee. I would second that emotion - that pizza recipe that @MacKenzie turned us on to is really simple, reliable and tasty. Best of all, I find it works with just 3-4 hours of proving and so I don't need to plan a day ahead if I want to have pizza.

Ha. @tony b calls it The Obsession. He would be even more accurate if he called us The Obsessives. We gravitate towards the KK because it looks like it will help us with our known obsessions. What no one warns you about are the new obsessions that you will develop as a result of owning a KK. I spent yesterday evening cooking dinner on my new 32 and then finished off cooking three loaves of bread. All on a dark, dank, night in the UK. Now all I can think of is when I will do it again and what I can tweak to make it better. Of the three loaves I am most pleased with this one. Until you get your KK you can only imagine how nice it is to cut through that crust. Welcome. To the Dark Side.

I am hoping it will be fine for all but the top grate which has handles on both sides. It says the inside depth is 4.5cm which should be enough for soaking the grates individually. I just wanted something that I could store more easily. Could be a fail...we shall see.

Thanks for your suggestions @Tyrus and @Troble. Not sure if I have done the right thing but I ended up ordering this relatively shallow platform. It is used for children's play pits and for mixing mortar. Hoping it will work out... Srendi® BLACK Large Plastic Builder Children Kids Play Mixing Tray Spot for Cement Mortar Sand Plastering Toy Fun Game School Play Time Colour MIXING TRAY by EASY SHOPPING 4 HOME LTD Learn more: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077SJ3216/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_GFE6Fb2968KK3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I am not great with tools and was not looking forward to trying to figure out how to fit the rotisserie. In the end it turned out to be pretty easy. In the video I have tried to illustrate all the details that a novice like me needed to know. Happy for others to add more detail to this post and correct me if there is anything that I missed. Dennis has a video on his Komodo Kamado website illustrating the use of the rotisserie cradle in the 32 Big Bad. It is here: I used this as my reference point when I came to fit my rotisserie. His video includes real food AND illustrates the use of the reducer in the cradle.