tekobo

We got notification today that our sofa is with the "transporters" and should be with us, at the very latest, by Dec 10. It will be super weird (and stressful) if the KKs and sofa decide to arrive on the same day! In the meantime I will drink to a vaccine to get us out of this mess. See you on the other side.

No turkey here but I went back to my go to method for cooking duck breast last night. Quick and delicious on the Solo Bonfire. Over wood.

@RokDok I am certainly up for trying a beer in the style of Gueze and would be very interested in your cider. Does the pub next door do rooms? Will need to stay over to avoid encounters with police on the way home. Sofas and KKs seem to go together at the moment. Methinks @Sir Bill needs to get into a sofa buying conversation with his wife. Might speed up his KK trigger finger.

Glad to be of help. I might seek out a lambic beer, or two, here too.

Yes, I am very excited. No, I have not thought about the first cook at all. I just received a lovely selection of rubs from @tony b and will certainly plan one of them into my first cook. We have just had the announcement of tiers to follow our current lockdown. We had been in tier 1 for months but are now in tier 2. No friends indoors but you can meet in a group of up to six outdoors. The KKs will provide a perfect excuse to gather in the garden. Yes. It is. 🤭

No secret there - a 16, a 23 and a 32. As for fatigue? It is not possible to be fatigued while you are waiting for a KK, or three. Dennis sent me photos of the finished KKs in September and I have been sneaking a look at them now and again to remind myself of what is coming my way. You can't buy love but you can sure buy KK happiness!

I am preparing for the arrival of my KKs. House has been painted, space cleared on shelves and this weekend we will do a winter tidy of the garden to make space now that the scaffolding for the painting is down. @sovsroc's post reminded me about the challenge with getting KKs off the pallet when an extra pallet is inserted under the one that the KK is packed on in Indonesia. I have written to agent to see if the extra pallet can be removed before delivery. He is looking into it. I have been avoiding tracking my vessel..up to now. I wanted to avoid stress and I thought it would be great to get the email, out of the blue, to tell me that my KKs have finally arrived in the UK. However, I couldn't resist and I looked up the tracking for the vessel day before yesterday. It is the MOL Treasure and even in a couple of days, the ETA to Rotterdam has slipped by half a day. Patience is indeed a virtue.

Sorry, I am of no help there. I don't drink beer. That said, I had an interesting experience in a pub a couple of years ago, age 50. I tried all their ciders and didn't like them. The bar man asked me what I like to eat. I said blue steak and blue cheese. He offered me a lambic beer. He was so right. It is the only beer I have ever liked.

Thanks for showing us round your cabinet @Bruce Pearson. Really beautiful and a place for everything.

Excellent news on all fronts @RokDok ! I suspect Christmas is optimistic but your beer will be in tip top condition for a new year celebration. Hurrah.

Great to see your KK in position and looking forward to seeing how you use it. I love brisket but don't do that many. Given most butchers bone and roll brisket I usually ask the farmer to bone it and send it whole and I do the trimming myself with varying degrees of success. I buy from both of these suppliers regularly and, given they mainly supply restaurants, I am sure they will know what you want if you ask them to provide you with a full packer brisket. Talk to Richard at https://www.huntsham.com and Dan at https://www.lakedistrictfarmers.co.uk.

Those ribs look lovely @Boom Boom

Found it! This is a short video of the sliding basket config for the 32. https://www.instagram.com/p/BtmADV0nkz0/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet and the home page for the 42 on the KK website shows the various basket configs if you click through the photos.

I haven't owned a 42 but, for all other KKs I would expect to fill a basket full of charcoal to do the burn in. With the sheer mass of the 42 I would go for a full basket as per picture 1. For configs of the slider, I think there may be a video on Dennis' instagram feed from when he first introduced the slider. Will take a look... Exactly right.

So....is the beast now installed in his/her final location? Photos, photos, pleeeease!

No doubt, it is going to be a super exciting day. Can't wait to see your 42 land. Yay!

OK, it's 0630 am here in the UK. Guessing you are awake already @sovsroc. Happy Day!!!!

Woo hoo!!! Lots of photos please. Looking forward your reaction.

I came across a Huntsman in my bedroom when I was living in Sydney 22 years ago. Before the time of smart phones. Nowadays I would have taken a picture, sent it to my local friend and landlady and she would have told me it was harmless and to go to sleep. Instead I ran, screaming, out of the house - it was about 11 pm. I ordered chicken and chips on the way to the local-sells-everything store, bought some spray, picked up chicken and chips, drowned the poor spider in a ridiculous amount of spray and then settled down to a nice calming pile of chips and nice, fried chook.

So you must! When UK lockdown is over you must make your way over to our neck of the woods so I can introduce you to a cobalt blue KK in person.

Hi @Siu. I am with Paul, I use the main grate most of the time. One potential consideration with the 42, if you have a bad back, is the weight of the grates. Moving them to fill up with char for example, might be a challenge. Others on the forum who own a 42 are better placed to say.

Laughed out loud. On your BFF, he is indeed good and I learned a lot from watching him. My point was less about chasing hydration and more about realising that I needed to use my brain and not assume that a recipe's author had actually taken into account how I soak, drain and handle the dough at my end. Soooo many variables with bread and I am the biggest one.

Hi there @Adam Ag 98. Obviously too late to help this cook. How did it go? When I am going low and slow I light the coals in one spot, open the top up to 3 turns and the bottom wide open. My target temp for say, brisket is 115C and I wait until I am at about 80C. At that point I close off the large bottom vent and open the largest hole on the RH bottom vent. I close the top vent and immediately open it back up to max an 1/8th to get up to temperature. Once up to target temp I then tighten the top vent so that it is only just off its seat to maintain this low temperature. I don't normally time this but I am guessing it takes between 45mins and an hour. I don't wait for a "heat soak" at this point. I just put the brisket on and leave it to cook.

Boy, that sounds like hard work @Jon B.. Well done to you and to your sister for caring for your mother and showing her that you love her so much.

That looks wonderful @ckreef. I hope you and @skreef had a lovely evening. Hurrah!