tekobo

This sandwich has been a few weeks in the making. I started the kraut exactly a month ago today, inspired by a huge, overgrown beetroot from the allotment that needed to be processed into something good. I found a recipe with that used beet, cabbage, onion and green beans. The kraut has been sitting quietly in the corner of our dining room for the last month, fermenting away in this crock pot. I tasted it today and it was just right. A bright sour taste. Into jars and into the fridge. I have made salt beef a few times using this recipe: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1359876/Salt-beef-You-make-dont-forget-tell-half.html I usually use rolled brisket but this time I bought a hind quarter of beef and so used a silverside instead. Less fat. I hope that won't mean less taste. The salt beef has been in the cure for a week and, usually, the next step requires me to boil it for about three hours. We are going out this evening and I wondered if I could cook the salt beef sous vide instead. I looked up a few recipes online and they ranged from 48 hrs to 3 days at 60C. Given I am due to be away for work and will return at about the 60 hr limit, this seemed ideal. Here is the beef vacuum packed: I have put the sous vide machine on my husband's work bench in the plant room. I have also told him it is meant to be there and I have not forgotten it.. All that remains is to make the rye bread for the sandwich of the year. The shaped loaves are just waiting to go in the KK. I am looking forward to this sandwich. A fair bit of effort but a lot cheaper than a ticket to New York.

It took me a long time to get to the stage where I wanted to post any bread pictures. Mac put up with a lot of my wild ideas en route. For some reason I decided that, in order to amp up the sour in my sour dough, I ought to leave my leaven for two weeks between refreshes. How wrong was I?? My dough was flat and wet and I ended up with this misshapen loaf. The other loaf in the same batch came out ok, just. I now refresh my leaven the day before I want to use it. It grows beautifully in the warmth of the kitchen and makes nice plump and sufficiently sour loaves. Hurrah.

I came across a technique for IDK pizza cooking which uses two steels: https://shop.bakingsteel.com/collections/steels/products/respect-the-craft-baking-steels Curious. Would this be of benefit in a KK?

I have spent the last few months practising bread making in the KK. Thank you to all who have gone before for all your guidance. This post is a chance to document what I have learned and to ask others to share their journeys too. First, taking inspiration from @Pequod's KK as a steam oven post and @Syzygies' updates, here is all the kit set up in my KK, See here if you want to learn more: I heat soak the KK and contents for at least an hour before introducing the shaped loaf and, very quickly afterwards, some chunks of ice onto the aluminium disc below. Before I did it I was really worried about how to introduce the ice and anticipated a big, dangerous whoosh of steam. It is more gentle than that and, once the ice is in, I shut the lid quickly to get this: 492D96A9-6CE0-476E-A2A3-A0114D77ADF5.mov It is too cold to stand outside checking how long the steam lasts. Will do that one day. My ambition was to test the difference between a loaf cooked without steam: and one cooked with: The one cooked with steam is prettier. I do not have the right vocabulary to describe the bread, yet, but we found the crust on the steam cooked loaf more pliable. I cannot for the life of me remember which loaf was which in the next picture. I think the steamed one is on the left. More experimenting to do and I am looking forward to making baguettes soon.

This wife has discovered the jet washer and is loving it. Clears all in its way and leaves everything moss/slime free without chemicals. I agree about planting a BBQ garden - paving and kit much lower maintenance than lawns!

Happy New Year to you All! Spent yesterday evening making Mai Tai jelly shots for our NYE party. Tasted one this morning. Wow! I think we are going to have to set a two jelly shot limit. The tequila pannacottas are pretty good too. I think I need a lie down.

Hmmm. I like the look of that recipe @Troble. Thanks for posting.

Congratulations Lars! Your burgers looked great and I look forward to seeing how you get on with your Christmas duck.

I agree with Tyrus. I see that you were asking questions about the EVO elsewhere on the forum @Troble. For the types of things you might want to do on a gas BBQ an EVO might provide a fun alternative solution. Your garden design looks great @Basher. It took me a while to find the BBQ on the drawing. Looking forward to seeing the photos when you get going. This made me laugh. Yes the KK cooks perfectly. I am the weak link who gets it wrong on occasion. There is room for error and things to learn, don't you worry!

Hey they Troy. Welcome. You sound like you will fit right in around here. I don't have the answers to all of your questions but I am sure others will chip in soon. Here are the ones I can help with: I have cooked fish and octopus on my KK and have never had an issue with residual smells from any of my cooks in the KK. If there is stuff stuck to the grill at the end of a cook, I scrape it off and into the fire and when I return to my cooled down KK all is well with the world. I do wash my grill grate after every cook but lots of people don't and I don't recall anyone complaining about smells. My must have accessory was a second KK so that I could mix up my cooks. You seem to already have a good arsenal and may not want that. Real must haves are the basket splitter, the hot/cold smoker, the rotisserie fitting and the half/warming grate. I think the half grate comes as standard with a 32 and has been a game changer for me with my 23. I like Lodge. I also use La Chamba clay pots. They are less durable than cast iron but have a charm and I imagine they let more smoke into your cook. Not sacrilegious to have a gas grill but I have been experimenting with charcoal recently (as opposed to coco briquettes) and find the charcoal fast to light and it comes to temp in the time you are prepping the food. You can cook low down, close to the fire, without having to warm the KK up fully and switch off the KK just like you would a gas grill. I am loving the flavour you get from real charcoal and you don't get that with a gas grill. Welcome. You are right to pick cobalt blue pebble KK. Food tastes best out of a blue KK.

Yeah, I saw that one of his videos is about what grill to choose. Planning to watch that sometime. Well, he should correct the video if his statement about not needing a burn-in is wrong. Everyone says the burn-in is no big deal but it does take time and fuel and it would be great not to have to do it.

I usually get bored with videos half way through but this one was a page turner, if there is such a thing in video terms. Some observations: 1. I wanted to tell him to step away from the bottom dials. He kept emphasising that they control temp when, in reality, the top hat is far more influential. 2. I wondered why, apart from the fact that you all told me not to use the stone deflectors, I hadn't needed any deflectors for my low and slow cooks and then I remembered that my clay pot used to perform that function. Now that I have a smoker attachment I might use a tray to deflect instead. 3. Really interesting to learn that, since May 2018, all new KKs have a factory burn in. Is that really the case? Lots of people still seem to be doing burn-ins. If I ever get a 42 I will be very happy not to have to do that!

I agree. Getting into a relationship with good farmers can get you access to the really good stuff. I really enjoy buying whole (lamb)/half (pig)/quarter (cow) animals because you get a load of cuts you wouldn't normally buy and end up exploring some interesting new recipes. Below is the cutting list for the meat that I should be receiving this week. (CAPS are my response to the farmer's suggestion for cuts). The Husband and I have cut up lambs, pigs and cows at home before but the time and energy required is disproportionate to the pleasure of making decisions on the fly about what cuts you want. So, no help with your request for US sources for meat but I heartily endorse your use of local farmers. + FAT TRIMMINGS FOR ME TO USE TO MAKE DRIPPING

Very nice looking indeed @Basher. Definitely going to try this out.

Looking forward to seeing your cooks and copying them!

First off. What is with that new profile photo of yours @Pequod? Worried about the amount of chest hair on show on a family forum! When I talk about a fraction of cow I am talking in quarters and halves here. i am picking up my forequarter of Dexter in the morning having, finally, fessed up to The Husband about the purchase on the same day as I also agreed on the delivery date for the hindquarter of a dairy cow. We will be eating beef three ways and more for quite a while. I will take a look at @Braai-Q's haul while I am there but his will be going by courier next week. I am hoping he likes it!!!

That's the name of the game! It's great to be able to share local advice and where else but on the KK forum would you meet someone who would say "yes" to a random incoming email asking if they would like a (big) fraction of a cow?

Courtesy of @buzilo, here is a photograph of a loaded 21 in action

You've caught the bug really bad, I can tell! I sometimes think that the wait makes getting a KK all the sweeter. In @tony b's absence (off drinking beer somewhere) I will say: welcome to the OBSESSION!.

Thanks both. I was planning to de-bone the quail and grill it spatchcock style because they are easier to eat that way. When I de-frosted the birds I found that our Italian butcher had neatly parcelled them up with a bay leaf on the front and pancetta all around. Had to change cooking plan. Cooked high up for most of the time and then browned low down. Came out juicy - fluke more than plan I suspect! I really enjoyed the pine nut risotto. A do again, particularly as I bought a kilo bag and was wondering how to use them up! I used one of your suggestions this last Friday @tony b. Instead of the usual balancing of sausage (cotechino) in a pan of water, I cooked them sous-vide using Kenji guidance. They came out great and no messing around with pots and water. Thanks.

This post was really timely for me. I had been fretting about a planned meal of chilli with roasted sweet potatoes. The chilli was going to be ready in good time but I had limited time to get home and get the sweet potatoes cooked the way I normally do them - wrapped in foil with butter and baked. Pressure cooking will be a great solution to that time constraint. Will try this "killer app" and report back. By complete coincidence I went back to a pine nut risotto recipe that I had been planning to try for a while. It turns out that you pressure cook the pine nuts for 15 minutes, drain, add stock, prunes and onions cook a bit more and eat. Delicious. Here are the results with grilled quail.

Lovely new toy and food Mac. And no, no, I will not be tempted, I will not be tempted, I will not be tempted....

Good thinking Batman. Looks good.

It is not surprising that you are so happy with your KK @Jon B.. It is hard to imagine any of the KKs being a disappointment and, alongside a 19 this seems like a great combination. What is surprising is how fast the year has gone! Happy grilling. I imagine we all have that secret hankering for a 42. Not sure if mine will ever be fulfilled but I look forward to your pix when the time comes.

Thanks! I can just imagine how tasty that was. Looking at the cross section on your last picture it looked a beautiful texture. It would be wonderful to have a new cooking set up. Instead we have a garden that looks like wasteland (the kitties run round shouting at the missing vegetation) and a promise that the work will start...this week?