tekobo

Nice to see that you are getting good use out of your new outdoor set up @Steve M. Awesome. Sorry about your fire going out @tony b but also reassuring to know that stuff like that happens to other people too. The "fun" of BBQ, as you say. I love @alimac23's grilled strips, can just imagine the crunchy edges. Yum.

Fab. It is great to have your expectations exceeded. Congratulations. Now, get on with cooking!!!!

That looks super lovely @ckreef - pan and fish n'all!

Well? Today should have been did the day. I hope they didn't let you down again!!

Congratulations @Adventureman82. Cobalt blue. The best colour there is. How did your first cook go?

Ha ha. That is soooo silly! Only a man....

Your Grandmother must have loved you! Every year, I buy a few boxes of gooseberries and get friends to help with topping and tailing them so that I can cook them up and freeze them for use in the depths of winter. Every year, I tell myself, never again. It is such a boring job! But I do like the taste of gooseberries. Around Christmas last year, a friend offered me some MORE gooseberries - from her freezer. It turns out that she had simply frozen them whole. It was a very easy job to snip off the ends with a pair of scissors, cover them in sugar and put them in the pie case. Mixed with some of my stewed gooseberries, they tasted really good as long as you avoided the charred base! Next time I won't be lazy - I will put a rack in higher up and will use my thick lodge skillet to shield the pie bottom. Oh yes, and I will check on the pie after ten minutes, not twenty!

That looks super good @Aussie Ora

Hmm. I have never thought that cooking oysters was a good idea but then again, I haven't tried them char grilled. Will definitely give this recipe a go. The Husband is super happy with his new oyster knife so it won't be difficult to persuade him to try it out on a few more oysters soon. One thing I did not reveal yesterday was that my KK cook also included a gooseberry pie. I managed to incinerate the base but everyone had some and my friend really liked the smokey flavour on the gooseberries even though she does not normally like gooseberries. I am willing to believe that smokey oysters are a new sensation that is worth trying.

Awesome. Dennis churns out fun stuff so there will always be something to drop hints about. I don't think I have seen a black KK32, should be great. Looking forward to some fish cookery from the pescador!

Thanks @MacKenzie. I never remember to experiment in between cooks but have now left the motor out to remind me to have a play next weekend. Things tend to turn at first but then go slow and stop part way through the process. Jamming the motor against the wall stopped it leaning away from the KK and losing connection partway through the cook. That makes me think we cut the rod just a little bit too short. Will have a play next weekend and will then see if I can get another rod or motor if that is what is needed.

Some food and some questions for y'all. First a gratuitous shot of the oysters we started off with. The Husband picked up an oyster shucking tool that was used for the Guinness Book record and there was much less swearing than usual. In fact, there was no swearing at all and the oysters were delicious. I am not getting the best performance out of my rotisserie motor. It does not seem to key in as well as it should and I have not worked out whether it is because we cut the shaft too short, or not. Worked out OK today because I pushed the motor against the wall once I'd installed it. I would be interested in what motors others on 240V power use. I spun two half legs of lamb in one KK and smoked a moussaka in the other. The mince for the moussaka was baked in the oven for half an hour to start with to brown the mince and drive out the fat so I could drain it away. Neat trick that I picked up from a Tom Kerridge recipe. As you can see, I still have some venting marks on both KKs. I will have to try the magic eraser that you recommend as it sometimes makes me wonder whether the KKs are still venting. No soft spots or smells though. Anyway, everything turned out yummy.

I am not convinced that it is a good idea that The Husband should start to post here but he is, technically, an owner. And he won't seek to undermine @Pequod's coffee thread. Unlike me. @tony b I don't drink beer but did sample some really good cider in Portland. It was a lovely city for food and people. If that this the product of their "weird" then long live weird!

Great outcome. Looking forward to hearing more. What colour? Which accessories??

And it gives you geeky folks lots to talk about, eh? Here still suffering from jetlag from trip to the US. Our first stop was Portland and I can't tell you how many coffee shops this non-coffee drinker had to go into. Some served alchohol so all was not lost. There was one coffee shop with a long bar and about ten coffee making thingies all along the bar. We hadn't seen that many in busy Italian cafes and could not work out the logic. Husband thought they might each be set up for different blends. Boy, did he ever underestimate a place. Main reason for the multiple heads was to be able to make the coffee directly in front of each customer. And then each one had three pre-sets for different requirements and more if you wanted. All accessible by whacking a lever to the left. I know more than I need to. Like I said, good thing there was alchohol and that they were willing to serve it to me first thing in the morning. I think our obsessions keep us off the street and places like this forum help us maintain a facade of normality to the rest of the world.

This is so funny. I am not sure whether it would be a good or a bad idea to show The Husband this thread. When the commercial coffee man came to plumb in my husband's coffee set up, they got into a conversation about extraction rates. Apparently, when they started discussing fractions of seconds my husband said "I'm not anal about it or anything". The coffee man looked at husband, looked at kit and said, "that ship has sailed". I don't know what will happen if I show him this thread. He might be happy to find someone more obsessed than him or, oh no, he may try to fit even more kit into his coffee corner!!

@MacKenzie, I'd never heard of silk chilli until I read this post. Interesting, like Aleppo pepper. Did it give your S steak a zingggggg?

LOL indeed!

Just back from our trip to Montana. I soooo wanted try out barbecuing in the cold but couldn't bring myself to spend any more time than necessary outdoors, let alone try to clean up a gas BBQ before I could use it when there was a perfectly good stove indoors. Hats (and all other items of clothing required) off to you @tony b and all who brave your extreme weather to keep cooking through the winter.

The main reason I bought my first cazuela was to use it on the stove. A traditional Spanish recipe, bacalao al pil pil, requires you to continuously rotate the cazuela to get your salt cod and oil to form an emulsion. You jig the cazuela gently, round and round on the heat for 20 minutes or more. I know it sounds nuts but it is one of those magical kitchen events, watching this wonderful mayonaisse-like sauce emerge from two ingredients - fish and oil. And it tastes great.

Great videos @Steve M. I need no more convincing. It is lunchtime - now!

Saving the pennies, that's how we get to afford a KK. And I am so glad we could.

Yum @MacKenzie. I fried kidneys for my breakfast today and, in a departure from normal practice, made a coconut milk sauce. If only there was a way to teleport your bread to meet my kidneys. Match made in heaven. For me anyway...

I am genuinely jealous @Tyrus. I love a good bit of galvanised metal. Just think of all the drink you could keep cool in there. Looking forward to seeing it all spruced up. Not too much mind.

Tee hee. You are allowed a mental lapse Mac, if you can make ketchup look so lush! (Note: no mention of chicken breast, meat that I love so much not).