mguerra

Joy! See Dixie there in my avatar? I heard about her purely by chance one Friday, and was told she was going to be killed the next day. I called the pound, up in Dallas, and said don't do it. I'll come get her tomorrow. We couldn't get there by closing time, so I talked the director into keeping a tech there, to let us in to adopt her. We had to pre do all the paperwork and have it ready there with the tech. I was on call and couldn't make the four hour trip, so my wife went with her sister. She tipped the tech $100. for staying late, and gave another C note to the pound. Apparently, her previous owners moved, and left her chained to the fence. She was near death because the pounds don't give vet care to dogs they figure are going to be killed anyway. I can understand that. She is totally rehabbed and healthy, and a great part of our six pack! It's inconceivable to think she might have been killed, and not part of our pack/family. For those of you who haven't rescued, the absolute joy this will bring to your life can't be put into words. You rescuers know what I mean!

Rescue We don't get over it. Yet, we continue to rescue and save them, setting ourselves up for that pain once again. Their salvation is more important than our feelings, obviously. I urge you all to rescue, not buy from a breeder. Several million dogs a year are not rescued, but euthanized, in America. You can save one or several.

Uh, I don't know. Avatar for a guy over on Primo forums. It's either creepy, weird ,sick, or hilarious!

Retro-fitment Well, I just fitted my ShopVac with a Cleanstream HEPA/Gore cartridge, and drywall dust filter bag. Both were sitting on the shelf in Lowe's, no special order. Now I need to cook up a storm and make a lot of ash!

saw one ShopVac sells a Cleanstream cartridge. At twice the price Cleanstream sells it for!!

I'll try again Just ordered a 5 pack of drywall filter bags, we shall see how that works out! They also have a super HEPA cartridge filter, above and beyond the regular cartridge, but I'll try the regular cartridge that I have in conjunction with the drywall filter. The vac is a very quick, clean and thorough clean out. Firemonkey, you should have seen us at the end of the day sheetrocking!! We looked like white caked aborigines, it was hilarious. All that drywall dust stuck to our hot Texas sweated out bodies. We had to take the backside of our keyhole saws and scrape as much off as we could before we got in our vehicles to go home. One day I was sheetrocking a heater closet. It's the worst. Your in a tiny little closet with no room to move, trying to swing a hammer and it's 150 degrees in there. I came out of there pissed as I could be and said, "F--- this, I'm going to be an Ophthalmologist!!" And proceeded to do exactly what it took to do just that. It was rewarding to do a good job, though. And I learned what it took to run a business because it was my crew, I was the boss. This was all while I was in college, as Zoology major. Hmm, I rambled there...

Here's the ticket Perhaps this would be the applicable item: http://www.shopvac.com/vacs/detail.asp?ID=123 If you already have a Shop Vac, this is your page: http://www.shopvac.com/shopvac-accessor ... rd=drywall

I was a sheetrocker for many years, if I never inhale another particle of drywall dust it will be too soon! My Shop Vac has a pleated filter, I 'll have to go peruse their current selection and see if there is a bag model.

A gift from God She's a beauty. You are so lucky, and I'm sure she is too! Give her a belly rub from me.

A little different taste This coffee cardamom rub was good; I made up a variant that is my current go-to rub. I don't measure, just eyeball. I like very strong and powerful flavors, so I use a lot of the spices. The base is brown sugar, I eyeball what I think is enough to cover the meat. The second most ingredient is paprika. Then, cinnamon, cardamom, ground ginger, any kind of ground red pepper, like ancho, cayenne or whatever is on hand, and ground cloves. Sometimes I might throw in some garlic, oregano or comino. The brown sugar tends to clump, so I put the rub mixture through a whirly blade coffee grinder briefly to achieve a good mix. I put a light dusting of Kosher salt on the meat, wait a few minutes, and then apply the rub. It is best to use very fresh and aromatic spices, old stuff has lost all its' volatile flavors. You might think your meat will taste like a pumpkin pie with this rub, but it doesn't! I put it on everything, pork butts, ribs, brisket, it is super. It's not the same as Sauerbraten, but the aromatics will make you think of it a little.

Another high temp brisket Did another round roast yesterday, at 325, with a Fall spice rub, and some Worcestershire in the foil. I pulled it off at 160 this time. I'm going to keep pulling these off at 10 lower temps each time til I find the right finish temp. 160 was a solid medium plus. It was very moist, and probably as tender as a round roast gets. Also, while I was at it, I did another 325 brisket. Cooked at 325 til it hit 160, and then foiled; cooked until tender. Same excellent results as before, the flat not dried out at all. It took a little longer than it otherwise might, I think because I left the entire huge fat cap on. And I left all the intermuscular fat and connective tissue between the point and the flat. A little trimming would probably shorten the cook. It was about 5-1/2 hours total. It occurs to me that a hybrid low and slow/ high heat cook can work for a brisket. If you need to go do something else or want to start your cook at night, start off at 200 to 225. Then, when you get home or get up, kick up the temp to 325 or 350, and foil at 160, to finish. This could give you a lot of flexibility in your time planning.

Dust Storm A shop vac works great to clean out your ashes. However...cleaning out the shop vac filter is a serious pain, I just did it, and I won't do it again! Scrape out the ashes.

thanks!! Wow, I didn't expect you would actually reveal all the details! I'm no competition cook, but I'll sure try this at home. Thank you sir.

Round Roast Would a round roast cook well by the high temp/ foil method? Previously, we have discussed how a very lean roast, like a center cut shoulder, or round, does not fare well when cooked low and slow, to a finish temp of 180 or more. Try this, and they come out way too dry. That method should be reserved for briskets and butts. (Well, maybe not briskets anymore!)So tonight I tried this: I took a very cold bottom round, rubbed it with a Weber steak rub, and put it on a 200 degree fire to get some smoke. After about four hours, I foiled it and bumped the temp up to 325. A round roast is not going to get as tender as a brisket, so I did finish it by temp, not feel. I took it off at 170. It was slightly more done than a lot of people might like, but it was not dried out! I like my beef medium. Anyway I consider this a good success. Also, I collected a lot of juice in the foil and poured it off into a separator. The basic concept is to cook unfoiled for a while, then foil til finished. The details of how long to cook unfoiled, and how to determine finish after foiling, will vary by cut of meat. We now know how to do it with a brisket. By continuing to experiment with other cuts, like tonights round roast, we can perfect this! When I first got my KK, I was convinced there was no need to foil anything, but I believe foiling has a place. Note that the four hours before foil gave a good smoke ring and bark.

ACT FAST! Digi Q for a good price, does not include KK adapter: http://primogrillforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5677

Drink the beer, recycle the can! Just put the damn bird on the grill and cook it! It's a KK, it will come out perfect.

mini Don't forget Mac Mini. It's a little box about the size of two packs of playing cards. Hook it up to your keyboard, display and mouse, and you are in to Mac for a value price! Check it out: http://www.apple.com/macmini/

secrets What, if anything, can you share regarding your brisket technique? Must be good!

Careful I have found that you want to do a quick, fairly high heat grill, on vegetables. You just want a slight smoke taste, just enough to detect. This way your taste buds will know the veg was on a grill, but no more. If they spend any extended period on the grill, they get too smoky. Once I cooked some asparagus for a while with the lid shut, they were absolutely inedible, like pure smoke. And I love heavy smoke. Also on vegetables, cook with the lid open! Alternatively some veg you can foil while cooking to keep the smoke off. I haven't tried baked potatoes, not sure how to do them correctly.

Once you go Mac... The day I switched to Mac, I never looked back! Consider, you spent somewhere between 2000 to 4000 for a "grill" because you wanted the best. Well, apply that thinking to your computer purchase, it's worth a few extra bucks to go Mac. They are so much easier to use and hassle free than a PC, those TV ads are actually accurate! I keep one pos PC around the house, and NEVER use it. What I'm talking about is regular consumer use, surfing, email, music, photos and so on. Perhaps there are some specific applications where PC is superior, but I'm unaware. Go to an Apple store and they will show you. Mac is where it's at.

Yeah baby! Oh boy, do those Weber guys know a thing or two!!! This method of brisket cooking is so superior I don't know where to start. The flat came out as moist and juicy as any point, and the point was out of this world. One huge benefit of the foiling is you catch a pot load of juice. Chop/ shred some of that brisket, put it in a bowl and pour on some of the juice, scarf it down with a fork, that's the tops!! I used to think the Weber guys foiled because their cookers flowed so much air it dried out the meat. But I think that's not it. Foiling from 160 degrees on just does something open cooking doesn't. This brisket is about as moist and juicy as a pulled pork! The cook was 5 hours, period. I did bump up the temp from 290 to 325 after foiling. There's no real plateau, just foil it at 160 and start checking for tenderness about an hour later. If it's not tender at first check, check at half hour intervals thereafter. You don't need to be popping the lid open every ten or fifteen minutes. I was surprised 5 hours totally tenderized this meat. If you are having a party, you can absolutely be assured that you can start your cook 6 hours before serving time. Pull it off when it's done, wrap in a towel, and serve when ready. No need for an overnighter. Everything you need to know is in that thread I linked to above. Read it, do it, you'll appreciate brisket in a whole new way.

link Here's a link to their thread: http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tp ... 6360093154 Looks like they are going 350ish, not 290. I'll stick at 290 til done and see what happens! In foil now...

Weber forum technique. Since getting such good results with chuck roasts, I'm kind of off briskets. But, I decided to try the weber forum high heat brisket method. The KK is chugging along at 290 with a big packer on, in a few minutes I'm going to foil it when it hits 160. My thought has been you don't need to foil anything in a KK, so I'm just trying this faster cook method out of curiosity. Those guys cook these briskets in about four hours more or less and say they come out super; we'll see... They check for doneness by feel, not temp, I'll try that too. Report to follow.

All this rib talk fired me up so I just made some. Baby backs. My rub was brown sugar, paprika, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, cayenne pepper and a little Kosher salt. I do a straight four hour cook, no foil, no liquid, just an indirect cook. Yowser they good!!! The KK cooks 'em up so moist you don't need any foil or liquid. Sides are olive oil-garlic sauteed spinach with toasted pine nuts and craisins; and garlic mashers. Yummy. And the final topper is the 1999 Malescot St. Exupery, Margaux. A little heaven on Earth.

here you go Here's the link to the Chris Lilly Today Show, Big Bob Gibson's ribs, we were discussing earlier this summer: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30686511/