mguerra

It's August 9 and I still don't have my Stoker, or a replacement, back. That's over 40 days. Sigh. So, have ya'll seen the new Guru Nano? http://secure.thebbqguru.com/ProductCar ... _q_web.jpg It is billed as the replacement for the Pit Minder. It is simply a pit temp controller, that's it. There is no display screen. Check it out.

one concept I take the skin off so the smoke can contact the meat.

inducer I'm using the bulkhead inducer tube, because it is easily removable. Why would you want to remove it? If you also use a Stoker. One minor issue some of us have had is that the last, or farthest, snap ring groove isn't far enough out to allow the snap ring to fit it. It's not a problem. The wall of the KK is so thick, none of the snap ring grooves will be outside the KK when you put the threaded nut on the bulkhead inducer tube and push it through from the inside. The solution is simple. Put the threaded nut on the tube just enough to secure it. Remove the snap ring. Push the tube through the wall of the KK from the inside until the nut comes up against the inner wall of the KK. The tube will stick out, but none of the snap ring grooves will. Put the snap ring on the tube, flush up against the outside of the face plate. It won't be in a groove, but it doesn't matter. It grips the inducer tube fine with just its' spring pressure. Works fine. No need to machine a new groove, or try any other machinations. Just leave it like that. However, if you like, you can mark that spot on the tube and have a machinist machine a groove. Don't try this without snap ring pliers. Here are two photos. You can clearly see the snap ring is not in a groove, just firmly purchasing the tube by virtue of spring pressure. It's totally secure. I suppose we could ask the manufacturer to machine one more groove distal to the current outermost one. This would allow snap ring placement in a groove, on the "thicker" KK's. http://gallery.me.com/mpguerra#100173

Mallard Reaction The Mallard reaction?! Mount your Benelli to your shoulder, aim, lead, shoot, collect duck.

ribs So, that worked out super! The instructions from Chris Lilly were to cook at 250 for four hours, but I knew I would be gone longer than that. So I set the temp at 220 and the ribs cooked for about 4-1/2 to 5 hours. They came out perfect, tender, moist, not dried out. That rub is great on ribs. I'm going to be using cardamom and ginger and cinnamon a lot!! I'm steering away from pre-prepared rubs because I can't control the salt in those. My guess is that there is far more salt in them than necessary. It's cheap, and always the first ingredient on the list. What I'm doing is just putting a light dust of salt on the meat, to start drawing up the moisture, and then a few minutes later, the rub. My guess is that a rub with too much salt will draw too much moisture up the surface of the meat, and then it will cook off. Yesterday's ribs, with my light salt, were moister than any I've cooked with a pre-prepared rub.

trout Nearly all my trout fishing is catch and release fly fishing. But occasionally there is a fishery that can support harvesting one for the table. But, that will never be anywhere near my KK!

conversion It's about 4 months since I got the Bronze Behemoth. Or the Gold Monster as my wife calls it. Last night, while eating pulled pork and coleslaw sandwiches, I finally got the Official Declaration! " The KK was definitely worth the money." She's complimented the food thus far, but that was the first remark approving the price of admission. It's been about thirteen months since I first got an ass chewing about even thinking about spending that kind of coin on a "grill".

Cardamom ribs Well, we've been talking lately about the Big Bob Gibson ribs on the Today show, and about the coffee cardamom rub for brisket and chucks, so I decided to try this. I made up a rub of dark brown sugar, cardamom, ground ginger, cinnamon, comino, paprika and kosher salt. No measuring ingredients, just eyeballed it. Rubbed it into some back ribs and let sit at room temp for about 45 minutes. Set the KK to 220, put the ribs on at 1:00 CDT and came back to work. Going to play golf later (with cigars and tequila, one shot only) and then go home and see what I've got!

Chuck? Here's a question for you, David. Apparently there are several different parts of the chuck. And a long slow cook of a center cut shoulder roast to 185 degrees is a mistake. It comes out WAY too dry. Could you give us a "chuck primer"?

TNW So what's happening to the damaged one? Somebody was opining that TNW should re-review the kk. And the first one he reviewed was a damaged one he fixed... Hmm

The mind wanders Well, if you like girls and you like bass fishing! Well, this thread is kind of swerving off into a flight of ideas. Anybody tried the coffee cardamom rub lately?

Cigar smoke Cigar smoke, unlike cigarette, tends to dissipate. Lots of people hate cigar smoke, most cigar smokers know that. We try to keep our smoke away from folks. One unexpected surprise is when you meet a woman who loves cigar smoke. It's on par with a man's fantasy of meeting a chick with her own bass boat. The sense of smell is powerfully emotional and evocative. Some women are reminded of their father or grandfather, and that's why they like the aroma. Not too many out there like that, but a pleasure to associate with!

Rum?! Hmm, sipping rum you say? OK. Can't hurt to try. I think I'll pair that with an Avo XO...

Dude, that's ....ing hilarious!!! Wouldn't even make the grade on Jackass, though. I do a laser eyelash removal for certain problems and it stinks to high heaven.

flat iron Steve Graves, aka "askabutcher" over on the Primo forums is also a big proponent of the flat iron steak. I'll have to order some up from you, Dave , and give them a whirl. Somewhere I saw a video of how you cut them and remove that intermuscular septum. Pretty cool.

brisket It's really hard to rank brisket second to chuck. Texas barbecue IS brisket, period. The thought of not cooking a brisket every week is almost heresy. But, hey, I tried the chuck thing and it is what it is, superior. Prior to last fall, I never drank any liquor. On a dove hunt, the lodge operator got me to sample some super high end sipping tequila. Holy sh.. it was good!!! This is stuff you drink neat. You would NEVER pollute its' flavor in a mixed drink. Since then, I have been sampling various brands, it's the same as the single malt world. You try a variety to see how you like them. I keep coming back over and over to the Don Julio 1942 Anejo. If you ever got smashed throwing down shots of cheap tequila and swore off it, think again. This is a different deal. It probably takes me half an hour or so to sip my way through an ounce or ounce and a half of this nectar. If you are even remotely curious about this spirit, get a good anejo and try it! You have to use the proper spirits glass, get one. You want to swirl and sniff the bouquet exactly the same as a good Bordeaux. A superb glass is the Reidel "O" series spirits glass. Or any glass specified for single malts. I'm not going to knock the rum and coke, never tried it. But I'd put even money you'll prefer this little adventure! Sitting out on the back porch puffing a fine CAO, or Carlos Torano; and sipping a Don Julio 1942, man that is the good life. The only thing better is if your KK is wisping away with a cardamom coffee chuck ensconced inside!

Rubaroma Let me just say that the coffee cardamom rub is not to be missed! Don't use some cheap ass Folgers. Get some good coffee. The aroma of this stuff, before you put in the garlic, is out of this world. In fact, I'm going to try it sans garlic just out of curiosity. And to reiterate what has been mentioned here before, a chuck roast beats a brisket for flavor and moistness, hands down. This is so easy and quick to whip up, you owe it to yourself to try it.

rub from heaven I just whipped up a batch of this rub, reduced the salt and oil a little bit, made a thick paste. In the words of Tommy Boy, "Holy Shnikees!!!" the smell is out of this world. I used a blend of Yemen and Sumatra that I roasted yesterday, rested overnight and ground today. This is the old classic blend referred to as Mocha- Java. Mocha refers to any Arabian coffee that was shipped out of the historic port town of Mokka. It has nothing to do with chocolate. Java refers to any Indonesian origin coffee, my preference is Sumatra but they are all good! Also a brand fresh bottle of cardamom. This rub is slathered all over a chuck roast resting in the fridge. Around midnight I'll throw it on the Bronze Behemoth. This is the most aromatic, exotic rub/ paste ever! Full report to follow, maybe a few pics. Now, to expound. What is Mokha? Al Mokha (Al-Mahka) is the port city that Yemeni coffee ships from! It has nothing to do with chocolate. Why is the coffee called Mokha? Because in the coffee trade it was too complicated to name all the little sub-regions where the coffee is actually grown, even though they do produce notably different coffees in terms of the cup. Many of the dry-process Ethiopian coffees will also call themselves Moka: Moka Harar etc. ...possibly to associate themselves with the taste profile they share with Yemens. How the heck do you spell Mokha? Well, it is spelled usually Mocca or Mocha or Moka ...but in fact the most correct spelling is the one you will never see: Al-Mahka, which is the truest to the Arabic spelling. Europeans drank coffee long before they ever were introduced to chocolate. When chocolate was introduced to Europe, some of the flavor nuances resembled the flavors of the Mokka coffee they were used to. Thus the connection of the term Mocha to chocolate. Mocha does not mean chocolate!!!

coiffure de diablo Worse yet is the bald on top, gray ponytail.

black Hit it with a black Sharpie.

CyberQ I got a Cyber Q to use for my Fourth of July cook, since my Stoker was back at Rock's at the time. In fact, they still have it. Anyhoo the Cyber Q is working fine. When the Stoker is working, there's no real difference in them that matters. I've never dealt with customer service at the BBQ Guru, but I haven't heard any of the same type of stories you hear about Rock's. Rock's just needs to nail down this non-stop fan problem and fix it!

Rock's BBQ I'm getting somewhat less than stellar service from Rock's. They won't return multiple phone calls or emails. This is apparently already well known, but I don't like it. There is a known fault with blowers running non-stop. I did finally get a phone call answered, and my sense is they just replace everything to solve this. I did not get the idea they actually know what's wrong. As long as I wind up with a functioning unit I'll be happy. But I'm not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling here.

TICL, toric impantable collamer lens We never know how the FDA will act. Any estimates of when a product will be approved are totally speculative. I don't even worry about it. When the manufacturers rep tells me a new product is finally available, that's when it's available. The toric ICL is a lens implant for nearsighted people with a fair degree of astigmatism. If you have 0.75 diopters or more of astigmatism, the regular ICL can work, but not perfect. The toric ICL would be better. Please don't ask me to explain astigmatism! Internet search it til you understand it, it requires a significant understanding of optics, and some diligent study to grasp the concept. I'm not sure if Staar's website even discusses the TICL yet, they might.

Around age 45, plus or minus a few years, the human eye loses its' ability to focus at near, with your distance prescription in place, if any. Lasik is designed to correct your distance vision. After lasik, you should still be able to see near til about age 45ish. At that point, presbyopia occurs and you lose your ability for near vision, and need to wear readers. People who did not have lasik and wear glasses have to switch to bifocals. People who wear contacts have to wear readers on top of their contacts. People hate presbyopia!! So far, we have no good surgical fix for it, although several surgeries have been tried. There is a radio frequency treatment called CK, conductive keratoplasty, which is touted as a fix for presbyopia, but all it really does is make your eye nearsighted so you can see near, but lose your far vision. Because you lose your distance vision with CK, we usually do it on one eye only, so one eye sees near and the other eye far. That's called monovision. It's not really fixing presbyopia, but allows you go without glasses, albeit with some compromise in depth perception. CK is also temporary, the effect wears off. Another lasik option is to correct one eye for near and the other eye for far, lasik monovision. You can also do that with contacts. Regarding the ICL: see http://www.staar.com/html/visian-icl.html If you want ICL surgery, please call my office in Kerrville, 830-792-4900!!! I'll do your surgery, you can go to the Alamo, Fiesta Texas, and Seaworld, watch the Spurs, and cruise the Riverwalk. You've heard of eco-tourism? Let's call this opto-tourism! A real Texas fandango.

Dr. Slade I think Dr. Slade is still there. BTW, the ICL is working great, our happiest patients are the ICL pts. For those not familiar, the ICL is a corrective lens we place in the eye to correct nearsightedness. It's like wearing your glasses or contacts inside your eye! Very cool.