Braai-Q

Interestingly, you can eat Nettles raw (I actually went down a rabbit hole on this to satisfy my own curiosity). The trick is forcefully picking the leaves (tightly compressing the hairs), then folding the top of the leaves over the underside where the hairs are and then eating as a parcel. I suspect technique is something you learn quickly. Lots of health benefits and Nettle soup made well is excellent. I took a look at the video and cut the timecode in at the point. It's Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge - I do know it. I don't think it tastes that much of garlic (compared to wild garlic), far more akin to the mustard flavour of rocket which is what threw me off the scent. There is some more information on it at Wild Foods UK if you're interested.

There are times when I actually have to avoid this forum because it makes me think about inappropriate meals at odd times. Usually when I can't do anything about them. There was the 11:30pm brisket the other day which is your 6.43am burger of this morning. The problem I have with Heston is that I think he sometimes does things because it's expected, not because it needs it and I've tried a few of his 'set a day aside to cook this' recipes and come out the other side thinking that it wasn't really worth the effort. While I'm the first to embrace a complicated recipe, there is also joy in something simple. Have an egg with your burger which will make it breakfast and have your cranberry juice in a wine glass. Then seamlessly transition around lunch to red wine. 😄

I'm not sure if I'm honest. The leaves look a little Nettle like in shape. You don't want to eat raw Nettle. I brushed against some yesterday morning and my leg is still stinging from the experience. Dread to think. The plant looks like some sort of Viburnum (opulus or dentatum). Or it looks a bit like a Guelder Rose. I'm not an adventurous forager, tend to only really forage blackberries and wild garlic. Do you have a link to the YouTube video, might give me some clues.

Since the lockdown in the UK, I've either been in the garden or the kitchen. So I thought I'd share some of my endeavours. Tried baking in the 32KK for the first time. Made a banana and tahini loaf. If you like peanut butter and banana as a combination, you will like this. Used cocochar, had a very slight smokiness to it which was discernible from doing it in our fan assisted oven. Crumb was great in both but I think a savoury loaf might benefit more from the KK's charms. Ordered some pork ribs from the butcher who now identifies me as 'the meat enthusiast' and recognises a kindred spirit. He has made some suggestions on cuts and modifications to recipes and I must say, it's a match made in heaven. Pictured are pork ribs which he cut long so we had a large piece of non-rib which I think is a cut used to make bacon. Applied our own house dry rub which has around 250 ingredients (feels like it at least). My wife is pictured applying it as she is far better at getting the membrane off the ribs so got to be the kid and get covered in rub mix. Cooked then in the KK rib rack at 105 for 4-6 hours and then grilled to finish with lots of sticky BBQ sauce. I cheated and used bottle sauce to glaze as I was low on sugar and am trying to clear the fridge out of BBQ sauces (I swear they've been breeding). They were superb and I ended up wearing the ribs. I got told off by my wife for spilling food all over my t-shirt. I may have grunted and slurped some sort of acknowledgement whereupon she said I was like an overgrown caveman child. I think it's a compliment. We have Wild Garlic growing abundantly in the woods behind our house so in our prescribed daily exercise, we foraged some and I'm currently working up some recipes with it. Wild Garlic Oil to go on to a pizza with goats cheese and onion. I think some might find its way into a Pesto and there'll be some gnocchi pan fried with sage and wild garlic on the cards this week too. I'm debating a wrap for whole fish slow cooked on the KK. A bit like a banana leaf. I've attached some pictures for interest if you don't know the plant. You use the leaves of the plant which are quite succulent. Slightly different smell to regular garlic and doesn't have the same pungency and heat you can find in garlic bulbs. Hope everyone is in good health and spirits (and using this time to perfect their KK cooks). 🙌

I'm not mocking anyone on this thread just to be clear. The commitment is fantastic and intimidating. I feel we should do a bake off and humbly offer myself up as judge. If anyone wants to send 'convincer' loaves to me, I will provide a full report extolling the virtues of said loaf. I can see the KK Load Olympiad becoming a thing.

Lovely gesture. That's made me particularly hungry.

I have a question for the bread yodas on this thread, has anyone made naan or pretzels with success? I've made Naan in a charcoal tandoor and they were fabulous but you thrown them against the side of the tandoor. Not quite sure the approach with a KK. Just on the pizza stone? I saw a recipe for pretzels on Big Green Egg's site (it came up in searches, don't worry, I've not lost my way) and it looked promising and then I got to thinking about hot, butter pretzels.

My comment was of course tongue in cheek. I'm impressed at the commitment levels. Unfortunately and fortunately, we have a French bakery within 2 miles of our house. They import their flour from France and Italy. If you give the slightest indication that you have a comprehension of the French language, they will never speak English to you again. Like ever. So it does encourage a level of laziness on my part when it comes to trying to make my own bread. I'm still on my quest for the perfect chimichurri and peri-peri. I'm growing my own Peri Peri chillies which I got from Mozambique and this is the year that I will perfect it.

I've been watching this thread with interest and feel that some of you might want to try Emmer Wheat and an ancient Egyptian recipe otherwise you're not trying hard enough. 😄 Like this guy:

Happy New Year everyone. Thanks for the tips, encouragement and abetting in 2019. Wishing you all health, wealth and happiness in 2020. In whatever form that takes. At this point, there is a brisket on the 32KK and I'm about to put on some Indian lamb chops on the 19KK to the recipe of the legendary East End restaurant 'Tayyabs'. I'll take some pictures but given my wife has been mixing cocktails and misread my writing where I said 1:1 as 2:1, the vodka ratio is shall we say 'a little strong' and my competence with the camera may decline dangerously. We'll struggle through. It's bitterly cold but bright and sunny in the UK today. I started BBQ'ing with three layers on. After 2 cocktails, I'm walking out in a t-shirt and going 'meah, it's not that bad'. 🥶

I have come to realise that you have to be careful with @tekobo and define your unit of measurement as she normally works in 'herds'. 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄

Sssh, you'll scare the newbie! 🤨

Welcome to KKUK benobas. Whenever I go near a garden centre or BBQ place, I idly have a look at what they have and whenever I see a Green Egg or Kamado Joe, they're really primitive and crude in comparison. I invariably remark 'why would anyone spend so much on one of these'. My wife then comments that you could buy a very good brand new car for the price of the 32" and 19" which we have. I then remark on what a wonderful wife she is before she starts on my other expensive habits. She loves them and while she questioned my sanity with the first, when she saw it, she was impressed. Out of interest, what part of the UK are you in? Watch out for that @tekobo though. Real trouble. 😘 Got a message from her this week and I now find myself buying half a cow and giving direction on cuts via text message. I had to mention this to my wife who mentioned what she has to put up with being married to me to her colleagues who I gather overhead the conversation we were having about it. Apparently I'm now called 'BBQ cow guy'. I've been called worse. If I can aid and abet or offer recommendations and advice on UK suppliers or anything, hit me up.

My god that looks good. I've just had a look at the website and I suspect the 'secret sauce' is their Sweet Heat rub. I'm going to try the Cola recipe next weekend by which time the Sweet Heat rub will have arrived. Thanks for the recommendation.

Yeah. I agree with you but there is something inauthentic about someone making recipes which are so far removed from their own food traditions that it makes me slightly mistrustful. It's undoubtedly an unfair assessment but when you think Nigella, you think 'deepest home counties' not 'deep South!'.....

Well, 'Alright treacle' is Cockney rhyming slang for 'Sweetheart' so not sure that substituting molasses in for Londoners would work! 😁 I've added the Scott Rea project to my watch list, thanks for the tip. I'll be expecting a post match report from you with a selection of reviews from your 16 guests of course!!!

Thanks Basher. Yeah, I think you're right, a trial is definitely required. The high sugar content of coke is what does it. Per the recipe, I worked out that it's 212 grams of sugar (factoring a 2 litre bottle). I think I might end up inventing my own version once I understand the flavour profile. There is a recipe that I picked up from Waitrose supermarkets in the UK for ginger glazed pork hocks. It calls for a fiery ginger beer - their in house product that they recommend is great but Canada Dry or similar is a perfectly good substitute. I was struck by just how much ginger flavour the hock took. It was fabulous and I was really surprised as ginger generally is a more subtle flavour and harder to exaggerate unless you get really extreme with fresh ginger. So an observation on carbonated flavoured drinks and pork. 😃 We're staying away from family this Christmas so it's just my wife and the dog so we only have ourselves to please. The dog is a most willing participant in any of these experiments.

Hi KK'ers My wife has decreed that there shall be a ham this Christmas and she wants to do it in Cola. I've found a recipe that I think looks decent after having drawn blank searching on this forum along with Amazing Ribs which surprised me. So I thought I'd try this: https://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/nigella-lawsons-ham-coca-cola/A3UnN7EQ but it occured to me that someone may have a tried and tested recipe on the forum that they might be willing to share? If nobody has a go to recipe, I'll post up how the one above goes for the benefit of the group with pictures of course. Thanks and gratitude in advance for any recommendations. Alex

Hey All I thought there might be some appreciation for this and I took these pictures and the video with the KK community in mind. In June, we went to Cragside in Northumberland, the former home of Lord and Lady Armstrong which is now operated by the National Trust. Armstrong was a fascinating character - he was an engineer (albeit a whimsical and eccentric one) and industrialist. The house is beautiful but is also full of innovations and is the first home in the world to be powered by hydroelectricity. The kitchen had a lot of precursors to modern conveniences, albeit slightly primitive but they were early conceptions - a gas stove and dishwasher from what I recall. What particularly drew my attention was the hydraulic rotisserie. I've included a couple of iPhone images below to give context but the video shows the gears exposed in the floor along with the driveshaft in motion. While the National Trust keep the kitchen in service and bake Victorian cakes for the cafe once a week, the meats were plastic props hence the speed of rotation in the video. Anyway, I thought there would be some appreciation here for Victoria era KK style over engineering. Alex IMG_7342.MOV IMG_7346.MOV

But I always intensely sear my steaks as far away from the charcoal as possible. Been trying to figure out why I never get sear marks! It's pretty unforgivable to not have those basics right when you're selling a product at this price point.

I may have had something to do with that. 😁

Welcome! Looks great.

Kalamazoo are frightening price wise. I looked around for an Argentine Grill in the UK and everything was a bit crude and then I came across Ox Grills who were very happy to customise to my design. If I was paying what Kalamazoo are charging, I'd expect something of a transcendental experience.

I'm sorry to hear that. Losing them is devastating. What a beautiful dog. If you ever need a virtual Terrier fix, I am happy to oblige. Posing with KK available on request. 👍 If I was being reincarnated, I think coming back as a KK would be a pretty sweet deal. Although I can't imagine our dog being a very good KK, you'd have to enter into a negotiation every time you wanted to open the lid. Ours plays fetch but will only release the ball on an exchange basis and then only if he perceives he is getting a better offer.

Thanks Dennis. All self explanatory. Had to stop for a beer mid way through all the unwrapping, damn there's a lot of cellophane wrap and cardboard! 😁 Need to drop you an email about another UK order piggy backed on mine, you have mail.