Braai-Q

I've made Naan using a contemporary tandoor. Once you know the stickiness that you're aiming for, it's quite easy as the physics of a tandoor are not dissimilar to the KK. That said, I've not actually tried it in my KK but your air temperature has to be quite high - around 450-500 degrees to get them pillowy. My only reservation is that the walls of the KK are not self cleaning and I don't want to drag carbon deposits into the food. I'm making pizza in the next week, I think I might experiment while the KK is that hot and see what I can come up with.

I was just ribbin’ ya. Passionfruit margarita sounds great.

Much appreciation for the shares all. I refuse to believe that @tekoboonly had a tortilla having seen pictures of her drive in freezer yesterday. I think she's holding out with her Matryoshka BBQ setup. I shall be browsing this thread for inspiration next year.

That's a fine plate of food there Tony. You're making me hungry when there is no way on god's green earth that I should even be thinking about eating anything. You got that meat to perfection.

The ribs look great. I think you're going to have fun with year 24 though... For a minute, I thought that was a whip in the background and was going to ask how you were tenderising your meat then I realised it was your sauce mop. 😂

Christmex was a success. We are all poured across the sofas in front of a fire and we're currently arguing over who should go and put the cover on the KK. We used the 32KK today for the grilling surface area. So, our Christmas Tacos. We used 32 day dry aged beef skirt from Thomas Joseph Butchery and had that with some chicken thighs. Both marinated for 24h - hugely aromatic marinades involving fresh oregano, garlic, onion, habanero, lime juice, apple juice, lime zest, orange zest, orange juice, lemon zest, insert other citric zest and juice, bird's eye chilli. You get the idea. We used the Yucatan Chicken marinade for the thighs - both marinades are recipes from Breddos Tacos Cookbook (buy direct from them via Instagram as they charge half what Amazon do). We had ours with burnt spring onion crema, Breddos hot sauce, home made guacamole (Mrs BQ has an incredible recipe) and home made salsa. Mrs BQ was making margaritas while I was cooking outside. It's currently -3°C or around 25°F and I discovered that Mrs BQ doesn't use measures. Turns out her double by eye is closer to a quadruple. Which is why I was wearing just a lightweight fleece to stay warm. Few pictures on the iPhone. I didn't have any of the final tacos primarily because I was so hungry that all thoughts of taking pictures left me in my enthusiasm to dig in. Not helped by the volume of margaritas. Think we're on left overs for a couple of days which is no hardship.

Thought I'd kick off a thread for those Christmas cooks so it's easy to be inspired for next year. Please share your efforts and successes. We've decided to do a Mexican Christmas which we're branding 'Christmex'. It's close to freezing outside and what says Christmas in the UK more than Mexican done on the KK? The smell of BBQ. Mexican and smoke is going to confuse the hell out of the neighbours. Photos later. Happy holidays all.

This is more or less my go to but I'm feeling too lazy to write it up: https://www.thefatduckgroup.com/hestons-triple-cooked-chips/ Heston did a 'perfect' series and I really have struggled to better the recipe.

[mention]Troble [/mention]You’ve knocked it out the park with the butcher box challenge. Helluva way to warm up to Christmas. It’s not even 7am in the U.K. and I am now thinking of a breakfast along those lines.

I agree. Japanese knives are an absolute pleasure. What would you recommend (DM me if you prefer) - I've been looking at Sakai Uchihamono and thinking about another Gesshin. I need another paring knife and santoku so casting around for some ideas. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

I shuddered when I read that. Good knives don't go near the dishwasher, don't get thrown together, even when being washed and put in the sink and never use a scotch pad (even if they say 'non scratch'). We once had a house guest get a knife out of the knife drawer and use it to prise a tin lid where the pull had snapped off. My wife only told me after they'd gone. Managed to snap the tip on a very expensive knife. There is now a lock on the drawer. For the kids. Which we don't have. 😁

I know what you mean. It's a bit of a chore but when you go to use them again after you've done a good job of getting them sharp, you forget about how long it took and berate yourself for not having done it sooner. Well, I do.

Congratulations @BOC - bet you can't wait. Which tables did you go for - stainless tops or teak? Come on @MacKenzie and @tekobo, it's your chance to upsell him on at least two more KKs! 😆

My humour can be quote obtuse and in person, I do a lot of deadpan. It doesn't always translate. And, 'go go gadget legs'..... 😀

Love the 'Outdoor Chef Hot Tub' name.

I was just teasing. I've also hated the term gadget for as long as I can remember because it suggests an inherent lack of worth and feels dismissive. Having the right tool for the job makes the job easier and usually produces a better result. Which is the underlying strategy that underpins my plans to introduce a PacoJet into our house. @tekobo has a far more understanding other half.

I was half joking. I bought a 'gadget' not that long ago. It was a Thyme stripper. Basically, it looks like a ladle with a number of holes of varying size in the handle and you pull the thyme through, it strips all the leaves so you're not fishing woody stalks out of your food. It's 85% effective but so much better than picking the leaves off with your fingers. Mrs BQ made derisive comments about it when she discovered it. I played the 'oh, that, been in the drawer for ages' strategy. Anyway, about a week ago, she comes asking for it and where did I put it. It was in the dishwasher which was running but I said I'd thrown it out at her request. WHY? It's really good at getting the leaves off woody he....then she realised that she had just opened the door. Apparently I had a smug look on my face for the rest of the day. I didn't help matters by singing a rendition of MC Hammer's 'Hammertime' although my version was 'Hammer thyme'... I did stop when she tested the heft of a meat mallet in her throwing hand. I find the deep fryer is easier to clean and if you're doing anything in any quantity, having the basket to drain makes it pretty effective for draining off excess oil otherwise there is a lot of kitchen towel involved. I see that you have a recessive self preservation gene. To help you with that problem, the outcome is likely to go something like this:

Oh, that's my perpetual struggle with kitchen tools. There is no such as a gadget. They're tools. Don't let your wife think they're gadgets because that's close to gimmick and it means it can be jettisoned far too easily. I don't use mine often but when I do, I'm reminded of why I bought it. We get very very good oven chips in the UK which are a little bit healthier and they win on convenience. Never tried an air frier so can't comment although I know there are many devotees.

If you're frying anything like 'chips', always best with a dedicated fryer in my experience. I have a Magimix and the design is great, it's just the hassle of disposing of the oil that's tiresome. But for some food, you can't beat oil. Do you know about the breadcrumb trick? Basically, throw some breadcrumbs in when you think the temperature is about right - if they burn up and go black, too hot. If they absorb the oil and sink, the oil isn't hot enough. If they bubble and float to the surface, you're good to go. Like the KK, always easier to build up to temperature gradually versus having to bleed heat. With oil, there isn't a way to lose heat if it gets too hot other than changing it or adding more cold oil. For triple cook chips, give this a go but having a frier like that one I linked makes all the difference.

It's funny you should post this, I've been looking at these. They're spiritually linked to my bench grinder that I use for putting an edge on garden tools and sharpening mower blades. What's made me hesitant is that under power, small mistakes can become big ones quite quickly. I have expensive knives that I would be gutted if I damaged. I'm out of practice on a whetstone so generally use a Lansky to keep a consistent angle of attack on the blades but it can be a little fiddly but probably no more than getting a power tool out. If you get your hands on one or anyone else has any comments, be good to learn of your experiences. I know that @DennisLinkletteris a knife guy as well so he might have some thoughts.

You must let me know if you cook it, I think it called for fresh Thyme and cream. We had the former, which was in sad shape and no cream. Hence the adaptation.

I think there is. That or I'm pregnant. I'm up for a road trip but not advised at the moment. I don't think we can even enter Tier 4.

Did the steak today. Not last night in the end. I had to drive and while my wife volunteered to drink the Judith Beck and tell me how it was, this was never going to happen. First time I've done a cote de boeuf. It's always felt like too much meat but when you leave me unattended in a butchery, these things will happen. Cooked at 125°C for about 45 mins to a target internal temp of 52°C using the Fireboard then took it out, pushed the KK to 250°C and seared both sides to eye, around 6 mins each. Did some hasselback potatoes (Mrs BQ) after I saw a recipe for Cheesy Hasselback Potato Gratin and we realised we were missing some of the ingredients so Mrs BQ created an approximation. All plans for doing chores currently on hold as I nurse this food coma.

This is pro level tracking.

I thought it might have been you. I was actually expecting a cow and likely from my avatar, you would have been expecting a dog. 😀