PVPAUL

Tony, a big congrats to you on your Homebrew competition! That would be great to win the next level and have your recipe made by a brewery and have on tap! Keep us posted as we may have to do a road trip to have some of this beer!!! Alimac23, your Pork Belly Bao buns look fantastic!!!! I’m going to really need to kick up my game in order to feel worthy of posting my cooks on this website!!! I just found out that my grill finally cleared customs and should be shipping out today from California. I hope to have by next week and look forward to posting pictures. All the best, Paul

Tony, I likely will not attend as I’m booked this summer, however I will set up a tickler about next year and hopefully I will attend this one, especially if it’s somewhat close to home. I wanted to mention that I saw some of your other post here on the forum. On one you mentioned that you like some of the products from Dizzy Pig. What are your favorites from these guys as I was thinking about placing an order? Also saw your post on making fermented hot sauce.....this is something I’ve never though of but am interested. I make and can hot sauce every year, both a red base and also a green (Tomatillo) however have never tried fermented. Along these lines have you next every had “Marie Sharps” from Belize? We stumbled upon this while on vacation in Belize a number of years ago. They have an habanero which uses carrots in the base....it’s pretty hot but I use it sparingly and it has great flavor.....I’m not a big fan of Tabasco and some of the other big names but do like Maries. They also have what they call an “Exotic Sauce” that is more sweet which we like. When we end up doing a fish fry we like to break out an arsenal of different pepper sauces and top off the fish nuggets with this stuff. Cheers, Paul

Hello Jonj, I think I need to clarify my comment regarding “Midwestern” folks preferring “FOTB” ribs. About 7 years ago I attended a local BBQ and brew outing in which they had about 6 to 10 BBQ folks providing their BBQ. This included a “Vote” (pretty unofficial) on which BBQ place was the favorite. Afterwards I was talking with the outfit that won and confirmed with them that they “steam” their ribs prior to smoking / grilling. Based on this and other friends likes etc I somewhat formulated this opinion. I understand this is “stereotyping” and probably not really accurate and probably not politically correct (however I don’t always like to be politically correct.....like I love the movie Blazing Saddles!) I apologize too all you folks out here from the Midwest that prefer their ribs competition style!!! Cheers, Paul

Thanks all, I like simple and anticipate the final results from your suggestions will get me to what I’m looking for. Best, Paul

Hey Tony, I did see reference to “Purple Crack” and I’m glad to know what this is. I will have to see if I can find it....maybe at Penzy’s??? I have never been to Homebrewers Con but I’ve heard nothing but good things about it and what great fun it is. I’ve also heard that Homebrewers night is the best. I recall the year that it was in Minneapolis and I think our club had a good presence at that one since it’s a reasonable drive to location. I know our club theme is “Bowling” so that is the is the way we present at the conference. Now that I’m retired I think that this is now on my bucket list!!! I will check with some friends / members of our club to see if we’ll be in attendance. I find it amazing that the hobby continues to grow and grow. I think our club has close to 200 members and a monthly meeting will have about 100-120 in attendance. It was cool watching the video.....seeing Charlie P. His was the first Homebrewers book I ever owned....he also used to have a beer in the marketplace that was available around here....I forget the name but I really liked the beer. Take care, Paul

All, thank you for your feedback, 5698 - I would say FOTB tender (definitely not mushy!) Mac and Pequod, I look forward to experimenting like you are suggesting. I think the process of steaming is a more gentle process (over pressure cooking / boiling) which I believe renders out the fat content some, which I prefer to keep in place and I’m also not really looking to speed up the process so I’ll likely pass on this option....but appreciate the suggestion. Thanks, Paul

All, I have been making BB Ribs for years and the go cook is as follows: 1) Season Ribs and Steam cook for 2 hours and cool down until they can be handled without breaking 2) Smoke the ribs under heavy smoke for about 25 minutes 3) Sauce ribs and direct grill until almost burnt Now I know this is not the "Purist" way for true ribs cooking, however my wife loves them this way and I believe folks like me in the Midwest prefer the final outcome / texture of ribs this way (falling off the bone). I've wanted to find a technique that's simpler (less work) and done all in one cook. Most times when I would cook as above this was three separate steps. In researching other options I came across the 3-2-1 technique....Smoke for 3 hours.........Wrap in foil with apple juice for 2 hours.......unwrap and finish in smoker for another hour. I did this technique and while the ribs were very good they still did not have the texture with "fall off the bone" that us folks from the Midwest seem to prefer. Next month I will receive my KK and look forward to experimenting with this. I understand that one of the benefits of the KK is that it's so tight that it reduces moisture content loss in the protein you are cooking......Just not sure I can expect the texture you get with "fall off the bone" I get with the steaming step. Look forward to your input / suggestions, Newbie, Paul

Hey Tony, that sounds like a very interesting beer! How do you like the end result? Jimmy Carter Happy Hour....I like that...named after the president that legalized the Hobby! I checked out “Heretic brewing web site....Looks like they do some great beers. The only time I brewed with a Tea was for a Belgium Wit which commonly calls for chamomile tea, coriander seed and orange peels. One of my last beers was batch #201.....which if you consider I’ve been brewing as long as I have may not be much (some years where I brewed 10 batches and some years didn’t brew at all). I’m also a member of a beer club here in Milwaukee (Beer Barons of Milwaukee) and I’m currently tied with another member for being one of the current oldest standing members....not sure if that is a good thing. While I belong to the club I’m not crazy active with them.....between raising 4 kids and work (and not to mention that the monthly meetings are about 45 minutes drive away) I probably get to 2-3 meetings per year. I really enjoy the creativity and the process of brewing, however I typically don’t get too crazy with exotic ingredients.....stick with mostly the tried and true. I find the hobby very interesting and seeing other peoples systems and their process. It really can be a gadget hobby and everybody does their own take on it!!! We used to have some old members (Senior to me) who made “Onion” beer and “Garlic” beer. IMO that’s a good beer for cooking Bratwurst in but not for typical consumption! Cheers, Paul

Hello Tony b, Yea I’m definitely totally excited. I went with terra blue tiles that have a lot of brown on them. I liked this look a lot. Will definitely have the uncrating pics and the whole 9 yards. Since my home brewery is at home and my grill will be up north I’ve been a brewing fool this early spring. I’ve got 40 gallons of home brew for the summer....Munich Helles, American Amber, Blonde and a Belgium Red IPA (one of my staples). I also have some 2 year old Belgium Dubbel and I’ve got 2 Barley Wines as well. One Barley wine is about 1 1/2 years old and the second one is only about 5 months old... Just removed the Oak from it a few weeks ago....and now it needs to age.... How about you? What do you have on tap? All the best, Paul

Hello MacKenzie, and thanks for the welcome! My best guess on ETA is mid May.....It’s making the voyage across the ocean at this time and not sure yet when it will hit USA etc. I will definitely be taking pics to share our new arrival on this forum. I really enjoy this part of the forum! I see in the SV section of the forum you do a lot posting. I look forward into tapping into your knowledge / experience on this technique. Especially as it relates to combining SV & KK cooking. All the best, Paul

Thanks Pequot and Tyrus for your replies. Tyrus after raising 4 kids we’ve finally achieved empty nester status. Since I no longer will be attending my kids baseball games I get to spend most of my time up north where the KK will reside so this is actually the place I do most of my grilling / outdoor cooking. I may find myself wanting another KK back home though (haha). Opening day of fishing is first weekend in May and plan on staying up north for the rest of the summer through September and October. Our calendar is pretty much booked with family and friends coming up north to enjoy lake living! I haven’t filled in the calendar with respect to meal planning and the wife has informed me that we’ll still go out to dinner once in a while too!!! Best, Paul

Placed an order with Dennis in February and needless to say i’m Very excited to soon be receiving my 32” BB KK. I’ve been a cook pretty much my whole life, not professionally.... just a great hobbie. I’ve also been a home brewer for over 26 years as well. For grilling I’ve been cooking on charcoal, gas and recently added a Cookshack PG500 (Pellet grill) to the arsenal. I also have been dabblining in SV cooking for a couple of years now. I have been reading the forum extensively looking for ideas and tips so I can hit the ground running once my KK arrives. I’m fortunate enough to have recently retired and this is the present I bought for myself so with the extra time I look forward to creating great meals for family and friends. I was going to wait to join the forum until after my KK arrived but decided to start now so I can chime in and start asking questions etc. I’m looking forward to meeting with the great people who take time to help out us newbies. All the best, Paul PS - I’ll be keeping this grill at our vacation home in Northern Wisconsin. We call our up north place “Puravidaville” and therefore the natural name for our grill will be “Puravida-Grill”!!! (My wife says I have a Grill fetish......I think she’s right!)