Basher

It looks near new to me. Well done.

Welcome Bill.

Yes I agree with Alimac. Great shopping.

It sounds like a worthwhile journey. 

Huge effort Tekobo.

Between your bacon and snags you need to open a deli. Yum.

Tekobo maybe not as dry as biltong. More like a bresaola or beef prosciutto.

I'll stick to the plan on what I've read to have lost 40% weight from the initial 2kg.

Running an experiment with 2kg of grass fed sirloin on sale at $7.99Aus/kg. That's about 4.4lb for US$9.

After cutting into 3 lumps( intending to involve the kids in adding their own preferred spices to their own lump and one spicier one for mum and dad) I added 80 grams( 4%) of himalayan rock salt to the beef, vac sealed and will put in the fridge for 4- 5 days.

This is after day 1. Plenty of moisture already dragged out of the meat.

In 4 more days, this is when I will be wishing I had the cold smoker.... so will improvise with some smouldering saw dust from french oak pinot barrels.

Then plan to rub in 3 different herb mixes, wrap in a cloth, tie and hang in the cold room for another month or 2. The sirloin is only an inch thick so there is plenty of surface area to dry out.

Chillie, garlic, cumin, black pepper and Tassie Pepper Berries for me. The kids can choose on smell tests.

Any tips will be taken on board given I won't be doing much with this until the weekend.

Welcome Steve.

I'm going through the same at the moment, however, I have a lot less room and a lot less access than you.

I wish I could get a bobcat into my back yard. After 1 hour of digging shale my hands are ripped up- been pushing pens for too long.

We have been thinking about selling up and moving after 20 years, however, we are close to schools, work, community and decided last night that we will do a complete renovation, starting with the back yard.

Keep the photos coming and I'll share mine on "The Clock is Ticking". 

That's passive smoking.

How does she talk through all that smoke?

I guess there will be no crumb shots then!

Haha Merrill.

Don't look at it as putting your favourite pony down because they are too old.

Consider it being put out to pasture to enjoy their time in a green paddock.

Most of us look forward to retirement.

Yes it is a shame alimac23, great tv while it lasted.

This is probably a better introduction episode if you haven't seen the show before.

I love this show about a chef who tries to live a sustainable life swapping his home grown food with neighbours and the extended community.

It's set up by Hugh in the original River Cottage from the UK.- Another great series.

Not sure I've ever seen pork cooked like he does in this episode.

Is this a common method in the US?

Thanks for sharing PVPaul.

Size wise It handled the birds easily. Looks to be a hotter cook through the middle area of the KK.

It takes about 2.5- 3 months for delivery to Australia. They come individually direct from Indonesia.

I would assume it would be similar times. Maybe a few extra days at sea.

Yes tony b the roti with cradle and forks.

With the ODK the KK should be in shade for 97% of peak summer days and 100% in winter. Like North America, our climate varies significantly from one end to another.

Humidity is my biggest concern and I can't see that the cover will change this and I take comfort knowing the KK is built and tested in Indonesia.

Tyrus Brisbane is a river city with a population around 1.3m. I’m about 1km from the city centre and river, about 15km from the ocean.

pebble, autumn gold or harvest gold? Not the olive one.

Yes tekabo. 80 years living in the same house is going to leave a high level of familiarity. He only left to go to a war, then came home to the same house.

Bells and Whistles- everything Dennis has that rings and hoots, cold smoker, half grills, stones, side tables, rotisserie.

No cover, I want to see this ornament.

We purchased the house off 3 brothers- their father built the house.

The 3 brothers lived through WWII and between the 3 of them they had 3 legs. The last brother alive had 2 legs!

Do the maths.

When we moved in, the toilet in the house had a dirt floor. This was considered a step up from the original long drop in the back corner of the garden. Tough to access during thunder storms!

Is there something about old men and young men where they cant aim straight? Man that dirt floor absorbed everything. Could have bottled it and sold it to a footy player for a half time wake up!

For 2 years after we moved in the old fella would pop up in the back yard out of habit and walk into the back door.To him It was still his home. We didn't mind, he was a pretty good bloke and he filled us in on the history of the area while i made him a cuppa.

We  moved in 20 years ago when the house used to look like this from the street.

It now looks like this from a slightly different angle

Fell out of love with the house over the last few years so the new ODK and KK is like a renewal of vows.

Looking forward to revisiting the honeymoon!!!

The deposit was paid today for a 23" KK. I got the one with bells and whistles.

Judging by other orders- most recently Hammo- coming into The Port of Brisbane it's expected to be about 3 months away. 

Summer will be kicking in by then, however, before the KK arrives I have plenty of work to do in preparation.

Our house is a timber "workers cottage" built in 1913 so during summer all doors and windows are open to breathe. Given the back deck is attached to the house, the smoke doesn't go down that well from the back deck.

My back yard is a mess and the current ODK sits on the deck so a new ODK needs to be built to house the KK, and other toys. It'll be detached and far enough away so the smoke doesn't cause a problem to house.

I had in mind something like this-

A mate of mine has been milling some grade 1 blue gum hardwood timber from his property and kindly wants to donate some 150mm posts and slabs for the bench. It'll cost about 10 years of cook ups.

I also found some cool river stones carved into bench top sinks. I think they might be from Indonesia.

We have street gas that I can run to the ODK so the gas burner will always be on tap with no need to refill bottles. And the KK can just rolllllll around at will.

very clever.

Way too handy for me!

They both look great Tekabo.

The cold smoked looks like it’s been dry aged.

dennis’s looks pretty good too, like a speck.

Can you make bacon without the sodium nitrate?

There's a claim to fame to be proud of!!!!!!!! 

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Andrew Zimmern once proclaimed to have eaten the testicles of just about every mammal known to man - and I believe him!! 

 

Alimac that looks superb. Did you cook it foiled all the way? wouldn't this take away any smoke flavour?

Great looking dumplings.

Really Tony? Don't you call them prairie oysters or sweatbread? Or is this bull balls?

Either way, I'm not a fan and will stick to the liver!

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5 hours ago, merrill said:

When you guys are cooking on the higher level do you remove the lower level to help keep it clean or just leave it there.  I also have read where some people put theTomahawk steaks directly on the coals.  Has anybody ever tried that?  I have never had enough nerve and don't want to risk ruining  a good steak.

 

Merrill google or Utube Caveman Steaks. Not sure I really want to cook a good steak with this method when there is a perfectly good grill nearby.

It is interesting to watch.

One of your wheels look wonky Pequod, or maybe that is just lens distortion?