Loquitur

Re: Hi to all

Cool, txbigguy. Can't wait to see some pix and see what you think of it.

Re: Hi to all

Hey txbigguy!! Congrats on your incredible win!! So tell us, how did you do it? Did you have more than one entry? Did you have any idea initially about exactly what you might win? Did someone just call you up out of the clear blue and tell you that you were the winner? Its sooo exciting that you are a member of our group. You will undoubtedly love the KK as well as its online family here.

Many, many moons ago when I was a student, my friend and I won $2,000 and a trip to Jamaica . It was a radio station contest where the announcer would call out two digits and if your telephone number ended in those two digits, and you were the first caller, you could hazard a guess as to somewhere in the world that the $2,000 was hidden. The prize was a one week vacation for two to the location to pick up the cash. We lived in a dorm where the telephone numbers were sequential so we had every combination along with the name of the residents of each room. These were the days before cell phones so even if we were listening to the radio at the time, we weren't able to call in with a guess every time the numbers were announced. But we figured if we could win it, we could make some kind of deal with the dorm resident who "owned" the proper telephone number. So we were in the car when someone called in with a guess of Kingstown, Jamaica. We could tell by the announcer's voice inflection that somethng important was going on with this guess though it was not correct. We rushed back to the dorm and a little bit of research revealed it had to be Kingston, Jamaica. Our real luck was that the next two digits that were announced were the last two digits of my dorm number. And, indeed, the cash was there. Fun times!!!

Susan

Re: Ok, so we have a new look...

I'm using IE and my screen is now centered and the view unanswered post and subscribe topic lines are showing at the bottom of the page. Thanks a million for the fix!!

Is there an advantage to cooking hot and fast on the lower grill as opposed to the sear grill other than the larger surface area of the lower grill and the longer reach required for cooking on the sear grill?

Susan

Re: Green Egg for small batches

Hogboss1 says:

Green Egg makes 4 sizes, I have owned 3 before recently buying the KK...there is a nuisance question. After just one burn the grate plugs up and has to be cleaned after just a few minutes of burn time for a couple of hamburgers etc. If you don't mind the hassle of cleaning for such a low burn time they do seem to save fuel over the KK but I am rethinking my choice of using it for small jobs.

Yikes, Hogboss1, thanks for pointing that out. I have never read that criticism on the Big Green Egg forum. I mind hassles of all kinds so that would make me extremely aggravated!!

Susan

I tried to buy one of those last year but I'm not sure if it was this company or not. I ordered it and put in my credit card info but it never came and my credit card was never charged. But I would be interested. I used to really like my Foodsaver marinade container until it, and its replacement, developed hairline cracks and wouldn't hold the vacuum. Plus, this one looks like it would hold much more food.

Susan

It's interesting that the snippet of the law in the newspaper makes it sound like its only an offense to use the hand held cell phone if you commit another infraction at the same time. Here, using a hand held cell phone while driving IS the offense - no conditions attached. And its a fine of up to $150.00 plus a surcharge (tax) to the State of New York of $85.00.

I am super tight on space on my small patio. What is attractive about the mini big green egg is that it would have a zero footprint inasmuch as I could set it on top of an item already there. But I had not considered that I could get the same high temperature searing effect without heating up the whole KK. This is my favorite feature of the KK and something I could never get with my gas grill. As you may recall, my only experience with charcoal cooking is the KK.

Do I let the coals heat up with the lid open? How do I know when they are ready? Do you think I would have to add a lot of cooking time - such as double what I do now - or would it be about the same?

If I could solve my probem this easily it would be wonderful. Thanks so much for the ideas.

Susan

I do many more high temp cooks on my KK than low and slo and often times, its small quantities of food - such as two burgers or chops. Since my family likes a nice sear, I am often ramping the KK up to 650 dome, searing for a couple of minutes on the sear grill and then shutting it down. The food cooks perfectly for us but I honestly feel like I'm wasting energy considering the fuel I need to heat the KK to those temps and then the time it takes for it to cool down. Now that the mini big green egg has a 10" grate rather than a 9" grate, I'm seriously considering buying one for these kind of small cooks. Whaddayathink???

Susan

I can't help but wonder if Johnny Trigg's alligator dish was the worst of the four and the producers decided not to eliminate anyone that time because he is such a big draw.

......BTW' date=' I think BBQ Pit Masters is a joke this year, they ruined a great show. Did they have a Challenge this week where someone was voted off due to their Jello? BBQ Pit Masters, hah! Don't even me started[/quote']

I know, Larry. I read several BBQ forums and the vast majority of the posts regarding this show are extremely negative. But with all due respect, I honestly think expectations from the serious BBQ-ers are too high. It's just TV cooking show entertainment and the elimination style of competition is in fashion right now. And I'll bet the competition teams are chomping at the bit for an entry considering that the $100,000.00 first prize is not a bad payday. Since Kingsford is the sponsor, I was kind of hoping they would throw in one of our Kingsford logo KK's to the winner as well!! Did I say something about unreasonable expectations???

We should be clear in noting that the Pit Masters are all cooking baby back ribs. Four hours is plenty of time in the KK (and no foil necessary) to get 'em done right.

Really, Conodo??? Those were babyback ribs??? I didn't realize that because they were referred to as pork spare ribs and the contestants stated they were trimming them to St. Louis style. I thought you only had to do that with regular spare ribs.

And thanks, gentlemen, for all those tips. One of these times when I'm home by myself, I'm going to make a rack just for me!!

Susan

My family is not big on ribs so they are not part of my KK repertoire. But I'm interested in how to cook them and read posts about it and was of the impression that spare ribs would take about 5 or 6 hours actually on the grill, lo and slow, without including any prep time, maybe even 7 hours on the grill.

On the BBQ Pitmasters show last night, the main ingredient was spare ribs and the contestants were given 6 hours to do the ribs from start to finish - trim them, rub them, marinade them, inject them, etc. Nobody complained about only have 6 hours, at least they didn't complain on TV, and they weren't rushing around and some talked about marinting them and then cooking them lo and slow - 225 to 250.

Does that sem like a short cook time to anybody else? I must admit, they sure did look mighty tasty!!

Susan

Are these grill hangers for sale yet?

Re: High Temperature Proceedure

I just got my KK and I am having difficulty getting it really hot' date=' 550 - 650 deg. I started with a full basket of charcoal and lit it with a weed burner from the top but an hour later it is still only aboout 500 deg. Both top and bottom vents are all the way open.Am I too impatient?[/quote']

Wneblett:

Pull the door out a couple of inches in addition to opening the vent. I assume you could pull the back door out as well to really get it going fast though I haven't had both doors open yet. I find it takes a while to get it up to 300 or 350 but once it starts to climb, it goes fast so don't leave it unattended for long with the door open.

Susan

So, anybody want to guess how much it cost??? I say $200.00 which is a wild guess based on nothing. Dennis can show them to Sai and she can tell him or not as she chooses.

Susan

A fellow on the BGE forum tracked the temp rise of a pizza stone with an IR meter. 15 min after lighting the grill he put a plate setter and pizza stone in - the temp near the fire was 890 deg. It took 10 more min for the dome temp to reach 500 deg where it remained. After 50 min at 500 deg, the pizza stone was 345 deg. 20 min later the stone got up to 469 deg. At this point, 95 min after lighting the grill, his family was getting anxious so he did the pizzas. He said the later ones were more consistently cooked than the earlier ones. It was an interesting post.

Today's special is a pack of 24 6x6 cedar wraps for $7.99. Max you can purchase is 3 packs. Shipping for total order is $5.00. I've never used them before but they look interesting. I'm in for 2 packs.

I found this out too late but try a coupon SERENDIPITY for $5.00 off the total.

Susan

We partially dehydrated 60 lbs of tomatoes over the weekend. Sort of like Thomas Keller's "precious tomatoes" (I realize everything in Keller's books are precious, so this won't help anyone find the recipe) or Tom Colicchio's roast tomatoes, only better suited for mass production so we never open a can during the year. Skin by scalding 90 seconds, slice into a dehydrator with 1/2 tsp++ sea salt per tray, dry 8-12 hours at 135 F till gooshy (we have two American Harvester FD-61's and 16 trays) and vacuum pack

Wow, Syz, 60 pounds??? That is impressive!!! I did 10 pounds last year on your instructions and thought they were fantastic - especially in the dead of winter. I will definitely do them again this year in October. I think I'll do 20 pounds this time.

Susan

Hope this link will work.

http://ozersky.tv/2010/06/chris-lilly-pickles/

Tony - I am anxious to know what you think of them so please post about it.

Susan

I know there is a lot of fat in these burgers somewhere but you don't see it the way you see the fat in the Wagyu ribeyes. This ground meat doesn't look any different than ground chuck. I'll post a picture next time I make one. But it feels very different in my hands when I'm forming them. The nearest I can describe it is to say the meat feels soft. And when the burgers are cooked, which for us is just a good sear, they are crispy on the outside and buttery on the inside. They are so tender they melt in your mouth.

My elderly mother loves them too and she is fanatic about fat. She rarely eats red meat, never eats any poultry skin and removes any fat she see can see before cooking other meats. She asks me every time (her memory isn't so good) if there is any fat in the burgers and I tell her yes, that this beef is bred with a high fat content. But she can't taste it. They don't taste fatty - they just taste delicious. Oh, and she eats the WHOLE THING, bun and all!!

To have something onhand in the freezer that is so easy to prepare and that my husband and mother think is really a special treat is delightful!! In case anybody is interested, that sale is still on.

Susan

I agree Snake River Farms is a great resource. I ordered a brisket from them and was happy with their product except for the $25.00 shipping charge. I just want to point out that these burgers are really nice for anyone who might be interested. The price includes the shipping, the 9.5 ounce size is super generous and they are easy to work in that they are not tightly compacted - and that's coming from a person who ordinarily would run the other way at the suggestion of a pre-made burger. They have become a favorite in my family and I hope I can order them all year long. Just passing it along for whatever its worth.

Susan

Costco Non Member Surcharge

I guess Costco is giving me a break on the non member surcharge. I paid $8.00 the first time and this time it is $6.50.

Wagyu Burgers on Sale

Costco online has a sale on the wagyu burgers - 24 9.5 oz burgers for $129.99 which includes shipping plus $6.50 if you are not a member. This is $30 off the price I paid last time I ordered. They arrive frozen in a rectangular shape, separately packed, but they are not tightly compacted like most pre made burgers. Its very easy to gently reform them into a round shape as if you were making them from a package of ground beef. And the KK cooks them perfectly - charry and crispy on the outside and rare and juicy on the inside. They are fantastic!! Get'em while you can.

Susan