Paswesley

Re: Waxed for the Winter Whew! I thought I had offended you. I don't want my good to be ill spoken of, particularly when I have caused it! Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Re: Waxed for the Winter Pic of my butt I have not clicked on. It looked obviously suspect. I did not know that waxed for the winter had sexual implications. Sorry. I will think more carefully about what I post. I literally meant Mable had a coat of wax for this winter. I apologize if anyone was offended. Paswesley

Re: Waxed for the Winter Thanks, Cook_Shack. Here is the link. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3465&p=32279&hilit=Cleaner+formula#p32279 Take a look at Mable after I cleaned her using this formula. The pics are in the first post in the string.

Re: Waxed for the Winter Back at cha, Firemonkey! I didn't miss a spot. I rubbed at the stainless trim you mentioned as much as I dared with Krud Kutter and a terry cloth towel. I don't want any scratches. Basically, the brown areas are seasoning, just as would be seen on a cast iron pan. Do you know how to get that seasoning off without hurting Mable? I really do want it off. My girl deserves to look her best. Regarding the wax. It is all synthetic, of course. It does not produce a white residue, or any other color of residue, for that matter. What it does produce is a deep, rich and water shedding shine. BTW: The wax can be used on your car, too.

Re: Waxed for the Winter God has brought me a mighty long way.

Hi, all. Although I use Mable year round, it is a good idea in the Northeast to do a little winterizing. I decided to get out on this, one of the few remaining warm Saturdays (55 degrees) in the year, to prep Mable for the winter. I used some of the grout that Dennis includes with the KKs to seal a few hairline cracks in the grout. There are, of course, no loose tiles or cracked tiles. I simply want to prevent any frost heaving over the winter that could cause loose tiles next spring. Once I had allowed an hour for the grout to dry well, I wiped Mable down really well with Krud Kutter and wiped her off with clean water. After waiting a while for drying, I placed a coat of Meguiar's MXT Tech 2.0 car wax on my little girl. The wax has special sealing and hydrophobic qualities. (No, Mable will not develop rabies. She will just shed water better.) It could have been one of the neighbor's children, but I thought I heard giggling when I rubbed the wax off her tummy. I buffed it out with a chamois and took this pic just before I covered her with her Marine Blue dress, courtesy of Jonnyboy. The sun was going down, so she does not appear as shiny as she actually is. You go, Mable girl! I have cleaned Mable with Cook_Shack's wonder cleaner. Way to go Cook_Shack!!! This is a close up to check out the restored collar trim and grout I have posted new pics to show the dramatic improvement that I achieved using Cook_Shack's all purpose cleaner. Wow, what a difference!

Re: First Burn of KK Extruded Coconut Charcoal Alas! Sheer innocence in the hands of rascals. Seriously, Dennis was explaining how the charcoal producing process often removes so much of the volatiles from the charcoal that very little good smoke is left by the time the KK has stabilized. The coffee charcoal is engineered to retain more of the volatiles than the average lump charcoal, to permit a better smoking profile. He explains it so much better than I, of course. Hopefully, I have not warped his logic too badly.

I finally had a chance to cook with a full basket of the new charcoal, using just four Stubby's briquettes to get the coco char going. I put about twelve pounds of coco charcoal in the basket. By the time Mable was heat soaked at 350, the Stubby's briquettes were gone, I'm sure. Dennis' coco charcoal is virtually odorless, as promised. I used no smoking wood for the pork country style ribs that I cooked because I wanted to taste the charcoal's flavor profile. The flavor is, in a word, incredible. I can't even describe the taste, other than to say I have never tasted better. There is something in the charcoal that super enhances the taste of the meat itself. The ribs had such a rich, clean, porky flavor. Dennis and i were just discussing it on the phone and we agreed that the charcoal works like MSG does. Somehow, the coco char super enhances the natural flavors of the food. I can't wait to taste salmon! Food on a KK is already stellar. The new charcoal makes foods taste even better, significantly better. Keep those extruders cranking, Dennis!

Re: The KK has landed Welcome to the family. I, too, gave the tip. I had to wait for the shipping company. The wait actually served to increase my pleasure when Mable finally arrived! For me, the bottom line is that Dennis delivers in a super premium way, everything that he has direct access to and direct control of. Working with Dennis is one of those rare instances in which a truism actually holds true. "Good things come to those who wait." Enjoy your new culinary partner and don't forget to post pics.

Re: Review: 2011 KK CoCo Charcoal - it's amazing. Middle-aged moment for me, Whiz! I have cooking on the brain!

Re: Review: 2011 KK CoCo Charcoal - it's amazing. When I got in from work, I looked at the charcoal basket to see how the KK char had fared in yesterday"s burger cook. What I did not say in my earlier post is that I had soaked Mable to 475 before I pushed her to 600 to cook the burgers. By this time, the coals were fully involved, except the coco char, and had been alight for at least an hour. When I examined the coco char, I saw that it was almost completely unaffected. It had a slight tan coloration where it was touching the Royal Oak lump. Other than that, it was completely unaffected by the cook. It did not appear to have lost any mass. "Impressive. Most impressive!" @NakedWhiz:: Don't you know it! Whether or not the weather is nice. This is a KK, after all!

Re: Turkey Hash Time Again! Don't feel bad, Sanny, I was in my third year of my first career of teacher, as well as in my second year of my first pastorate at that time. Translation, I was 25 years old. BTW, the restaurant you are describing certainly sounds like Capt. George's restaurant. I once drove from Raleigh, NC to Hampton just to eat there. I ate so much that I had to check into a hotel and sleep off the meal before I could drive myself back home. Talk about conspicuous consumption!

Re: Review: 2011 KK CoCo Charcoal - it's amazing. I must agree. I cooked a few burgers today, using the old standby Royal Oak lump. I couldn't resist throwing a couple of the 2011 KK sticks on the top, just to see what would happen. The fire got about 30 degrees hotter than normal at the top and daisy wheel settings where I had it set. Also, when the rest of the lump was fully burning, the KK coco char was not fully lit, remaining mostly black all over. It was only red where the sticks were touching the Royal Oak lump. So, i can see that the coco char is going to be very long burning, as well as burning at a hot temp. This is not a good review, I know, I should have waited until I had a full basket of the coco lump. I couldn't wait, though. I will give a better review when I do a real cook with a full coco basket.

Re: Turkey Hash Time Again! While you were in the Williamsburg area, did you happen to eat at Captain George's Seafood restaurant? My wife and and I had a passionate love for the place and we were so saddened when they went out of business. There was a location in Williamsburg, as well as one in Hampton and in Virginia Beach. I don't know about Pierce's. I have not visited the area in five years.

Re: Not Bragging- Really! These steps that you detail, vacuuming the dust, preventing moisture damage, are simply natural to you. Many another vendor refuses to pay attention to those small, yet vital elements that combine to create high quality. Kudos, Dennis!

Re: Not Bragging- Really! The remarks that I made (in the first post of this string) about the coco charcoal were based on my handling of a piece of extruded that I picked out of an open box at Tom's place when I picked up mine. I just opened a box for the first time. Same quality. The most noteworthy thing was a simple, double sheet of white paper toweling that lay over the top of the stacks of charcoal. This paper towel was in direct contact with the charcoal, yet it remained white and unblemished. There really was not a sign of dust or blackness on the paper towel, even after traveling from Indonesia via container and being trucked from the west coast to within forty miles of the Atlantic Ocean. If it burns like it presents... Awesome, Dennis.

Re: New Guru plug design finalized and in production Dennis, I want one!

Re: Not Bragging- Really! Like everything else that Dennis makes, they are super premium. I think they could double as nightsticks, in case you need to fend off any bbq bandit who wants to rustle a couple of pork butts while your back is turned. If you bonk anyone on the noggin with one of these, he'll be knocked into next week!

Re: Not Bragging- Really! Yeah, I cover mine and leave her out on the patio. I use her often during the winter, especially during Nor'easters. There is something unbelievable about roasting a ham at 350 degrees when there is two feet of snow on the ground and still falling, with the temp in the teens. Try that on Weber! To return to the cover, Johnny Boy makes some great Sunbrella covers. Send him a pm and he will hook you up.

Re: Not Bragging- Really! The roads were really bad. I saw two totalled cars in separate accidents. I really liked that cool gazebo that Tom has for Captain Stanley.

It would be silly to brag about such a mundane thing. I am just so happy to see the charcoal stacked in my garage, after waiting so long to get it! I drove the family down to Leonardtown, in the midst of an early season Nor'easter. How eager is that? The charcoal is better than I had imagined, which is saying something. There is no dust or dirtiness on the boxes. I brought plastic to lay down to protect the leather upholstery of my SUV. I did not need it. Those boxes are clean as a whistle. The product is bigger in circumference than I had expected, around the circumference of a tennis ball. When you handle the pieces, they barely leave any black color behind. None of the pieces in the first box were broken. There are no broken pieces and no fines. I can barely wait for the first cook. Here is a pic of the guests of honor in their new home.

Re: Damn you, Dennis.... Except when you are dealing with Dennis. When dealing with Dennis, you know exactly what you're going to get!

Re: Hall's Hill Dennis: This may be a stupid question, but why stop now? Is coco charcoal the only type that is extruded? Will the coffee char be extruded? I assume coco char is extruded because the shells form such thin crispy pieces when it is carbonized. What about taking a normal lump charcoal, crushing it and then extruding it? Would this be a good approach if it could retain the coffee flavor, ash content, moisture content, and volatiles that you require? Would not extrusion produce a better product than lump? With lump, I hate the way some bags are so loaded down with smalls. Plus, you already own the extruding equipment.

Re: Turkey Hash Time Again! If you mean Appalachian Oysters, or "mountain oysters," I've never had the nerve to sample those. Coming up, we were so poor that we were po' until Mom went to work when I was about 12. (We were "po" because we could not afford the "or" to finish the word "poor".) I was raised on the by-catch of the fishing boats. Mom and my auntie would go down to the docks around 6:00 am mornings, when the fishing boats were off-loading their night's catch. Whatever by-catch they had (fish that they had not really intended to catch) could be bought for a 25 cents per pound. Mom would buy this and feed our family. Dad made me eat it, however unpalatable it looked. I learned to eat, and to love- toadfish, eel, chub, mullet, shad, puppy drum, dogfish, and many others. If the bay had the nerve to yield it up, we had the nerve to eat it. God has brought me from a mighty long way, and to Him be all the glory!

Re: Turkey Hash Time Again! Chase some of those mullet this-a-way. I know exactly the reception I will give them. I will vigorously massage them (Oops, their scales fell off!). Then, I will let them play in seasoned breading mix until thoroughly coated. Then, I will let them have a swim- in 350 degree peanut oil. I'd then have no choice other than to eat mullet, corn bread fritters and collards until I needed help finding my way to the La-Z-Boy. Yeah, scare some mullet up this-a-way!