ThreeDJ16

Tips Using Sear Grill! While the sear grill is a great idea, makes cooking faster and more efficient (smaller, quicker fire uses less charcoal); it is not without some drawbacks. First suggestion I would make before using a sear grill is to buy a nice pair of silicone gloves. I grabbed a pair from Sam's Club for under $20. I burnt a many of arm & hand hairs off before I purchased a pair. Also, if you close your lid during searing and have the bottom damper all the way open, then the flashback tip above can still apply - so be careful with that. Another suggestion is an extra long set of tongs to reach in the grab the meat. I highly discourage long forks or the pigtail flippers since they puncture the meat letting valuable juices escape. -=Jasen=-

Since some of these questions have popped up quite often, I decided to make an info post for it. Most of this info should also apply to the Stoker even though I am not familiar with its setting or controls (the principles of operation are the same). Some of this info also applies to low and slow non assisted cooks also. -Number one thing, let the controller do the work. Close off the bottom dampers. Then close the top damper all the way and crack it back open till you can feel the heat coming out when the Guru fan is blowing. It is normal for smoke to seek every path it can to come out; so don't be concerned if you see smoke pouring out everywhere as the Guru is pressurizing the grill. This setting is usually good for up to 250 or better. But is is sometimes necessary to crack the top more for higher temps. Just experiment, but always remember to make adjustments slowly. Never chase the Dragon - hehe. -Only start a few coals as it is much easier to bring the grill up to temp than it is to bring it down. If using the gas attachment or torch, about two minutes should do it. -There is a damper on the fan (it is a proportional band adjustment); the more you open it, the faster it will respond. But then it will tend to overshoot your setpoint and have a larger temp swing. The closer to shut you place the door, the slower it will respond. But this will be more stable and have less overshoot and fluctuations. So you have to find a good middle ground for your grill and preference. If you have a ProCom, there is a an additional PB adjustment in the advance settings menu which gives you even more control. I have a 10 cfm fan which I set at 3/4 open and set the digital PB in the advanced settings to 20. This gives me the best response times still keeping it tight with the setpoint. More info on this subject ( http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=248252 ) -If you think you have started too large of a fire or still learning the controls, place the setpoint at a temp way below where you wish to be. Then you can let the grill overshoot the lower setpoint, equalize for a few minutes, then up the guru setpoint to where you want it. That will help you from grossly overshooting your desired setpoint. -Try not to open the lid very often. If you do, unplug the fan from the Guru control unit (that way you still have temp readings, as if you unplugged power, you would loose temp readings). Wait a few minutes after you close the lid back for the temps to stabilize, then plug the fan back in. Or you could build this - viewtopic.php?t=651 . -It is a good idea to protect you Guru probe wires. While they are rated up to approximately 500 degrees (the guru website says 400, but Teflon insulation is rated at 500 and they are being wisely cautious), they cannot take direct flame at all. Personally, I only use the guru for low and slow cooks. While your grill is coming up to temp, there will be flames shooting up on the probe wires. Unless you want to pay the $50 bucks for a new set up probes, tinfoil or foil tape works well at protecting. I am in the process of finding a good stainless steel mesh wire cover to serve this purpose and will post when I find a source (if anyone knows of one please let me know). -You can use the blower only for helping with high temp cooks. Just leave off the temp probes or let them hang outside. Open the blower fan damper all the way and start up the fire. It even helps more than just starting with gas. The faster you get you grill up to temp and cooking, the less heat soaking you will get on your grill and less charcoal you will use. If anyone needs any specific feature help with a ProCom, just drop me a PM or email and I will be glad to do what I can. -=Jasen=-

Flash backs!!!! It is not a myth! Well, I will start it off with the flash backs! Do not shut the grill down (closing both dampers) and then decide to just open the lid back up. Dennis has made things much nicer with his spring loaded lid and quick release latch so you can stand out of the way. But the best solution is to give it some air by slowly cracking the lid a little before allowing it to fully open. You can also open open the dampers back up before you open the lid which is probably the safest way. Hehe, I know there are plenty of us here who have had personal experience with the flashbacks! So be careful! -=Jasen=-

Turtle made a good suggestion to me tonight. Many of us here are experienced at using ceramic cookers and really do not think too much about all those embarrassing or dangerous things we did and hope nobody saw. But it is not a bad idea to start a thread to discuss those events in order to prevent others from making the same mistakes. If it gets big enough, I could start another subject area; but figured I would start it here to see how it goes. So please give us your safety tips and "Hey, y'all watch this" stories! Yes, I too have tried to see just how big of a fireball I could get outta one - and it was pretty damn big as my arm hair and eyebrows can attest too. -=Jasen=- Please, lets do try to keep this thread clean by just posting helpful experience or tips and not a bunch of replies. That way people are not having to sort through lots of posts just to find the facts! Thank you!!

Well, I was sending a PM to someone tonight and remembered a bunch of chile pepper tidbits that I thought might be nice to post. Many of you may already know most of this info, but I thought it would be nice to pass on for those who do not. - Never cut peppers under running water as the capsaicin goes airborne really quick and will get in your eyes and nose - argh - horrible personal experience taught me that one. - Capsaicin is not water soluble (it is oil soluble) so washing your hands really does not help that much; but if you use vegetable oil, lard or alcohol and rub your hands really good, then use soap to remove, it will get most of it off. Though gloves are the most effective and easiest - duh! - Whole milk works best for putting out the fire in your mouth. - Seeds are not the hottest part of the pepper (that is a myth). The capsaicin glands are located in the ribs and this is the hottest part of the pepper. If you want to reduce the heat cut out the ribs. The seeds are still hot as the they attach to the ribs. - With a few exceptions (habanero), the sharpest pointed peppers with narrow shoulder are the hotter within their variety. You can pick through the pepper bin at the grocery store and notice there are differences between peppers of the same variety. Looking at the shoulder and point can help you decide whether you want the hotter or milder ones. Very noticeable on serranos, jalapenos and cayenne. - Lastly, another personal experience one, take out the contacts before you mess with peppers or wear gloves as capsaicin will stick on the contacts when you take them out that night. It is not a nice surprise to wake up the next morning and put them in forgetting about the peppers the night before - arrrgh! Anyway, hope this helped someone! If you have anything to add, please do! -=Jasen-=

I see you have a Procom! I love mine. If you ever have any questions, just let me know. Those are the best controllers money can buy in my opinion! -=Jasen=-

Actually I ate plenty of the stuff growing up, so I am pretty familiar with it. We always pan fried it - so I would suggest searing it - hehe! Then there was treat, the cheaper version of it's cousin spam - yeah, it was not a treat to eat either - hehe! -=Jasen=-

Hey, great pics! That is the first close up pic of the rotisserie port I have seen yet (I have been waiting on one of those pics for a while)! Keep up the great pic taking! -=Jasen=-

Hello! Welcome to group. Glad you decided to join us. Please post of some pics of your new grill and tasting foods being cooked! If you got any questions or comments, feel free to post, PM or email. -=Jasen=-

Ok, just for info, I have installed an Open Proxy blocking mod. Anyone currently registered should not be affected. But anyone attempting to register to the forum from now on using an Open Proxy (anonymous IP) will not be allowed to register and their IP banned. Now maybe the amount of spammers will be cut down! -=Jasen=-

HOLY COW dude - literally! I wonder how long something like that takes to cook? What is your planned temp? -=Jasen=-

Um, that would be cheese that comes from Mexico! http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/shoppe.a ... cat=Mexico -=Jasen=-

Ok, enough spinning on the puke topic in my grill color thread - ew - hehehe! -=Jasen=-

You know I had to tweak it. First off, I used sirloin roast (as that was what I had on hand). I seasoned the roast with chili powder, cayenne and cumin and browned it first. Then poured in the broth, water and vinegar. Since the sirloin is a lean cut, I simmered it on low and warm, but it took a lot longer. It worked out to only be a small amount of liquid left when the roast was starting to fall apart. So I shredded the roast and mixed in what little liquid was left. We loved them! The only thing was I forgot to buy Mexican cheese or lettuce. So we had to make do with some fantastic Parmigiano Reggiano and salsa I made up! -=Jasen=-

You were crazy enough to let our vote determine the color of your cooker? I think I need to see if Majestik can alter the poll so that pink wins. Not really, but is sounded nice anyway. I was just seeing how many others thought the speckled black tile was cool looking. You know, maybe you should have thought about letting us pick your textured color - hehe - doubt we could have done worse - hahaha - j/k! -=Jasen=-

Thanks! Secretly that was the one I was hoping would win out! -=Jasen=-

Fantastic Tacos!! Well, I finally got around to making these shredded beef tacos today for supper and they were fantastic! Thanks for the recipe dude!!! I am gonna try the same recipe on some pork to see how well it will work for carnitas next! -=Jasen=-

Great! How long before I can come get some que from you then? -=Jasen=-

Hehehehe! I gotta agree, whatever colors we choose, it was better than where we were without one! -=Jasen=-

Sure am glad I decided on the black then - hehehe! Anyway, thanks for the input. Got my fingers crossed I will be grilling by the end of the year. -=Jasen=-

Yo Firemonkey, as much as you travel, you should think about a PSP. I love mine. It plays games, videos, mp3s and photos. It is also hackable without a mod chip if you get the right firmware versions. It is my work or waiting on the wife while she is shopping console! -=Jasen=-

I finished COD2, Perfect Dark, KingKong, Quake4, Halo2, Prey, Tomb Raider, Kameo and Condemned on the 360 and still playing Dead Rising, Oblivion and Burnout Revenge (soon to be Gears of War and COD3). I tried playing Ghost Recon on the 360, but I hated it just like the other series on the original xbox. Never really liked the Splinter Cells ones either. Guess I am just the opposite from you and Firemonkey since I hate squad based games. Give me FPS non squad based! I do like some RPGs as I am having a good time with Oblivion. No idea how much is left on it; just got back into the original quest as I got side tracked on the extra ones (wanted to build up levels before I resumed). I have been playing it since it was released - off and on anyway. But anytime you are feeling froggy and think you can pop a cap in my ass, bring it on -- hehehe. Though it does not look like we have any games in common at the moment since I traded in Perfect Dark. I usually trade in the ones I finished except for ones with good online play like COD2. I did not like the Perfect Dark online play. Now did you mean COD2 when you said Metal of Honor or were you referring to the original xbox game? -=Jasen=-

That is odd, I totally missed this post? I never saw it as a new topic. I just happened to be browsing through the Lagniappe forum area when I noticed it. I guess this should really be in the KK General section, so I am moving it. Just curious, I get Motley Fool emails all the time, has it been worth it to you? I have been seriously considering joining. Ok, on the mod suggestion, I cannot find anything even remotely similar to what you are referring. What board are they using - phpbb like us or something else? If it is phpbb if you could ask an admin there what the mod name is, I could at least check it out then. But something like that we would have to put to a vote before I installed. BTW, you got COD3 and Gears of War coming to you tomorrow? I got my pre-order of both waiting on me! -=Jasen=-

I thought yours was green?? -=Jasen=- Maybe that explains the kissy kissy emoticon Well, you know, I did not wanna come out and just say that - hehe. -=Jasen=-

Polder tube is 2" long and .53" diameter. Thanks for the info. Very odd size for the hole. I am gonna take a guess here and say Dennis is probably using 5/8" SS Tubing (18mm) which is the outside diameter and would have an odd ID like that. I will have to look around in my scrap pile as I just might have a piece of tubing already that size. Anyway, thanks again for the info. -=Jasen=-