Firemonkey

I used to have a laser engraver, and ran a decent operation out of my garage, engraving logos and personalization on wooden pens and cases. This led to a relationship with another local engraving shop, who didnt have a laser. They also ran the biggest embroidery operation in town, with one 4-head machine and one 8-head machine doing corp. logos and sports apparel for the local university. In the end, I ended up being their go-to guy for any kind of repair on the computers or equipment, plus did consulting or specialized jobs - which gave me access to their equipment when I needed it. You are absolutely correct about the expense of commercial embroidery machines! And the digitizing software costs more than a few dollars, too. Then you have to invest the time into actually DOING the digitizing. I knew a few people that made more money by doing complex digitizing for people who had small embroidery shops than actually stitching product. JB - If you want to offer these "eyes" as an option, you can get them delivered to you as an embroidered patch that you could sew on with your machine. Im sure you could find a shop online that may even digitize for free and do a small run for you. Zorro could even ask for a disk from his embroiderer for the digitizing, if you ask real nice But if you do it, make sure you specify the whites of the eyes to be done in white glow in the dark thread!

He is still around. I know he was very busy with work and other issues, and wasn't able to post here as much anymore. I suspect his website fell victim to the same time factors. Try sending him a pm, that should notify him via email, and he does usually respond to email.

Those look great! How long and at what temp did you cook the bottom round? I don't do nearly as many dry roasts as I should, and I always find myself considering a big top or bottom round roast when I am at the store. Slice it thin for sandwiches...PIT BEEF for the Marylanders among us

I'm off to Odessa, TX for the week.....I'll eat some roasted cow in return!

Re: Firemonkey's Pepper Corn Mix

Conclusion The chuck roll came out excellent, with only a couple of minor reservations. First, the flavor and tenderness were both outstanding. My only real complain is with the amount of fat, which may be due to the size of the cut as much as the cut itself. You can see the drippings from the pan in one of the posts above. There was also another 1 to 1.5 cups of fat that I drained mid way through when I cleaned out the drip pan. Let's call it 4 cups of liquid fat. Fat that has rendered out is the best kind, its all of the remaining thin layers of fat that I wish I could have avoided. While pulling, there was probably a pound and a half of "yucky fat" layered between the various individual muscles, that had to be removed before pulling each section of meat. It was not hard, but its not something you would want to do in front of your dinner guests, either. The next time I do a chuck roll, I am going to open it up and trim out most of the internal fat seams, and then just retie the individual muscles together, or possibly just cook them separately. FWIW, there are some good how to guides available in the link below, that detail the various individual muscles that make up a the chuck roll, their best uses, and how to trim them out. For those with a smaller family, or who dont really need 15+pounds of pulled beef in the freezer at a time, there is excellent value in this huge cut, and you could butcher it at home for multiple uses without too much difficulty: http://www.beefretail.com/prodChuckRollCuts.aspx On the other hand, if you do want to go all out, here is what you can expect BTW, The majority of the posts on the BGE forum propose foiling for a few hours, and even cooking in sauce for a few hours after you pull it. I had planned on foiling it as they suggest, but did not. And after seeing how moist and "just right" the meat was, I will not even consider it the next time.

Szygies, are you imagining things again??? We are a visual bunch

That sounds like plenty of coverage. Here in the US they sell mats that are designed for this. Maybe you can find something similar locally. http://www.google.com/products?q=grill+ ... checkout=1 As long as the mat is large enough to catch any embers that may come out of the lower doors, you will be fine.

Since I have a big Jeep parked in my garage, I was browsing offroaders.com for a little inspiration. I happened across this page, a rather interesting read: http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/centralia.htm It amazes me that this fire has been burning for over 40 years, is going to eventually burn for a likely over two and a half centurys, how (relatively) easy it would have been to extinguish early on, and worst of all the way it initially ignited! A nice example of what happens when the Government takes charge

Update - The beast is resting Well, I planned for the worst when i loaded the lump, but I didnt need to go nearly that long. I just removed my hunk of beef from the grill, right at the 18 hour mark. The nibbles I picked off of it were outstanding It is currently wrapped in foil and packed into a cooler, awaiting its final glory - pulling it before serving! Here are a couple of pictures of the final product: I never did foil it as I had planned. About half way into the cook, when the meat was at about 158* I checked the pan and found a bunch of sugar and rub that had melted off, and was burning in the bottom of the pan. Still expecting that there may be a significant amount of juice (not fat) to render out of this thing, I took the roast out of the pan, cleaned the pan, and put it back. At the end of the cook, there was nothing but fat in the bottom of the pan. No separation going on here, but no worries, plenty of moisture still in the meat!

That's still 2x what he paid at Costco (20 lbs for $6). But not a bad price. Our local ACE Hardware now charges $11.99 for 20 lbs. Never claimed I could read I am claiming temporary incompetence due to all the smells wafting out of my KK today That is quite a bargain!

Any idea of the brand on it?? Royal Oak is $5.24 per 10# bag here in FL.

We'll see how the mustard goop works together. I usually dont bother, and just put the rub right on the meat. This is the first time I have ever used mustard before a rub at all . So I am curious to see how this comes out, though I dont have one without the mustard to compare it to

Yeah, you gotta use some more wood! Mix it all in with your lump so it gives a little smoke throughout the cook. Also, dont forget that there is a temperature differential, between the dome and the grate. I am doing a huge chuck roll right now, and my dome thermometer reads 272, while the main grate is reading 243. I have 2 wireless thermometers, so I have one in the meat right now, and the other stuck through a wadded piece of aluminum foil and sitting next to the meat. That way I can monitor the grill temp from inside. When it gets closer to being done, I will take the grill temp probe and put it in the other end of the meat.

Mungeti, Fill your basket with lump and smoke wood, then only light a partial chimney of lump to pour on top of it. You can see in the pictures in the link below, how few coals it takes to get going for a low and slow. In that cook, I just grabbed a tong full of coals from my other cooker to get it going. http://www.komodokamado.com/forum/viewt ... baby+backs

Here we go! The Chuck Wagon is leaving the station. I picked up a 23.15 pound chuck roll from the local warehouse club, and I am going to celebrate my country's independence by sacrificing it to smoke and fire. This thing is one big slab of meat! I went with a slather of mustard and brown sugar, then hit it with a nice rub. Mustard goop: • 1/2 C mustard - I mixed 1 part Dijon to 2 parts yellow • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar Rub: • 4 tablespoons paprika • 3 tablespoons garlic powder • 2 tablespoons salt • 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar • 2 tablespoons ground cumin • 2 tablespoons pure chili powder • 1 tablespoon celery seed • 1 tablespoon onion powder • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar • 1 tablespoon dried oregano • 1 tablespoon dried thyme • 1 to 2 tablespoons ground pepper – I used tricolor fresh from one of Cozys mills • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper With a slab of meat this size, I am planning for a 24+ hour cook, so I took care in loading the lump to make sure my fire lasts this long. I had a mishap with a sudden thunderstorm, and my lump trashcan last weekend, so I already had about 35 pounds of mesquite lump spread out on a big piece of cardboard. I had been drying it in the sun all week, and dragging it into the garage for the daily thunderstorm So I loaded up really large pieces into the basket, then a bunch of fist or smaller pieces. I also mixed in about a 1/3 of a bag of Royal oak, and a whole bunch of hickory chunks. Then, scooped probably 4 pounds of fines from the cardboard, poured them over the lump, lit several spots with my torch, and gave it a few pokes with a stick to settle everything in. When I was done, the pile was about an inch above the basket handles, and level all the way across, except maybe an inch around the outside of the grill. The heat deflector is sitting on top of the lump right now, but will settle to the basket handles as some of the lump burns off. I think I have about as much lump in the grill as I can fit and still use the heat deflector. I should be good for the duration It hit the grill at noon today. I am planning on cooking at 275 until the plateau, foiling it over and going until 200 before pulling it. The meat is cooking on a rack in a roasting pan, to facilitate easy foiling, and collection of the juice rendered in the plateau. I may need to revisit my setup depending upon how much liquid renders out of this thing. I dont want it to start stewing Ill update this thread as the beast near completion.

I think Drunk_J has. There should be a post about it here somewhere.

I can't remember the last time I saw a whole brisket around here. Wal-Mart, and Sams club are the only places I can find them up here. Both of the places I usually try to avoid

You know, after I cleaned it out, I could have sworn I heard it asking the KK if the prop tubes made it look fat

It even has smoke coming out of it I gave it a bi-yearly cleanout cause it was growing mold- brushed and scrubbed inside with bleach water, rinsed well, then did 18 hours or so at 240* to dry it out. Took out all the metal and tried to pressure wash off the rust probably should go ahead and try to put some rutland in the cracks, too ... and start looking for replacememtn tiles for when all the loose ones fall off... and... and....

Hopefully what is to follow is enough of a 'recipe' to be allowed to stay. Sorry, there arent any measurements because I hardly ever measure Ingredients Boneless skinless chicken breasts Proscuitto Stuffing: Fresh spinach Fresh Basil Sour cream Cheese (whatever you have - I used Feta, but have used Mozzarella, Asiago, Parmesan, and ricotta before. Sun Dried Tomatoes Pine Nuts Minced garlic Begin by toasting the pine nuts in a sauté pan. Remove the pine nuts and add a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Lightly saute the minced garlic for about 30 seconds, then add the fresh spinach which you have coarsely chopped. I used about twice the amount of spinach you see in the above picture When most of the liquid from the spinach has cooked off, add the chopped sun dried tomatoes, and a little bit of the oil from the jar. Sauté for about a minute more, and add the fresh basil. Add the sour cream (i used about 1/3 cup), and cheese, and stir until creamy. Let the mixture cool to room temp and stuff into chicken breasts. I cut each chicken breast in half, and butterfly each piece. YMMV depending on the size and shape of the individual pieces. Wrap each stuffed breast in a piece of prosciutto and tie with twine to hold it all together. You can use two pieces of prosciutto if you want but be careful as it can get salty. You could use regular deli ham as a lower sodium (and budget conscious) alternative if you want Preheat the grill to about 425 and add the chicken to the upper grill. I used the sear grill in the upper position with direct heat. If you dont have an upper grill you may want to go indirect on the main grill. No pics of the inside of the grill - it was raining Roast for until the chicken is cooked through. I like to add apple wood while cooking.

Must be the mold

The farmland ones are quite meaty, too. The 2nd page of the product literature says that a case contains 3 12pc packages, and weighs just over 14 pounds. That works out to about 6-7 ounces per piece.

What a bunch of bunk... Apparently, QVC is implying Paula Deen to be the inventor of pork wings, and made a deal with Deen and Smithfield to sell them. Precooked, and for about $10/lb. I think I will use Al Gores invention to find myself a source for the ones produced by Farmland, and cook them myself. BTW, the portion size on the QVC/Smithfield/PAula brand are huge - 7oz each piece. You get 16 for $65 http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail