Sanny

Did you marinate it flat, then stuff it and tie? Or marinate it already rolled and tied? Sure looks yummy! I've never been a lamb fan. I guess I'll have to try it again as "a grown up." Wasn't ever a "eating a furry lammy" thing, just I didn't like the taste.

Well, that was a few years ago. Here's a recent one of her. Yup, 75 in a few months. You know her companion in the pic, of course. You've seen my pic, right? Mom is blonde and blue, I'm brown and brown. But yup, we share a gene pool. Many think I'm fewer years than I am.

PC, did you try this one yet? I thought it was good, but how did it turn out with the sugar replacements?

Thanks to all who served, and all who stayed home and prayed for those who did. My Mom will call all her "heroes" today. Or all those (or their widows) who are alive. They're the seven men who parachuted into a concentration camp in China to liberate the captives after Japan surrendered. M was a little kid of 13. In her 60s, she finally discovered the names of the men. Thanks for giving me my Mom. Here's a pic of M with a piece of parachute that one of the liberators dropped in on. One of the women in the camp embroidered a scene of the liberation and had each man sign it. It's on display at the Smithsonian now. And a pic of the whole camp at the time of the liberation. They all came running to greet the heroes.

I just made the marinade for the steaks. Another Cooks Illustrated recipe. Soy, garlic, brown sugar, chives, pepper, olive oil. Some of that taken aside, and mixed with 2 tsp balsamic, to drizzle over top when they come off the grill. I'll let you know how it goes.

(you guessed it - shorthand for worcestershire)

It's that time of year! The start of the amateur cooking season. Ok, we know all those with KKs have been cooking all year round, but most mortals go out and start burning pigs and cows this weekend. Me? I have the sirloin tip that I rolled into rounds. Defrosting a couple of those, and will marinate them in mojo. Maybe do one pork chop, too, just to have handy. Can't have too many, after all. Nothin big, though. Just me and Mom. I have some little potatoes I might roast along with. Anyone else?

Re: I'll put one up here.. OH MY!!!

Woo hoooo!

Jeff, sounds like a terrific first effort! If you look around the boards, you'll find that gurus/stokers and mavericks are different animals, sort of. The guri and stoker stuff actually controls the temp of your cooker, through fans and vents that the guru or stoker will adjust on its own. Hands free, if you will. If you have a "ramp" feature, they'll even stop the cook when your meat is at temp. Or so I believe. I don't have either one. Maverick and similar are remote meat thermometers. Plug into meat inside the cooker, and you can see the meat temp from outside the cooker, without having to open the door. It assumes you are in control of your cooking temp. If you are comfy with your ability to control your cooker temp, then try the Maverick type to start. See how you do.

Re: OK...OK....! Um... I'd say til it's cooked. But not much more than that. Alas, I'm un-brisketed as yet. Sounds like the ribs went over well. What does it mean 3 1/2 under? Do you mean you did 3 1/2 racks at a temp under 275? Or on the lower grill at 275? Oh my - head is spinning. Do you mop AND rub, or just rub? Inquiring minds, you know...

Update? Hey, Steve! What's with the silence? You fall into your new cooker and can't get out? Or are you hypnotized by pork fat, and cannot remember how to come back to the forum to brag to us about your successes? Either way, we want to hear. We're creepy voyeurs, we are... lol.

Re: so, SANNY is digging PORKCHOPS? Well, that would explain why I don't have kids. I wonder if I used to and misplaced them, or never did? Hard to say. These were thick cut boneless. Very tender, very lean. I butterflied and stuffed 2 of them. Well, not exactly butterflied. Made 2 cuts so it unrolled, and then stuffed with alouette cheese, and tied up in a roll. That's for later. I'll have to try a brine next time. WAY too much salt the way I did em. WAY WAY too much. I'm all puffy from retaining water still!!! no no no, won't do.

ditzy I do have some Dizzy. Should have thought of that. :::head bonk::: Thanks for the reminder, Deej.

Some don't take long at all. Like, "how do you do?" is very short. And taking a gift to a friend who invites you to supper. Depending on what kind of gift you take, it could be very quick and simple, like picking up a bottle of wine on the way. On the other hand, the custom of having a cake and presents and guests at a birthday party could take a very long time. Especially if you go with a home baked cake, and home made decorations. Those are more special (my mom used to bake me cakes that looked like trains or lions or humpty dumpty), but are very time consuming. I guess it just depends.

Yah, Festervalve, I've done the "what do you MEAN it's ready at 3 in the morning????" thing, too. Sux.

Re: how do you cook a brisket ???? Hey, JB. There is a "rest" necessary to allow the meat to reabsorb the juices that wander about inside during the cook. If you slice it immediately, the juice will run all over the plate, and your meat could be dry. Not good, after all that work. Also, the internal temp of the meat will rise about 10 degrees during the rest (keep that in mind when you are measuring internal temp and deciding when to take it off the grill). People often wrap the meat in something and put it in the cooler so it doesn't get cold during the rest. Some just cover it and leave it on the counter. Your call. The rest is often 20 mins or half hour. HOWEVER, it's not necessary to stuff the wrapped meat in a cooler for half a day. If you read the posts of the people who kept the meat in the cooler that long, you'll notice that the cook was finished hours before the guests were going to arrive. Brisket was out in the morning, but no guests until supper. Or we decided to have a late supper. Something like that. Rather than have cold manky meat, the folks wrapped the brisket in foil and towels, and put it in a cooler to stay at a reasonable temp until they serve.

Pork chop (no not THAT one...) I just cooked a pork chop for sup. Instead of brining, I rubbed with kosher salt this morning. Nope - bad idea. Although I rinsed it thoroughly, the meat was WAY too salty. Unpleasantly so. However, it was wonderfully tender and flavorful!! I'd wrapped it in string like a filet, and it was great (other than the salt). So, I'm making another one, without salt. I'll have some for lunch tomorrow, to determine if it's any good.

Re: Thermometers Imagine the luck. Yah, I was rather pleased. Didn't let on. I pulled the bird just a few degrees earlier than "cookbook expert" said to, and let it rest - knowing it would keep going for a bit. Yup. Bird perfection. See what I learn on this board?

More: I use it on breads in the oven and on the cooker, and meats, and water to mix with yeast for breads, and anything else that requires a temp. Even to have in a room when I'm freezing and don't believe the thermostat on the heater!! Open up the pen thingy, and let it sit a sec, and it'll tell me that thermostat is right, and I'm out of my mind! Imagine that.

Re: Thermometers I do. An excellent gadget! VERY fast measure. I use it inside and outside on the grill. In fact, my M bought a Thanksgiving turkey without a pop up timer by accident. Rather than panic, I stuck it with the thermapen and saved the day. It was MUCH more moist than waiting for the pop up. I strongly recommend it.

Beautiful, Steve!! Have you fired it up yet? Put it through paces? Grandpa Egg looks a little feeble, but still proud of his relative. Put little graduation cap on the KK, and pork pie on the Egg, make em a family portrait. Wheee!

So, you're not thinkin PBR, or Yuengling, huh? Guess they don't know what's good, down there in Ozville.

aromatherapy Hmm... maybe there's something to the whole aromatherapy movement, after all! But they picked the wrong scents. Geranium? Vanilla? Nah - FRESH BREAD!! Woo hoo!