tony b

Definitely grow mint (and it's cousins, like catnip, lemon balm, oregano and marjoram) in pots, never in the ground unless you want them to completely take over the area. A buddy in my homebrewing club who loves to make ciders, is trellising his apple trees horizontally, so he won't need a ladder to pick the apples when they reach maturity. Clever!

Those cheap-ass brass bristled "BBQ brushes" are the worst. Beware! I really like my Grill Floss. If I scrap the grates down with it as part of my shutdown routine. Everything comes off easily and no worries about stray pieces of metal. Glad that you're liking the PBW and can find it there!

That's one option, for sure, but involves spending $$. However, it sounds like your nestling the Dutch oven down in the charcoal basket, taking up precious real estate. You don't need to do that. Just set the cast iron pot on the top of your full charcoal basket. You should have enough clearance to be able to put your lower grate in to set up for an indirect cook. I use both of those charcoals and have no problem with a long (12+ hour) cook without having to reload. Once heat soaked, the KK is very efficient in maintaining temperatures without burning a lot of charcoal.

Nice outing and camp cooking! You know you could have gone to the beach, as your Governor just ordered them re-opened.

While we are hitting the low 70s here today , it is unfortunately short lived. Cold returns on Thursday with a high of 45F and a possible hard freeze (28F) overnight. I'm worried about the blooms on my tulip tree and the flowers that have just sprung up in the yard. Long term forecast says we aren't warming up a lot anytime soon - lows in the upper 20s all next week. 😪

That looks much better. One cautionary note about those steel wool scrubbers - as you noticed, they come apart and leave pieces stuck in the grates, which can find their way into your food if you're not diligent in wiping the grates down with a wet rag afterwards. Not fake news, folks have ended up in the ER after inadvertently ingesting pieces of metal into their gut.

If you haven't noticed lately, but guns & ammo sales have jumped up during the pandemic. That's all we need right now, is some gun-toting idiot to go crazy in the Walmart over a roll of TP! And, the NRA is filing suits in states that have forced closure of gun shops as "non-essential" businesses.

I really doubt that you have an air flow problem. Hopefully, ckreef or others with 19" grills will chime in. I've never tried to get my Guru up that high, as I only use it for low & slow cooks. According to their website, the max temp is only 475F.

WOW, that's a lot of plants. Your yard is going to be a veritable botanical garden when everything gets done!

My best guess is that you might be running low on charcoal trying to get that thick pizza stone up to that high a temperature, as the 19" charcoal basket is a bit smaller than a 23". You might be better off with the steel, per Dennis' recommendation.

Nailed it!

A nice sunny day here yesterday (unlike the cloudy day today), so back to the grill. Another one of those bigass country style pork ribs - Cuban mojo marinade this time, rubbed with Sucklebusters BAMM Indirect, 275F with hickory and cherry wood chunks (leftovers from the smoker pot that didn't burn up). Plated with drunken black bean (awesome!) and yellow rice. Not authentic, but a big dollop of guacamole on the side. While I was having my mojito on the deck during this cook, an owl began to hoot very loudly from my neighbor's evergreen in his backyard. I couldn't see it for the foliage. After a couple of choruses, it got a reply from another owl down at the bottom of the hill. Next thing I know, the owl from down below had flown up into a tree in my backyard and the ensuing conversation got a bit more intense. Territorial squabbling I suppose. I ran and grabbed my camera and managed to get a picture of the owl in my yard before the squabble ended and they flew off in there separate ways. Friends that I showed this picture to have said that it's a Barred Owl. I guess they are fairly common around here. I hear them a lot, but rarely get to actually see one.

The only time that I've overshot the target with my Guru is on a very windy day. Too much vacuum drag through the fan damper. Learned my lesson and always keep the fan damper at least halfway closed. Also keep the top damper almost closed, barely off the seat. Let the fan and controller do the heavy lifting.

You're forgiven for mistaking me for Jon!

Pics of the waxed grill, pics of the virgin cook, pics, pics, and more pics!!!

Well, the rains finally came and the cooking out streak ended. 😪 But, all was not lost, Indian spiced fried shrimp, with homemade pesto & cream sauce on angel hair! While not grilled, it didn't suck!

Indeed. Sliced up and fried like bacon, with sous vide eggs on thick toast. btw - was watching Cooks Country last night and used their SV technique on the eggs = 167F for 12 mins, then 1 min in an ice water bath.

Dennis will let us know here on the Forum when it's at the warehouse and ready to order.

You had me up to the sauce. I don't think that I've ever sauced a butt on the grill. Tossed it in NC vinegar sauce once I've pulled it - yeah, only way for this Southern boy to roll!

HURRAY! The rain held off and I was able to get my country style pork rib cook in tonight - keeping that string alive! Indirect, 250F, smoker pot of hickory and apple wood chunks. Plated with overly roasted potatoes (not very good, as the herbs were burnt), but the hushpuppies were tasty! The rib was great, very juicy and a bit of a smoke ring. Honestly, this thing was almost a pound and I couldn't finish it. A nice chunk leftover for another meal!

Not used that one before, as I have a lot of boxes of cocochar that I've hoarded away. Plus, a big stash of coffee wood charcoal, too!

Thanks everyone. Being in lockdown just means more opportunity to cook, so you might as well make the most of it. Unfortunately my streak is probably going to end, as we're supposed to get rain late this afternoon into early evening and again tomorrow, so I'll be cooking indoors most likely. Bummed because I had picked up some nice country style pork ribs that I was looking forward to doing for dinner tonight. Guess they'll have to wait until the rains stop. 😪