tony b

PLEASE everyone, stay away from the Cowboy - it's just scrap lumber - terrible charcoal. Don't be swayed by the low price - you get what you pay for as they say. In this case, it's very true! Royal Oak is decent. Use it if it's the only thing you can get your hands on. I like Rockwood and Fogo for my everyday charcoals. I can get Rockwood locally and Fogo shipping is not bad. I'm particularly fond of their QUEBRACHO and EUCALYPTUS lumps. I actually don't like their Super Premium - the lumps are just too damn big and I have to spend time breaking them up with a mallet and screwdriver.

You know it had to be good when she calls the chicken a "side dish"!!

I'm generally around the house these days. No travel plans until Xmas. Got your PM. That date works our well for me.

Same story here. How did you know?? Just got home from buying ingredients at the local homebrew store, then stopped and had a couple of pints at a local brewpub. OK, let's make this official - Welcome to the Obsession, benobas!

Right now, my calendar is open then. I need to check with my homebrew club folks, but we should be doing a big public tasting around that time.

I was as bummed as Jon. Fingers crossed that 3rd times the charm! Beer festival this year is in Nashville - June 16 - 21. Here's why I was in Chicago - Blackout Friday - the annual release of Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout (and variations). Special tasting at the brewery.

Excellent.

Do you have issues with starting too much charcoal for the cooking temperature you want with that many BTUs?

Mine is a long barreled weed burner, so you don't have to lean into the grill to light the coals.

Friends up in the UP of Michigan just got hit with almost 2 feet of snow. If this is the same storm, Mackenzie, it's a nasty one. Fortunately, it was just very windy and rainy here.

@Aussie Ora - so sorry to hear of your brother's passing. My condolences to you and your family. on the tri tip.

@zich6 I use something similar, but it uses MAPP gas canisters. Once lit, then I hit it with an air blower.

That would be our, Bruce - owner of many gadgets, user of none! 😆

You are amazing!

The new Mavericks are very good, much more reliable than the older ones. If you want wireless, go with the Meater+. Another engineer here, but I have nothing to add to Pequod's advice. The old RJ forum was great early, I learned a lot, but it lost lots of folks when he started "banning" people for complaining about the problems with cracking and tile shedding. You'll find this one is equally helpful from the members and Dennis. This forum goes back a few years, but some of the older posts have glitches with pictures and external links due to a platform change a couple of years back.

Tony Chachere's is a cajun rub. I find it too salty, but i think they make a salt free version. You'll probably need to add some brown sugar to it to get close to the Lane's. My go to for pork is Dizzy Dust from Dizzy Pig. YMMV

Nice looking soup. I've been roasting a lot of carrots lately just as a side dish. This could be a nice change of pace.

MEATHEAD!!

That's a big-ass carrot!

Nice pizza!

Nice bird!

Just get 2 that stack, then drill the holes yourself in one. I made a "sifter" out of 1/2" wire fabric in a wood frame made from 1x1 lumber, just slightly bigger than the lid on my plastic tub for charcoal. Dump some charcoal onto it, give it a shake to remove the smalls/fines (kinda like panning for gold - ha, ha!), dump the larger pieces into the tub, toss the dust overboard off the deck - rinse, repeat, until the tub is full.

Agree. Make sure that your fire is up and going before you load it down with all the extra mass. I do the same with my grates. I wait for the dome temperature to get on scale on the thermometer before I even put in the grates, because it's such a major PITA to unload all of it if your fire doesn't catch well. Plus, I always open the top vent way more than what I need for my steady state cooking temperature, just to make sure the fires well established - typically about 2 full turns.

Get the drawers where you plan to store the grates lined with stainless steel. Dennis will also cover the top of the cabinet with stainless steel, as another option, but seeing as it will be exposed to the sun in its new home on the patio, be forewarned that it will get very hot in the sun!!