tony b

Just the opposite, Bruce. It's revered for imparting almost no flavor, just like Dennis' cocochar. That's why his stuff is a good substitute for the binchotan. @Pequod - I'm trying the stuff from the Korin website - Aramaru and the Sumi, as they are affordable. The Sumi is very much like Dennis' cocochar, extruded with a hole in the middle. The Aramaru is like lump, but more "stick like." Once lit (which takes some doing!), they both burned quite steady, produced good heat, little or no smoke (except when meat juices dripped on it) and lasted a long time. Had I been using the super premium white stuff, like tekobo ordered, I'd sure as hell be trying to learn how to snuff it out at the end of a cook!!!

@kjs - Hey buddy! Where you been? You haven't posted in a long time!

I've seen it used to purify water by immersion, but not as a means to extinguish it. Saw a "special" ceramic pot for putting it out - $39 and it was small (less than 7" dia and 5" tall). If I choose to try re-using it, I'll just put the whole grill inside the KK and button it up. Especially if I splurge on the white binchotan charcoal!

I need to learn more patience when it comes to bread and pizza in the KK. Like all ya'll preach - start way earlier than you think to give everything plenty of time to heat soak and equilibrate.

Pictures! Super tasty looking shorties! How was the Lane's on the corn?

Making me hungry!

This was the last of my 1st batch, so it was dry roasted peanuts. I haven't tried the PB powder yet. @_Ed_ - I'll give the black cardamom a try in the next batch, as I have some in my pantry. I also usually have grains of paradise around in the brew room. Not sure if I have any at the moment though. @MacKenzie - you didn't miss it, as it was a PM. I should have figured it out myself, as it's pretty obvious - use the chimney with some regular lump in the bottom as a kickstart to the Japanese charcoal. Once it's going well, just use some tongs to transfer the Japanese stuff to the yakitori. Easy, peasy! On the downside, I just had to let it burn itself out, as I didn't have a good way to snuff it. Guess I could have put the whole thing in the KK and sealed it up to put it out, but I wasn't using that much charcoal anyway, so not a lot of wastage.

I have that cookbook, so I'll have to look it up. I'm shocked as I'm not normally a fan of canned hominy - not the same as stone ground grits! My cooking muse just whispered in my ear - cook stone ground grits in the Donabe rice pot! I'm now inspired to try it!

Bonefish Grill is awesome! But, the closest one to me is 150 miles. My best use of Rockfish to date was in Bouillabaisse, I've also used it in Cioppino. Unfortunately, here in Iowa, we don't see it very often. What Flay cookbook did this come out of? I'm intrigued by the grits - they look decadent!

Got Summer written all over it!

Ya'll got me thinking!

Tonight's dinner was a double experiment - a second try at the Japanese charcoal on the yakitori grill and another side-by-side of my recipe and tekobo's on some suya skewers, with some ponzu shrimp thrown in for a palate cleanser! First, ckreef gets a shout out for his tip on getting this Japanese charcoal to stay lit on the yakitori grill. Pictures? Of course there's pictures! Skewers prep'ed and ready to go - my suya recipe is on the left, tekobo's on the right. On the yakitori grill. Had to stagger the cooks to fit. Tekobo's suya on the left, shrimp on the right. Each side had a different charcoal. Both worked very well and produced a nice steady heat. They are still going a couple of hours later. This stuff compares favorably to Dennis' cocochar - albeit a bit more pricey! Plated, with a nice side salad, crisp rose wine and some Caribbean yellow rice (done in the donabe). It was such a nice day, that I had to eat outside on the deck. Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up! My rub on the left and tekobo's on the right, with extra sprinkles after cooking. By the end of the meal, I was hitting that rose hard! Thankfully there was a salad at the end. But, I do have to say that my recipe had a tad more heat than tekobo's. Gonna have to work on it a bit more. I like the peanut in mine, but the earthy flavors in tekobo's are nice.

Can't wait to hear the results of both of your trials guys.

Nice tuna and asparagus plate! @Bruce Pearson - Aleppo is about the same as a Hungarian hot paprika, maybe a tad spicier?Definitely not as hot as cayenne. They are my "go to" when a recipe calls for "red pepper flakes."

OOPS - no pic, Aussie??

@Aussie Ora How you doing on Uncle Dougie's and other stuff? I have a couple of things to send you, including a new bourbon glass that I picked up on my last trip to KY.

You're not that far from me and the weather here was brutal up until Thursday night. Very nice now. Hope it stays this way for a few more days, as I have lots of weed pulling to catch up on, as it was way too hot to do that this past week.

Making me jones for some nice grilled corn, but our roadside stands aren't out yet - soon, hopefully very soon!!

That's how I grew up eating it - pan fried with gravy.

Is it supposed to be similar to a granite plancha?

Game on!

Me, too, until I saw the pedestal.

Nicely done, ckreef - that's how you do "surf & turf!" I went into full blown depression when our Fresh Market closed here. Talk about Manic-Depression, as I was on Cloud 9 when it opened here, only to have it close a little over a year later! Now I have to bootleg my Duke's mayo back every time I visit the South.

Yummy.