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tony b

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Everything posted by tony b

  1. Serious beef ribs! @Bruce Pearson - It's a Shun. I own several. Very good knives, a tad pricey, but not over-the-top like some handmade Japanese knives that go for way more than these do.
  2. Many of us here are crazy big fans of Santa Maria style tri-tip. One of my fav dry rubs is Oakridge BBQ's Santa Maria. I even try and keep some red oak chunks around just for those cooks!
  3. All of the above! Depends on what I'm doing. So far, I've only used the cold smoker for doing just that - cheese, fish, nuts, etc. Not used it for a regular hot cook. My dutch oven smoker pot is my "go to" for longer cooks (over 2 hours). For short cooks, I'll just toss the chunks on top of the lump. My rec's on "must have" accessories: 2nd charcoal basket and splitter (2nd basket makes swapping out a breeze), rotisserie rod/forks and basket (each has it's purpose), pizza stone and Sunbrella cover (especially here in the Midwest.) Load up the pallet with as much cocochar, coffee wood charcoal and smoking wood as it will hold. Only way to get it now in the States. "Nice to haves" are the cold smoker and double bottomed drip pan. Depending on the home for your KK, the side tables coming in handy or have Dennis make you one of his custom cabinets (if you want to splurge a bit.)
  4. No, complete waste of time. You don't produce any smoke until you dry out the chips and then they burn up just as quickly as if you didn't soak them. Use larger chunks. Best source that I've found - Fruita woods.
  5. Excellent job hot smoking that fish, tekobo! @alimac23 - And those beefies look amazing!!
  6. To be honest, I started off with a Gin & Tonic - my "go to" drink when it's this hot! But, I'll make up for it this Saturday, as my homebrew club is pouring in the Quad Cities at a festival run by their homebrew club. Will quaff a few to beat the heat - ha, ha!
  7. This discussion was about using wood as the main heat source, like in a sidecar stick burner smoker. This is not recommended in a KK, as Dennis explained. We all use smaller chunks of wood for smoking, but not at the sole fuel in the KK.
  8. And, he'll help you pick through the myriad of accessories, too. We're also a resource for suggestions here on the Forum, as many of us have most of them and can help prioritize what's going to be most useful based upon your cooking style.
  9. FINALLY! The local roadside corn stands are up and running!!! Of course I stopped and picked up an ear for dinner! Was decent, but you could tell it's "early corn." Just didn't have the sweetness that it will have in a couple of weeks! BUT, much better than supermarket stuff that's probably almost a week old! btw - duck sliders in Chinese bao, with glazed carrots in orange and sesame oils with tarragon and scallions.
  10. All those are personal preferences, based upon lifestyle, family size, final home/location of the grill. As noted, Dennis is a Master at this, so chat him up (he LOVES doing it!) and he'll help you reach a decision. But, in the end, you're going to absolutely fall in love with whatever you decide to get. There is almost ZERO buyer's remorse here in KK land. In all my years on this Forum, I only recall ONE buyer who later regretted it and sold his grill. All the others who've sold were always due to other circumstances, usually moving to a place where they could take it with them and were heartbroken about it!
  11. tony b

    Funky Old Cow

    Sounds like this would have been a great time to use the wrap in foil, then towel, and into the cooler to sit until dinner, method. It will hold nicely for hours. However, those "funky cow" steaks looked amazing!!!
  12. tony b

    Nigerian Suya

    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!!!
  13. @kjs - Hey buddy! Where you been? You haven't posted in a long time!
  14. tony b

    Nigerian Suya

    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!
  15. 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.
  16. Pictures! Super tasty looking shorties! How was the Lane's on the corn?
  17. tony b

    Nigerian Suya

    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.
  18. 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!
  19. 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!
  20. tony b

    This looks good !

    Got Summer written all over it!
  21. tony b

    Nigerian Suya

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