tony b

Welcome to my world, folks! We haven't been above freezing since before Christmas and have spent the better part of the last week below zero! On the bright side, we didn't get 4 - 5 ft of snow like upstate NY! By gawd, he's right. It's colder in Baton Rouge than in Anchorage today. I just verified it! Do whatever it takes to stay warm, ya'll. My preferred method is called bourbon!

Mavericks work well, but like all the others of this style, you're tethered to a cord. The MEATER is unique in that it's the only WIRELESS probe that I know of - Essential if you want to monitor a rotisserie cook! Probably asking a silly question, since you had them on the phone - Did you check the battery to see if the probe was charged? I've read comments from some users that theirs arrived with a dead battery. Easy to check. There's a button on the wooden charging block, push it and look for a very tiny green LED to light up. Curious as to why you used water pans under the lamb shoulders? Moisture retention in the KK makes them unnecessary. And, 130C is generally well below the smoke point of most fats, so a simple drip pan to keep the fat out of the fire is all that's needed. From your pics (which were great - btw), looks like your fire was more towards the back, which could have lead to the difference in cooking between the 2 pans of spuds. The KK generally doesn't have specific "hot spots." Dennis has worked on the specific shape of this grill to promote even temperature distribution. One thing that many of us have found, your fires will have a tendency to burn in random patterns. No reliable way to predict how the charcoal will burn in the basket - either left-to-right or front-to-back. Hope some of this helps with future cooks - but you're off to a fantastic start, based on these pics!!

Believe me (or not), MEATER is not the worst Kickstarter campaign that I've been in - by far! They've been pretty upfront about the delays (which were extensive!!) and they have actually shipped product. I'm in other campaigns that have been far worse about lack of communication/openness. One actually came back after a whole year of no updates and had the gall to ask for more money to help them finish the project (documentary.) Won't bore you with the actual details; I just wanted to put this Kickstarter campaign (MEATER) into perspective with the truly bad ones! Most are very good about updates, candor, etc. In fact, I got a Kickstarter campaign reward in today's mail - unannounced (no advanced notice email with tracking number.) They only missed their delivery target by a month, very good by Kickstarter standards. YMMV

Thanks Everyone! But, most of the credit goes to Wilbur, as he's my Yoda for Peking Duck! @Pequod -They claim the range is up to 15 ft. My KK is just about 4 ft outside my kitchen door, so I just leave my phone on the end of the counter. One tip from them, if you didn't see it, don't lie your phone down flat - prop it up if you can. You'll get better reception from the bluetooth connection. I posted in another thread about the connection hiccups I got during my Christmas day prime rib cook at my SIL's house. My phone was in direct line of sight with her oven and was only about 5 or 6 ft away. I even moved it around a couple of times and it still kept doing it. Only time that I've ever had it drop the connection that frequently during a cook. I think it did it only once during the duck cook and sync'ed right back up. @ckreef - hang in there, Charles. I have faith that you'll get your Block by Springtime. They seem to be doing well making and selling the single probe units and should have enough cashflow now to finish the Block design.

So glad that it all went as well as could be expected, despite Mother Nature. Glad the advice worked for you or we'd have all looked rather silly! Sorry to hear that your MEATER didn't work. I've found that sometimes it takes several tries to get it to sync up to my phone (Samsung Android.) Other times, it does it on the 1st try. I am happy with mine overall and used it several times over the holidays. I did have to change the alarm tone it uses when it loses the probe signal, as it was getting annoying during the prime rib cook at my SIL's house (I was cooking in her conventional oven and not the KK.) For some reason, it would hiccup and lose the signal just long enough to activate the alarm (telephone ring) and was doing it about every few minutes - extremely annoying. Only cook that it's done that on. Coincidentally, I did a very similar chicken thigh dish on Saturday night - marinade of yogurt, harrisa and lemon juice. I also threw in some purple crack for good measure. Plan is to have the leftovers tonight. Now it's official - Welcome to the Obsession!

As promised, a series of pics showing the various steps to the duck cook for tonight. First, get a duck, duh! Loved the name! Then, when thawed, blow up yer duck! (Separate the skin from the flesh) This is the fun part! Then, rub the skin with equal parts Baking Powder and Kosher Salt. Note - NOT Baking Soda, Baking Powder! Put into fridge and let skin dry for 24 hours (or at least overnight) It will have a noticeable texture difference. Now, bath time - shower the duck with boiling water, honey, hoisin sauce and Chinese 5 spice powder. Back to the fridge to dry for another 24 hours (or at least overnight). Then we oil it up (canola with a few drops of sesame oil), then dry rubbed. I used Dizzy Pig Tsunami Spin and Purple Crack. Into the rotisserie rack. Onto the pre-heated KK @ 350F direct with cherry wood chunks (no smoking pot). Cooked to an IT in the breast of 160F. Took about 90 minutes. Notice the MEATER probe sticking out the left side of the breast. Worked great. Resting. Good color and most of the fat did render out. Skin was only slightly crispy. Probably could have used another 15 - 20 minutes? But was concerned about overcooking the meat. Plated, with coconut rice and roasted carrots (orange oil with tarragon and purple crack) The things we do for food! Pulled it off, despite outside temps around zero and wind chills around -15F. But, after 3 days of prep, I wasn't about to wuss out now. Happy New Year, Ya'll!

Thanks for the tip, Tyrus. I've heard of it, but never tried it. I'll look, but probably not available here. But, I bet that I can pick up a bottle at Binny's next time I'm in the Chicagoland area. I'm partial to a local distillery here, Cedar Ridge - they make a 100% Malted Rye Whiskey that's one of my favorites. I'm a HUGE fan of their single malt whiskeys. Their Silver Label series is outstanding - each release is different - they all start out in one of their used bourbon barrels, but are finished in a secondary barrel - wine, port, beer. Just like craft beers, craft whiskey is the way to go!

Happy New Years, Everyone!

Was afraid to say it yesterday, but always remember - How do you know your contractor is lying to you about the budget and/or schedule? Their lips are moving! Regardless, nice looking loaves!

I'd say you're getting the hang of the new grill, Aussie!

Reminded me of old Benny Hill skits!

True dat! No pics of my beer, kegs are kinda boring to look at.

Thanks! And that's just the bourbon stash. Won't show you the single malt whisky stash or you'd be booking a plane ticket to Cedar Rapids - LOL!!!

Deleted duplicate post.

I'm sensing some serious math skills hiding underneath this BBQ exterior? I underestimated you - my bad! That would be "tasty" bits in my book, but I suppose that's an English equivalent term, as they aren't very visually appealing typically. Not to be confused with "naughty bits!" LOL!!

Sorry to hear that MacKenzie. Fingers crossed that they get it up and running again tomorrow as promised.

Hang in there, Aussie, my package from Charles arrived in the mail today!

Yeah, it does, especially when you get snowed in like us! This was the haul from the Bourbon Trail run 2 years ago. Most of it's gone, but a few still have some left in them. Can't seem to find the pic of last years haul?

Tasty stuff indeed, Aussie! I visited their distillery last year and came home with this version. As a bourbon expert once told me - "Always buy cask strength if you can get it. Why pay them to water it down for you?" Oh, if you're wondering why it's not opened - I bought a few others while I was there, too!

Not a lot of benefit over other methods and using it really slows down your pre-heat time. It soaks up a lot of heat, as it's made from the same material as the walls. I haven't used mine in years. If I'm just looking to cook indirectly, it's usually just a sheet of foil; but if the cook is going to drip a lot of fat, then I'll go with a drip pan to catch it to prevent a lot of bad smoke. If you're going with shredded lamb, I understand the cooking technique you proposed now. To quote a previous POTUS - "Stay the course." I based my connective tissue comment on memory/experience. I've never looked for comparative data like you found - interesting though. To put that comparison into a proper perspective - the brisket has almost 50% more connective tissue than the lamb shoulder, so they aren't actually very close at all. While potentially a bit messy, you could always put your empty le Creuset pans under the lamb to start with to catch the drippings, then add the potatoes at the proper time for them to finish with the meat?

Sounds yummy - looking forward to pics! Too damned cold to grill out here - wind chills today are in the -20F range! But, Hey, it's a SUNNY 20 below zero - LOL!!

@ckreef - I drank most of the bottle of prosecco myself, after polishing off a bottle of wine with dinner, with a little help from my BIL. So, I was "festive" as well - LOL!! @Aussie Ora - Woo, Hoo! USPS acknowledges the tracking number!

Wuss!