tony b

Gonna be a bit of a challenge to do the Peking Duck on the rotisserie like I'd planned. Fortunately, I keep the basket in the house, so it won't be cold to work with. Fingers crossed it's not windy or it'll drop the wind chills down into dangerous territory and I'll probably bail on the cook.

I just "blowed up the duck!" (it's really fun to do!) and gave it the baking powder/salt rub down. Resting in the fridge until tomorrow when it gets its honey bath. Don't worry, I'm taking pics along the way and will post them all at the end.

Define "nasty weather for NOLA," Robert! It's snowing here (up to 6" predicted) and the temperatures aren't supposed to be above ZERO degrees F for 4 days!

Sounds killer! I was drinking Bellini (peach nectar & prosecco) over the weekend. Your stuff might work, too. Worth a try! Ordered some stuff for you and Aussie's boxes. Should arrive next week, so I hope to get yours in the mail by week's end.

Ignore the deflector stone advice. No one uses theirs any more. Either use a drip pan or a sheet of aluminum foil on the lower grate instead. With this much fat rendering, I'd go with the drip pan. If you can't get 2 shoulders on the main grate, then you're obviously going to stack on upper/main. The one on the upper grate will cook faster, so use that one for your meat temperature probe (if you don't have one for each shoulder.) If you can, try and swap them half way through the cook to even the times out some. For lamb, I'd cook at a higher temp - 325F, as there's not as much connective tissue to break down like in a butt or a brisket. Will shorten your cooking time, use less charcoal, and likely render out more fat. YMMV Let us know how it turns out, with pics, please!

Sorry to hear about your water issues, MacKenzie, but had to LOL about the ketchup! Too cold here to grill out right now (wish I had your ODK!) Hoping it doesn't wreck my plans for the Peking Duck for NYE. Duck is thawed out in the fridge. Tomorrow is the inflating step (as I call it - Blowing Up the Duck!), with a rub of baking powder and salt on the skin. 24 hours drying in the fridge. Then, the honey/hot water/5 spice shower on Saturday and another overnight dry in the fridge. Sunday on the rotisserie with cherry wood. Pics to follow, assuming I don't freeze to death in the meantime!

Thanks, Charles! USPS says it will be here Tuesday! Almost like Christmas all over again!

I'm sure that you've already fixed that problem, MacKenzie!!

Nice Christmas dinner, MacKenzie. Love those plates. You can get very small wood chips that are made for the smoking guns. https://smile.amazon.com/Wood-Smoking-Chips-Variety-Gift/dp/B007FEO0ZU/ https://smile.amazon.com/PolyScience-Woodchips-Mesquite-Applewood-Cherrywood/dp/B00NAWU39S

Nice bird. If chicken is "chook," then what's turkey in Aussie??

We have a local spot - Pig & Porter, that one of their specialties is to do smoked cocktails. They bring the smoking gun to your table, flip your glass upside down and inject the smoke into it, then flip it over and pour in the cocktail. Nice presentation and there's a nice smoky flavor to your cocktail. My fav is their smoky Manhattans. Can't wait to see all the fun MacKenzie will have with this new toy!!!

Don't fret, the smoke ring is overrated. As long as the meat was moist, with a good bark - that's money!!

The flatware and dishes were my SILs. Don't know about the flatware, but the china was actually bought at a Goodwill, believe it or not!

Very nice. Hope you had a group to feed; that's a lotta food.

At my SIL's, so no KK, but was an epic Christmas dinner nonetheless. Wild mushroom soup, prime rib, roasted cauliflower and mac & cheese.

Get better soon, Dennis.

That "cobbler" looks more like a claflouti? Regardless of the name, it looks tasty.

Merry Christmas indeed.

Loved the "needs repair" snowman. The high temperature on Xmas day here is suppose to be 4F. No new snow though.

Nice ham and wonderful story about the ham bag.

I have a good one called "Churrasco," that I got on Amazon. Check it out.

We have a couple of speciality shops in the area. I'll have to check them out to see if they carry VF. Thanks for the tip.