tony b

Yes, one of many!!! But one of my favorites, by far - not having to get out in bad weather just to get to work!! You know me, plenty of beer/wine/spirits to tide me over through just about any stretch of bad weather. Oh, and I usually have plenty of provisions in the pantry too. But, the nice thing about adult beverages is that they don't require water, electricity or gas to be consumable!

@Tyrus - Yes, I make labels for the bottles, but some folks might find them a tad offensive - so no public displays!

Excellent idea and glasses, too if you have them. Don't want to inadvertantly splash any into an eye!

Me, too! The last one on the right is Chocolate Ghost Peppers - you want something that will just about put you into a coma, eat one of those puppies (I've never been silly enough to try it!) I was wearing glasses and gloves when I mashed them up, but needed a mask, too! Started coughing like I'd been tear gassed!!!

Hab's freeze well whole, but will be a bit mushy when thawed. Better to mash them up and freeze that way (ice cube tray works well for portioning it out.)

Search out ckreef's tutorial on pizza crusts - different styles cook at different temperatures and on different levels within the KK. He's experimented more than anyone here with pizza cooks and I consider him to be the Yoda! Don't get me wrong, MacKenzie and others make outstanding pizzas, as their pics will attest, but Charles has been more of a guide for many of us here. Don't sweat the "high" temp pizza cooks of 750F in the dome. Dennis just frets when folks shoot for 900F +. Then, the firebox is screaming hot (>2000F) and doing that frequently can lead to some long term damage. The dome thermometer is sensing the air temp around it, and isn't affected much by infrared (direct heat from the fire). Adding the pizza stone just increases the soak time is all - by a lot! Plan at least an hour at temperature if you're doing more than one pizza (a well heat soaked stone will shorten the rebound time between pizzas.) If you have an infrared temperature gun, it's a great way to tell if your stone is up to temperature and ready for cooking. (btw - I'm a Mechanical Engineer with a specialty in heat transfer.)

Shouldn't be a problem coming up with something. I'll pass along whatever I come up with for dressings. First thought was a nice glaze (with Reef Peach Jam) on pork chops. Jon's sending you a nice treat - Iowa Popcorn makes tasty snacks!! Hear yah, MacKenzie. While not a "bomb," we're supposed to warm up enough by Sunday so that our next storm will be my favorite - Wintry Mix (freezing rain/sleet/snow). (Note the italics to denote sarcasm!) Thank goodness I don't have to be anywhere on Monday!

How'd you like the Bayou-ish? Speak now or another bottle is headed your way in the next box - LOL!!

Interesting mash-up of stuff in the marinade. How strong was the coconut flavor? That's the outlier for me in the profile.

It was just a solo bottle of the Peach White Balsamic - not particularly pic worthy. But, DAH-HAM, Charles, this stuff is da shizzle, my bizzle! Brain's already on overdrive thinking of tasty things to make with it! Have a bit of Bistro Peach Jam, too, so hmmm?

I take this as a NO vote on bottles of my homemade hot sauce in your goodie box, Aussie??

What was in the marinade, Aussie? Looks great on the back end!

Good luck with the burn-in and cook something tasty while you're doing it - no sense wasting that heat!

Or other body parts! If you think habaneros/Scotch bonnets are hot, don't go anywhere near Scorpion, Ghost or Carolina Reaper. They are much, much hotter! I love habaneros for their flavor and the heat level is just right for me, when cut with other ingredients in sauces, marinades and salsas. Not a pepper that I'd eat plain, for sure.

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!