tony b

@Bruce Pearson - did you get your Meater? Just stab that sucker in the breast and program the app and off to the races!

Missed it. But, Yes, on a plate is a good place for a beet!

Uncle, Uncle, Uncle! Today's lunch - Perfect Butt sandwich! I even threw in the zip bag, just for MacKenzie -

Nice, Mackenzie, but where's the Purple Crack?

Says the man who never posts pictures! Sorry, Robert, but I gave up trying to compete with the likes of Charles and MacKenzie ages ago when it comes to food photography. I only post pics if it's critical to the discussion. In this case, it's just another pork butt. Sorry, MacKenzie, it's all pulled and into zip bags in the freezer - except for one small bag I'm eating out of, like for breakfast this morning with 2 fried eggs on top - excellent. I struggled for a while, too, Aussie, since I'm not a baker and not used to working with dough. But, with practice, I finally got it down pretty well. One thing that I did learn is that it doesn't take as much water as you think it should, but make sure that you mix it well so you don't have pockets of dry flour. Just keep plugging away at it - practice makes perfect, as they say.

Fess up, MacKenzie - you ate more than one piece of bacon!!

Started a 7.5 lb, bone in, pork butt this morning (7:30 am) on the KK, indirect @ 250F (with Guru), with the smoker pot loaded with peach and pecan. Injected with a dozen Seasoning Stix - 4 Garlic, 4 Sriracha Garlic, and 4 Blend X and rubbed with mustard & Dizzy Pig Crossroads - rested overnight. I had hoped that it would be done in time for me to go to the hockey game tonight. Plan was to wrap in foil, beach towel, and into the cooler until I got home to pull it. However, when my friend arrived at 4:45 pm to go to dinner before the game, the butt was sitting @ 175F. Dilemma - take it off the smoker and wrapped it and hope that it finishes (target IT was 200F); or, let it go and cross my fingers that I don't come home to jerky? So, I rolled the dice and let it ride. Got home from the game around 9:30 pm to find the butt sitting at 199F - Woo, Hoo!! Perfect Butt!!!! Sometimes it pays to be lucky more than it does to be good!!

Serious chocolate! But, I have to admit that it seems a bit of a shame to make hot chocolate out of such lovely art. They belong on top of a cake, a Tiramisu, or at least some cupcakes! However, I'm sure that they made some wonderful hot chocolate! Thanks for the tips MacKenzie. I had chilled my slabs of bacon before, but maybe not long enough?

Sweet looking bacon, MacKenzie. Question - do you chill/partially freeze it before slicing to make it easier to slice? There must be a trick that I haven't learned yet, since I have a terrible time slicing mine - and I have a deli slicer that I bought specifically for this task! The slices tend to stick to the blade and get pulled around rather than slice cleanly and fall off the back to the tray. Your friend must be a cake decorator to have nice chocolate curls like that. Did they make them?

I have had a couple of hemp beers - meh! Plus, most brewers hate working with the seeds, as there's so much oil in them that they clog up grain mills during the crush and other pieces of equipment during transfers.

@Aussie Ora -

Prego! @mk1 - Nice eye to spot that logo. I had to go back and blow it up to see it.

Buon Giorno Drago Nero! Welcome to the Obsession. You'll be set up and cooking up a storm in no time. Hoping to learn some pizza tricks from you down the road!

Nice, tri-tip, Aussie. Yeah, the grain changes direction in the middle and a bit near the tip. I recall Dennis posting a diagram of how to carve one somewhere on the Forum.

It was a Wheat beer @ 6.4% ABV. The pepperberries don't affect the alcohol content.

Nice burger, MacKenzie (no beets!) LOL!!!

There yah go! Nice looking pie. Hat's off to Charlie Murphy (aka, Darkness!)

After all this poor KK has been through, you CAN'T sell it. Also, there's high temp silicone sealants out there. Remember, the area around the gasket doesn't get nearly as hot as the interior of the KK, so you really only need something rated up to like 500F.

Very tasty looking ribs, Aussie! This last batch of Purple Crack beer was 1.5 oz of pepperberries in a 5 gal batch of beer. I added 1/2 oz more in this batch than the original version.

Will definitely try the duck fat air fryer spuds. MacKenzie, how much vinegar did you put in the water? I've never heard of doing that for fries before?

Purple Crack Rules! My Purple Crack Beer was a hit at the belated Halloween party last night and again today at the Beer Club's demonstration for the national "Learn to Brew Beer Day."

Or melting the cheese, or scorching the nuts, or whatever else you'd like to smoke. That's the primary reason that I got one - no heat smoking.

De Nada!

Just the regular supermarket here, but they remodel/revamp their stores every few years to keep up with trends. While this one is closest to my house, it's not the latest-n-greatest model. Those have an actual bar & restaurant in them (Market Grill) and the stores are laid out more like a Whole Foods (islands versus isles). Mine has the older version - food court style with a deli, pizza, Asian food counters with central booths, tables & chairs. But, we seem to get all the latest grocery offering. Latest thing is a dedicated Italian section with lots of imported pastas, sauces, sodas, breadsticks, etc. Nicest thing about these stores are that they are Employee-Owned and Department Managers are given lots of flexibility on what to stock, etc. Example, Chris the cheese manager, is free to order just about anything he wants for the cheese section; but, he's held accountable for it to actually sell. The store is cracking open a full 85lb wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano, using the traditional method of mallets and chisels/spikes to crack the cheese open to preserve the crystalline structure. Should be fun to watch and get tasty samples!!!

Gorgeous!