tony b

Actually, I don't even own a conventional oven. When I had the kitchen remodeled years ago, I only put in a stove top and a GE Advantium microwave/convection oven/vent hood over that. I eventually got a Cuisinart countertop oven for some baking needs. Everything else gets cooked on the KK. The area under the cooktop, where the oven would be, is a couple of pullout shelves with pots, pans, and lids.

I hid well - LOL! But, the Purple Crack was popular. Over 1/2 the keg was consumed in a matter of a couple of hours. One of our Club members has a sausage making business and he catered our event. He does a great job, so no competition from me! Yeah, some of our Club members entered the AHA competition - not me. One fellow made it to the finals with his mead. Club went to HomebrewCon in Minneapolis this year and poured on Club night and did a session in the Hospitality area, too. We poured a few years ago in Grand Rapids as well. We're actively talking about making the trek out to Portland for next year's HomebrewCon. I go just about every year, with or without the rest of the Club. It's such a great time and I've made a lot of friends over the years that I only get to see at HomebrewCon. And, let's not forget all the crazy good beers there!

My home brewers' club - the Cedar Rapids Beer Nuts, puts on a home brew festival each year with other clubs in the state. We got a nice video piece on the local news this year. http://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Iowa-beers-on-display-at-Homebrew-Festival-as-craft-gains-popularity-441097363.html One of the beers I brewed for it was "Purple Crack Wheat" - a blackberry wheat beer with Taz pepperberries. Was pretty popular. Cheers!

Nice, Bruce! Pics of that brisket cook, please! Are you going Full Franklin on it (pink butcher paper)?

Hey, no eating Bullwinkle! One of my fav cartoons as a kid.

Tried the Purple Crack bacon for brekkie this morning with some Purple Crack fried eggs (sorry, no pix). Bacon came out great - just a hint of crack!

Well done, Susie! Had never thought about that technique. Will definitely be giving that a try!

Good name!

Well, I finally got around to making another batch of bacon, but this time I used Purple Crack instead of the juniper berries called for by Ruhlman in his brine. All rubbed down and rested for a week. Onto the KK for cold smoking. I initially had some charcoal going in the bottom of the KK to bring it up to 150F, but it eventually went out and I didn't bother relighting it. So, this was truly mostly a cold smoke. I used a combo of small pieces of Fruita wood chips and pellets. Both were a blend of fruit woods. Had a sheet of aluminum foil on the lower grate to be a heat shield. Tried the new trick of several lit small chunks of charcoal into the cold smoker - worked great, never went out, but I did tap the sides a couple of times which seemed to kickstart heavier smoke production when it started to wane. Total smoking time was 4 hours. Rested overnight in the fridge wrapped in plastic. Then sliced up. Can't wait for breakfast in the morning to try it out.

Of course you did!

Too bad about not getting any of Dennis' Coco or Coffee charcoals, as they are some of the best charcoals on the market. I'm eager to follow your journey with your new KKs and your experiments with sous vide/grilling combos. I have 2 sous vide circulators (a 3rd on order), so obviously I'm a big fan of this style of cooking. As you noted, I won't do fried chicken any other way now. So many of us took up SV cooking that Dennis put a special topic on this Forum for us to talk strictly about SV cooks.

Doesn't necessarily have to be Hatch Chiles. Regular old Poblanos work great, too and are more readily available year round. When you take them off the grill, toss them into a paper bag and roll down the top and let them steam for a few minutes. Skins practically fall off at that point.

Excellent, MacKenzie! I've been a slacker and not made homemade pasta in ages. Local supermarket has started carrying some high-end imported pastas - really good stuff.

Bruce, I put them up in FoodSaver bags in the freezer - both raw and roasted. I'm not a big bell pepper fan, especially green ones (give me heartburn), so I sub these for them in recipes. Also a big component in make both "white chili" and green enchilada sauce. Excellent in heuvos rancheros, too. @MacKenzie - it takes one of those big tanks, as these industrial chile roasters are like flame throwers, with 4 to 6 burners blasting away.

So sorry for your family's loss, Dennis. Tragic doesn't begin to describe it.

Nice job on that virgin cook. And, NO, it doesn't stay pristine and white for very long - maybe 2 cooks at best. I was going to say that you're family will think you're crazy only until they've eaten your food - and now they've tried it, I bet they're changing their tune! Now, Dad's crazy like a fox! Looks like you got your ribs right, but in the future, use the "bend test" to check for doneness. Only sure way, as time is not a good indicator. Grab the rack about 1/3 of the way from the end with your tongs, pick it up and give it a slight bounce. If you see it crack, like in this picture, they're done. Also, when the meat pulls back on the bones sticking out of the sides about 1/2" inch or so, is another sign of doneness. Excellent choice of wines for BBQ. Big, spicy, reds like Zins and Syrahs are great with smoked meats.

@Aussie Ora - is that Purple Crack Stromboli? @jarraa - crazy looking kebobs and those plated pix are outrageous. Curious as to how you did the Naan in the KK. Did you slap it on the side walls like in a tandoor?

Hadn't considered the grease splatter before, but good advice from Charles on that tip! I have a 60,000 BTU gas burner in my brew room that I used for my wok cooking, so I've never tried it in the KK. Only other thing about putting the wok in the KK down on the charcoal basket handles is having to lean way into the KK to stir fry things, unless you have really long handled tools!

A double thumbs up to Shuley's comment about the chicken. You will be blown away!!

To Quote Mr. Bill - OOOOHH, NOOOOO! But, knowing about Mr. Franklin's tenacity, he'll be fine and back up to full capacity in no time.

You're fine where you sit right now, but if you want to "play" and see how the KK adjusts to tweaks of the top and bottom vents, go for it. Get a feel for how it "handles" just like driving a new car on a nice curvy road!

While both will work equally well for you, my humble advice is to go 22" TT for your outdoor kitchen. I think in the long run, that will be more aesthetically pleasing to you. You now just have to match tile colors to the kitchen counter-tops and you're all set! Next, we can offer advice on accessories. As a start, based on your comments, the KK pizza stone is a MUST. Max out the boxes of CoCoChar and Coffee Wood on the palette. Consider the rotisserie options and a basket splitter w/2nd charcoal basket. The cold smoker is a "nice to have" option, if you'll think you'll use it enough.

Carne Crosta is a nice steak rub, too.

Anybody that says "all y'all" is OK in my book, Paul. Where were you raised?