tony b

As the French say - À chacun son goût .

@MacKenzie - did you notice any additional heat up time on the grill by having these in place? At only 1/4" thick, I wouldn't think that it would be much, if any? Also, did you have many broken ones in your box. Reviews on Amazon say as many as 30% of them arrived broken. Intriguing, but have some reservations on how much I'd use them. I still have the grate that Jon made me from the CharBroil grate. In my 23", I can actually fit this under the rotisserie basket when I decide to use the full charcoal basket. So, it works out well for me. YMMV

I just did a 2 bone one a week ago. First time in the rotisserie. I used the basket splitter, with the coals in the back. Went for 325F dome. I got distracted and let the IT get to 150F before I tested it with the Thermopen. It was still tasty, but a tad overdone for my taste. Nothing that some horseradish au jus couldn't fix! I am eagerly awaiting delivery of my Meater probe, which will solve the "how to monitor temperature on the rotisserie" problem. I was in on the original Kickstarter campaign. After 2 long years, they are finally in serious production. Fingers crossed that mine will arrive shortly. https://meater.com/

Congratulations! Both on the successful graduation and the nice crab boil! So, is he off to college (your son, not the cat - LOL)? Where? Thoughts on major? With a GPA like that, he should be able to get in some seriously good schools, like Georgia Tech (hint, hint)!!

I'm planning on baked spuds in mine tonight. I do the Cooks Illustrated version - rolled the potato (russets) in heavily salted water to coat the outside. Then into a very hot oven (450F) or the air fryer at 390F, until the center hits 205F (about 30 minutes). Then take the potatoes out and brush them with oil (I'm becoming a big fan of red palm oil - another MacKenzie THANK YOU!); then back into the oven/air fryer for another 10 minutes to crisp up the skin. Key trick here - as soon as they come out of the oven/fryer the second time, cut a large X into the top of the potato and push the two ends toward each other to break open the potato and let the steam out. You get super fluffy insides and a crispy outside. Add your favorite toppings - I'm a butter and Boursin cheese with chives, kind of guy, with Purple Crack, of course!

Am I seeing this right - you actually put the grilled pineapple slices (good call on the Pineapple Head, btw) on the burger?? I shouldn't be surprised, this coming from someone who puts beets on theirs - LOL!

I'm totally down with Shakshuka (eggs poached in a tomato based sauce with peppers and potatoes), it's just that, for me, most commercial ketchup has way too much sugar (in reality - high fructose corn syrup) in them. It has it's place in the kitchen, but on eggs is definitely NOT one of them. JMHO

Keith, I think it would be better to cook it sous vide first, then finish on the grill. You will get a better, more even distribution of doneness inside/out this way. A flank steak this thick (london broil) will take anywhere from 6 - 10 hours in the sous vide at 130F (medium rare) and at your 150F, probably 3 - 4 hours. As an aside, I like to see a side-by-side slices of a PC and non-PC cooked london broil, as I'm not totally convinced you are going to get noticeable difference in smoke penetration. Plus, being in a steam bath, your crust is going to wash off or at least be mushy. JMHO

MacKenzie, hops are started from rhizomes. They are available in early Spring from many online sources or your local homebrew supply shop. Probably too late to start one this year. And, it takes 3 years to mature. The first year you won't see much above ground growth at all, as it's building root structure. Second year, you will start to get bines, but not many cones. Third year is the charm. My plant is 7 or 8 years old now and still going strong.

Did it retain it's smokey flavor after the pressure cooker? Haven't done a London Broil in ages. Sounds like a good candidate for Sous Vide.

And of course, the fiddle heads are from your garden? I've never actually eaten them. But, I have a wonderful framed photo of them in my upstairs bathroom. It was the inspiration for the remodel - different shades of green for the tiles, counter top and wall paint.

First, it was turkeys. Tonight this lovely lady showed up in the same spot in the neighbor's yard. Surprised she was solo. This time of year, you expect fawns with the does. At least there was Purple Crack Jerk Chicken for dinner. Cooked over Pimento wood chunks, leaves and allspice berries. Ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille! If you look to the right, you can see my hop plant trying to take over! It's growing so fast now, you can almost see it grow - like bamboo! It's growing like 3" - 4" a day!!

A total abomination! That kid is smart for his age! I'm with Syz, a dash of Sriracha. Never tried Harissa on eggs, but it should work fine. I like Pimenton (Smoked Paprika) and now the Purple Crack! Before Sriracha, I'd occasionally put hot sauce on them, but didn't care for the vinegar base all that much. I'm a Franks over Tabasco guy for that reason.

Have to say a big "THANK YOU" to MacKenzie for tempting me with those air fryer cooks to the point of buying one! I'm liking it a lot. Did a batch of egg rolls in it the other night. Came out great!

Yes, they do!

I was about to ask "Where's the pooch?," but she made a grand appearance at the end!

I think this is a good solution to the problem. Both of my dogs literally vacuum up their kibble. One of the reasons that I feed them 3 times a day instead of once or twice. I believe that it helps with weight control. Now, if I could only find a bowl like that for me - LOL!!

I had a never ending sinus problem this winter, too! Went through 2 rounds of antibiotics over the course of 2 months. So I "feel your pain." If you remember the assassination attempt on Reagan back in the day. One of the side casualties was Jim Brady. He was a gourmet cook. His gunshot injury to his brain left him with almost no sense of smell or taste. I literally cried when I read that, as I could only imagine what life would be like, having such a passion for food and wine, and to have it taken away from you like that, through no fault of your own. Tragic!

ABTs Looks like you're getting the hang of this! How did you do the ribs?

All over this one! I live in the land of heritage pigs, so I'm seriously down with some Kurobuta. It's NOT the other white meat!!!

Just a bit of feedback on Trex. It's not 100% maintenance free. Over the last few years, I have developed a lichen problem on it. Have tried various treatments to eliminate it, but most recommended chemical treatments are so harsh that they'll kill everything it contacts, so I've just learned to put up with some of it. YMMV.

Glad to see that it came out well. And, gotta pat myself on the back for nailing the cooking time!

I see Purple Crack eggs! You're getting the weather we had earlier this week. It was 90F here for several days - completely unheard of in May. Today - it was rainy and 55F. Back to "normal" (whatever that means anymore!!) by Sunday - low to mid 70Fs.

Great! Welcome to the KK Family. Like MacKenzie said, we LOVE pictures of the arrival and first cooks! One last thing, if you didn't do this in your order - Get as much Coco Charcoal and Coffee Wood chunks and charcoal as will fit on your pallet(s). Cheapest you will ever pay for it, and we all love this stuff. Nothing else like it out there to cook with.