tony b

True, but my hair is longer - and grayer!

Just stumbled across this guy's video of "do's/don'ts" of Kamado style cooking. It didn't hurt that he has a 32" KK to show off either! I was very skeptical when I saw the title. BUT, his tips and advice were spot on. None of that "urban myth" stuff that you see in a lot of BBQ videos (my favorite - searing "locks in" the juices!) Good advice on quality charcoal and thermometers, too. I'll definitely check out some of his other videos, as I was impressed with this one.

Thanks, Bruce! Life's too short to eat crappy processed foods and drink cheap beverages! One of life's simplest and greatest pleasures is cooking tasty food. Plus, we get the benefit of sharing it with our close friends and family, which makes it all the more enjoyable!

Check the Forum threads. Memory fails me, but someone was using aluminum foil (or a cheap drip AL pan) to bank their coals in the back for roti cooks, as the basket splitter in the larger grills only runs front-to-back. Us folks with 23" have a round charcoal basket and we can position our basket splitter in any direction that we want.

@Myklnz Let me be the one to officially welcome you to The Obsession! Can't wait to see it in action! @D.Drackett - yah wussie! Get out there and fire that thing up and cooks something. I cook here in single digit (Fahrenheit, not Celsius!) weather!

@Poochie - yer ma brutha from another mutha! HUGS!

Well, I didn't spin the chicken thighs, but I did take advantage of the 60F day to grill some for dinner last night (btw - it snowed this morning. Welcome to Springtime in Iowa!) Direct, lower grate, 375F, peach wood. Spice rub was Berbere. Au gratin spuds as the side dish. Not done on the KK - sorry. Plated with an orange juice, butter and garlic jus, with a lovely salad of arugula, spinach, orange segments, feta cheese, sliced almonds and pomegranate seeds, with an orange juice vinaigrette.

Well, it's a big deal at my house! Actually, I cook Cajun year 'round. We used to have a specialty market dedicated to Cajun foods. They actually drove down once a month and bought things to stock the store. You could always ask them to pick up something in particular for you and they were happy to bring it back! I miss the fresh boudin! Confession, I thought that I had some Tasso in the freezer, but when I went to look, I couldn't find it. Too late to order it online and with my old supplier gone (many years ago 😢), I went scrounging around most of the local markets to no avail. Had to improvise - a combo of country ham and Nduja. Worked pretty damn good! @Poochie Hell Yeah, I'm an old Hippie! Proud of it, too! ✌️ ☮️

Me and Mardi Gras Bear were eager to kick off "Fat Tuesday!" Lunch was a Shrimp Po'Boy. Panko fried Cajun shrimp with homemade remoulade and cocktail sauces on a baguette with some shredded cabbage & carrot. Behaving myself a little with a non-alcohol Hurricane. Dinner of red beans and rice (maybe my best ever!) and a "real" Hurricane this time! Hope all y'all had a great Mardi Gras! Laissez les bons temps rouler!

While that chicken looks excellent, those potatoes look amazing! Very smooth/silky. Did you use a ricer or a Chinois?

Yep, that's what we do here - spend OTHER people's money! 🤑

Better than any restaurant steak dinner!

Mexican street corn - that's Cotilla cheese on top, with mayo, chile powder and lime juice. I was more curious about the last 2 "fritters"?

Well at least you know where you are! Ha, ha!

@Poochie - go to the pizza thread from @ckreef - he's done just about every variation out there on both the KK and his wood-fired pizza oven (gorgeous!) Dough recipes vary based upon the style of pizza that you want to make and can get a bit intimidating at times (at least for me who isn't the world's best baker!) The simplest one that I've ever seen had only 2 ingredients in it - AP Flour and Greek Yogurt! Made an interesting crust - not great, but obviously very simple. The other extreme is what the folks above were referencing with yeast starters/poolish, specialty flours (Imported Italian 00) and lots of fermentation time. My biggest obstacle is that I'm usually only cooking for myself, so putting in 2 days of dough prep and hours of pre-heat (LOTS of charcoal to heat soak everything to 550F!) on the KK for a single 12" pizza is just not practical. Especially when I have 3 or 4 local spots that turn out very good pizzas in their gas or wood-fired specialty ovens - a couple are imported from Italy. YMMV

You have to be from the South to know what "chiggers" are! Nasty, little tiny bugs that bite the sh!t out of you and leave a red bump that itches like crazy! They are worse than mosquitos! I really don't know what grave vine this is. I'm guessing that it probably doesn't vary too much between varietals? @Poochie - Definitely pick up a flat of these chops! I'll probably look for more on my next run to CostCo.

Took advantage of the rare "warm" day here in February (upper 50s) to do some grilling. Lamb chops for dinner. Scored these monsters (1 1/2" thick) at CostCo. Direct, lower grate, grape vine for smoking wood. Melting potatoes with shallot crack sauce and a nice side salad. Decent Merlot from Trefethen.

Glad to hear that the brewery is moving, too!

Welcome to the Obsession! WOW, what luck to score that practically unused KK so close by!!! You're going to have a lot of fun with it. Post pics of the early cooks! We love food porn here. 😁

@BARDSLJR Happy to see you posting again! Nice cooks. Ghost pepper rub - aggressive!

The Webstaurant store is awesome!

The Salt Lick is on my bucket list of BBQ spots. Bobby Flay says it's one of his favs. Unfortunately, didn't make it there on my only trip to Austin. Just another excuse to go back there!

Howdy @BARDSLJR! Where you been? Hope all is well there? Any fun cooks lately - need pics!

An Afro-Mexi mash-up = Suya Pepper steak skewers meets Mexican Torta. Torta with sauteed poblano peppers, onions, and garlic in a crema with lime and cilantro, fresh tomatoes and pickled jalapenos. Airfryer tots on the side, with a nice cooling salad.