tony b

Thanks, MacKenzie. I've got some Chalet chicken marinating for tomorrow night. Planning on potatoes to go with, but haven't settled on which style to do. Too many good ones to pick from.

Where did you come up with that crazy baked potato idea? I've never heard of anything like that before??

Nice job on the ribs, Rak. You're obviously on a steep learning curve with your KK. What's your game plan for the steaks?

PRippley, it's an herb that you can find in Mexican markets. It's supposed to help with the "gas problem," sort of like natural Beeno! It's not essential, as it doesn't impart a lot of flavor (it's actually a bit on the grassy, bitter side.) You can substitute Mexican oregano for the flavor, but it won't help with the "gas." dstr8 - Mark Miller, right on!!

Dodged a bullet there, Charles. My family up in SC got several inches. Another friend in TN got hammered with 8 inches!!

Thanks, ladies! Just like many dishes, you are trying to build a complex flavor profile, hence, the various ingredients at different times. Yeah, the 4 dumps is a bit over the top, but after many years of experimentation, it's what I've settled on. Now confession time. I often make a pot of chili beans on the side, as I do like them together in the bowl. (The bowl in the picture actually has a bottom layer of beans, middle layer of cheese, then the chili and eggs on top.) I like to do "drunken beans." I like pintos, but red beans/kidney beans works well, too. I short cut and use canned beans most of the time over dried. Saute a diced onion and a clove of smashed garlic in oil (or bacon grease!), add 1/3 cup of chile powder (single dump), heat until fragrant. Add the beans (if canned, I drain and rinse them first), then add some chicken or beef stock just to cover. Add 1 tsp of dried epazote. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Now the fun part, take the pot off the heat and toss in a good shot of tequila (use a decent one - this last batch was Sauza Reposado) and stir into the beans. Serve!

OK, I'll give you the basics (but not all my secrets!) Use a nice cut of beef (sirloin is standard in competitions), but a nice bottom round steak or roast works, too. I go with 2 lbs. Cut into 1/2" cubes. Season with your favorite steak rub. Sear in a nice hot DO with some veggie oil and brown all sides. Remove when the beef starts to sweat to another bowl, including all juices. Saute a couple of medium yellow onions, diced, in a couple of TB of oil (bacon grease works very well, too. Hint, hint!), until translucent, add 3 or 4 large garlic cloves, crushed. Return meat and juices to DO. I use 5 different varieties of dried chiles - Ancho, Guajillo, Pasilla Negro, Cascabel, and Chipotle, one or two of each depending on size. Break up and remove seeds. Soak the dried chiles in a bowl with a nice dark beer (12 oz) until soft. Puree chiles and beer in a blender or food processor. Add to the DO with the meat. Add a cup of beef broth and simmer. After 30 minutes, add 2 TB of powdered cumin and 2 TB of Mexican oregano, with one can Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chile. I use 4 different chile powders (here's where the secret part comes in - not telling which ones, but they don't come from the spice isle in the supermarket!) Each one gets added sequentially every 15 minutes after adding the tomatoes - 1/4 cup each, adding more broth as needed. In the chile cookoff world, these are referred to as "dumps." So my chili would be called a 4-dump recipe. Try and use at least 2 different chile powders, if you can. There are dozens of blends out there, so there's plenty to choose from - just like BBQ rubs. The meat should be tender by now, but if not, simmer until it is. You shouldn't have to thicken the chili, if you've been careful not to add too much beef broth, but if you need to tighten it up, use 1 -2 TB masa harina (corn flour used to make tortillas); a slurry of corn starch will work, too. Told you it was a bit on the tedious side, but it's worth it. Where are the beans, you might ask? This is competition style chili, no beans allowed. Your entry would be disqualified if it contains beans (or other extraneous vegetables, like corn, potatoes, zucchini, okra, or heaven forbid, lentils) - that's not chili, that's beef stew!

YUMMO!!

Love me some grilled "skrimps!" btw - they are awesome in the SV bath, too!!

Very Nice, Indeed!

Nothing better on a cold wintry day! I am way over the top in my chili making. I used to judge competitions, so that's the style that I like to make. Tedious, but wonderful!

After the last poached egg disaster (broken one), decided to try again. One of my favorite dishes is called "Eggs in the Sauce" - poached eggs in a bowl of chili. So, eggs went into the SV @ 158F for 17 minutes, per the calculator. And, yes, it's homemade chili (and a damned good one, too!) Of course, there's pictures. Well, back to the calculator for me, anyway. The whites were too runny and the yolk was overdone for what I was looking for - runny. The yolk was nice and creamy, but too firm. Will keep trying. I can always fall back on the "tried and true" of 142F for 50 minutes, but was looking to shorten that time up a bit.

Thanks, MacKenzie. Just passing along good stuff when I run across it. Never had moose before. Looks tasty, but sounds like it needs a long time in the SV to tenderize.

Not exactly sure. Shipping invoice said 150lbs, but that included the cradle (which shouldn't weight more than 10 lbs). I'm kinda wimpy in my old age; I can't pick it up. It's in a cradle with wheels for when I need to move it about. Didn't see a 1 Qt one on Amazon, but this 3/4 Qt looks nice. Good price, too! http://smile.amazon.com/Camp-Chef-DO-5-Mini-Quart-Dutch/dp/B0007LNJ3M/ref=pd_sim_79_6?ie=UTF8&dpID=51g6dMouUiL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1ARBC7AY082SJDH31XEJ

Jon, I might have you make one up for me and bring it out in April? Like Rak, I'm not very handy when it comes to most power tools! Fortunately, I still have all my digits and eyesight and plan to keep it that way!

Outstanding job, Rak! Now you're officially in The Obsession! Can't wait to see what you do going forward!

^+1

OK, so I went by Lowe's again and took a picture of the grate box, which has the dimensions on the cover. It's 18.25" length and 8.25" wide. So, I cut out a template and set it inside my 23" KK on the charcoal basket handles. My best guess is MAYBE it will fit without cutting, but only if running front to back. Depends on their manufacturing tolerances. But, front-to-back doesn't work for using the rotisserie. It doesn't fit going side-to-side down that low and would have to be cut. So, tried it on the Sear Grate. Again, MAYBE, depending on the actual size (we're talking 1/16" matters). But, it might work in either direction! It's because it's a rectangle trying to fit inside a body that has curved sides. If the material is soft enough, you might be able to get away with just hammering the corners in (a crude chamfer.) Lastly, it will definitely fit in both directions if placed on the Lower Grate, but how effective will it be as an infrared radiator when that far from the heat source?? Maybe ckreef can answer that one based upon his experience? Is someone brave enough to buy and try it??

I was preoccupied with measuring the Grill Dome racks for PRippley and spaced off measuring for the infrared grate. Gonna be in the 20sF here today, so I should be able to get out to the KK and do a quick measurement. Thanks for the prompt, Rak!

That, too!

Ignition sequence start, 3, 2, 1, we have liftoff!

As promised, here's the pictures and some key dimensions for the 2 extra grill grates for the Small (Baby) Grill Dome. Notice they've never been used, I wonder why? Can you say KK w/basket splitter! Anyway, here they are - ones called the Extender and is like our Upper Grate. The other one is called the Indirect and is like our Lower Grate (and Sear Grate). You actually flip it over, with the legs up, and put it on the ledge of the charcoal basket. As you can see the Extender is slightly taller than the Indirect Grill. Here are the key dimensions: Extender: Grate diameter = 10" Height = 5" Center of grate to outer leg = 6" Outer leg to opposite side of grate = 11" (What this means is that the leg sticks out an inch beyond the grate) Indirect: Grate diameter = 8" Height = 3.5" Center of grate to outer leg = 6.25" Outer leg to opposite side of grate = 10" (What this means is that the leg sticks out 2 inches beyond the grate) Just as reference point, here's the actual grill (when new) with the main grate. Notice the ceramic plate at the bottom of the charcoal area. That puppy went bye-bye pretty fast, as it clogged very easily and didn't promote very good airflow. Replaced it with a cheapo ($5) wire grate that I cut to fit. They'd burn out eventually, but for $5, Wah! Worked better than the original one.

Super!

My story in a nutshell, PRippley. Most of my better cooks are for guests and I don't want to keep them waiting while I stage "food porn" for the Forum. I love you guys, but ...

To be honest, PRippley, I never got as proficient cooking on the GD as I had originally planned. I bought it when I still had the POSK and wanted to do smaller cooks. The POSK would blow through charcoal, even on simple grilling cooks. I was blasting through 8 lb bags of Royal Oak like there was no tomorrow. Once I upgraded to the KK and bought the basket splitter, I rarely cook on the GD anymore. Early on, I struggled with temperature control with the GD. One of the first things that I did with it, was toss that ceramic plate in the charcoal basket and DIY'd a more open grate that didn't clog so easily and promoted better air flow. It also allowed me to increase the spacing between the charcoal and the cooking grate, as I was burning stuff. I also went to Wicked Good Barbeque's briquettes over lump charcoal. I got pretty good at grilling on it (burgers, brats, chicken breasts, thinner steaks), but never attempted any actual BBQing on it, as if ribs or a butt would fit on such as small grill. I'll measure the accessory grills and post some pics for you, too. Might have to wait a day or two for the outside temps to warm up a bit more. It's 10F right now and snowing!