tony b

Thanks, all! Ken, I think we're gonna dodge a bullet this time. Forecast for the next week is OK. A bit colder, but no white Christmas this year. We are actually having some moderate flooding right now, as all the precip has been rain and not snow! First time using the Cimarron. Initial impression was it was decent. Jury is still out pending a bigger cut of meat, like a full rack of ribs or a butt. Being smaller, individual ribs, I didn't go too heavy on it not having used it before.

Killer looking pork butts there, Jon! You will be shocked when you look inside and see how LITTLE charcoal you actually used to do this cook!!

Ken, love me some Valencia, as well as the Cholula. Have a bottle of Valencia sitting on my counter as I type this. Used it in a shrimp ceviche for the Christmas Party last Saturday.

Woo, hoo!! Let the fun begin! Pictures, pictures, and more pictures!!

You might want to check the calibration on your thermometer now that you over-ranged it. I did the exact same thing on one of my first high temp sears and my dial thermometer was a good 30F off afterwards. Easily resets - loosen the nut on the back, stick it in boiling water and see how far off you are. Grip the stem with a pair of pliers and turn the dial accordingly to get back to 212F. Then, carefully tighten up the nut with the pliers, while holding the dial steady. Stick it back in the boiling water to recheck it. Repeat, if needed.

Tonight's dinner - country style pork ribs and the experimental SV creamy potatoes. Ribs done with Cimarron rub, indirect, @ 325F on apple wood. Pulled at IT of 190F. Rubbed. On the KK. Done on the KK. Done, close up. Plated. (Note the 2 versions of the SV creamy potatoes. See my post in the SV section about that experience.) Money Shot.

OK, so I experimented with this tonight. I'm going to start off by saying it's "not my thing." I may have done something wrong, but I did not like either the texture or the flavor. Texture was like porridge, almost like a potage (potato soup). Flavor had a sweet edge to it from the malted grain. Being a brewer, I picked up on that right away. Pics are posted over in the Cooking Pics section with the rest of the dinner, but here's the process that I followed. Tried to duplicate what MacKenzie posted. Boiled two cubed russet potatoes (290 gms) in salted water with a couple of garlic cloves until just tender. Drained, then put them into the food processor still steamy hot. Had some difficulty get them to process. So, I added some of the boiling water (since it would also contain some starch). Processed the beegebus out of them, into a paste. Added the 1% malted diastatic flour (2.9 gms). Into the zip bag. Pressed out the air. Into the SV bath at 126F for 30 minutes. Then ramped up the SV bath to 167F, let it go for 5 minutes once it reached temp. Pulled the bag out of the SV bath. Did 2 separate treatments once out of the bag. One was a simple butter, S&P. The other was my standard mashed potato mix - butter, sour cream, Boursin cheese, salted chives, and S&P, except I did not add any half-n-half/cream/milk. The added ingredients did a lot to mask the sweet edge, but did nothing to tighten up the texture. So, did I miss something along the way that gave me this result??

Sounds like totally shitty weather, MacKenzie. We're just the opposite here. Crazy warm for this time of year. It was in the low 60s on Sunday! No White Christmas in the forecast for us this year.

Key to sustained learning is to learn from the mistakes and not just the successes! I am not shy about admitting my Oops cooks, for that very reason. I hope somebody can learn from me and not have the frustration of learning it firsthand!

Well done! One down, one to go. So how you breaking in the BB 32. Bosco??

A pack of TG is kinda pricey, even here in the States. But, you only use a small amount - a few grams at a time to make a paste. So, it does stretch. For some cooks, toothpicks just don't cut it, as it would take too many. Twine works for bigger cooks, but even then, not always well, especially something with a softer stuffing. If you want a nice solid pate, terrine, or meatloaf that doesn't crumble when you slice it, mix the TG directly into the meat mixture. But, folks, YMMV.

Yep, Bosco, you're going to have to re-learn some things with the KK - air flow control is the biggest and most important. I've owned mine for several years now and don't consider myself as having mastered it. Ambient temps, windy conditions, rain, all impact it. It's almost an organic thing. You have to feel your way through it. I'm an Engineer, so while I'm used to empirical solutions, I'd rather have hard rules/conditions to guide me. Probably why I decided to swap out my original draft vent door (single dial), with the new dual dial system. Still don't have the hang of this dang thing yet - frustrating at times! So, what I'm saying buddy, is hang in there. Practice makes .... is so true of learning to cook on the KK.

Lack of pics was probably more about being pissed off than about the rain. I just wanted to be done with it!

Another Home Run, MacKenzie! We are all constantly amazed at the stuff you come up with!!

Killer app! Great idea on letting the rolls rise first to form the ring before putting the dip inside!

And, let me guess, the French Toast was made with that brioche that you posted the other day!

Ckreef, consider trying Transglutaminase (meat glue) to seal up the slit in the chicken breast after you've stuff it. TG is amazing stuff!

I hear yah! But, since it was raining, I wimped out on pics. It was enough of a struggle as it was, without the extra burden of trying to take pics. But, I should have taken at least one of the droopy cheese! In hindsight, it was kinda comical looking!

Ken, when will you ever learn! You, sir, are incorrigible!!

Excellent experiment, ckreef! Thanks for doing this. Adds to the total encyclopedia of KK knowledge!

Tony, Tony, Tony!!! Nothing beats burnt ends - total meat candy! But, to make them out of beef ribs - insane!!

Well, I was inspired to try cold smoking some cheese to give away as presents. It was a rainy day yesterday, so I thought that would help with temperature control. Boy, what an experience. I have not struggled with something that much in a long time. I lit one large piece of lump and 2 chunks of cherry wood in the basket splitter with the coal/wood in the front of the grill, placed the heat deflector onto the basket handles, and put the cheeses (1/2# chunks of med cheddar, xtra sharp cheddar, mozz, and pepper jack) onto the main grate shaded towards the rear. Had the top hat opened a couple of turns and the lower vent dial on the largest hole. Checked the dome temp after 30 minutes, had hardly moved off of "zero." Great, I thought, But, when I opened the lid, there was also hardly any smoke being generated. So, I took everything out and lit the wood in a second spot with the propane torch. Took off nicely and the temps hardly moved again. 30 minutes later, it was out. Removed and re-lit everything - again, but opened the left dial about a quarter turn open and closed the right dial off. Smoking well and temps weren't jumping up, but went up a little. Reminder, I'm doing all this in a drizzling rain, so not much fun at all. Came back 30 minutes later, out again! Now, I'm getting pissed off - been at this almost 2 hours and not making any progress whatsoever. Added 2 more chunks of cherry wood. Lit up everything, opened the lower vent to half open, opened the top vent 4 turns. Off she goes, smoking like a banshee. Watch the dome temp, crept up a bit and stopped around 80 F (guessing, as it was still not on scale on the dial), so I got a little antsy and shut the top vent back down to 2 turns. Came back 30 minutes later, stlll smoking like crazy, temps had moved up a bit more, so I opened the lid to check on things, and the cheese had softened and was slumping on the grates. Pulled everything off and let them cool down. Nice smoky flavor, but ugly as sin to look at. Most of the cheese chunks look like a Salvador Dali still life painting!! Hence, no pics! Vacuum sealed up the cheese and still going to give it out. Clearly has that "homemade" look - LOL!! Patience has never been one of my virtues and it clearly was a factor here. Will definitely try this again, but it's going to be a while!

Nice parfait, MacKenzie! Glad to hear that the SV reheat went well.

Ken, roast a chicken and make a big pot of Jewish Penicillin!