tony b

@tekobo - we all dream of the day that we can get Dennis' coco-char again! I'm hoarding my last boxes like gold!

I've been in their wine club for a couple of years now. I like that all of their grapes are grown on their estate. This is my crazy time of summer (fortunately after last year's hiatus!) with golf outings, beer festivals and out-of-town guests, I've been busy. I've been cooking, but just couldn't take time to take pictures and post them. Tonight I managed to dodge 2 thunderstorms and cook dinner in the "eye of the storm" - hence, the semi out-of-focus grill pic! It was just starting to rain again. Local corn (of course!) and peri-peri chicken breasts and a nice side Caesar salad.

Back in the saddle again! Grilled chicken picata with better corn and roasted parmesan potatoes.

While I've been cooking off/on lately, I haven't bothered to post them. Last night was grilled corn (not the best - from the grocery store, as the roadside stand isn't open on Sundays) and smashed burgers with pimento cheese (or as we say back home - minner cheese!) Plated with a homegrown tomato - very tasty, but seriously messy!

First thought is to measure the height of the area under the basket to see if it will actually fit under there, especially is you're going to get one with feet (or use something else to sit off the floor)? I would think that it would get hot enough under the basket to ignite the wood inside, but my best guess is that it might take longer to heat up to ignition temperature, seeing as it's not in direct contact with the burning embers in the basket. We love a good experiment on here, so I say "go for it" and report back on how well it worked?

That's too long, Dennis. We all know how much prices of materials, shipping, etc. have skyrocketed since then. You're a business, not a charity. I have a good friend who owns a business and he keeps eating the price increases from his suppliers and shipping costs and he's down to a point where he's hardly making any money. He's having to bite the bullet and raise his prices, too, knowing that his customers are all going to scream and some may leave, but he has no other choice if he wants to stay in business and not go bankrupt.

Crazy/Insane/Madness!!

You Go, Gurl!! Happy Anniversary. I know that it will be epic! 🍾

Now THAT'S how you celebrate an anniversary! Congratulations!

A combination of both. SRF is good stuff (pricey) and you know that the KK made it live up to its full potential!

Very nicely done. The dedication looks like it paid off!

Welcome to the Obsession! You're going to fall in love with it once you start cooking on it. Nice ODK setup.

Yes, the main reason that I bought it was to do true cold smoking. I've done cheese, nuts and salmon. I recently cold smoked the beef tallow and pork lard to try on cooks after watching the YouTube vids about it. I don't recall the dome temps, but it's not very hot at all. I wouldn't think the size/type of wood would make much difference? I use fruit wood pellets mostly, but have some alderwood pellets for the salmon.

Aren't we all??

No sealer needed. Just use the grout in your spare parts kit. Wipes off the tiles easily with a wet sponge once it dries.

I've not tried it. There are some other extruded coconut charcoals out there that I toyed with trying, but haven't yet. I still have boxes of Dennis' cocochar and coffee wood lump for special cooks. My 2 cents - Cowboy is CRAP! Scrap lumber, often not fully carbonized, almost always has "stuff" in the bag, burns up like paper. It's cheap for a reason! Do your food a favor and buy good quality lump.

The Lump Charcoal Database Reviews -- Naked Whiz Charcoal Ceramic Cooking

@C6Bill - odd that you said the handle got too warm to hold? Outside of the burn-in, I've never had mine get that warm? Were you opening the lid frequently?

It's 1/2". I just used it to shift out half a bag of JD. Was shocked at how little went through, but I didn't get to the bottom of the bag yet. I was also surprised by how many very large chunks were in this bag. I think that JD is going to be my steady going forward.

I've used all 5 of these, plus the Weekend Warrior from Wicked Good. First off, I don't like having a bunch of humongous chunks in a bag of charcoal. Extra work for me to break them up with a mallet and chisel. I made a wire sieve that I screen all my bags of charcoal through before going into my bin, so I get rid of all the dust and smalls right away. I can tell how much I'm losing in each bag, too. As noted in the video, I've been tagged quite a few times with sparks, including on the eye lid. Not Fun! So, I can 2nd his assessment from my own experience. I'm a recent convert to JD - my new go-to. I like the funky versions of Fogo (Eucalyptus and Quebracho), but have stopped using the 2 in this test - too large pieces and sparking/hard to light. I like the KJ and Wicked Good, but both are hard for me to source here. I can get KJ on Amazon or the occasional CostCo online sale. Can't get WG anymore. Rockwood was a go-to in the past, as I could get it at the local BBQ store. It's decent charcoal, but I found that I like some of the others better. I might give it another try, since it's been a while using it last.

2 other breweries to check out while you're there - Bear Republic (known for their Racer 5 pale ale) and Mad Fritz (Belgian farmhouse and saisons.)

Making me hungry even though I just had breakfast. Heading up to Russian River brewery this morning. While they make a tasty pizza, I'm sure that it's not as good as what you folks make! 🍕

Hitting the best part of summer - local corn and homegrown tomatoes.

It's true for Guru fans, as well.