tony b

Yes, I generally foil the cast iron skillet for the Hasselback spuds and take it off with about 30 mins to go to reduce the liquid a bit and get a touch more smokiness on them. While Susan's recipe doesn't call for it, I like to finish off the sauce with half-n-half. Take the potatoes out of the skillet, add just enough half-n-half to form a sauce. The residual heat in the pan is enough. I've even used my immersion blender to cream it up a bit more, but leave some chunks.

Too good for words!!

MIM is on my "bucket list", too, along with the Jack and the Am Royal. BTW - as the geeky engineer, you should know that the "double rainbow" that you saw was actually a "triple!" What you saw were the primary and tertiary rainbows. The secondary appears as a circle around the sun and would have been 180 degrees behind you. I have been fortunate enough to have observed a triple in my life - the secondary was amazing - a full circle rainbow around the sun!

I just did some boneless beef ribs. My mistake was letting the temperature get away from me. I tried to salvage them by foiling and adding some liquid, but the ends were just too dried out. Next time, I'll foil sooner. Boneless really makes a difference in how they cook, too. Glad that I stocked up when they were on sale, so I have more to "practice on."

Seriously yummy looking. I agree, you should plan on a serving size of 6 - 8. FYI - that style of potato (partially sliced) is called Hasselback. Susan (Loquitor) posted a really good recipe for doing them in the Forum that I've done several times. Yours look great too!

A big from me on the cast iron smoke pot. Took me a few tries to get the flour/water paste down (I started out making it too thin), but now I have a feel for it and it works great. I generally put one good sized chunk of hardwood (hickory, oak, or mesquite) in the pot with 2 or 3 similar sized chunks of whatever fruit wood I plan to use. Put the pot on top of the coals at the beginning and by the time you've heated up the KK to temp, the pot should be just starting to smoke. With the restricted airflow in the pot, you can generate some nice smoke for a long cook and when you're done - you've made a few pieces of nice hardwood charcoal. How cool is that!?!

That's the reason that we cook to temperature, not to time. Just think what it would have turned out like if you'd cooked it for the "normal time" for a full packer cut of brisket - can you say jerky!

I did my last rack for about 4 hours @ 225F (w/guru control). They were St. Louis cut, so a bit thicker and being Swabian, they had higher fat content. But, Dennis is correct about how to test for "doneness." I wait until the meat pulls back from the ends of the bones before I start "bend testing" them. I want a bite to it and not "falling off the bone."

Just follow Dennis' directions on the venting and you'll be just fine. It's a simple process. Just stay on top of it and it goes pretty smoothly. I didn't have any tiles bubble, but you do smell it as it's offgassing. Good Luck! Check out the forum posts on pizza to get you stoked for doing yours!!

Sorry to hear that MK. I don't buy direct from Carl at Rustic Rooster. I get mine from the local butcher shop at our Farmers' Market (Big Boy Meats). Unfortunately, I don't think Nate ships. Fingers crossed for Susan's shipment!

Just checking in to see if the folks that ordered some of the Swabian have had a chance to cook it yet and hear what they think? I just did 2 racks of Swabian St. Louis ribs on Sunday. Just got a pack of Jowl Bacon, which I've yet to try, but can't wait.

Not many things on this planet better than a good salmon belly! Believe it or not, we get Copper River Salmon here in Iowa during the season. I always vacuum seal up a bunch for the freezer. It's the best (IMHO).

Stunning! Welcome and hang on, you're in for the ride of your life! But, dude, where's the food porn? Rule #1 of the Forum - no food pictures, it didn't happen!

Killer. I did a couple of racks of the Swabian ribs on Sunday. Pretty tasty!

I use parchment paper for both pizza and bread. About 3/4 of the way through, just remove the paper then to firm up the bottom.

My 2 cents - FWIW. First, I'm not that anal about my drip pan/heat deflector looking shiny and new. I don't foil. If I need a clean pan to catch dripping, I use a disposable aluminum one, sized to fit whatever I'm cooking (most often it's to catch duck fat, a valuable commodity!) So, the ability to foil aspect is not high on my list, but if it's easily incorporated into the design, "no harm, no foul" in my book. As I said before, I like the handles for ease of picking it up, especially when hot. I also liked the deeper construction, because if you're doing several pork butts at once, you can accumulate a lot of fat drippings, so the extra room is nice. As far as weight is concerned, all that matters to me is that it has sufficient wall/bottom thickness that it doesn't warp with moderately high heat. The rods on the bottom could supply the extra stability to prevent warping, while providing the insulation that folks seem to want.

Wagyu must be much less expensive there, Dennis, than it is here, even from our domestic suppliers. Even at Ruth's Chris (pricey steakhouse), a prime grade ribeye is typically $40 and weighs in at a pound. So, you're saying you can get wagyu there for under $15/lb? WOW!!! The same steak here is going to be $45 - $70/lb, depending on supplier.

Great looking pics. One thing, based on the pictures of your cut steak, that looks rare, not medium-rare, to me. A 1 1/2" steak cooked only 6 minutes (3 per side) normally won't get you to medium rare, even with a screaming hot (900F) temperature. But as long as you enjoyed it, call it whatever you want!! I did a prime, bacon-wrapped sirloin filet (about 1 1/2") last night - reverse sear: 4 minutes per side at 400F direct on the lower grill; then fired up the KK to searing temps with a nice flaming block of red oak (Santa Maria style). Turning every 15 seconds or so (including the sides to crisp up the bacon wrap), for about another 2 minutes total. Came out right at the border between rare and medium-rare. YMMV BTW, to second what Dennis said, I lower the lid to it's "natural resting position," but don't latch it, during the sear phase. I can peer inside and watch what's happening, without turning the lid handle into a branding iron. Just raise the lid enough to flip the steaks over and re-lower it until I'm finished.

Gorgeous hunk of meat! Yeah, too bad it's so damned expensive.

Wicked Good Charcoal also makes a very good briquette. I use them in the baby Grill Dome (when I use it - rarely now), as they didn't clog up the air intake as bad as lump. Nothing inherently wrong with briquettes if they're made well.

After seeing the internet posting about the 8-legged goat, I was about to ask about this chicken!

Obviously the wind was not blowing in the right direction, or you would have smelled the pork steak cooking on the KK yesterday on cherry and red oak.

Love the new design, Dennis. Two things stand out besides the conforming shape - handles to make it easier to pick up and move; and, the sides look higher and more vertical, which means less likelihood of hot fat sloshing out if you have to move it, or for holding water/stock/wine/beer for steaming during cooking. One question - what grate size(s) are you making them for? Lower grill, main, or sear? I expect that you'll make separate ones for the 23" and Bad Boy 32", but since you're making them in a conforming shape, for which grate becomes important. Will definitely want one when you go into production.

Yummy looking duck! When I did my Peking Ducks last month, I saved the dripping fat in a pan. Used it to fry potatoes lyonnaise that night and make frites with it the next. Nothing better than potatoes cooked in duck fat!!!

Hi, my name is Tony, and I'm a total food geek! [Collective Response: Hi, Tony!] I have 4 more food books coming next week via Amazon - 2 by Ruhlman, one from Alton, and the latest from Peterson - "Done.: A Cook's Guide to Know When Food is Perfectly Cooked." I need help!