tony b

Big fan of Bronto Ribs (aka beef back ribs). Here's a photo of some that I made. BTW - this was a 1.6MB file and the software shrank it down to 150KB.

Looks awesome. Can't wait to see the pics of the finished product!

Great video. You are about to embark on an amazing ride - Hang On! FWIW - find the post under "Poultry" about debunking the Beer Can Chicken myth. Go with spatchcocking - you will get amazing results. I swear that whole chickens are the best thing to come off the KK (and I do love me some ribs, butts, and briskets!)

I have a Dark Autumn Nebula, too! Aren't they gorgeous!? Welcome to the Club! Despite all the other problems that I seem to be having with the new Forum software (see my posts in the new Forum thread), uploading pics hasn't been one of them. And, I haven't had to downsize any either.

Why I bought the Food Saver! Best investment I've ever made. Now, I get the side benefit of being able to use it for my sous vide cooks, like the ribeye in the water bath as I type this.

As is. Corned beef isn't usually grilled or seared.

Did my corned beef brisket in the sous vide for St. Pats. 36 hours @ 145F. Perfect.

No pictures, it didn't happen! (Forum Rule #1)

Doc, from Evita - "Don't cry for me, Argentina!"

Susan, have you ever experimented with reverse searing?

We are de-evolving!

I have a Chinese themed dinner coming up for my Dinner Club and was thinking about doing this as the entrée. I've been reading lots of recipes/techniques online about how to do them. This is consistent with many of them, but doesn't mention doing the hot bath first (mixing the honey/vinegar with lots of boiling water and ladling over the duck)? Anyone have experience making this? Any help/suggestions would be appreciated. My dinner party is the first Saturday in April, so I have some time to plan this out.

Ba, da, bump - tssh! (rim shot!) He's here all week folks! And, don't forget to tip your waitress!

www.cubanmarket.com Get almost all of my latino spices, marinades, etc. from them.

Hey Robert, check out MadMedik's seriously bad-ass outdoor kitchen picture in the "Tapatalk" post. Be inspired!!!

To paraphrase Dennis, smoke flavor comes from condensation on the meat surface, so you want the meat to be cooler than the smoke for it to stick. So, as noted, leave the meat in the fridge until just before ready to put on the KK. This will help maximize the smokiness. As Robert noted, by the time you've hit the stall point (around 160F) you're past the point at which smoke is absorbed into the meat (140F). Wrapping in the foil only softens the bark on the meat surface, it doesn't cause a loss of "smokiness." Unless it gets so wet that all the bark falls off! Hence, the reason that some folks unwrap the meat for the last 30 minutes or so, to tighten up the bark. My technique (learned from others on this Forum) for prolonged smoke generation on a long lo & slo cook is to use a smoke pot - a cast iron dutch oven with 3 small (3/32") holes in the bottom. Place your chunks/chips of smoking wood inside (do not wet/soak them, it's pointless), seal up the lid with a simple flour/water paste. Place pot on top of the lit coals. By restricting the airflow, you prolong the smoking; think of it as a "baby KK." The holes in the bottom force the smoke through the hot coals that help burn off some of the volatiles that make smoke bitter. And in the end, you end up with a few chunks of homemade charcoal - Bonus!

My trick to getting the pizza off the peel and onto the stone - parchment paper. Doesn't impact the bottom crust that much and if you want it more crispy, the paper comes off easily after just a few minutes on the stone. If you turn your pies mid-way through, it's an good time to remover the parchment.

Devil's in the details, Robert. Make sure your builder/designer has experience in outdoor kitchens, lots of unique considerations from an indoor one. For example, if your outdoor kitchen is 100% open air, i.e., no overhead covering, then things like standing water on the countertops becomes an issue. So, the design needs to consider those things - slope the countertops towards the sink, extra corner drains, material selection, etc. If your outdoor kitchen isn't close to the indoor plumbing for tie-ins, consider an on-demand gas hot water heater, since you are running gas for your burners anyway. You won't have lots of waiting for the hot water to arrive (wasting a lot of water) and by using an on-demand, you won't be wasting a lot of gas heating a big tank of water that sits 95% of the time on "stand-by." If your patio/kitchen isn't convenient to the indoor kitchen, would a dishwasher make sense? You could keep a separate outdoor set of dishes/silverware/glasses and not have to schlep all your indoor stuff back and forth. Depends on how frequently you plan to use the outdoor kitchen. Once a week, maybe not that big of a deal, but if you're going to be using it 3 or 4 times a week, then maybe it would be more convenient. Good luck! Remember, "How do you know when your contractor is lying to you? His lips are moving!"

Hey Doc, long time, no posts!! Glad to have you (and your sage advice) back on the Forum!

Tide will turn in July, Downunder Boy!! We'll be the ones sitting outside in shorts, drinking beers, and grilling big ole hunks of meat! In the meantime, go smoke your nuts - ha, ha, ha!!

Weather has broken for a couple of days (above freezing), so I had to fire up the KK while I had the chance. First up was cold smoked almonds. Second time doing this and will keep doing it as they come out yummy! CostCo has 3 lb bags of raw almonds that work perfectly for this. Almonds started out on cherry wood at about 100F for 30 minutes. They weren't toasting quite as well as I wanted, plus I started to get pushed for time to cook my chicken for dinner. So, I let the KK start to come up to the chicken cooking temperature (375F). Pulled the almonds off after another 20 minutes (KK @ 250F). Let the KK come on up to above 300F, then put on the spatchcocked chicken. Bird was injected with Butcher BBQ chicken marinade, then rubbed with Plowboy's Yardbird rub. KK reached 375F shortly after. Chicken was on for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Temps crept up near the end to 450F, but no worries, just helped out with crispy skin. Seriously juicy!!

Thanks, Kravnh for the translation. Never having owned a BGE, all that plate setter up/down "hokey-pokey" doesn't jibe with KK techniques.

chacun à son goût - French for YMMV! I've used alder wood planks and chunks for years, too. I like both alder and cedar equally for planking fish. Use the alder chunks for cold smoking.