tony b

@tekobo - I've been hugged! Was fun finally meeting Jon. His sister came along, too, whom I've met several times before. We had some tasty beers and a good long chat. For a short time, the lockdown was shoved into the background! @Jon B. - way too generous with the cooking supplies. But Thank You for the largesse!

Unless you're immortal, that's probably going to happen.

I'm looking forward to meeting the famous Jon B, as well.

I've had a couple of homebrews made with spruce tips instead of hops. Very nice change of pace. This was a wort rally with the brewery, so the base beer was one of their recipes that I had kettle soured and made into a German Gose. I did the one-off mango version, as well. The mango took 1st place and the standard Gose took 3rd place in Best in Show. So, I was pretty proud of that.

It would likely be a longer cook (8+ hours) where you'd need the extra fuel, like a pork butt or a full brisket.

We call that a "foodgasm!"

Nice bark!

Indeed. I won a beer competition a couple of years back and the winner got to brew their recipe at a local brewery that sponsored the competition. I actually didn't get to make the exact recipe, as the brewery said it would be too expensive to make in their standard 8 barrel quantity. We had to cut out one of the key ingredients (mango). But they did a special Firkin release of the mango version, as that was manageable.

Probably the difference between 225F and 245F cooking temps shaved off a couple of hours.

You make it sound so pedestrian, when us homebrewers all know that our brews are better than many commercial ones!

Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen rates this Victorinox chef knife as their fav. Cheap, too. It's my preferred chef's knife (and as I said before - I have a LOT of chef's knives that I've collected over the years.) The Best The Best Chef's Knives | Cook's Illustrated The Cutco is also a good mid-priced chef's knife and they make a nice slicer, too. Their kitchen shears are also top notch. Cutco Cutlery & Kitchen Knives | Vector Marketing While not on your list of knives, I want to make another recommendation. After many years of trying to find a decent bread knife, I have fallen in love with this one! Suisin Inox Bread Knife 9.75" (25 cm) (korin.com)

Told ya!

Repeat after me - I WILL NEVER PUT MY KNIVES IN THE DISHWASHER!!! (Note: this is one of those "line in the sand" positions that you sometimes have to take with the significant other!) Not only is it very bad for your knives (blades getting nicked up banging into the other silverware and dishwasher detergent is very harsh on carbon steel and can even pit stainless), but it's dangerous - very easy to get cut/nicked by a blade when removing from the dishwasher.

NOT a big fan of wire bristle brushes! CDC warns of injuries from inadvertently swallowing grill-cleaning brush bristles - CBS News Stick with the open end 3/8" box wrench or the Grill Floss (my vote).

Holla at me if you can't get it there and would like one - happy to ship one to you!

Looking perfect!

OK, then! Definitely on the shopping list!

1) If you mean "fully open" then 3 or 4 turns is pretty much it. As you said, after that, not much change. For perspective, most cooks are done in less that 1/2 turn open position. 2) NO, don't do that unless you want to be replacing gaskets frequently. I'm sure that the hair on the back of Dennis' neck went up when you did that - LOL! 3) Yes, you only leave the lid in Position 1 in between cooks, after the fire is out, again for gasket longevity.

Fortuitously I had this email from Milk Street (the Cooks Illustrated folks) about a new hybrid knife that they had developed - a cross between the Nakiri and a Chinese cleaver (you listening @Syzygies?) Milk Street Kitchin-to Knife | Milk Street Store (177milkstreet.com)

I second that. I've never noticed any petroleum smell or taste using my MAPP torch either.

Nice job!

I'll try and remember to look for that sauce on my next road trip to Trader Joe's. I like Aleppo pepper.

It amazes me how many "good cooks/chefs" don't remove the green sprout from their cloves of garlic?! I am "knife poor." I can't tell you how many chefs knives and Santoku's that I have. @Troble For your budget point, you can't really go wrong with Shun knives. My Shun Nakiri is one of my "go to's" for everyday tasks. Amazon.com : Shun Knives These guys have a lot of nice options, if you want to explore more traditional Japanese knives. They span a large price range, so don't freak out if the first one you look at is over $500. Shop All Knives | KORIN

I don't see your Guru probe in the picture, so I'm venturing a guess. You have it too close to the meat and it's influencing the reading. Move the probe at least a couple of inches away from the meat. Even at heat soak, you will likely see a 20F difference between dome temp and grate temp. That's normal.

You're going to be blown away by that Kurobuta pork. Heritage breeds are just so crazy good. Last night was steak night. New cut - Sierra steak from Porter Rd. Similar to flank. Cooked direct, lower grate (thin steak), mesquite and post oak, rubbed with Gunpowder. Grilled a piece of haloumi cheese and the romaine lettuce for the Cesare salad. Plated with a nice 2x baked spud. Chimichurri sauce and sautéed mushrooms for the steak. Interesting cut of beef. Good flavor, but you have to cut it against the grain.