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Syzygies

Solo Stove

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Last 2 nights me and Mrs skreef sat out in the front yard around the Solo Stove Bonfire enjoying a few adult beverages. I absolutely love my Solo Stove. 

 

As for Friday night twelve step meetings - I decided to quit cold turkey - no more grills for me - at least not until my brain tweaks on a infomercial - eeekkkk.... 

 

The other day I did see a Masterbuilt Gravity fed charcoal grill in person. It looks like a lot of fun. Mrs skreef grabbed my arm and jerked me along before I pulled out the wallet. It was a close call........... 

 

Edited by ckreef
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Those infomercials talk to you Ckreef, it's ok stand strong.  The Masterbuilt I've heard is good at lower temps, once you push them I've heard they have a tendency to fall apart around the fire zone. The quality of matierals is reflective of it's price point and it's certainly not built like a Stumps. A person I know that had issues happen to them didn't get a response back from the Company.  Maybe it was best Ms Ckreef saved you on this one. Let me ask,  did you ever play dodgeball?  It's not every time you get hit with the ball so, that being said, until your hit your still in the game, and another grill out there has your name on it.

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I wanted to try out a paella today. I looked up @ckreef's cooks and saw that he used his Nuke Delta grill to good effect.  I decided to try out the Solo Bonfire.  It worked out well.

Sofritto was a bit hectic on a hot, open fire.

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Added the protein in stages

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My Spanish friend steams the rice in the last stage with a covering of tea towels.  I used a cast iron lid

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Turned out very tasty.

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3 hours ago, tony b said:

I'm sure that it made a great crust on the bottom (socarrat).

I didn't get much of a crust at the bottom.  Decided not to chase the socarrat.  Now I understand a bit more about managing the fire through the different stages I will have more confidence when I try this again.  

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55 minutes ago, tekobo said:

I didn't get much of a crust at the bottom.  Decided not to chase the socarrat.  Now I understand a bit more about managing the fire through the different stages I will have more confidence when I try this again.  

It definitely took me a couple tries to get better using the Nuke Delta grill and paella. I'm guessing in the Bonfire having a bunch of small sticks at the ready would help so you could easily (quickly) turn up the heat without going overboard. 

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10 hours ago, ckreef said:

I'm guessing in the Bonfire having a bunch of small sticks at the ready would help so you could easily (quickly) turn up the heat without going overboard. 

I agree.  A stack of small sticks would make all the difference for when I need to up the ante without setting the world on fire.  I like the limited smoke from the Solo Stove which is why I chose it over burning the wood under my Argentinian grill.

19 hours ago, ckreef said:

I especially like the baby octopus.

Funny you should say that.  I sent a photo of the cook to my paella mentor who is visiting his parents in Spain at the moment.  He replied. "will be adding octopus to my next one as it looks amazing and reminded me that my dad used to add it to his too".  That's good enough for me, hashtagauthenticpaellatoend2020.

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It has taken me a while to try paella again on the Solo stove.  I was scared of getting it wrong.  I took @ckreef's advice about feeding in smaller pieces of wood to keep control of the fire.  It worked out well.  Certainly gave me confidence to try again in future.  Everyone loved it. 

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Well, I finally bought a Bonfire, which was delivered last Friday. The KK Shopping Club pressure was too much to resist. I haven't had a chance to try it yet as it has been pretty rainy, super windy, or both here for the past couple of weeks. It sure looks good, though. Now I just have to get the chain saw running...

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Acting on @Syzygies' advice, I have tried isopropyl alchohol as a fire starter in my Solo stove.  It is pretty dramatic but doesn't always have a lasting effect and the fire often goes out.  What I have now found is an even better use for the alchohol.  No, I don't drink it.  I soak part burned coals in the alchohol and use them to start the fire in my KKs.  Wow.  So simple.  I drop a few soaked coals in to the centre of the KK when I am ready to light it.  Apply fire, wind open vents and go away.  Come back and the fire is always reliably alight in no time at all.  No odour or impact on taste and no need to use a blower at all.  A keeper.  

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1 hour ago, tekobo said:

It is pretty dramatic but doesn't always have a lasting effect and the fire often goes out.

It's less dramatic in colder weather, lights like a gel.

I always include a couple of lumps of wood at the base. I'd use all wood, but it burns down too completely, too quickly. I'd use all charcoal, but as you note it doesn't light as reliably by itself.

I buy iso four gallons at a time, transfer to typical drugstore bottles, and use perhaps half a bottle at a time. Enough to make a loud noise and lose arm hair in summer. Don't try this at home? 😎

Solo Stove advises against charcoal, as it burns hotter than wood. Think bronze age. They're fearing that I'll fill my Solo Stove with charcoal, which I never do. A few inches at the bottom is enough to cook whatever I'm grilling.

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Sonos.jpeg

An update on how I use my Solo Stoves:

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Did a lovely cook on my solo stove yesterday.  

Quail and pork tenderloin

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Squash on the KK

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Altogether with a nice ginger dressing on the squash and pomegranate on the quail.  We had the pork tenderloin afterwards.  It was a little dry.  I’ll probably cook pork tenderloin the KK next time.

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