John Setzler

I saw a post somewhere else yesterday about a whisky fudge so I decided to give it a try myself... instead of whisky I chose to use Grand Marnier instead... Super easy recipe... 3 1/2 cups of chocolate chips (i used half milk chocolate and half semi sweet chocolate) 1 cup sweetened condensed milk 1/4 cup Grand Marnier (or whisky or whatever else you might wanna try) 1 tsp vanilla extract Melt the chocolate however you like.. microwave, double boiler or whatever. I used the microwave. Mix in the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and booze and mix completely. Pour it in an 8x8 baking dish that is lined with foil, cover it with foil, and let it sit at room temp for 4 to 8 hours to set completely. Refrigerate for an hour or so before removing to cut into squares. Keeps in an airtight container for about two weeks...

Here's a fun little experiment that went down in the Man Cave tonight... Two 2" thick filets from Publix.... Seasoned with a salt/pepper/garlic blend.... Wrapped and tossed back in the fridge for 90 minutes.... Chopped a shallot and a garlic clove for each.... Each steak went in a bag with gheek, shallot, and garlic... Into the sous vide bath... (separate bags because one steak got a well done treatment... lol) Onto the soapstone for a sear.... Really delicious results. I am going to experiment with this some more...

@Charcoal Addict Are you personally a fan and advocate of pressure cooking?

The instant pot facebook forum has 1.6 million members. I think there is a huge audiene for it. If you can pull them to a forum format then you will definitely be successful with it.

There is no doubt that this gasket is damaged. I would definitely file the claim and get a new one. Here's what's gonna happen: You will get the new gasket. You will have to decide whether or not to install it. If you choose to install it you will need to remove the existing gasket. There is adhesive holding that gasket to the felt underneath it. Ripping the old gasket off will likely pull some of that felt with it. It will get stringy and messy probably. You could try to soften the adhesive with something like acetone or goo gone or something else but I don't know what your results might be. If you are unhappy with the grill as a whole because of the gasket issue, load it up and take it back where you got it and ask for a refund or exchange. The problem shown here by @Bartstop is not one I would personally even think twice about. There are others here who would obviously demand a new grill for something like that so you will just need to take your pick as to where you want to be with it and do it.

If it was mine i would not even replace it. Stash the new gasket away in case you need it later.

I have built and given away two Ugly Drum Smokers. I am ready to build a serious one to keep. I got started today because I scored a NEW UNLINED 55 gallon drum on Craigslist for $40. I am going to make a video diary of this process this time....

I have the 8" and the 10" from the shogun series... great knives.

Lump charcoal should not be judged by how big or small the pieces are. That is the biggest bunch of HOGWASH I have ever seen. It reminds me of how companies sell digital cameras.. it's all about more megapixels. It's not a gauge of how well the camera works of of the quality of pictures it makes. I have never cooked with the BGE branded charcoal but I have burned a LOT of royal oak.. the company who makes and packages the BGE branded charcoal. I have never had any issues with it. It was my GO TO charcoal for a long time.

The whole objective of these baskets is to minimize/eliminate hands on time with charcoal. I find no need at all to rearrange any charcoal. I just add charcoal as needed. If I was gonna take the charcoal out, it makes it mostly pointless to even have the basket

I am just telling ya based on a lot of experiences i have had with owners who have come to me with problems related to this upgrade. Please feel free to give it a try if you wish.

This is a lot more than we normally see at any one time for sure... i measured 13" on my patio table...

That's gonna make for a fun 20 mile trip back to work in a couple hours....

There are a lot of people who have trouble getting the lid to close properly on the older grills with the new gasket installed.

Congrats on the new grill! Were you cooking on a smaller sized big green egg before this one?