pmillen

Marcia likes KC Masterpiece Original. So that's what we use. It's what my mother told her to use more than 50 years ago and she's reluctant to change. I'll make my stand on larger issues.

Do you put anything in with the ribs or on the ribs when you wrap them?

It's of no consequence. You can sit and polish it with Flitz metal polish while you watch TV. Or...you can cook away on it.

I have the PG500. It's essentially the same unit inside. The lid works differently and the 1000 is insulated while the 500 isn't. The 1000 is an all stainless steel quality unit—considered along with two others to be one of the "high end" pellet pits. It's a unique design with a dedicated direct flame grilling zone. The flame isn't below the grease tray so there's a reduced chance of a grease fire and the pellets drop into the fire pot which reduces the possibility of an auger fire that might reach the pellet hopper. Number 15 is the direct grilling zone. Number 18 is where you'll do most of your smoking. The heat comes from the top downward and is amazingly uniform everywhere on the grate.

Yep. That's the one. I also have a bit of a hankering for an Assassin 48 grill. They do rather well as a grill/smoker combination. But I don't see what they offer over my Big Joe, except capacity and possibly longer smoking times. Hi, my names pmillen and I'm a smokerholic.

Moderators, delete this post if it's too far afield from Kamado Guru's mission. Me, too. I'm kind' jonesin' for one of the Good-One smokers. Quality offsets are a bit pricy for me and the cheap big box offsets don't appeal to me but the Good-Ones look like a possibility. I attended a Chris Marks BBQ class where he cooked turkey, brisket, butt, beef tenderloin and lamb chops, on one. They seem to operate much like an offset.

We may have observed things differently. Or, there may be a difference in pits. In my pit the controller calls for pellets and they're dropped into the fire pot. They land on burning or glowing pellets. They smolder for a bit before they burn. It's during the smolder that they make the most smoke. It's most evident when the pit is starting up and the red hot-ignitor causes the pellets to smolder before they burn. BTW, in my pit the pellet drops are controlled by timing—slow timing when the pit is at or above the set temperature (pilot light). The timing is different when the pit is below the set temperature. Then, the pellets are dropping at a different rate. Both settings are user adjustable.

There's a link two posts up. I think that you go to the post if you put the pointer on the post's title, Why Do Recipes Call For Kosher Salt?

That looks like perfect smoke to me. On the subject of quality smoke–. A couple of years ago I walked around a BBQ competition. It was my second and last exposure to competitive BBQing. It probably wasn’t a world class event but it drew people from many states. The competitors had high investments in their equipment. There were pull campers with the pit built in on the back porch, similar trailers that were mobile restaurants rather than living quarters and sophisticated pits on dedicated trailers. I suspect that they all know a bit about smoking protein. One competitor, drinking sweet tea in the shade of his awning, seemed willing and wanting to talk. I commented on the barely visible smoke coming from his Shirley pit. He said, “Yeah, that may be a bit too much.” “Gee,” I said, “I thought that you’d want more.” That started a long conversation about quality smoke. Here’s somewhat of a recap of what he said— 1. If your only source of heat is burning wood, adjust your fire so you don’t see any smoke at all. 2. As close as I can come to his words—“Smoked meat may be the wrong name. The flavor doesn’t come from smoke. It comes from, I don’t know, maybe flavored gasses or something. Watch a wood-fired pizza oven. It’s not pumping out smoke but you can taste the difference.” 3. I told him that I exchange recipes and information on the Internet with a group of pellet pit owners and that many of them say that they miss the obvious smoke taste generated by their stick burners. He said, “A lot of people put too much smoke on their meat.” 4. He told me that sometimes when he’s driving with his windows down he smells strong smoke. He parks and tries to find the source. If it’s a backyard pit he visits with the cooks, “But I never tell them that they should manage their fire better.” 5. He opened his fire box and showed me a piece of wood about like the fat end of a baseball bat burning on top of a bed of coals. He said he controls the pit temperature by building the right sized fire and controls the smoke level by adjusting the air intake and the chimney cap. 6. I told him about the typical pellet pit temperature fluctuations. He was okay with that. I explained that smoke’s generated by smoldering pellets and that smoke density can also fluctuate. He said he probably wouldn’t care for that. “Smoldering wouldn’t be right.” 7. He’s not cooked on a pellet pit but he “Might like to try a few” if he could make the smoke “light and steady.” 8. He’s not interested in competing with one. “A painter wouldn’t want to program a robot to paint a picture” he said. He checked his smartphone a moment and texted me a link to this youtube video for a lesson on proper smoke— https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcFsiq_S3eM. The lesson begins at the three-minute point. I’ve looked at several other videos where the smoke output was similar. Preferences for smoke taste varies widely in much the same way that salt preference does. Those were his thoughts, I’m interested in readers' thoughts.

Yes. And the sweet thing about John's chart is that you can convert that table salt volume to weight and then use an equal weight of another kind of salt. That chart is the best cooking tool I've acquired in the few years I've been cooking.

On the subject of converting a volume of one kind of salt to another kind: in this post– John Setzler makes a case for listing salt in a recipe by weight and not volume. He provides a useful weight-based conversion chart.

I was practically raised on soup. I'm not a very good cook—I'm not intuitive or inventive but I can follow a comprehensive recipe. Those soups look fantastic. I’m going to give it a try.

Oh, John, here we go again. What I wrote was, "but it appears that certain spices.." I didn't write, "I think" or "I'm convinced." EDIT: But, to answer your question, yes, that's what I think happened. It's also what researchers think happened. They are also researching if it might be a health hazard.

I didn't plan to debate conclusions, I asked for them because I want to know what others think about it. But I feel compelled to address that statement. I don't want to be unkind here, but I don't find any logic in it. The fact that the risk of drunk driving is insignificant compared to the risk of playing Russian Roulette shouldn't be viewed as complete freedom to do the less risky.

I don't "know". That's why I wrote, "potential risk", "may not be a risk each time", and "it appears that certain spices..." The last two sentences in my original post, "Have you heard of or seen this before?" and "Does it concern you?" I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want answers.

The physician that supplied the following three research papers advises to not eat food cooked in foil or foil pans. Completely reading them is worthwhile but not entertaining. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21157018 http://www.electrochemsci.org/papers/vol7/7054498.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sadettin_Turhan/publication/285200416_Aluminium_contents_in_baked_meats_wrapped_in_aluminium_foil/links/565c547608ae4988a7bb6a91/Aluminium-contents-in-baked-meats-wrapped-in-aluminium-foil.pdf I'm thinking that butcher paper, parchment paper or a Reynolds oven bag inside the foil wrap will ease my concerns. EDIT: He’s a neurologist studying the aluminum/Alzheimer’s link.

Well, ~52-cook average service life, that seems disproportionate. Is it typical? If not, have you figured out what's unique about yours? Would a charcoal basket prevent it?

Has it been like this since you acquired the kamado? If it used to get appropriately hot when you had the vents open, then something has changed. It doesn't appear to be the thermometer because your pizza didn't burn up There aren't too many other possibilities Air flow is blocked Poor charcoal I didn't list low temperature caused by too much air flow because I haven't experienced it. I have left the vents wide open in start-up mode for too long and had a wicked hot fire—exactly the opposite result. Good luck. Please let us know how you corrected it.

I wonder...is the term set by the state or by some more local subdivision. In Omaha, Nebraska, we're called for one case. We're done if we're excused by an attorney, otherwise we're there for the trial's duration. EDIT: Two replies posted while I was typing. Amazing.

Let me see if I understand what's going on here. You sear a steak on the extremely hot soapstone and then move it to the much cooler grate on the other side of the upright heat deflector? What, then, is the "1-min. on/1-min. off cook cycle"?

No, I think you should continue to tell us your thoughts on the best method(s). It's most helpful when you tell us why you've arrived at that conclusion. None of us should be reluctant to share our opinions. Read Group Think, by Irving Janis.

Duh! Yes...I didn't notice that your comment was made in 2017. BTW, we all kinda knew it was heat related. I was wondering if you had identified that it was caused by unusual heating or cooling or such. Metal warping is usually caused by uneven heating or uneven cooling. Both probably easy to do on a kamado.

In your August 7th post you wrote, "I have never seen this problem..." So your's warped within the last 7 months. Can you pinpoint the cause?

The inconvenience of making the claim is the smallest portion of the situation. Many businesses recognize that other aspects that might be lumped together as emotional distress have longer half-lives. They voluntarily take the blame and take the initiative to go beyond undemonstrative and impersonal warranty fulfillment. They don’t act like Commander Spock. They say things like, “I’m so sorry that we let you down” or “That must have been so disappointing.” They usually try to rebuild good will by, “I know that we can never really make up for this, but we’d like to send you a _______ for your inconvenience.” But the customer needs to wait for the merchant to initiate the offer. Asking for free stuff is gauche and usually ineffective.

Elbertohokie, I don’t think you need to jump through any hoops. You must really be a nice guy to tolerate this. You paid a merchant a sizeable amount of money and didn’t receive what you ordered. It’s not on you to make it right, it’s on them. I don’t think the customer is always right; but I think you’re right. Tell the merchant that your position is the same as the position they take with their suppliers—you want what you paid for and that you want them to pick up the faulty merchandise. Have the credit card company retrieve your payment if they won’t do that. They may decide to negotiate in some way. And then you can work out a compromise if you want to. It’s the art of the deal.