All Activity

First harvest of my Everleaf Genovese basil plant. I've got another basil (different variety) and an oregano that need harvested still. For reference, this pile is the same size as the cantaloupe on the counter.

Sambal grouper..... Cucumber salad

The verdict is in! The new CSO and turbo roast feature is fantastic. I used the same temperature/time setting as usual with the old CSO using the same type of fish cooked the same way. The fish in the new oven had a crisper crust but was still moist and juicy inside. Both my wife and I agreed that the fish was better this time than normal. I'm a believer!

@gfweb your fried chicken looks fantastic

3 racks of pork ribs on the Traeger for dinner tonight (and leftovers)

Braised Romano beans with anchovy, chile flakes, and fancy olive oil from Sunlight and Breadcrumbs by Renee Erickson with a fried egg on top. A very luxurious and flavorful version of these silky beans!

There is an unrelated drink called Viva Maria so this has been renamed in Kindred Cocktails to Viva Maria! #2

@rotuts my plan this time was to take it out of the foil to finish off in the cooker for another half an hour, but it was evident the meat was fall-apart cooked at this point, and would not take any messing about.

Once I'm more confident about the temperature control, I'll do that again. The grill is too small for indirect heat methods. I have cooked without foil, with good results, but I'm trying different things out. I haven't tried different woods for smoke and flavour yet.

I would put the A4 on the high setting and not cover for crispness. Or you could slight cock the lid a bit to allow steam to come out and keep most heat in. The lid really works well to keep the steam in, to the detriment of crispiness.

@blue_dolphin perfect toast on your breakfast sandwich. Moe's breakfast. I still had half the small Sterling Silver roast from a couple of days ago so I put it in the Breville PC this morning and turned it into a pot roast. Made Moe a couple of small sandwiches on homemade rolls.

Fan in the oven ceiling.

Yes, there are a few new features - air fry and turbo roast. Unlike the original CSO, there seems to be as large variable speed fan in the ceiling of the oven. The fan speed depends on the cooking mode - both air fry and turbo roast use the high speed fan, turbo roast uses steam while air fry does not. The door seal is the same as the original, although it's now on the unit rather than the door itself, and is not selective, however, I wonder if the vent at the back is selective - further investigation is necessary. I think I'm going to try the turbo roast mode for the grouper tonight and see how it goes.

We had the extra large but since we're only 2 people, would have been happy with a smaller one.

what happens when you air fry , a new feature , w the heat ? ''' I feel a slight warm breeze coming out then too. ''' is the oven not sealed as the CSO I was ? or is the ' seal ' selective ? ie for toast , but not other functions ?

Be careful, Ronnie might take you up on that 😆

Resistance is futile! The mini-max is the one I'd likely get at this point - it's the same size as the medium but lower to the ground.

@Smithy For the pastry cream, I infused the milk overnight with toasted fig leaves (~50g for 500g milk). I was first turned on to it by Nicola Lamb's Substack, and Edd Kimber has recently done a post on it, too. Edited to add: It's the toasting of the fig leaves that takes it over the top for me, giving a grassy, coconutty flavour that is totally unexpected.

Either for lunch or dinner, I plan to make some grouper. Typically, I pan fry it to get a crust, and then 10 minutes on convection bake at 350 to bring up to temp. Usually, this time in the oven winds up getting the crust a little soggy. What say ye about using the air fryer function as opposed to convection bake?

Sorry if you explained this before and I missed it...was this an infusion of a fig leaf in the cream / crème?

@Kerala will you try to cook something similar but not wrapped in aluminum foil ?

Firstly, that lamb looks delicious! Second, I do have one bit of experience with regard to Big Green Eggs. We had a large one, which was great for feeding hordes of people. But for routine cooking it took way too long to heat up, so we rarely used it and eventually passed it along to a nephew (who uses it all the time). So, for regular usage, I think smaller is better than bigger, unless you absolutely need bigger. Good luck!

This really makes me regret traveling right now. There are actually good nectarines in the Duluth grocery stores right now. i've been enjoying them -- and, to my chagrin, I left the last one in the refrigerator the day I left! (I notified a friend to go enjoy it.) The good news is that I'm going through Colorado and New Mexico. Maybe I'll be able to score some good peaches along the way. I still dream of the lug of Palisade peaches I picked up one year.

@Kerala but you must admit you've made a wonderful case for buying the full-sized BGE at this point. 😉

These monstrosities may look like white bread for toasting or sandwiches. No such thing! Described by the store as 黄金芝士条 ~ 流心芝士下午茶 (huáng jīn zhī shì tiáo ~ liú xīn zhī shì xià wǔ chá), Golden Cheese Bars ~ Lava Cheese Afternoon Tea Collection. What kind of cheese they use is not divulged but I would bet heavily on it being American ‘cheese’ which isn’t cheese! Of course, I've never bought it to test!