lennyk

Had a bunch of burgers to do today outside. Super steamed them at 150 and then seared them over super hot coals in short time.

Sure, there are different ways to skin a cat. Ive recently started smoking whole clods (18lbs) and foiling at higher temps is the safest way to avoid drying them out sue to the long temp stall. I used to be a traditional low slow 230f type smoker until i wasted a whole clod doing that.

Foiling is the answer, as mentioned in an early post many bbq smokers are using foil and higher temps to cut times and moisture loss.

I am going to have a small rack made to go on the floor to hold pan for meat drippings, this way chicken will be more suspended mid air and not need to be flipped.

I think a higher temp than 300 would be more applicable for crisper skin.

Chicken came out excellent, 450 for 45mins. Sorry for cellphone pics. Satisfied, will try some veggies next.

got mine today, just put a bird in it, 450 for 45

Thanks for the link, just ordered ne.

Just pulled trigger on order after seeing the results, they don't appear to make the small hooks anymore.

Welcome to the world of smoking, the WSM is without question a fine piece of equipment people win competitions with it. I suggest ribs to start with, get the hang of running it for 4-5 hours before you go on to longer 12 hours cooks for brisket etc. It is highly recommended you install a thermometer in it, you just drill a hole in the top and put one there.

I don't know if it is because I live in the hot tropics but when I used the whisk the bowl temp was a lot higher than when using the paddle hence the soupyness. I would guess that there is a lot more friction with the whisk which causes more heat. IMBC does freeze well but when I pipe a previously frozen bag it tends to spread a little clumpy.

I did them over for an extra 30mins and firmed up a bit, much better. Very good texture. Yes it would look good with something in the centre dripping over.

the 1:20 at 176f was not long enough, they came out a little sloppy, gonna try at least 2:00 next time, probably use 3 bags and pull at 2:00, 2:30, 3:00 very smooth though I might try rebagging some of these and doing over. I tried painting the interior of a silicone cannele mold with choc ganache but it didn't coat nicely.

Ok, the consistency and smoothness looks very good so far whilst its chilling. I was just hoping that I could get them smoothly shaped like canneles and maybe coat them with choc ganache after freezing them. It would be a good exercise to know how much time affects how much it thickens after reaching a custard setting temp. I also have some I did in oven with waterbath to compare.

Was yours very thick after 3 hours ? I just did a bag at 176f for about 1:20 it was just about getting thick, I piped them into a silicone cannele molds but may have started to set/clump and I don't think they will be cleanly set in the molds but will see after I freeze them.

Anybody here can tell me which food processor spins faster between the Kitchenaid or Cuisinart 7cup models ? I own a Kitchenaid and use it a lot for grinding nuts but I find that its not very efficient, my old Hamilton beach spins ways faster and grinds finer but gets hot fast. thanks, L

I have had better success now, no longer using the whisk for the butter incorporation using the paddle, bowl is also staying cool I found that with the whisk the bowl would not be as cool and you could actually see the butter turning into oil on the surface of the mixture.

had better luck tonight, used a different brand of butter(Elle/Vire) instead of Anchor I also put the cold towel towards the end of the egg white whipping to ensure it was cooled. Really cant say what the difference was but maybe I should take the temp of the meringue to be sure next time.

I use 3 egg whites 150g sugar 5-6oz unsalted butter I've made it a good few times before with some failures in between I have a couple thermometers including Thermopen so I am pretty sure about my syrup temp. I am fully aware of making sure the meringue is not warm also, tried cooling the soupy mess in ice bath as well as refrigerating then rebeating I can feel the bowl is cool when adding butter and even cooling a little when the butter is added. I have not tried actually ice cooling the meringue first but will try that next going to also try using a different brand of butter. It amazes me the volume of wet mess that it turns into though, I am pretty sure the actual volume of the egg whites and the sugar syrup would be a lot less that the final deflated soup. The only other thing is that I live in the tropics so my kitchen is easily 85f but again, I have made it many times before.

Been having major woes making IMBC. Last 5 times turned into soupy mess. taking syrup to 245f, beating egg whites to room temp butter cool and smashed to soften no go, no idea I might even take a video of next time. Any suggestions ?

Italian Meringue is the safest way to go, very important you go to 235-240f, get a good thermometer. I started using an infrared gun and found out it read about 15f less on bubbling syrup. I have tried lower like 225-230 and even after they dried to a skin they still blew up and cracked This will guarantee you get the shell tops and feet, the density depends on how much you fold, too much makes more dense IMHO choc/cocoa macarons are the easiest to make as the cocoa powder has a good drying effect. I make coconut macarons using coconut powder intended for make coconut sauces/curry and they don't last long as the coconut make them get sticky and absorb humidity.

just bought a new kitchenaid 9cup food processor. Its doing a pretty good job of turning the almonds into powder with the icing sugar. The previous food processor would require stopping and shaking up the contents to get a better mix, with this one I just leave it a little longer and the sieve and go again. However the cover does leak powder a bit.

I use a cheapo Hamilton Beach FP to grind almonds/icing sugar(50/50) for macarons. I make sure the almonds are properly dried by putting them in a hot oven then switching off the oven and leaving overnight. Weigh out the both ingredients and start with a little more almonds than sugar then sieve and regrind and add more sugur also. There will always be a little left over which will not grind down properly but that goes straight in my mouth. I also sharpened the blade on my food processor which helped somewhat. I just ordered a Kitchenaid FP for more capacity and hopefully it will do a good job.

Yes, spare ribs are normally 4 hours or so at 235 in the smoker, wanna be able to reduce that to 90 mins or so and get the color/smoke flavor in

I'm looking to SV pork spare ribs with dry rub as a means of shortening the time in the smoker. My intention is SV beforehand for however long, freeze, then on day of serving thaw and stick in the smoker for hour or so at higher than normal(220-250) smoking temps, eg 300 to get them colored fast and fat rendered for taste. I know the rub should be reduced a bit, any suggestions for temps and time ? Don't want to do 812hours cooks though. Actually, I've just read Douglas's site and have a starting point, although his method is intended for complete cook.