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Utterly intrigued by the "dirty Santa" name... We call it secret Santa over here, yours sounds much more interesting 😂 In case you're still looking for ideas, how about some really good Jamon iberico and a dry sherry?

Just get one - you’ll love it!

An hour is plenty of time to get them up to heat. I’ve got a Big Joe which is the giant kamado Joe unit, depending on what temp I’m aiming for it’ll take between 30-45 mins to get the dome nice and hot on the outside. Funnily enough, it’ll often take a bit longer to get heat soaked if I’m aiming for a low and slow cook than grilling temps. The reason for this is that you have to be careful about not overshooting your target too much - once it’s hot it takes an age to come back down. So if I’m aiming for 200-275F I’ll light a single really small fire and take my time. If I’m going for 375+ I can happily light two or three places and crack on. but either way, an hour will be no problem.

I did exactly this on my big Joe rotisserie a few weeks ago. It was great, probably the best chicken I’ve done on my kamado. made the mistake of cutting my potatoes into chunks - lost a few of them through the gaps in the basket!

They definitely don’t seem to like making price comparisons easy - I’m sure they even block my cellular data in store so I can’t check if things are good value!

I haven’t tried the EVOO but the cider vinegar is available this side of the pond too. Over here it’s VERY good value - like £1-2 a bottle from memory. It’s decent stuff, especially at that price. We use a lot of it. Out of interest, how much is it where you are?

I'm sure you won't be disappointed! They're a great bit of kit and do the things you're after really well. If you're on reddit, the team (including Chris Young) are really responsive and helpful on the dedicated sub: r/combustion_inc

On my Ooni the back left portion is a lot hotter than the front right so rotating is a must - I’ll usually make about 3/4 turns to get it even. Not sure how the solo stove fares in this regard but a bit of trial and error will get there I’m sure. Temp wise I’m getting my stone above 400°C before the first pizza goes in so the base seems to cook nicely, I’d imagine a steel in an oven this hot would incinerate the crust! The one thing I’ve found really useful as a visual cue on the Ooni is that I wait until I’m just starting to see the beginning of some brown spots on the left side of the pizza, once this happens I’ll spin it 180° and let the same happen again. After that it’s just using a turn or two more to get it even.

It certainly is a learning curve - and quite a steep one too! What type of peel are you using to launch the pizza? I found a bamboo one with a good dusting of semolina to be the best to prevent sticking and accidental calzones. Judging temperature takes a bit of getting used to too. Not sure if the solo stove has its own temp gauge but getting an infrared thermometer is really helpful for checking the stone is ready to go.

You want a combustion inc predictive thermometer. Much better tech than the meater and is just as happy being app based as it is working with its LCD display. They have eight temperature probes in each device so can accurately find the core temp as well as tracking surface and ambient temps. time estimation is excellent for straightforward cooks (eg a steak or roast chicken), ultra low and slow things which have a stall are still a work in progress but the software is getting better all the time. www.combustion.inc

I did my favourite pizzas today - made the dough yesterday but it started pouring with rain so I tucked it up in the fridge overnight. I think it really helped as it was super tasty and so relaxed when I came to shape it. I’d seen a great video on Reddit of a calzone, something I’ve never managed to make well before. It turned out great and got top marks from the family - I’ll definitely be doing it again.

When we do turkey legs at Christmas I sort i of half braise half roast them and get good results. they sit in a bed of chopped veg and stock in a roasting tin which I cover tightly with foil. I cook these at 120°C (240°F) for 3h then give them a quick blast at 220°C (450°F) for 15-20 mins to crisp. If you preferred to keep it closer to your method you could brown to start and just leave out the final step.

Can’t believe that was ten years ago! I’m very pleased to say though that they’re still going strong. I use them all the time and they’ve been perfect. Having them in a single unit is great - I’d definitely buy them again if I needed another set. battery life is excellent - honestly can’t remember the last time I changed them… possibly two or three times since I bought them. At the price you linked I would snap those up, they look almost identical

Got my ooni out for the first time in ages tonight. Did a few standard margaritas and pepperoni numbers. Also a new one which was softened onions, thyme and Comte - really liked this last one

I love dried mint in Greek yoghurt with some salt and good olive oil. Or mixed into yoghurt before making labneh