OliverB

isn't there an issue with the PVC leaking some plastic something or other into the food when heated? I don't know, but I resisted to buy ringmolds first too, looked for a long time for cans that can be opened on both sides, just to have them rust once I had them. They're long gone by now, I got some 'egg poaching rings' that are non stick for little money and later on I found some tiny spring forms (those used for cakes, but much smaller) that work very well AND can be used to make tiny cheese cakes or other such things - endless possible uses actually. I think I paid about $6 for each, something like that. Now, they are not very tall, maybe an inch, so if you want to build tall towers of food they won't do, but I think that building tall towers thing is a fad that's a bit yesterday? Just my thought of course, no offense to the architects here :-) But still, PVC with hot food? I don't know, especially if it's not made for food grade use. I'd probably rather go with steel piping or aluminum. Also can be found in all sizes and cut to length. Of course, pvc might be totally fine for food, I'd just do some research if I'd want to go that way, no matter what TV chef used it.

I've not read this, but I'd call it nonsense, as I've added just a tad of smoke towards the end of cooking with things that I took above 140. Not that it really matters much, as most things will come off the bbq at or around that temp. But with chicken I've added a bit of smoke as a last minute thought and it worked. Now, it might not penetrate as deep as the meat might be denser once it gets to 140? I don't know. One would have to set a smoker at 145, add some meat until it reaches that temp and then start the smoke, compare with a regular piece. If your smoker keeps it's temp at 145 or so for a long time, you might find a result of some sort. But who would do that? Seems an odd "scientific" fact to mention. Like "meat in a foundry vaporates". Yes, it does. Qickly. And? :-)

salt and pepper s&p& good olive oil s&p and good (maybe herbed) butter caramelized onions and/or mushrooms EVOO and butter Never use sauces after cooking, but might give a quick rub/marinade with Worcester sauce. I just don't want to change or overpower the beef flavor. I've actually found some really good and well marbled steak even at Safeway, though you somewhat need to know what to look for. The heavier stuff like bbq sauces, blue cheese etc, those things I normally only use on burgers and heavily at that :-) I don't make burgers very often, but we have steak at least once a week, especially during the warm part of the year. Which is pretty long here in NorCal :-)

bacon on toast breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight, doesn't matter. bacon on toast :-)

I'd defrost them under running water in a strainer (not in the fridge), then toss them into anything (pasta sauce, on a pizza - maybe after baking it, in a sandwich, even a stir fry) where they won't be cooked or heated for much - if at all. Just get warm to the temp of what I'm making. All kinds of salads come to mind too. You could even put them on skewers with something like a lime/lemon oil, salt and white pepper and then put them on a very hot bbq for a couple seconds, just to get them warm and have some grill marks. Also burritos, tacos, any kind of "pocket food" comes to mind. Large ravioli made with fresh pasta dough. You could probably even put them frozen on a pizza or in a sauce, they should thaw just in time, though I've not tried that.

interesting point with the air intake availability! Something to keep in mind. I have a whole house fan for those days where it's hot but not really hot enough for the A/C and locking myself inside. If I don't open enough doors or windows it draws the air in through my fireplace chimneys, which makes the house smell like a gigantic smoker. Not bad, but certainly not what I'd want my kitchen exhaust fan to do :-) I'd venture to guess that this is particularly an issue in a newer and well insulated home.

there's a lot of science in frozen food, I'm not sure you'd get something nice on your own, I'd expect a somewhat soggy crust unless you're very low on moisture. But that spells dry pizza to me. I never make frozen pizza just as it comes out of the box, at least I'll throw some garlic powder and italian herb mix on, and some pepper flakes once it's done. While none of them are fantastic, I think the ones at Trader Joe's are pretty good and some of the DiGiorno, as well as Cali Pizza Kitchen and some of the Wolfgang Puck (if they still make them?). I don't know if I'd want to spend a lot of time trying to make my own to freeze. If pressed for time, a sandwich with melted cheese is done in less than 10 min and can be a lot better than any frozen anything IMO. Assemble good sandwich stuff, one min in the micro and you're ready to go. But if you manage to make a pizza that freezes and bakes up well, do let us know for sure!

Just try, make a batch with just yoke, one with some extra yoke added to whole eggs, one with whole eggs, and while at it, maybe try one with just egg whites? Then one w/o any egg (as my Italian uncle insists on) and then have a tasting party. I've seen all kinds of recipes, but aside of color I found little to no difference in those that I made, though I have not done a side by side comparison. Might do that some day, seems like a fun project. Small batches are easy with a kitchen aid or similar.

garlic peelers and any counter top that stains or requires sealing or any other special treatment aside of normal clean up.

the Ball Blue Book and the Ball Complete Home Preserving books should get you started. It's not that easy to have the same crunch as those that you keep in the fridge with those that you heat process. Supposedly adding grape leaves helps to keep them a bit crisper, I have not tried that yet. You should be able to find those books in any library. I think the ball website might have some recipes too. AFAIK the really crunch ones in the cold storage are all pickled w/o boiling them. I made some a while ago that were in brine over night, then went in the sterilized glasses and got hot pickling liquid poured over, but those had to stay in the fridge if I recall correctly. They were quite good though. Good luck and share if you find a recipe for hot canning that keeps them nice and crisp! Oliver

Mine is called Larousse Gastronomique - The new American edition of the world's greatest culinary encyclopedia. Edited by Jenifer Harvely Lang - with 4.000 recipes and 1000 color illustrations. From the front flap: (...) Thsi new eidition of L. G. has been totally rewritten and expanded by Robert J. Courtine, the gastronomy editor of France's Le Monde. (...) L. G. has been Americanized by Jenifer Harvey Lang, noted food journalist, cook, and author of Tastings: The best from Ketchup to Caviar. All recipes have been adapted for use in the American kitchens: American measurements are given beside metric and imperial, and foreign cooking terms such as double cream and trotters are amplified by their American counterparts (...) copyright 84 for the French edition, 88 for the English text. Crown publishers, ISBN 0-517-57032-7, first printing. I read somewhere that the most recent edition left out some original material to add more about ethnic foods etc, so I went for the (supposedly) more complete or original if you will 88 eiditon. I paid $30 for it, book is in top shape. It's a great book, 1193 numbered pages.

it's on my maybe to buy list since it's not a straight cook book. I'd be very interested in reading the parts about the restaurant, but I'd read them once and never look at them again, might be better to get it from a library some day. I guess it's in the same "maybe" boat as A Day at El Bulli that was published recently. Would be interesting, but too big and expensive for just reading and paging through. And chances are slim that I'd ever make something El Bulli style, too many expensive tools necessary for most things. That I'll eat there is even less likely, I'm not made of money and it's far from any place I'd travel to in the next decade(s). I might get on the line some day, until then I'll look at it in the store on occasion :-) I'd be curious to hear from anybody that attempted some of the recipes though. Are they reasonably doable?

thanks, I'm glad I go the 88 edition, especially if there's a new one on the way! Good to know. I read somewhere that the most recent one, while having more about food from other countries, also dropped some info and pictures from the original. I figured that I'll mostly use it as a general cooking encyclopedia with a strong bend towards the French, the origin of "fine dining" in a way. (arguably of course). It's a wonderful book and having the somewhat dated photos is fun, shows you how food photography evolved from just reporting to the glossy food porn of today :-) I'm pretty sure I'll get the new edition when it shows up, but I'll look at it first once it hits the stores. Oliver

this might be a cheap shortcut, but how about trying a drop of liquid smoke in the water? Or less? It's pretty strong stuff, but AFAIK it's just "smoked water". I'd guess you're going for a very light and subtle smoke flavor, which might be easy to get and adjust with liquid smoke. Might not be "gourmet" enough for your purpose? Oliver

I have no idea, seems very strange. I just got a copy of the 1988 edition in top condition, what an amazing book! I didn't even know about it until just recently - oddly enough. I read in several places that the 88 edition is "better" than the new edition you can buy now, though I can't compare (for now). Just a really great book that I'm sure I'll be looking at and referring to quite often. Check it out! And I'd too be curious about the pages from the future in the OP's post up there.

I'd read that as 'cut off the tops (but not all of the green) and quarter the bulb part if it's big enough to do so. I love green or baby garlic, though I've never made a soup. All garlic soups I've had so far die not impress me much, either too much in your face garlic or just a hint which doesn't really make it a garlic soup in my book. I just sautee them or put them on the bbq. If the bubs are small I keep them as is, if they are the size of a small radish I cut them in half. It's also great in a salad and the smallest ones I just eat as is :-)

I finally found it at my local Safeway! They don't stock it with the spices, it's on the side of the meat and fish counter, where I've never looked before. I've never tried it, I think it'll be on the potatoes tonight :-) Oliver (who' s already planning to put it on popcorn too)

glad to hear you have no problems! I'll probably get that guru thing too down the road, seems like a good investment for those low and slow cooks. I'm especially looking forward to the pizzas!

interesting. I guess I'd rather not have some asbestos with my burger ;-p

it is strange, maybe they changed hands or something. Normally I'd figure that the few that complain are the few odd models where something went wrong in production, but I doubt they sell thousands of these, so the percentage of units with problems seems rather large. Glad to hear your's and your friend's unit work great after all these years! Oliver

I've heard horrible things about one Kamado, though I don't know if it's the same one. The one in question is tiled with little blue tiles which fall off, service is terrible, etc. There's a whole website about that: http://www.kamadofraudforum.org/ Might not be the one you're talking about of course. The "original" kamado is of course a very old traditional cooking oven that's been used for centuries. BGE has lifetime warranty and supposedly very fast and efficient service if there's ever an issue, at least judging from what I read. Which is why I'm tending towards the BGE, not the oval one that I'd probably prefer, but it's warranty is limited. Considering the extreme heats these things can achieve a lifetime warranty is certainly something that can be very valuable years from now. I'd love to buy a Komodo Kamado, but I don't have $3000+ to spend on this thing - unfortunately. Those seem to be the ultimate thing. There's a good in depth review of that thing here: http://www.nakedwhiz.com I hope my local bbqgalore has the XL egg on display so I can look at it. According to the BGE website their warranty is void if you buy online, something I'd rather avoid :-) Oliver

seems most do pizza around 400-500, that's what I read too. How'd it turn out? The gasket thing, just one of those things that drive me up the wall. If the mfg knows about it, why not do something that does NOT need to be fixed by me once a year? Especially if an easy solution is out there. Same with many of the other smokers (and other products), there always seem to be certain things the buyer has to do to make the thing really work. Be it the fragile front feet at the Bradley's, the falling off paint with some of the traditional smokers, the too short chimney inside, the gaskets with the BGE and other similar ones. I don't understand why the manufacturers don't fix these things, especially with the more expensive units. At $1000.- I certainly would not expect my gasket to fall off within a year.... Makes me want to buy sheet metal and build my own - - -

in my endless explorations of smokers online I've seen mods to do that yourself quite easily. Doesn't look that great, but works. I can't find those links, but if you poke around on the bradley forum you'll probably find it. I might now actually spring for the Big Green Egg XL, more costly, but also offers the wood fired oven thing I want. As I'm not looking into baking huge amounts of breads or pizzas, a real wood fired oven is probably overkill and certainly 10x as expensive. I want to be able to add unusual woods and other things (dried fennel stalks, grape vines, juniper, etc) to my smokes, which the motorized smokers don't allow. A side by side (those that look like a steam train) is also still in the runnings, but I'm very intrigued by the high temps the BGE can achieve (depending on whom you believe 600-800+ degree). Of course, now I read that some had the gasket that's sealing the lid to the body come off. Again a problem known to the manufacturer. Something that makes me simmer a bit, as they do offer to send you a different kind and have recommendations regarding better glue. Then why not use it in the darn production??? I guess nothing is perfect. Anybody have experience and/or a good lead to a small manufacturer that makes smokers? There seem to be hundreds of shops out there, all making "the one and only, the best, the longest lasting" of course..... I'm not in a rush and I don't spend $1000 lightly, more research to do.

Can you put a drip pan into the BGE? Seems like that's important for several things, also to add water or other liquid to keep moisture high. The BGE, even the XL, seems relatively small, sure not big enough to have a pan in between piles of coals like on my weber.

I use it for melon balls (the kids love them) and plan to use them as tiny ice cream scoop for a dessert idea I have. You can also make nice butter balls. Have not found any other uses, but haven't looked for any either