Dave the Cook

Thanks for bringing up TM-30, which I wasn't aware of.

OK.

You can use any type of coal to make briquettes. I was speaking of Kingsford, as I said. They cite a range for anthracite usage from 15% to 40%. The percentage probably varies depending on factors like the quality of the basic char. "Cleaner" is a comparative word, and I not sure what you're comparing it to. I was comparing it to other types of coal, and its cleanliness relative to bituminous, subbituminous and lignite coal is provably true, despite your unfortunate experience. Anyway, assuming the 883,748 tons number is correct (the number probably came from the National Barbecue & Grilling Association), that is a lot of coal (354,000 tons at the 40% rate; 133,000 at 15%), until you compare it with total anthracite production, which in the US was 2.6 million tons in 2019. But all of this is leading us further away from the topic at hand. I use briquettes. The study @rotuts referenced, as un-nuanced as it might be, convinces me to continue using them.

Thanks for sending me down that rabbit hole! 😉 Without getting into a lot of arithmetic and numbers related to coal production and the uses of different types of coal, I have come to the conclusion that yes, charcoal briquettes contain trace amount of some heavy metals, and that lump charcoal probably doesn't (it has to do with how coal is created). I have also come to the conclusion that I'm not bothered by it very much, given that the tiny bits of heavy metals in the ash left behind in my grill are dwarfed by the 30,000+ tons of heavy metals left behind by power plants (and that's just in the US). As far as I can ascertain, anthracite is the only type of coal used in making briquettes. It's 80 - 95% carbon, and at most it makes up 40% of briquette composition (if we accept Kingsford as typical). Lignite and bituminous coal, both of which have much higher percentages of heavy metals in their residues than anthracite, are what most power plants (in the US and elsewhere) burn for energy. It seems that if you're going to burn coal, anthracite is the one you want. It's cleaner to start with, and burns cleaner (and hotter) to boot. It seems that its main drawback is its relative scarcity, and therefore its relatively high price.

"lump burns hotter than briquettes" This sort of received wisdom drives me crazy. Almost everyone says it, but no one cites research to back it up. Even the well-regarded Naked Whiz only rates charcoal heat by stars. ("I buy X Brand lump charcoal because it get four-stars hot"?)The only study I've seen is the one conducted by Cook's Illustrated that @rotuts cites above, and it says that briquettes and lump burn at about the same temperature for a while and after that, briquettes burn longer. On top of that, why does it matter which one burns hotter? You need a really hot (say, >750°F) fire when you're cooking really thin things for a short period of time. Either fuel will get you there, with enough air. But an awful lot of barbecuing isn't about high temperature, it's about controlling temperature. Here, where consistency counts, briquettes rule. Besides, wood char (which defines lump charcoal), mineral char, mineral carbon -- it's all just plain carbon, regardless of the original source. Unless the fuel contains incompletely carbonized material (as large chunks of lump charcoal often does, then the uncarbonized wood will impart some flavor), it's all going to create tasteless smoke. Creating tasteless smoke is the job of charcoal, which is why you let a fire burn until it's giving off pale blue or colorless smoke. Colorless smoke means fewer and smaller particles = less flavor. If you want flavor, add raw wood. That way, you can control how much flavor you impart to the food. As Meathead Goldwyn says, "Charcoal is for heat; wood is for flavor." As for additives and such, charcoal briquettes are no more processed than bread, wine or sausage (to name only three examples), and we know exactly what's in briquettes. If you manufacture. import or distribute hazardous materials, by law you must provide information about that product in the form of a Safety Data Sheet (SDS). One of the things you must include on this SDS is a list of ingredients. For Kingsford Briquettes, that list is charcoal, ashes, anthracite coal, cornstarch, limestone, sawdust and boric acid. The first thing to know about all of these ingredients is that they all occur in nature. Second, no petroleum by-products or other waste products. A maximum of 23% of the ingredients are not carbon. In particular, boric acid amounts to 1% or less (it's used to make it easier to remove briquettes from molds). I don't think anyone on these forums needs to be reminded that it's the dose that makes the poison.

These terms don't refer to restaurant service, they refer to banquet service. In another life, I was "attached" to a hotel catering operation, and I recall these terms being used as shorthand when figuring out what sort of temporary help would be needed to handle a specific catered function. The terms "American" and "English" aren't accurate, nor, I suspect, intended to be, any more than "wave service" has to do with water or greetings. But they're useful if you're trying to describe a certain service style to a group of people who are familiar with the language. Ah, jargon. The only time I experienced this type of service was at an in-house (as in they had their own food service operation) function at a company in Sweden.

This is pretty consistent with what other scientifically oriented BBQ folk say. Meathead Goldwyn even refers to the CI study. There's a lot of tradition among aficionados in any pursuit, and barbecuing, grilling and smoking aren't immune to it. Add in selection bias and you've got (a) myth(s) that die(s) hard. But there's a reason professional/competition crews opt for briquettes or pellets. It's all about predictability and control. I think the rap on briquettes (fillers, etc.) applies to off-brand charcoal. You probably shouldn't be buying Rando Briquettes; stick with major brands like Royal Oak, Kingsford (originally an outgrowth of Henry Ford's plan for total vertical integration), etc., and you'll be fine.

We're locking this topic, as it doesn't comply with our Decorum and Topicality guideline, to wit: "Posts on a given topic must pertain to that topic." By our count, only 4 out of 23 posts on this topic were actually on topic -- not a great percentage. It would be helpful for all of us to keep this guideline in our heads. Also, bear in mind a sentence we find ourselves often repeating: "Tone is difficult to convey over the internet." Thanks.

Did no one else reading that story follow up on the trove of bad ideas listed? Fellow eGers, I give you: the Velveeta Martini, Mayo-nog, Oreo wine, Curly-fry vodka, and last, but not least, mustard Skittles.

Effective immediately we are introducing a new moderation tool, the 24-hour suspension. This replaces the Topic Watch function, which we lost a few upgrades ago. We will be using it to halt interactions that tend to escalate quickly. A suspension of this type will not be preceded by a warning or an attempt by staff to get a topic back on track: instead, a member will receive a notice that their account has been suspended for a period of 24 hours. This will be most likely to happen when the member posts a disrespectful personal challenge, personal insult, or deliberate distortion or ridicule of another member's post. It applies everywhere in eGForums. eGForums is noted for its civility, and we believe there's no excuse to be rude or insulting. This behavior will result in a 24-hour suspension. Please continue to use the report function to report potential issues, rather than escalating an engagement.

22 and still going strong -- but not so strong that we'd decline a contribution or two! Click here for your giving pleasure!

I don't know if there's a lesson (or something) here or not: ITEM: Two weeks ago, we set out to purchase a small flank steak for a stir fry. We changed our menu when we saw the price: $28/lb. We changed again when we saw the price on outsde skirt steak: $27. I may be get-off-my-lawn old, but I remember when these cuts were undesirable and therefore cheap. Like short ribs and hanger yadda yadda yadda ITEM: Yesterday, we set out to buy a couple of pork chops for the grill. I was prepared to pay a premium for some sort of heritage pork, and for the services of a genuine butcher (a rare fixture in suburban Atlanta). So, I just collected my pig parts and didn't look at the price until I was putting them in the fridge. I remarked to my partner that the pork chops were $13.65/lb. In unison we shrugged and said, "Well, cheaper than flank."

Not to derail this topic, but at this point, it's worth remembering Margaret McArthur's article for the Daily Gullet, A Pocketful of Dough.

I haven't tried grilling afterwards (not because I don't think it's a good idea, but because we didn't have a grill set up), but I've had success with 165°F for an hour, followed by 20 minutes in a really hot (maybe 450°F?) oven. Needless to say, a good plan for drying the wings before grilling/roasting is essential. In case it matters, this was done under the supervision of not-yet Top Chef Richard Blais, after sort of failing at a chicken-wing "confit, which involved giant pots of whole wings and enormous amounts of chicken fat, cooked in a restaurant oven overnight, using only the heat from the oven's pilot light.

Seems like it would work well in a Summer Negroni (we've had this at Bourbon & Branch in SF and Restaurant Eugene in Atl): equal parts gin, Aperol and Lillet (blond).

This is a lot of criticism and speculation that is not supported by facts, and beyond that is borderline racist and sexist. Lakshmi spent 20 seasons on Top Chef, where she is also an executive producer. Her show Taste the Nation was not about ethnic food, unless food that originated on this continent qualifies as "ethnic." That show is rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and won a James Beard award, something that, despite the credibility Gail Simmons seems to lend to Top Chef, has never won, except in connection with the show, which is produced in part by . . . Padma Lakshmi. She hasn't written *a* book, she's written five, including three food-related books. She managed to keep up with Salman Rushdie -- no intellectual slouch himself -- for the three years their marriage lasted. She speaks five languages and has appeared in numerous (and quite varied) TV shows and movies on three continents. Yeah, fake.

We could confuse the issue with theory and internet-science links. But it seems like a relatively cheap and harmless experiment. Why not just do it, and see what happens? Please let us know.

Not @lemniscate, but I believe "PBR" is Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

Ninja has a clever design with the two drawers (i say that without having read this entire topic; perhaps two drawers is common configuration), but it appears to me that the drawer size means that a whole chicken will be a tight fit. Overall, the unit looks pretty big, but if I'm reading the specs right (my Danish is rusty), neither drawer can be much wider than 7-1/2 inches.

I do not intend to take this discussion off topic, nor will I brook a discussion of our Forum Guidelines (aka Member Agreement) here. (Any attempts to discuss Forum Guidelines, or this post in particular, in this topic will be hidden. The place for that is here.) However, it is apparently necessary to remind participants in this topic of the following, which is part of our Decorum and Topicality Guidelines: Thanks.

I wouldn't be so ready to blame the Instant Pot people for this debacle. Even though it probably is their fault. The company and its brands have a confusing history of rapid expansion and acquisition, not all of which has to do with the viability of their product (not that that always matters). It's pretty easy to say this is all due to mistakes made at Instant Pot (and I can think of a few), but remember they were forced into being roommates with very mature brands like Corelle, Pyrex and CorningWare, which almost certainly require different marketing strategies. I myself have never been enamored with product management and marketing strategies designed by engineers.

Am I the only one who thinks those things look an awful lot like what we in the US call English muffins, which are also made from a yeast dough, are pan-fried and served in a split fashion? (Image courtesy of Amazon.)

Anyone who's eaten at White Castle or (in the South) Krystal has already taken this one for the team. They're not superior. They are different.

Thermapens are 60 bucks for a limited time.

I apologize. Immediately upon seeing the above photo, it all came rushing back to me like the hot kiss at the end of a wet fist.* We had had the same batter/thickness/breadiness issues, and now that I think about it, the leftovers were not as good as usual. At the time, I resolved to take a look at the recipe to figure out what might be done, or what I might have done wrong and transcribed here. Of course, I'd forgotten about all that by the time I related the recipe here. I've got a frying project coming up and I might test improvements (assuming there are some) afterwards. * Points if you can place the reference.