Norm Matthews

About 30 years ago when I was still married and we had a Korean restaurant we bought kimchi that was made by a company in Chicago. Last week I got a smaller jar of kimchi at a large Asian market and it was still made by the same company in Chicago. Back then my wife asked me to make some kimchi jars. During a few months period, I made around 20 out of stoneware in1 to 3 gallons in sizes. They all ended up in the hands of Koreans in the community. Even years later, I'd come across them on someone's back porch but if I recall correctly, they were nearly always used for keeping a red pepper seasoning paste. Pretty soon after that, Kimchi jars imported from Korea became available. Whenever I saw someone making kimchi at their home, it went into glass jars, then in the refrigerator, not outside or in one of those kimchi jars.

Dinner tonight is adobo chicken with grilled corn. Rice also but not pictured.

slkinsey, I have no first-hand knowledge, but have heard BGE's can maintain low heat for a really long time with a very small amount of fuel. I think they can do this especially well when equipped with PID control. rotus I have really enjoyed the Franklin PBS series. I think I have watched them all more than once. Thanks for posting the links. I also enjoyed the book. I expected it to have a lot of recipes with a little content about BBQ. Instead it was almost all talk with very few recipes. It gave me a lot to think about and challenged some things I had thought were truths. In the one about competitions, I enjoyed John Marcus comments, especially concerning KCBS when he said "I 've vever been in a car wreck, but that doesn't mean I want to do it" and "I never worry about overcooking ribs when I have people over because they don't think like BBQ judges." PS "one bite" isn't a standard, artificial or otherwise. It is something that judges should learn to do because they will have so many entries to taste. They might get jaded or sated if they eat too much. People who enter such contests are well advised to think judges will evaluate their entire effort in each category based on just one bite.

It is possible that KCBS would disqualify the Harvard if it does not fall into their permitted list of accepted cooking media, but from what I've read about it, it sounds like it would be OK. It's correct that there is only one entry fee price. It isn't prorated by the number of categories you enter. http://www.kcbs.us/pdf/2015_rules.pdf 2015 Rules and regulations, #6 describes the types of cookers admitted. The Harvard may be permitted if does not use gas or electric sources for the actual cooking.

Information from http://kcbs.us/pdf/YourFirstCookoff.pdf Under heading What To Do Before Your First Competition Paragraph 4 "Consider entering only one or two categories at your first cookoff. You won't be in the running for Grand Champion and Reserve Champion this way, but you will be able to relax and focus on the one or two categories you've chosen..."

It is true for KCBS contests. MBN is for pork so they would not be able to enter beef brisket since it does not fall into the official meat categories of those contests unless the contest sponsor had it as an additional category. I don't know if MBN allows additional categories but KCBS does. Memphis in May does have an Everything But (pork) category or did the last time I checked.

A contestant may enter only one or two categories. There are 4 categories that they must enter only if they want to be considered for Grand Champion or Reserve Grand Champion.

I think it's a cultural thing. While store bought might not be as good (or might be the same) I am not a fan of it. It's kind of bland to me, but not muddy. I mean I'll eat it but I'd much rather have a French onion soup made with fresh meaty ox tail bones.

I had forgotten about this. I should add that my son's mom came here for his wedding in November and I gave her some of the soup. She said it was good. Getting her to say that about anything is something to remember. Some of the bones I used-and possibly contributing to the flavor- were oxtail bones that I first used to make Western style soup, then used them again with other beef bones to make the Korean style soup.

I think the fans are for heat control rather than circulation. The shape of the Harvard is a venturi which will increase any natural draft. I was thinking about ceramic fiber being used inside a more durable coating. Alfred is top notch in the ceramics field. As for kiln designs, I think horizontal smokers, whether the designers realized it or not, have a functional draw a lot like 5th century to present day China, Korean and Japanese anagama kilns. That principle is so old because it works well.

The article covers the technical research they did on models based on the BGE. I wonder if they looked at other types of smokers already on the market? Their price point target isn't really all that competitive unless they have come up with a significant innovation. They seem to be aware of the technology used on other smokers. The settled on ceramic. Is it because it has superior insulating properties over a drum barrel? I wonder if they or anyone has ever thought about lighter and more efficient insulation like Kaowool as part of the wall? I'd really be impressed if they had some innovation that no one else had used before. Is the shape in itself an improvement? I am really interested in hearing more about their design and results.

If it has an app, I wonder if it activates an automatic feed. It seem pretty obvious that it is PID controlled and ceramic. It uses wood chips and charcoal. It all seems like it is designed more for ease of operation than for outstanding results. All that has already been done and apparently done well. But that is just an old man's opinion, stuck in his old fashioned ways perhaps.

I spent quite a while typing my thoughts but then Dave W posted first and when I checked to see what he said, I found he said it much more succinctly but a little more pessimistically than I and then I accidentally did something and lost everything I'd typed.

I don't usually have anything worth mentioning or photographing for lunch but yesterday I made some chili dog chili and had it with a bratwurst, onion and cheese.

Our dinner tonight was Jerk Shrimp, mango salsa, Spanish rice and beets cooked with Mangue, brown sugar and corn starch.

As I think you are quite sure you know I made a mistake by typing UV when I meant IR. My smoking chamber is always under 350º F, nearly always under 275º F. Higher than that isn't smoking. It's roasting. The firebox gets higher but that isn't where the probe is going. I don't have a BGE and don't expect to ever have one. I can't think of any food that wouldn't be almost instantly incinerated at 700º C. My cheaper probe thermometer's drawback was the probe cable. I am hoping this one is more durable. I have had 50 years experience using a kiln pyrometer. They aren't accurate at smoking temperatures. Heck every one I ever used wasn't accurate enough for firing pottery kilns. They are only used as a guide for time to start checking pyrometric cones.

I want to thank Shel B for starting this. I don't have anything to add. I do have a UV thermometer but have not used it much lately. I used to use it when I did more deep frying. But I went to the Thermoworks site because of this and noticed a new product called Dot. It's an oven alarm thermometer. I just ordered one with a probe designed for measuring the air in my smoker. Unlike other such alarms, the probe wire is suppose to stand up 700º. I hope it works out.

http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/nlpdetail.php?prodid=1810 Category(s): Vermouth Producer: Lillet - www.lillet.com ABV: 17% Brand: Lillet Colour: White Country of Origin: France Type: Dry

Nice. Great price too. Some inexpensive gas grills only last two or three years. A good cleaning will probably be in order. Take out the burners and make sure the holes aren't clogged or have spiders inside. Check the hoses for leaks and replace if necessary. The first time I got a gas grill and told my son, he was living in Seattle. We were talking on the phone when I told him. There was a pause then he said "what have you done to my real dad?" After that, there was never a time when not having one was ever under consideration. In the last 30 years or so, I have ended up having an electric stove in the kitchen so the side burner alone its worth it sometimes. It's really handy for hamburgers on a hot day. I have baked bread and pizzas in it too. If you use a pizza stone, be sure to heat it fully and slowly. The bread was done with the heat on either side but off in the middle. There are lots of things you can use it for.

Everyone's food looks very good. Strip steak was on sale at Hen House. We had lots of toppings for the potatoes and I made Cheesy Corn. It's an adaption from a dish they have at Woodyard BBQ. Theirs is a baked kind of casserole, mine was just heated in a sauce pan. Their recipe used a 96 oz can of corn, I used 15 oz and estimated the rest of the ingredients.

I have a Ken Onion Shun packed away in the basement. Looks like you are right. I was able to isolate this shot.

In the videos he is using a Damascus steel knife. Any one know which kind he has?

mix with milk and use as a panade in meatloaf

I have not seen the video yet but this is the second time in a couple weeks that I have heard of a competition BBQer using margarine. I wondered why he didn't use whipped butter but i looked up margarine v butter and found that margarine is mostly 80% vegetable oil while butter is 80% milk fat. Because of this, butter will brown and start to burn at 250º F and margarine will stand up to much higher temperatures.

Thank you weinoo.