Norm Matthews

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.

Cassie was using the oven to bake a cake for a client so I used the new grill to bake potatoes and grill pork chops. I did use the stove for green beans and cream of broccoli soup. The soup was something Cassie had got at the store, frozen. All we needed to do was heat it in a pan.

I can't find the source right now but I seem to recall that during the Civil War, the Northern troops would burn all crops they came across, leaving fields of okra alone because they did not recognize it as food for humans. I did came across a description for making a coffee substitute with okra starting: "Parch over a good fire and stir well until it is dark brown; then take off the fire and before the seed get cool"

I've had dried okra a couple times before. It wasn't Asian; it was cut into rounds and sold in bulk. It was a tasty snack.

The day started out very nice. I BBQed a slab of spare ribs and trimmings. Here is the smoker going and next to it is my brand new grill. Next picture is after two hours, just before wrapping the ribs and the last picture is after another two hours. As soon as I took them off, the sky got dark and the clouds opened up. I wanted to do a quick run to the store to get a few things to finish dinner but the storm sirens went off and the car radio said there were tornadoes sighted. I was at the store but they closed before I could get in so I'll have to finish dinner with left overs I guess. The ribs are nicely done and very juicy, btw.

I never cared much for it. But I was in my 20's and had one on three or four occasions when others were having it. By then I figured out that it was the beer causing the headaches the next day.

FauxPas here is one way to prepare okra. Cut 3 to 4-inch pods it into medallions, rinse and drain, toss with the following, shake off the excess, fry oil over medium heat until browned. Turn out on paper towels and salt. The pods bigger than 3-4 inches are too woody and tough. 1 pound of small okra pods, cut into 1/2 inch slices 1/2 cup of cooking oil, more or less, divided so as needed to cook it in batches about 1/4 inch deep 3/4 cup of all purpose cornmeal 1/4 cup of all purpose flour Kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper and Cajun seasoning (optional), to taste

It only took one.

I recall back in the late 60's when I spent several months in Germany, they had a beer they called banana beer and it did taste like banana. I always had a headache the day after drinking that beer.

I didn't drink any beer today or yesterday. What I usually drink is what someone brings me right after they ask me if I want a beer.

I love fried okra. Have not had any this year yet. I like it with gumbo too. Those two are the only ways I cook it.

I should have said Lillet blanc is a French vermouth. It's dry. I like a little green olive brine added to a vodka martini.

In Casino Royale, James Bond wanted his martini made with Kina Lillet, now called Lillet blanc, a which is similar to vermouth. At the Willard in Washington DC they make a dry martini by pouring a little vermouth in a glass, swirling it around then pouring it out. Winston Churchill said a good martini was a glass of gin sipped while looking at a bottle of vermouth.

FauxPas, thank you.

I started out with a couple recipes I wanted to try, then kept adding stuff until before i knew it, I had a holiday sized meal. It all started when i saw Liuzhou's mushroom recipe and wanted to try it. Then Cassie sent me a potato recipe. I wanted to do beans and ham hocks but wondered how it would be to treat the hocks like a whole ham and glaze it after it was cooked. Then I thought about turning the boiled navy beans into baked beans. i added Shirley Corrihier's Fluffy Biscuits and a coleslaw made with apples instead of cabbage. We will have left overs for a while. Charlie already gave some to the neighbors.

I have two "Brand-Name Cookbooks" filled with recipes from the labels on food cans or boxes. The problem with that is they are from the 80's and practically none of them work anymore because the products have changed either the size of the package or the ingredients, or both.