Joe Blowe

If money were no object, I would buy a Komodo Kamado in a heartbeat... http://www.nakedwhiz.com/productreviews/komodokamado/kk.htm http://professorsalt.com/2007/06/20/the-black-dragon-episode-1/ http://www.komodokamado.com/

Just out of curiosity, did you buy cast iron grates so you could achieve better grill marks? Do you really need better grill marks? Standard OEM replacement grates, for the win

Main and Rosecrans, huh? I had no idea you're a local girl And, I had no idea I could score a bacon wrapped hot dog so close to home Thanks for the heads up -- will have to do this and gelato at Eatalian back to back!

My wife and I have been enjoying the relatively new Gen-Ji-Mai rice, available at all of our local SoCal Japanese grocery stores. Neither of us are brown rice fans, but this new type allows us to "feel" like we're being a bit healthier (am taking their health claims with a big grain of salt). It's flavor does not approach that of brown rice -- it's just a bit nutty -- and the texture is pretty close to your typical short-grain white rice. In short, it's pretty good stuff! I assume the Uncle Ben's uses the same exact milling process, and then just parboils the rice. P.S. w00t, post number 500! That only took 7 years, 7 months, and 17 days eGullet's most regularly inconsistent poster...

Gentlemen, I submit to you The Humble Tuna Sandwich. (Which is probably more sentimental than anything else, but I have yet to find a restaurant/deli tuna sandwich that is better than my own.) Edited to add: Tuna on toast. Now top that

While I wouldn't call myself legitimately knowledgeable , I have done quite a bit of research on the topic of kamado (clay) cookers. I've come close to actually buying one several times, but each time I hold back thinking to myself, "What am I going to use this for, other than grilling and smoking? My Weber can do both of those pretty well, so why exactly am I buying this thing?" This spring I came to a final conclusion: I will not be buying a kamado (I had it narrowed down to BGE and Komodo (the good company)). Instead, I will build a wood fired brick oven! Since my primary goal was to find a device that could create something very close to a true VPN pie, I went about questioning the members of several different clay cooker forums. Of course, there were always a few that thought you could make a VPN pie in a kamado or LBE (no disrespect to those who still believe you can, or to those who turn out a decent facisimle). But a few die-hard kamado users informed me of their findings: The intense heat coming from below, with no real reflected heat from above, means you simply cannot turn out a 90-second pie without scorching. So, that's settled -- you can make "a regular old pizza" on a BGE, but you cannot make a true VPN pie. But what about all the other things you can do with a BGE? Well, it turns out that you can do all those things in a wood fired oven. Obviously, you can make pizza and other baked goods; you can grill over hot embers inside the oven; you can "cold smoke" inside the closed oven; and you can "hot smoke" meat in the oven a day after you use the oven for pizza -- just wait a day for the inside temp to reach 225F or so, throw some wood chips on the remaining hot embers, throw in your items to be smoked and then shut the door. Now, while I'm sure the smoking results in the BGE are better (much better?) due to its design, the WFO can probably hang with or outperform the BGE in all other tasks. The problem is, I won't be able to report my results until I build the damn thing

Ah, you have one of those ovens that goes to '11'

There may be waterproof label cartridges available for your current label maker; if not, they're available for the Brother P-Touch models. And there's always waterproof labels for home laser printers, like these [click].

Just for additional info: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/garden/20tomato.html I do like the idea of hanging buckets! Sigh, one more project to add to the list...

I use the original Thermapen, which I bought for cooking duty years ago, but now use for almost anything else (most recently checked the temp of the air exiting the a/c vents in the car!). It works great for measuring water temps (I've never accidentally exposed the body to water. Yet.), and works particularly well for the AeroPress. I drink mostly cheaper black tea so mission-critical temps aren't really necessary, but should I buy a high-end green I know I'll be able to "hit it." If I didn't have a Thermapen, getting the cheaper RT600C seems like a no-brainer...

I've always had good luck with glass baby food jars when carrying my olive oil out and about

So, you're making the assertion that all floor finishes are slippery. Quite untrue.

I've done way too much research on wood flooring over the past couple of years, and we're finally having my choice installed in a few weeks: Cumaru ("Brazilian Teak"; Janka 3540), finished with polymerized tung oil. (Finishing with Waterlox is an option as well.) It's hard as nails, the wood is used extensively as an exterior-grade decking material, and will probably never have to be resanded or refinished -- if there's a serious scrape, gouge or burn, all you have to do is sand down the area and reapply more tung oil. That's it! Cooking and dishwashing spatters will accumulate on the floor in those areas, leading to additional darkening. If patina works for you, then great! And, you can apply more tung oil over time wherever you want to deepen the finish. GardenWeb used to (still does?) have plenty of feedback regarding cumaru. If you like dark, oil finished floors then this definitely requires your consideration...

Yup, refrigerator.

It's an old thread -- scroll up...

Is it possible you're looking for red yeast rice paste? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_yeast_rice

Yes, yes there is: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm Restaurant Depot is also where I buy my lump charcoal -- Royal Oak in 20 lb. bags. It is indeed the same stuff as BGE lump, and quite a few other store brands. P.S. For those who don't have the required documentation to get in the door at Restaurant Depot, WalMart sells 8 lb. bags of Royal Oak for just a few cents more...

A good place to bookmark: http://www.foodsubs.com/MeatBeefLoin.html

While waiting for additional input here, do check out the appliance forum over at GardenWeb: http://www.google.com/search?&q=bluestar+simmer+site%3Agardenweb.com They have pretty much identified every known issue with the BlueStars, and have numerous ideas/fixes/hacks...

From the article: And, as pointed out by several of the article's commenters, who cares?!

Short answer is No. Long answer is See Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prawn Order: Decapoda Suborder: Dendrobranchiata http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrimp Order: Decapoda Suborder: Pleocyemata http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scampi Order: Decapoda Infraorder: Astacidea

Very elegant alternative to the oil drum tandoor -- well done!

Yes. Any other questions?

I agree -- you want a hot water dispenser, not a kettle. They are large capacity, are relatively rugged, clean up easily (although you do have to descale them), and they use surprisingly little energy. However, they do have plastic exteriors on all but the most expensive models, and the interiors are usually Teflon-coated metal. It's quite safe, though. The biggest upside is using the timer to have 5 liters of hot water waiting for you in the morning!

Drying would be better: http://www.carlsfriends.org/OTbrochure.html BTW, that site is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in sourdough. P.S. You can score starter there for the cost of two postage stamps