Stone

I bet that looks purty next to your gas grill. ← You're right, I should start smoking my meat under the tailpipe of my big honkin' motorcycle....Vrooom vrooom!!! ← Snapback!

I usually smoke my ribs vertically. However, the general wisdom with briskets leans towards fat-side down. Butts have so much fat that I don't think it would make a difference.

I bet that looks purty next to your gas grill.

The pink outer layer is the smoke ring. It's supposed to be there. It's got all the nitrate-goodness.

They're not for the faint-hearted. I find the bar scene in the valley to be limited. I'm open to suggestions.

I went back to Max's this weekend, and it's still bad. The brisket had a smoke ring, yet no smoke flavor. It was trimmed naked of any hint of fat and any moisture was wrung out of it. If it wasn't served on a bed of sauteed onion, it would have been like eating halvah. The pulled pork was o.k., but still not smokey. Too much sweet bbq sauce. The ribs, again, were o.k., but not smokey. They tasted (and looked) more like Chinese style spare-ribs. Again, the chilli is nothing more than a minestrone with tons of cumin, and the collard greens were overcooked minced green specks in a broth of butter and cream. Disgusting.

If it's the place I'm thinking of, very good coconut mojitos.

I'm up there almost every weekend. It would be nice to find something to do in the evenings other than go to redneck bars to watch the mother-daughter fistfights.

This just ain't true. Plain Frank's with butter will give you a lousy, one-dimensional, red-glowing, sweet sauce. (Although I agree that there's no excuse for the dreck that most places pass off as Buffalo wings. Usually, the problem is that they just don't cook the damn things long enough.)

I did a corned beef flat once, and that took about 8 hours or so. When I've done whole packers, they were always over 12. But I read a lot about 18 hour smokes -- never happened to me yet. Butts usually take 10-15 hours, depending on how patient I am and how much beer and coffee I have. (good news -- a friend just bought a weekend house and found a brand new weber bullet in the basement. He has no interest in smoking. Come to papa!)

Went back last night with the family. Sorry, but I still love it. We got there at 7:30 and the placed was filled for the first seating. By the time we left at 10 it was emptying out. I guess they don't get the late night crowd. The biggest difference I noticed was that the service has improved remarkably. (And they got rid of the orange prison jumpsuits, going with straight black.) We ordered four regular tasting menus and two vegetarian. Most of the dishes were the same. At first I thought that portions had gotten smaller. Perhaps they did, but we were all still stuffed by the end of the night. I made the mistake of ordering extra manchurian cauliflower and crispy okra. They're great, but they appear a number of times during the tasting menu, and the extras were not necessary. I probably should have ordered some butter chicken instead. The new items I notied were a subtle creamy corn curry and a great roasted eggplant and tomato curry. The desserts were excellent as well. Unfortunatley, they don't have the pineapple cake anymore. But the trio of cremes was terrific (with a some-what blandish rice pudding substituting for the yoghurt dish) and the new breadpudding with a praline-like sauce was very good. The meal got a little expensive given that I ordered the extras. The tasting menus are now $60 each.

I use Texas BBQ rub which has a good amount of turbinado. I usually smoke it at about 210 for 15 hours or so (I never seem to need the 18-22 hours most people talk about). I've never notice a bad carmelization taste. (I don't use sugar for butts, ribs or chix.)

Good man. Back Page's wings are my Monday Night Football meal. I couldn't wait, so I stopped in recently. The guy said that the sauce is their own recipe (perhaps from Entourage, I don't know), mixed by a Jamaican fellow. Dinner of Champions: Double order of extra crispy hot wings and and order of fries smothered in hot sauce. Extra blue cheese for dipping. sigh. no wonder I'm still fat.

Charlie Mom or Grand Sichuan depending on my mood. Cozy or Silver Spurs depending on how drunk I am. That's about it. It's a bad hood for delivery.

Be carefull that your thermometer doesn't block the top vents. You need to let the smoke out, or you may get a chemical taste.

I didn't get those posters! Damn. They would probably answer my questions.

I'm about to install my Ikea cabinets, and I have one question that I can't get answered. If anyone has installed them, please help! Here's what I can't get past: After hanging the rail on the wall, there are two short 1/4" bolts sticking out on which the cabinets are supposed to hang. The holes in the back of the cabinets, however, are about 1". The faceplate that goes on the inside of the cabinet just rests on the face, it doesn't seem to "fit" in tightly anywhere. Am I supposed to stick the cabinets on the bolts and just rest them on top of the bolts before I put the faceplate on? It seems that all of the weight of the cabinet will be resting on one thin spot on the top of the bolts.

I believe what you're referring to is pla dook foo, or fluffy catfish. The fish is first steamed and allowed to cool. It is then shredded and the pieces are fried.

I find that their cold noodles have an acrid bitterness to them, perhaps from the chillis. I think some people prefer this.

It's a matter of taste. I prefer the texture of the flat, but many people like the rich fattiness of the point. I make a simple recipe: Chunks of onion, carrot, celery and potatoes in a large foil tray. Brown the brisket (or brush with Kitchen Bouquet) and place on top. Add a package of onion soup mix, some garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper. Add beef stock. Cover with foil and bake at 300 until it's done -- when a fork turns in it.

i'm planning on redoing my galley kitchen from Ikea -- I can do all the cabinets for about $3000. But I don't want to use Ikea countertops -- mostly because the customer service sucks and I'm fed-up with them. Should I be able to get countertops from another source that install on Ikea cabinets?

I went there this weekend with a group of six. It was crowded, and the hostess told us it would be over an hour perhaps more for a table. After an hour, we asked her about the table, and she snapped at us. 'I told you it could be two hours.' Then she just walked away. AFter another 30 minutes, one of us pointed out that if she kept seating all of the smaller tables she would not get room for a six. Then she said something like "there's no chance you're going to get a table for six."

There are many threads in the cooking section discussing the postive/negative effect of brining. I don't think brining has any particular connection to braising.

I tried to make this recipe, from About.com: I had the honey over a double boiler for a little over an hour, but didn't notice much change in consistency or color. After incorporating the egg white, the mixture never really hardened. Nor was it white -- it is a straw color. After adding everything and pouring into a pan, the syrup separated out to the bottom. I tried putting it back into to the pot and heating it again, and the whole thing deflated. Any suggestions?

Thanks, but they said they don't carry it.