JohnnyH

Picked up a sixer yesterday in Franklin Lakes, NJ.

I think the recommendation to steam before shucking is intended to make the shucking process itself easier, since the shells will open from the steam. If you can shuck an oyster otherwise, I'd forgo that step entirely. Note, though, that oysters are harder to open than clams b/c their shells are not regular -- if you don't know what you're doing, you are very likely to end up with shell shrapnel in your product. Make sure you hold the victim in a folded tea towel too -- you don't want to send your knife through your hand.

check Garden of Eden. Not sure about their other locations, but I know that the 14th St. store has a good variety of mushrooms, including hen of the woods.

I've seen something similar, although smaller, used for a different application.

I've tried Q tonic a few times -- enough to make it through the overpriced four-pack -- and found it somewhat undercarbonated. Am I the only one who found it this way?

Not only legal, but encouraged.

I used to work with a bartender who, when a large bill was met with a tip left in change, would occasionally pick it up and throw it at the customer on his (the customer's) way out the door. Ah, the old days...

I throw a massive barbecue every summer for about 100 guests. All the pork -- about 40 pounds of pulled shoulder and 16-20 racks of ribs -- comes from Costco. Consistently excellent. ETA: I, too, would love to know what the problem is with buying fresh turkey. Then again, considering how much of it I eat, maybe I don't.

Harsh, but perhaps hard to argue with.

Count me in on this opinion too. I've read the entire thread, and I really think at this point you're asking for it if you don't just give them the drivel they're asking for.

I live in Bloomfield, which borders on Montclair. There is no question in the world that the barbecue capitol of northern NJ is my backyard, in which resides a double-barreled wood-burning smoker that I built myself five years ago out of two 55-gallon drums and a stove conversion kit. We use it year-round for hams, pork, chicken and turkey, but all that is really just preparation for the massive party we have each summer. Last year, we did 40 lbs of pulled pork shoulder, 12 racks of spare ribs, six chickens and four strings of sausage, all washed down with a keg of Sierra Nevada pale ale. Phenomenal.

You should be generally good with a knife and generally good with fire.

They're gonna put ketchup on a goose? Maybe you should just microwave it.

According to the repair man, there is no problem. The range was installed correctly. It vents out the back like it is supposed to. ← Sorry -- I misread your post.

Wow -- thanks for that recipe. Looks fantastic. I have a question though -- is the ten-day cure necessary? I'm up for it if it is, but have you done one without it going so long? How would a 24-48 hour brine work, along with the injections?

For the holidays this year, I'd like to do something a little different than the turkeys and prime ribs of years past. Don't get me wrong, both are great, but I think it's time to mix things up a bit. I have a double-barrel wood burning smoker that I built out of 55 gal drums a few years back, and that I regularly use for pork butt, chicken, ribs, brisket, all the usual barbecue suspects. For whatever reason, I've got it in my head now to do a fresh (uncured) ham for the holidays this year. Never done one before; I'm curious to hear thoughts from anyone who has. Good idea? Bad idea? Recommended brines or rubs? As always, much appreciated.

Can the installation problem be fixed?

While the subject's come up and I'm thinking about it again, can anyone explain why the bottom of of the AC roti pan slopes away from the center as it does? there must be a reason, but damn if I know what it is.

I'd trade my pan for yours. Hysterical about Ellis; personally, I just love the quote.

I have the all clad roti pan and the sloped sides you describe are a source of real trouble when trying to do things like make gravy -- the liquids tend to run off to the sides, and whatever material is in the center of the pan has a tendency to burn. I do not know why the sides are sloped as they are, nor has anyone ever been able to tell me. ETA: I just clicked on the link you provided; we're not talking about the same pan.

Leave out the bacon?

Folks, I'm telling you. You will not find a better, more effective and humane trap than this: www.ratzapper.com. They absolutely work. Whatever you do, please do not use glue traps.

I am a ratzapper evangelist. the damn things work amazingly well, and they are by far the most humane of the kill traps. Whatever you do, please do not ever, ever use glue traps.

What about chix salad made with grilled chicken? Do we not consider that "browned"?

That's a female lobster (looks like an H. americanus or H. gammarus) with a healthy amount of fertilized eggs. In Canada it's illegal to harvest a mother-to-be like that one in order to keep the wild population up. Lobster fishermen will only keep females when the eggs are still inside (i.e. not visible). The females carry thousands of tiny black eggs inside for a year and then outside for another year tucked under the swimmerets on the tail's underside. Those eggs above look pretty big and may have been ready for release as larvae. When a lobster is cooked, most thing turn pink including the eggs. I find just about everything inside a lobster to be delicious. Lobsters here are currently being sold with a recommendation not to eat the eggs or the green tomalley because of the possible exposure to PST (paralytic shellfish toxin). Health Canada says there's been no reports of sickness this year but they leave the warning in place just to be safe. I think you have to eat like a dozen a day for a month to get sick. By that point PST wouldn't be my biggest concern because I'd be so fat and broke. AFIC you'd be dishonouring that lobster's family by not eating all those yummy eggs. ← I was under the impression that it's illegal in the United States to boat lobsters that come up "berried" -- their tales are supposed to be notched and then they're to be thrown back as breeding stock. Am I wrong? ETA: Nevermind.