[Happy Birthday Justin!]

A very happy birthday to you, Justin.  May all your amps be equal parts over-complicated and profitable.

[What are you Grilling now?]

15 hours ago, cutestory said:

After a bit more research, here's the current frontrunner:

https://pittsandspitts.com/product/maverick-1250-wood-pellet-grill/

Only immediate concern that I’d want to see some user impressions of is whether or not that unit tends to have a hot spot over the firebox.  The diffuser is quite small in comparison to how Traeger does it (as well as others).  The “Trap Door Drip Pan” might address this along with my secondary concern which would be that cleaning the Maverick would be a bitch if you don’t have something like a drip pan.  The Traeger pan/liner setup is a godsend for easy maintenance in my experience.  You’d get most of the way there with Mav’s drip pan and covering it with heavy-duty foil.  Just adds ~$150 to the price of the grill which seems a bit shitty if I’m honest. 

[What are you Grilling now?]

2 hours ago, luvdunhill said:

I looked at the Pit Boss - love the lift off feature but not sold on the ceramic non-stick coating. The LoCo is a good option especially if the temp control works. If not, unsure it’s worth the cost over a Blackstone.

I’d say that you and I have exactly the same lines of thinking about these two products and unfortunately it doesn’t seem like either has gotten a ton of reviews or long-term use reports.  The Pit Boss has been out for a year it seems which makes that all the more worrisome.  The LoCo’s seem new this year so less worried about that, but not a brand I’m familiar with.  More deliberation required.

[What are you Grilling now?]

^^ I have been looking at the Loco and Pit Boss Ultimate products but would love some commentary on flat top grills. 

[Kitty Talk]

12 hours ago, en480c4 said:

Thanks Nate.  I thought you had gotten rid of your tester... I'd definitely like to know if they're salvageable!

Not a chance.

[What are you Grilling now?]

My nickel:

1. The new timberlines do look very nice.  I've thought about adding an induction side burner to my Ironwood 885 and still may some day but for now I'm lazy.

2. I don't think the 780 would be enough.  I routinely use a lot of my 885 just cooking for small groups and when smoking bacon the real estate is very helpful.  

3. One concern with the Timerblines, they may be too well insulated for their own good for warm weather cooking.  You need some inefficiency to cause the grill to use fuel and produce, well, fire/smoke.  The Ironwood is only partially insulted and still is pretty stingy on fuel during the summer months.  I'd at least way for a few reviews and see how some actual cooks do on these rigs.

4. I love my Ironwood 885.  Would I also like a stick burner? Yes. How about a kamado-style charcoal rig? Absolutely.  But today I got up at 7, fired up the Traeger while I got Andrew ready for basketball camp, threw on a small pork shoulder and went to the office.  I checked temps while I worked for a few hours, picked up the kids and came home.  I actually looked in on things and they were still cruising nicely so I wrapped the butt, and left it.  My parents arrived a few hours later, I checked on things via my phone, saw the pork wasn't coming up to temp fast enough so I bumped the cook up 25 degrees without leaving my chair.  Just an hour later my phone let me know that the pork had reached temp and I went and took it off.  That's pretty damn convenient and the food produced is easily as good or better than most BBQ I can buy locally.  I'm sure there's better out there, but I'm also sure I'd have to drive an hour or more to find it.

5. Coming from an actual stick burner you might need to temper expectations a little.  The flavor will be different.  Whether you think it's better or worse is impossible to predict but the fires are radically different between the two types of smokers and the food produced will at least be a little different, but unlikely to be radically different. 

[Kitty Talk]

@en480c4 - let me know if there are tubes that need testing or if you need to borrow a tube tester.  Glad to hear that kitty is ok.

[Happy Birthday Kerry!]

Cheers and happy birthday, Kerry!

[What are you listening to Part the Third]

Needed a little mental purging to finish off the night.  This fit.

[And now what did you do TODAY?]

Welcome to the Team!

[And now what did you do TODAY?]

3 hours ago, skullguise said:

Glad for a good service....memories are a blessing, keep them close and always remember the good.

This, x2 or something.  

[Which Cooking Are You?]

1 hour ago, velomane said:

How does this compare to the Gliko stuff from my local asian grocer?

Only way to answer that is make it and decide for yourself.  Seriously though, it's a pretty rare exception that homemade stuff (especially a reputable recipe) ends up worse than the commercial equivalent.

[Which Cooking Are You?]

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE SPICE MIX:

• 1 (2-inch) cinnamon stick, pounded into small pieces
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• ½ teaspoon whole cloves
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 dried shiitake mushroom, broken into pieces
• 1 (1-inch strip) dried kombu, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 ½ teaspoons whole black peppercorns
• 1 orange, zested
• 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste

FOR THE ROUX:

• 1 ½ cups/340 grams unsalted butter (3 sticks)
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

Add to Your Grocery List

Ingredient Substitution Guide

 

PREPARATION

1. In a large skillet, toast cinnamon, bay leaf, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, cloves and cardamom pods over medium heat, stirring until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn the spices. Transfer the toasted ingredients to a spice grinder.
2. Add the mushroom, kombu and peppercorns to the spice grinder, and grind at the highest speed for 30 seconds. Shake the grinder a couple of times as you blend to make sure the cinnamon stick is pulverized. (You can also grind the spices in batches, if necessary.) Transfer the pulverized spices to a small bowl. Add the orange zest, turmeric, ginger, sea salt, paprika and cayenne pepper.
3. To make the roux, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter is nearly melted, lower the heat to medium-low. Gradually whisk in the flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until the roux turns light brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Be careful not to burn the roux. Turn off the heat, add the spice mix and stir until well combined.
4. Divide the mixture among three mini aluminum loaf pans, adding about 3/4 cup per loaf pan, or transfer the entire mixture to a parchment-lined quarter-size sheet tray. Let cool for a few minutes at room temperature, then transfer to the fridge so the bricks can solidify. Once firm, unmold, cut each brick into 9 small curry brick cubes (or, if using a sheet tray, cut the mixture into 27 pieces total) and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for about a month or in the freezer for 3 months.

[What are you EATING right now?]

Two-egg breakfast sandwich after an early morning bike ride.

[HC Bike/Cycling Thread]

1 hour ago, swt61 said:

Nicely done gents.

Glad to hear you're feeling better Nate!

Thanks Steve.  Did an easy 30 miler on the road bike this morning and felt more than ok.  A little tired now so I'll take it easy for the rest of the day and try not to push back. 

[Which Cooking Are You?]

10 hours ago, Voltron said:

Steve will not like the timing of this one, because it's one of his favorites. I made Japanese curry with chicken, potatoes and carrots using the frozen curry blocks I made a couple of years ago. The blocks did not suffer from their long rest, and I have a few more blocks, so I can make it again when Steve is here. 😁

Share the recipe, Al?  Pardon if you've already done so but I've been on the hunt for a curry recipe to try lately.

[HC Bike/Cycling Thread]

^^^ Always buy the thing you want to ride, don't really worry about anything else.

Me: finally recovering enough to get out for a proper ride in the woods.

[Woodworkers of Head Case unite!]

Wow, looks great Jeff!

[What are you listening to Part the Third]

Regina Spektor - Home, before and after

Technically not out yet (24JUN) but two tracks were available on Tidal so why the heck not?

[Head Case Motorsports]

I hear you on dealer/appointment troubles. I've had a lug nut (technically a lug stud) stuck on the BMW for the last two weeks.  The previous shop installed them to what I'd guess was well north of 200ft-lbs of torque.  I got 19 of 20 off with only minor problems using an 18" breaker bar and a 3' extension.  The 20th, it's still on there and no amount of heat or other method will loosen it.  It's now well and truly stripped.  Yesterday's adventure was to heat it as hot as I dared and drive a 16mm socket on it (it's a 17mm head) and let it cool for more than an hour.  Still wouldn't budge.  So I tried JB welding a socket on.  Nope, the glue broke before the socket moved.  So now I wait over a week to get a tire shop to look at it and probably spend several hundred dollars having it drilled out or who knows?  Maybe I just trade the car in...

[Head Case Motorsports]

^^^ You, my friend, are bananas.  And it is awesome. 

Naaman, you are also bananas for buying a 700+HP truck and thinking it needs more.  

If I had access to that much HP I think I'd be featured in a different thread here.

 

Also, who knew that the forum software had embedable stock GIFs?  Huh.  Learned something new today. 

[Head Case Motorsports]

52 minutes ago, TMoney said:

It looked like Mr. Block-enspiel was a half-second away from rolling that thing more than a few times in that video.

Seriously.  There were at least three that I saw: dunes, donuts, and the high-speed run.  Was sort of shocked that they weren't in helmets or any gear given how hard they were pushing it. 

[Head Case Motorsports]

14 hours ago, naamanf said:

Not a fan of the color, would be nice if they did something else other than cosmetic changes. 702hp is nice but it really needs a couple hundred moar, and that’s what people were hoping for 😢

As usual the completely sane people at Hennessey have you covered.

http://hennesseyperformance.com/vehicles/dodge/ram-1500-trx/mammoth-1000/

[Woodworkers of Head Case unite!]

New war of Northern Aggression?  Alaska v. Texas - this time, for all the oil. 

[Woodworkers of Head Case unite!]

3 hours ago, VPI said:

Broke my first CNC bit. Clearance pass for a v carve on an inlay plug. Ended up being about .15 inches on the first pass, which evidently was too much for the 1/4” downcut bit. 

See if you can figure out what exactly caused it.  That's not all that deep a cut (just over half bit depth) so there's probably something else at play and it's always good to see if you can run that to ground before things get really expensive.  The only time I broke a bit was incorrectly zeroing the stock and cutting about 3x the bit diameter at standard feeds/speeds.  Other close call was an inadequately tightened collet, which caused the bit to slide out and progressively increase depth of cut without warning.  Oh, and the one time I put a hold down too close (in) the tool path.  Uh, yeah, be careful taking advice from me...