Recent content by Darrell

I tried something new this past weekend. Marine Degreaser. Its intended for cleaning grease off the engine, but it instantly mobilized the grease & crud on the grates. I got it 75% clean by just hosing it off. It smelled a lot like the oven cleaners (probably a similar active ingredient)...

I've had a tough time finding a source for Brisket in Toronto, and I couldn't figure out why it was so hard to find. This weekend, I stopped in at a local ethnic butcher shop. He had a pile of briskets on his counter -- He was grinding them into ground beef. I asked him and he said its what...

Through experimentation I found that "The Clean Pull" normally requires that you undo the first loop of the first knot. Its finicky finding the right string and gently backing out the loop but afterwards it pulls off with an easy, satisfying zip. Makes you feel like a pro, and if anyone was...

I've had good success with Legs of lamb. My method was to medium high heat (about 275-300F) smoke-roast them to 170F internal temperature. That worked well for for slicing it & serving as well done, still moist. Question: Does lamb "pull" like pork butt if you cook it further? If it works...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">But the spiciness was waylaid at the sur-face. Capsaicin, the compound that gives chile peppers their spicy heat, is soluble only in fat, so it was unable to join the...

Re: Foodsavering the left-overs. They save & reheat very well from the freezer when kept in a foodsaver bag. Reheat in oven at 275 for 20 minutes. I do mine on my kettle; high-heat indirect with some smoke chips/chunks added . It gets them nice & crispy. I strongly prefer the drummettes...

Yes, that's the gist of my point. The air in the groooves is not combustible mass. The long-winded second part was that companies evolve the formulation of their consumer products over time for many reasons, and profitability / cost reduction is at the top of that list. Kingsford may very...

I hope it is a product improvement. And I admit I'm not a good judge of this product change because I've only used it once before. From a strictly non-science perspective, I'll observe that while you can combust mass, you cannot burn volume. I was attempting to show the similarities to a...

Chris, balanced article. I liked it. Anybody else notice that they emphasized "more quality ingredients" a lot. Perhaps higher concentration of high quality ingredients is a more apt description since they shaved 10% of the weight off each bag. Doesn't that mean less total mass of...

Glad you're not having problems. I hope to benefit from other's experience, and share my own. A perfect store for me would: 1) have stuff like Brisket, Tri-Tip, Boston Butts in stock 2) be nearby 3) have fair/good prices. Why is brisket $4 / lb, when a Grade AA rib-eye is also $4 / lb. I...

Update on two places. Eddystone Meats - Jane/Finch area. Don't mind the neighborhood. The store is nice, and the butchers are knowledgeable. They had a dozen or more guys in view slicing up sides of beef. Asked about brisket, and got the first informed response ever from a butcher. "Do you...

Before buying a WSM, I used my kettle for indirect cooking / smoking. Through experimentation I found it best to put coals on only one side, a drip pan under the meat, and put the meat on the far side from the coals. Even with the meat as far away as possible, the edge of the meat closest...

I just got a tilia foodsaver, and I read in the manual about speed marinading meats with the vacuum attachment. (Use canisters to hold marinade, put meats in, vacuum seal "and in only 20 minutes" blah blah blah). Is this just marketing b.s. or is there some truth / science to applying the...

Red Green - A Cdn Classic. I attended a filming as well. I didn't meet the cast afterwards, but it was fun. Its their final season this year. Duck Tape Syndication forever.

I cooked two 4kg (9#) pre-cooked hams on the Weber Smoker over the holidays. It was a great success. The meat was as tender as any ham I've ever had. Cook Method The hams were already mildly hickory smoked, but I added a 2-3 baseball sized chunks to the smoker. I smoked/reheated it for about...