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I'd like to get a remote probe thermometer that can also work for roasting at higher temps in the oven. Are there any probes that can handle temps around 450?

A local guy who does a lot of high quality charcuterie for his catering business told me that he recommends removing the liquid from meat that is dry curing. I didn't get a chance to ask him the rationale for this. What do you think? Does this make sense?

Question for those familiar with grass-fed brisket: how well will this work for pastrami? The beef in question is Scottish highland beef from this source. Bonus pastrami question: Why is it that many delis steam their pastrami until tender, rather than have it smoked till tender? Is it...

I'm wondering if it would be possible to set up a temp control device to monitor an oven away from home that has no human supervision for an hour or two at night now and then. On the off-chance that the oven malfunctions and gets too hot, I'm wondering if a temp control device could be set up...

A lot of recipes start with either sautéing or sweating onions. I was wondering if someone could lay out the general principles for when you sweat and when you sauté onions. Say you are building a recipe. How do you decide which approach to use?

I'm doing two slabs of bacon, both about 3-4 inches wide and about 10 inches long. No matter how I position them, the outside 2-3 inches get more heat coming up along the outsides of the WSM. I was monitoring the temp in the thickest part towards the outside edge. When it got to 145, I...

I'd like to make my own substitute for commercial Japanese curry roux. Commercial curry roux is very commonly used in Japanese home cooking and even in many restaurants in Japan. It is sold as a hard roux that is added at the end of the cooking process, after browning beef or chicken, then...

I ordered an 8 lb. pastured, heritage turkey to be delivered fresh the Tuesday before T-Day. She said it would have a much smaller breast than commercial turkey, but more robust flavor. I assume I'll brine it for about 8 hours, then smoke roast at high temp. Anything else I should know about...

I'm looking at the recipe for Tasso Ham in Charcuterie, and where the authors say to take 5 lbs of boneless pork butt cut into five even slabs, dredge in basic dry cure (salt/dextrose/pink salt), refrigerate four hours, then rinse, apply rub containing white pepper, Cayenne, marjoram and...

I'm exploring the option of vending food late at night. My wife already operates a mobile food cart during the day time (sushi), but I recently discovered that I can use the same cart at night with a different menu and even a different name hung over the top. No new licenses, equipment...

Smoked a chuck for nine hours on my kettle today. I didn't add any fuel during the cook, and when I shut it down, half the fuel that I started with was still left over. I assume that I could have continued for at least 5 more hours, if not much more. I lined up two fire bricks about a third of...

2 cups heavy cream 6 oz. dark chocolate in small pieces or chips 6 egg yolks 1/3 cup sugar plus more for topping zest from about half an orange 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Recipe makes enough for about 8-10 servings. Preheat oven to 300. Place cream in a double boiler and zest half an orange...

I have a family member who is going through another round of chemotherapy next month and needs to gain some weight. He also has high blood pressure. He really likes beef jerky, but I am afraid that all the salt from store bought jerky is going to elevate his blood pressure, so I have offered...

I decided to try smoking a chuck, then finishing it inside a dutch oven as a pot roast. I used my kettle for both the smoke portion as well as the dutch oven phase. The dutch oven I used is a 12” Lodge deep camp oven. A dutch oven without the legs would work as well or better for this, but I...

Jamie, What do you see as the most common mistakes that people make when they are using their charcoal grill?

I wanted to experiment to see how much smoke and what type of smoke would be optimum for smoke-drying tomatoes. I set up both the kettle and WSM for cold smoking, applied apple smoke to one and pecan to the other. I put tomatoes cut in half with a little salt and pepper on the top rack. I...

Many people say that you should not mop or baste with cold liquids. Just what exactly is the harm in doing so? I usually spray rather than mop. Typically I warm up the liquid for basting and put it in a spray bottle. However, I'm inclined to not worry about warming the liquid for subsequent...

I picked up some sausages from a local place that makes Bavarian sausages. The person who served me used her bare hands to fish them out of the case. Assuming that I smoke them to 165 degrees, should I be OK?

I don't do briskets all that often, but when I do, then tend to be a little dry in the flat. Does it help to add liquid when foiling them, and do you foil for the last part of the cook?

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried szechuan pepper in rubs. Szechuan pepper had been banned from the US for a while because it was thought to be bringing a virus to orchards. However, the ban was lifted in March and I picked up some today at Pennzey's. I have used them in the past for...