I added paprika, turmeric, coriander, cinnamon and cardamom powder to besan flour. It's really delicious
Good vegetarian dish. Especially with Riesling. I like to cook simply and quickly. It is quite satisfying for a vegan dish, apparently because of fiber and sucrose. Quickly fried in a pan with vegetable oil on a strong gas stove, at the end added oil, garlic and sea salt. Next time I will need to come up with good sauces for the new beet crop.
By the way, I want to clarify a phrase for a long time. From my favorite movie Jim Jarmusch Only Lovers Left Alive. The phrase was this: he's probably from Cleveland ....
What are they alluding to?
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Last year about this time I bought a charcoal barrel grill with an offset smoker firebox, this very unit here
29 in. Barrel Charcoal Grill with Smoker – Nexgrill Canada
Now it is about the cheapest unit of its type that you can buy, I think I paid $179.
It is everything you would expect for the price. It is made from cheap, flimsy steel. I had to shim up the legs opposite the wheels a couple inches to get it level. It is flimsy. The offset fire box is too small. The air inlets are too small, but that doesn't really matter because I can see daylight through every gap and seam.
BUT it has an adjustable charcoal tray, holds a lot of fuel and a lot of food, and functions fine as a charcoal barrel grill as long as you don't expect it to last mire than a couple of seasons. Of course, the offset smoker firebox was the selling point for me, but I didn't use it much last year. I tried a couple of times but with poor results. After some reflection I decided the problems were:
1. Did I mention that it's flimsy? Heat retention and distribution are a challenge.
2. The offset firebox is too small, doesn't hold enough fuel to get the main oven hot enough
3. The opening between the offset firebox and the main oven is fairly large and has nothing to direct heat and smoke the right direction
4. As a result of 3 heat and smoke rise to the top of the main chamber and out the chimney, while meat below is barely warm
5. As a a result of 4 the thermometer in the lid is unreliable and reads at least 25F if not 50F hot
6. If you get a hot fire in the small box the paint blisters and peels. Did I say flimsy?
7. I don't know what I'm doing.
Now to rectify 3 and 4 above I reckoned I need baffles. So I wrapped some heavy duty aluminum foil around the cooking grid closest to that opening, and around that end of the warming rack, to encourage heat and smoke to travel laterally before ascending to the chimney. I poked some small holes in the foil just in case I was wrong.
So I bought a hunk of pork shoulder the other day, maybe 2Kg, seasoned it only with salt and pepper, and lit a good charcoal fire in the offset firebox. When it was mostly ashed over and hot I added some hardwood chunks, and when they were well lit I put the pork in the far side.
After a couple of hours and several pieces of wood I peeked and the meat seemed to be coming along nicely. I inserted the meat thermometer in a couple of places and it looked fine, then I checked one more spot and it seemed a bit low. For the next 30 minutes the meat temperature fell steadily, and I couldn't seen to get the oven hot. I kept adding fuel (wood and charcoal) but it just didn't get hot.
After a while the meat seemed fine and I brushed it with BBQ sauce, and it was delicious, cooked perfectly, nice smoke ring, great flavour etc.
Takeaways:
You gotta get that fire hot and keep it that way. If you think it's almost done but the fire is getting low, put another big piece of wood in there.
There is a thing called "the stall" where the meat is cooking but stops increasing temperature, apparently because moisture is evaporating from the surface of the meat, cooling it. Dome people wrap the meat st that point to stop it drying out. Whatever.
Start earlier and feed that fire!
It can be done! You can get decent results from this pile of garbage.
29 in. Barrel Charcoal Grill with Smoker – Nexgrill Canada
Now it is about the cheapest unit of its type that you can buy, I think I paid $179.
It is everything you would expect for the price. It is made from cheap, flimsy steel. I had to shim up the legs opposite the wheels a couple inches to get it level. It is flimsy. The offset fire box is too small. The air inlets are too small, but that doesn't really matter because I can see daylight through every gap and seam.
BUT it has an adjustable charcoal tray, holds a lot of fuel and a lot of food, and functions fine as a charcoal barrel grill as long as you don't expect it to last mire than a couple of seasons. Of course, the offset smoker firebox was the selling point for me, but I didn't use it much last year. I tried a couple of times but with poor results. After some reflection I decided the problems were:
1. Did I mention that it's flimsy? Heat retention and distribution are a challenge.
2. The offset firebox is too small, doesn't hold enough fuel to get the main oven hot enough
3. The opening between the offset firebox and the main oven is fairly large and has nothing to direct heat and smoke the right direction
4. As a result of 3 heat and smoke rise to the top of the main chamber and out the chimney, while meat below is barely warm
5. As a a result of 4 the thermometer in the lid is unreliable and reads at least 25F if not 50F hot
6. If you get a hot fire in the small box the paint blisters and peels. Did I say flimsy?
7. I don't know what I'm doing.
Now to rectify 3 and 4 above I reckoned I need baffles. So I wrapped some heavy duty aluminum foil around the cooking grid closest to that opening, and around that end of the warming rack, to encourage heat and smoke to travel laterally before ascending to the chimney. I poked some small holes in the foil just in case I was wrong.
So I bought a hunk of pork shoulder the other day, maybe 2Kg, seasoned it only with salt and pepper, and lit a good charcoal fire in the offset firebox. When it was mostly ashed over and hot I added some hardwood chunks, and when they were well lit I put the pork in the far side.
After a couple of hours and several pieces of wood I peeked and the meat seemed to be coming along nicely. I inserted the meat thermometer in a couple of places and it looked fine, then I checked one more spot and it seemed a bit low. For the next 30 minutes the meat temperature fell steadily, and I couldn't seen to get the oven hot. I kept adding fuel (wood and charcoal) but it just didn't get hot.
After a while the meat seemed fine and I brushed it with BBQ sauce, and it was delicious, cooked perfectly, nice smoke ring, great flavour etc.
Takeaways:
You gotta get that fire hot and keep it that way. If you think it's almost done but the fire is getting low, put another big piece of wood in there.
There is a thing called "the stall" where the meat is cooking but stops increasing temperature, apparently because moisture is evaporating from the surface of the meat, cooling it. Dome people wrap the meat st that point to stop it drying out. Whatever.
Start earlier and feed that fire!
It can be done! You can get decent results from this pile of garbage.
Sounds like a lot of work and disappointment b fore reaching your Valhalla Nez. I just use the regular q, put only the right of the 4 elements on low and place a cast iron pan under the grill righ on the element, with my special sawdust and place foil over it. Put the meat on the grill on the far side and change the sawdust every 45 minutes for as much smoke as you need.
I never would consider cedar good for smoking but anything is possible I suppose.....I was at a nascar race campground and the neighbor was smoking chicken with pine, I asked if he knew what he was doing and he explained that indeed he did and I was welcome to try it when it was done......so long story short it was amazingly good! He said it had to be long leaf pine and dried for at least a year. Never would have thought!
Almost all the fruits, nuts and furniture hard woods are good, as is Alder, Birch, Mesquite & Hickory. I'm sure there are more but all of those I have used with success. To me, Alder is the vanilla of smoking woods. If there's such a thing as 'plain' wood, that's it. Hickory and Mesquite impart special flavours and most of the rest fall somewhere in between, IMO.
I have never, and never will use softwoods. I don't care how long it has dried for I just won't do it. It just seems wrong to use something that smells like you just cleaned your bathroom to smoke wood.
I have never, and never will use softwoods. I don't care how long it has dried for I just won't do it. It just seems wrong to use something that smells like you just cleaned your bathroom to smoke wood.
Paul, when you say hard sugar maple, my mouth begins to water.
If you are using planer shavings, find a way to compact them or whatever so they don't flare up too quickly. You want a nice dry wood to smoulder slowly. That's why chips or chunks or even sawdust works best. If you use shavings, maybe wrap in foil first. Bit of a hassle but no flare ups at least.
If you are using planer shavings, find a way to compact them or whatever so they don't flare up too quickly. You want a nice dry wood to smoulder slowly. That's why chips or chunks or even sawdust works best. If you use shavings, maybe wrap in foil first. Bit of a hassle but no flare ups at least.
The plot takes place in Detroit. Maybe there are local jokes. https://st.kp.yandex.net/im/kadr/2/7/5/kinopoisk.ru-Only-Lovers-Left-Alive-2758095.jpg
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