Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day with a leg of lamb....

It's Father's Day, which has nothing to do with a stuffed leg of lamb unless you just so happen to be cooking a stuffed leg of lamb for Father's Day. (Which we aren't. Our son wishes to take us out to lunch.)

But here is our recipe for cooking a boneless leg of lamb by stuffing it with spinach, feta cheese and toasted pine nuts. We hope you enjoy it: Stuffed Boneless Leg of Lamb

- TNW

Friday, June 17, 2011

How To Make A Gasket.....

Now that we know it's safe to use Permatex Ultra Copper gasket material to make a gasket for your cooker, let's show you how! Thanks to Frank from Houma, a regular poster on the Big Green Egg forum, we can now give you photos and a description of how he made permanent silicone gaskets for for his mini, small and XL Big Green Egg ceramic cookers.

Here's the link to our newest web page: How To Make A Permanent Gasket For Your Ceramic Cooker

- TNW

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Gasket safety again....

Another debate has recently broken out on one of the ceramic cooker forums regarding the safety of using a silicone-based gasket making product to either form a gasket or adhere a Rutland or Cotronics gasket to a cooker. So once again, we've gone out and found some relevant information on Permatex Ultra Copper High Temp RTV Silicone so that you can make your own decision about using this material on your cooker.

You should read the information, but to make a long story short, we don't find anything in the information we've seen that would scare us away from using it. As always, you should read the information and make an informed decision for yourself.  Here's the link: Permatex Ultra Copper Safety Information

- TNW

Friday, June 10, 2011

What's Up At The Empire....

We thought we'd let you know what's currently underway at The Naked Whiz Publishing Empire. We are in the middle of a review of the iQue 110 temperature controller. (You can get a look at one by visiting their website at www.pitmasteriq.com.)

To our knowledge this unit is the first to use a variable speed blower, integrate the blower into the control unit, and also the first unit to utilize RTD sensor technology rather than thermocouples. What's RTD technology? We'll explain in detail in the review, but for now, an RTD (resistance temperature detector) sensor is more accurate and more stable than a thermocouple, and it doesn't require calibration. It is also worth noting that this is the lowest-priced temperature controller that we have ever tested, so this should be interesting!

We haven't put the unit through its paces yet, but we hope to get most of the testing done this weekend and possibly next weekend. Keep your eyes on this Whizlog or our website for the review!

- TNW

Sunday, June 5, 2011

High-Que Charcoal Grate for Large BGE

Just a quick update to let you know that we have just posted are review of the High-Que Replacement Charcoal Grate For Large Big Green Egg Cookers. If you have been struggling with airflow issues and if you find your stock grate from Big Green Egg is constantly getting clogged with ash and charcoal chips, take a look at this replacement option. It's made from 304 stainless steel and does a super job of letting the air come up and the ash and chips go down! We liked it a lot and will be using it full time in our large Egg.

- TNW

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Cleansing Your Cooker With Fire....


(Click on photos for larger versions)
"Give me leave to speak my mind, and I will through and through cleanse the foul body of th' infected world." -- As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7.

We sometimes think that those who seek to cleanse the inside of their ceramic cookers are akin to those that would place great grandma's 100-year old cast iron skillet in the dishwasher to get that hard shiny black stuff off. Nevertheless, some are driven to clean the inside of their cooker with a cleansing fire, expecting a lily-white interior just like when they bought it.

We normally would not perform such an act, but recently we had occasion to do just that, but for reasons other than cleansing. Our large Egg is about 10 years old, so there was some "stuff" that could be cleansed. We placed enough charcoal in the fire bowl to come up about half-way between the top of the bowl and the holes. We lit it, took off the top cap, opened the bottom vent all the way, and then let be what would be.

The fire got up to about 1000° for over half an hour and then took about another hour to cool back down to 300° as the charcoal was consumed and the fire grew smaller and smaller.  We then closed the vents and went to bed. You can see the results in the two photos above. Obviously, we didn't get that lily-white restoration that some hope for. Granted, any greasy residue is gone, but things don't look a whole lot better than when we started.

What else did we get? Well, we got a lid stuck shut. We easily fixed that with a large screwdriver, a hammer and some clever and judicious tapping to drive the screw driver twixt the top and bottom gaskets. Then a simple twist of the handle popped the lid free. And then there was the fact that what little was left of our gasket was now even littler. Not a problem for us since we were planning to install a new gasket anyway, but not exactly a welcome sight to someone with a serviceable gasket in place.

So, there you have it. If you want to make great grandma roll in her grave, at least now you know what to expect.

- TNW

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

We're Buying a Komodo Kamado....

Many of you may remember that we were given a damaged Komodo Kamado cooker back in mid-2006 and that we did a product review of it. Well, we decided it was high time that we purchased a new Komodo Kamado cooker and sell the cooker that appeared in the review. At press time, the tile choice we probably will make is shown in the photo where we have photoshopped a factory image into a picture of our deck.

So what brought us to this decision? A couple of things. First we wanted an undmaaged cooker with tile of our choosing to grace our back deck. It's been nice with the 2006 black textured 23-inch OTB supreme, but it would never have been our first choice of style or color. We have always wanted a tiled cooker and of course, to choose our own color. Second, there have been a number of significant improvements since 2006 such as interlocking base and dome, food grade silicone seal, and an elastomeric tile adhesive. We decided we wanted to have these improvements on our cooker. (Reason 3 is a secret, but it will be revealed all in good time!)

Some folks might be a bit wary of spending so much money on an item made so far from home. We have said it before and we'll say it again. Komodo Kamado is the real deal. From the very beginning they have shown that they are dedicated to superior products and superior service. Period. Cast your worries aside. Komodo Kamado will take care of you, no if's, no but's. So, we are excited about getting a new Komodo Kamado. About as excited as when we purchased our first Big Green Egg ten years ago. Keep an eye on the web page for an updated product review this fall or winter after we take delivery.  It's time we put our money where our mouth is and the time is now.

One final note. In the process of selling the black Komodo Kamado, we received several inquiries, one of which was most distressing. One person thought this cooker was made by Kamado, the infamous company that has acquired a reputation for taking deposits but not delivering cookers, and ignoring customer pleas for warranty service and replacement parts. Komodo Kamado is not Kamado. You can visit the Komodo Kamado website at www.komodokamado.com.

- TNW


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