sotv

It adds more calcium to the finished broth also. I think people assume using bones in a broth means it would be high in calcium, but evidently it only produces less than what a 1/4 cup of milk gives you I use it for cooking purposes, so it is optional really. But people drink broth regularly as a health supplement as well and the extra calcium in it, is seen as a benefit overall.

36 hours in the slow cooker and left on low, didn't top up liquid, then turned off and left to cool overnight Ran through a fine sieve twice and left in fridge for 30 minutes, fat solidifies on the top, looks like a slightly rancid pint of Guinness 😀, removed with a spoon. Just under a pint of liquid left from starting with just over 2 pints of liquid. Got enough for 3 of these. Will use 1 of these on Saturday to braise the Osso Bucco in and the other 2 put in the freezer, but should keep for 5-7 days in the fridge p.s. the smell throughout the house whilst it is cooking in the slow cooker, is gorgeous a meat lovers version of home cooked bread 😀

That's the original article I read, that led me on to others saying the same thing practically. Think I will try out that method for a few cooks in the future as well , to see how it goes, compared to soaking

I have always soaked any wood I am using before adding to the smoker, purely as that is what I read you should do when I first began smoking and have continued to do so for quite a few years now. Started to notice quite a few articles now, stating it is best not to soak the wood first, as 1) It just cools the coal 2) You get steam not smoke for the first 15 minutes or so 3) Wood only absorbs 6% of the water comparative to its size and weight. Anybody else switched to dry wood or just use it in general and see's a benefit over soaked wood?

As a suggestion for a demo, would love to see how to sharpen a knife properly, by different methods. Particularly interested in whetstone, but other methods as well. If anybody fancied doing one?

lol nothing chefy about it, literally chuck everything in the pot and leave to do its thing, just doing a fresh batch for the beef on Saturday, which reminded me to post it. Doing a fresh batch for Saturday, here is a couple of photos only been in about 3 hours, but the marrow is starting to dissolve already (their is 5 bones in their in total), in about 36 hours it should be done and just needs straining and leaving in the fridge for 24 hours and skim the fat off. The smell of it cooking in the house during the time, is lovely as well. I find a lot of broths, stocks ready made, from the supermarket are way too high in salt content for my taste. The kallio low salt ones are pretty good but can't beat homemade if you have the time and patience

I use this recipe to make homemade broth i use for braising meats in the smoker or Stews in general done in the house, that I found on the net. Can take a bit of time, but produces a good nice flavoured broth. I have a 3.2L slow cooker so quantities can be adjusted according to the size of the slow cooker 1.5 kg of bones (from butchers shop or use bones that you have leftover from a Sunday roast, chicken lamb etc) I use the marrow bones you can get from Morrisons works out about a £5 for 1.5kg 2 Celery Stalks 2 Carrots 1 Medium Onion 2 Garlic Cloves 2 Crushed Egg Shells 1 tbsp of Salt 2 tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar 1.5 Litres of Water Herbs of choice I usually use Sage, Thyme and Oregano but Rosemary or Parsley goes well also Throw everything in the pot and the chopped vegetables and herbs and cook on low setting for 24-36 hours (Can be up to 72 hours if desired). Strain thoroughly and can be kept in fridge for 5 days if sealed or frozen into ice cube trays in the freezer if not a suitable container available and used accordingly. You can top-up with water if desired if boiling dry or you want more finished quantity but 36 hours of low cooking on mine produces just over a pint and a half of nice flavoured broth for me and meets my needs, without any topping up.

Did you do it in the end? and how did it turn out if so.

Haven't really got any spare kit. But happy to pop up the supermarket before Friday, and get a good selection of the Bullseye sauces for the raffle.

Sounds good, Wade. Out of interest what temp are you planning to cook yours at? My 4kg piece, I was hoping if I can keep my temps under 250F planning on 5-7 hours cooking time to reach internal temp of 160F and leave for 30 mins + to rest. Does that sound about right, only done one half the size before and it was one of those supermarket mass produced wet cured ones. if so i can get a bit of a lie in perhaps, as the Osso Bucco shouldn't take much longer than 7 hours 😀

Ordered my meat doing a Dry Cure Gammon with a Madeira Glaze and Beef Osso Bucco, both things meant to be quite forgiving if my temperamental ProQ decides to run a bit hot on the day. 🤞

That exact one or something similar? Got to get something to clean the surface and that looked the best of what I could see?

Thanks for the offer Justin, but happy to order some for myself, in case you have need of it in the future. @Icefever What sort of quantity do you think I would need to seal the two stackers and the 2 doors? and would I apply it to the edge of the stacker that goes inside the other one and the rim lid of the ProQ that fits inside the top one? Any opinions on this brush, for cleaning the surface of the stackers, thought about a steel drill bit brush one first, but indifferent reviews. but the BBQ cleaning brush I linked seems well reviewed and on a Prime deal at the moment.

Sorry for double post, thought it might be better to post in this thread, where it maybe seen better, by anyone that can help me out with this on the Friday? Cutting lengths for gaskets and sealing it up myself on a ProQ Frontier isn't really my forte and I know it will end up a mess 😀 Thought about trying Aluminium foil tape as an easy stop gap, not sure how long it would last inside the ProQ though Alternatively if anyone is going to Billing and is confident doing this sort of thing and willing to show me and help me to seal it all on the Friday night, happy to purchase what is needed, beforehand with guidance what to buy beforehand and bring it along with me.

Thinking my ProQ isn't sealing properly, due to the temp fluctuations I get when using the smartfire, around the stackers and doors?. In the states you can get ready made customised gasket sets for your particular model of smoker/bbq. Has anyone seen any UK vendors selling these and more specifically for the ProQ Frontier? Cutting lengths for gaskets and sealing it up myself isn't really my forte and I know it will end up a mess 😀 Thought about trying Aluminium foil tape as an easy stop gap, not sure how long it would last inside the ProQ though Alternatively if anyone is going to Billing and is confident doing this sort of thing and willing to help me seal it all on the Friday night, happy to purchase what is needed, beforehand with guidance and bring it with me.

Well done, envious.

You may have been closer to 225F than you thought? I don't know how accurate the lid thermometer is on the new ProQ but a lot of analogue thermometers are not the most reliable. Mine on the older ProQ is is usually around 20F out (lower reading than actual reading). When finances allow investing in a digital thermometer is worth considering especially if they have hot and cold alarms that you can set for the pit temperature, to warn you of any big temp fluctuations, during the cook.

Looks great, saved that rub in my basket for Amazon for future purchase when my current Greek Seasoning I usually use has run out as it has tripled in price since the last time I bought it.😞

Never been a fan of toad in the hole (school dinners I think) but that does look amazing. Like the onion cooking method, how long do you sit them in the coals for, to cook?

Still looks very edible and pleasing to the eye though. 👍 Where were you reading the internal temp of the frontier from above or below the meat? if above, that looks almost big enough to act as a second heat deflector for the frontier, which may have been the reason for the low temp reading? Worth considering using sand instead of water, with a covering of foil over the sand, still keeps the internal temp steady and doesn't need any maintaining during a long cook. Could always split the brisket between flat and point and spread the cook over 2 levels in your frontier or places like gridironmeats sell points and flat seperate 3Kg each approx . Never cooked a slab of meat above 4.5kg on the frontier on 1 level, interesting to see although you weren't 100% happy with it, it can be done.

Never done lamb burgers, but love feta, usually add some chunks to lamb kleftico or in the middle of chicken breast wrapped in Parma Ham Started mixing Pork Mince with Beef Mince 15/85 ratio for my burgers with a teaspoon of ground cumin and red pepper flakes to the complete mix, nice flavour, usually do a 50/50 mix of these 2 minces for Gyro meatballs, and found most of the ingredients from these work well with the burgers for my tastes

Looks like today might be a bit wet in my part of the country and was planning another test run on the smartfire, and as it isn't waterproof, that rules that out for today. So holding off till tomorrow as that looks dry. Whilst testing a burn, going to throw some pork belly burnt ends on for lunch and planning to do some whole sea bass on the plancha on the evening, before the coals burn out.

You doing it on your ProQ? Big piece of meat, interested to see how it all goes if so.

If bringing more than one car per booking, let them know before Friday as extra car won't get admittance if you don't. Charge of £10 for each extra car as well. Still a week to go, but BBC weather showing chance of showers but warm on the Saturday, hopefully they will have disappeared from the forecast nearer the time Looking forward to it

We used to eat loads of beech nuts in the school playground as a kid, trying to make ourselves sick, because we believed that story and we would be sent home, never worked though.