Brinkman

1 minute ago, Justin said:

Good idea, watch polystyrene scatter across the garden! 

Why?

10 minutes ago, Raptor72 said:

I’ll probably look into those balls or something 

Cover in a couple of layers of cling film mate.

I intend to use a polystyrene cooler box which have a very reasonable cost, are watertight, insulated, come with a lid and are easy to cut a circular hole into of the appropriate size for my new wand and big enough to allow my new expanding rack to sit in the bottom of the box. Oh hell I shouldn't have mentioned the rack, Sorry everybody, just ignore that bit! 

I cant discuss this any further, I'm filling up! I feel I'm on the rack.??‍?

2 hours ago, Icefever said:

Stick with us lot dude we'll see you all right,  we'll never bowl you a googly .

Ice

???☠️⚰️

7 minutes ago, Justin said:

I have the same. It does rust in the sous vide. Not that it matters but be aware

Morning Justin, For what I paid for it, lets be fair it is supposed to be just a plate rack, I'd expect it to rust at some stage. Plastic! I need to make one out of plastic.?

2 hours ago, Icefever said:

Sorry Brink but I don't want to pee on your bonfire....did you see what I did there???  firemen, bonfire,       they're stationed all over the place... sorry it's early in the morning mate.  

Ice.

And there was me thinking those great big red trucks were for watering the lawns or filling the swimming pool! You live and learn old chap, you live and learn.?

13 hours ago, Smokin Monkey said:

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news ? and just in case, the wheel has also be invented!

Bugger! What the hell am I gonna do now? Next you're gonna be telling me someone has already invented fire and firemen to control it???‍?

Just now, Smokin Monkey said:

Most people use them as a Rib Rack. ?

Oh, so my great moment of clarity has already been had before by others! Lots of them! No wonder I am constantly rejected for Dragons Den.. Never mind I'll get there one day. I'm utterly crushed.?

If anybody's interested I pickup one of these up today. I intend to use it as a rack for holding sous vide bags in place. Its actually an expanding stainless steel plate rack but in a moment of rare clarity I saw it for what it should have been sold as. Got it at Ikea for just £8.20 on sale. Best buy in ages though it did take me 6 hours to find an exit from the store. 

Gonna cook these as soon as the new wand turns up for sure. It reads like a dream and should taste the same way...?

1 hour ago, Icefever said:

The mind is boggled here..working overtime.. we've just got back from a steakhouse and sat here with a glass of vino. Life is good....for now...but wait till Fri morn about 0800 hrs.

You know what I think the issue/problem with the AJ was? It wasn't powerful enough! 500w to heat and maintain as much as 4.5 litres of water at 85c was just too much for the heating element and it just kept tripping out! It worked fine at lower temps but as soon as you tried to do root veg etcetera it just wasn't man enough for the job. There, problem solved, move on, happy days...  

43 minutes ago, Icefever said:

a stiff one

Yes I am, how the devil did you know? I think it has a lot to do with all the painting I've been doing in the kitchen! I'm about to walk the hound, but when I return I shall treat myself to a large Bombay Sapphire, sit back and relax for a while knowing the good lady is pleased with the kitchen and not unpleased with the thought of my hot wand being plunged into a stock pot...  

1 hour ago, Justin said:

You did the right thing. Tell her wand will much less space to store when not being used?

Well I'm going to find out within the next couple of days one way or another. Just as soon as it arrives it will get attached to my stock pot and the dreaded poached egg test will be initiated, it seems to break every unit I use it on to test, if it succeeds then peace and serenity will return to the household and if it fails? Well I'll hunt down Harry Potter and all of his cronies and kill them with my own hot wand....? 

3 minutes ago, Justin said:

Do research other models. 

Justin I'm all researched out mate! I've looked at every make and model of wand out there and the same goes for baths. I've settled on the Wanacle because a couple of people on this here forum give it the thumbs up? Lets hope it turns out to be a way better experience than the Andrew James one?  

3 minutes ago, Raptor72 said:

I’m in house Grillindor

I'm in the dog house! With the good lady...

Here we go here we go here we go..... Just bought the Wanacle Wand off of good old E-bay for £64.20 free p&p. I made £3.79 on the deal!!!! And so we start again, it better be good people.? 

8 minutes ago, Justin said:

 Hmmm there it is then.  At least you now know.  Lots of wand potions or a more reliable make of bath. I say again wand gives you options on big or small container.  I vary between stock pot or wand depending on what I am cooking,  Container is good for pots like creme caramels, creme brulees, rice pudding etc.  

Its a great shame because the unit looked great but tummy upsets or worse are not my thing and I certainly don't care to pay for the privilege of having one!! Andrew James were very good, no arguments and they asked me to email the video of the test over to them so they can use it with their supplier as proof that there are, indeed, issues. AJ have issued, or will, a full refund and have apologised. My concern is how many other buyers who don't have the equipment to test and obtain correct results are using this unit thinking all is well? Very worrying. Ah well off to have a look at the Wanacle as I found one on E-Bay for just £64.20 inc p&p

Wednesday 1045hrs: Oh dear oh dear oh dear. The replacement unit never even made it to the 'poached egg' test!? It was set at 75c and beeped at 63c to say it was ready to cook, but when I then tested to see what the actual temperature was it turned out to be 58c Unacceptable Mr James! Dangerous Mr James!! I'm returning it Mr James.?Thank you for the refund Mr James...

So watch out Harry Potter, I'm coming for you're wand pal.??‍♂️

3 hours ago, Wade said:

This cheap smoker (along with a number of other Brinkmann clones) was the inspiration for Callow developing the current Callow/Cook4All smoker. Scott at Callow used to sell these but was disappointed that it did not work well out of the box and that it required several mods in order to turn it into a semi-usable smoker. I have helped a number of customers to more effectively use them at home, however their design is quite limiting for most people.

The biggest problem is their temperature management. Without an effective (or any) adjustable bottom air vent, combined with a poor air flow through the charcoal, it is difficult to set and maintain any desired cooking temperature without using a lot of tin foil, raising the charcoal in the fire bowl and much trial and error. Whilst they are not particularly good for low-and-slow cooking they are fine for smoke roasting (chickens and meat joints etc.) and they make a very passable cold smoker too.

Unfortunately, I think that this type of unit has been responsible for a lot of people who wanted to try their hand at American style BBQ becoming frustrated and giving up before they could really give it a chance.

Hear you but had no issues with the Billy Oh, it is what it is and worse case scenario would be to use the bottom section as a 'fire pit' Which we do on a fairly regular basis.? 

3 hours ago, Icefever said:

I do have a dislike of DPD....if I'm looking to buy an item I check to find out which parcel delivery company is used.  I will look elsewhere if it's DPD,  If we miss a delivery by DPD we have to collect from their depot which is a round trip of 80 miles for us.  We have a great team in our local post office,  David our postman goes out of his way to sort out any problems,  the guy who does the larger deliveries if we are out will take it to the post office so we can pick it up later. 

Well I take it all back! I'm not a fan of DPD, normally, but they turned up at 0830 this very day (Wednesday) and I am, at this very moment, testing the replacement and the testing will go on for a good few hours to establish that this unit works as it should. I'm starting with the infamous 'poached eggs' moving on to root veg. All of the selected need to be cooked for an hour or more at 85c or above! If it survives that then it will receive the memsahibs seal of approval!! Though she's not a happy bunny having her kitchen turned into a lab, but she does understand....

I have an even cheaper version of a bullet smoker and I do mean cheap! It was my very first try at the art of smoking and it was the very first unit I ever smoked a full rack of ribs on. It works brilliantly every single time I use it, it has never failed to turn out well cooked/smoked food! Don't get too close to it when in use because the metal is a little thicker than a coke can! Will it last more than two or three seasons? I would very much doubt it, but then, at a cost of just £28 incl p&p  would it really matter? The only mod needed was to drill two holes and fit two grommets for probes! I decided not to bother and just use a file to create a small channel for the leads. Its cheap as chips but it went everywhere with us this summer as it fits inside itself for transporting. It really is a remarkable little thing. Its sold under the brand name Billy Oh?

Well I'm still awaiting delivery of the replacement unit, just got a text to say it will be delivered on Thursday now, nothing to do with the supplier more tardiness from DPD it would seem. Anyway, the testing remains the same and it did occur to me that the first issue I had with setting the temp was maybe a warning that there was an issue and the temp of the salmon could have been due to the fault? Whatever the reason if this unit fails to operate 100% correctly then it will be a refund and I'll go down the wand route along with Harry Potter and the rest of his sous vide crowd up there at 'Hogwarts'??‍♂️ 

1 hour ago, Justin said:

Unlucky with the faulty unit. 

Lets hope it is just one faulty unit and not a design issue! I'll give one another go but if that does not work as it should then I'll go for the wand..

51 minutes ago, Raptor72 said:

get a refund and buy this Wancle stick 

Well I'll go with the replacement which arrives on Wednesday and if it fails to cook the three test items perfectly then by 1800hrs it will indeed be going back for a full refund and I'll go for the stick. Watch this space.