Messages

2116

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Strange Pour

« on: November 09, 2010, 02:37:31 AM »

You might try swapping the kegs to see if it has anything to do with the beer or the keg you are using. 

After posting to the forum, this is the first thing I'll try tonight. I figured maybe it was an over-carb problem or something.

2117

All Things Food / Re: Kitchen Knives

« on: November 09, 2010, 02:36:02 AM »

I have a set of Chicago Cutlery knives that I want to replace with some really good knives.
I've been doing a little research and have found that alot of chefs like the Japanese stainless knives.

Like this Global. Pricey though.

http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=135722&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fgourmetfood%2Eabout%2Ecom%2Fod%2Fwheretobuygourmetfoods%2Ftp%2Fchefknife%2Ehtm

One of the most important things when choosing a set of knives is to see how it feels in your hand. Global is nice, but it doesn't fit my hand well; my Wustofs fit perfectly. Make sure you go to some place like Sur La Table to try a bunch of different handle styles, and pick the one that's most comfortable. Don't spend a lot of money on flashy knives because if they're not comfortable, you'll never use them, and that would be sad.

2118

All Things Food / Re: Kitchen Knives

« on: November 09, 2010, 02:34:14 AM »

I have one of these...



I have yet to use it in the kitchen, though.

Hey, that's an enfield bayonet right? My dad has one exactly like this, and a matching Enfield 308 from WWI, both complete with a King's Armory stamp.

Don't think it'll work for the filet mignon, though I'm sure you could bag a Turkey.

2119

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Strange Pour

« on: November 08, 2010, 01:35:06 PM »

Check out the Brewers Association Draught Quality Manual to help you balance your system and get the right pour.  You can download the manual for free.  It's pretty comprehensive.

http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/publications/draught-quality-manual

Ya I've got a copy, it's been really handy so far, but the thing I don't get is this: I've got a Y-splitter on my co2 tank and both lines are the same length, and the lines out to the taps are the same length too, and since I know the other tap is fine I'm pretty sure it's not a balancing issue.

For the blockages, etc - should I just unscrew everything and see what I can find? I'll give it a shot tomorrow night to see what I can see - thanks for the tips all.

2120

Kegging and Bottling / Strange Pour

« on: November 08, 2010, 12:03:57 PM »

Hey all,

So my brass tower finally came in, hurrah! Thanks to Korey at Kegworks for helping me out and putting up with my random questions.

I've got a Pumpkin Ale which is on tap #1, and on tap #2 I've got a nice Irish red. #1 is pouring fine, but #2 is strange. At the beginning of the pour, it looks fine, nice and clear. However after about two seconds it starts pouring the consistency of Guinness. Not that I'm complaining - there's some beautiful head on this thing once it gets poured, and it's suuuuper creamy. But I do have to pour it like a Guinness - pour some, wait, pour some, wait. It's not the style of beer I was going for, so I wanted to see if any of you guys had thoughts about the issue. Here are some photos:

During the pour:



After the pour:



Note that the head is super super super dense. I likey, but I wanna do how to reproduce-y.

2121

All Things Food / Re: BBQ Style

« on: November 08, 2010, 11:59:54 AM »

Then I added a bunch of mole sauce I had kicking around that also needed to be used up.

Man, I had this Mole mix that I was thinking of whipping up to go in the chili, but I wasn't sure how the flavors would mesh. I'll know to give it a shot next time.

2122

All Things Food / Re: Ethnic and Regional Cooking

« on: November 08, 2010, 02:57:54 AM »

If you made Pho with barbecued beef, would you call it Pho Que?

It's a slow cook process - pho que long time...

http://www.hiyoooo.com/

2123

The Pub / Re: Wife and Homebrew?

« on: November 08, 2010, 02:51:50 AM »

Back on topic, ordered some Apricot extract for my wife to make a batch of Magic Hat #9 clone, hopefully it'll get here in time for Thanksgiving. I think once she experiences how much fun it is having everybody praise the beer you made she'll be hooked on the hobby for sure. Plus it'll be fun!

2124

The Pub / Re: Wife and Homebrew?

« on: November 08, 2010, 02:49:42 AM »

Seems like I got a trend going. Bouef.

Also: Yamaha V-Star 1200 Silverado. I don't have one, but I wants it!

2125

All Things Food / Re: BBQ Style

« on: November 08, 2010, 01:32:30 AM »

Where I live mesquite is just a damn nuisance.  It grows everywhere, you can't kill it, and the thorns will flatten truck tires.  But when new drilling locations are built lots of mesquite gets bulldozed so I pick it up all the time.
As for shipping to France, there are no restrictions on shipping live plants.  I shipped 6 dry root pecan trees to my BIL last spring, and before I did it I checked the EU regulations.
My BIL has tried growing green chiles in France(he's a farmer) but the growing season is too short.

I'm really surprised to hear there aren't any restrictions. I'd think from a conservation perspective, they'd be worried about little invasive buggies coming over and infecting all of Europe, like what happened in the US with the Asian Long-horned Beetle.

If you guys DO decide to truck all over selling mesquite, contact the Big Green Egg dealerships in France and Germany (the ones in France are along the German border so it's not too far), I'm sure they'll be interested.

One thing I've noticed about BBQ in Europe, it's like Germany resurrected the Sigfried Line. If you want to buy anything like a smoker, you gotta head towards the German border, no matter what country you're in.

2126

The Pub / Re: Daylight savings

« on: November 08, 2010, 01:27:14 AM »

Ditka doesn't worry about changing his clock twice a year for daylight savings time. The sun rises and sets when Ditka tells it to.

I was on a flight with Ditka once. I knew there was no way that plane was going to crash.
Whoever was supposed to meet him was late and Ditka was cursing a blue streak into his phone. I know, it's hard to imagine Ditka swearing

I have spent several enjoyable evenings at Ditka's in Chicago, and the man is there almost -every- night, usually with random blondes. I can't say I'd want him as a Godfather for my kids or anything, but he was a hell of a coach. Unlike the current doofus taking up space in Halas Hall... But that's another thread.

2127

All Things Food / Re: BBQ Style

« on: November 07, 2010, 01:38:08 PM »

I'm interested to know how the euro's like the wings. Is it a novelty to them? Twenty years ago they were just getting popular across the US outside NY state and the east coast. Now they're almost a staple and the damn things cost nearly $4+ a pound. Kinda like skirt steak. Used to cost pennies because no-one knew what to do with it. Blam, fajitas get popular and the meat now costs $7 a pound.

That's how I felt about hanger steak/onglet - they used to be pretty cheap until Food Network showed people what you could do with them.

Wings: They're somewhat popular thanks to places like KFC and Buffalo Grill, but they're really generic and typically not done correctly. Think super sweet "BBQ" sauce and being cooked for wayyy too long.

The people I had over really enjoyed them, and have asked me to cook them again for our next get-together. I'm doing a pretty good job introducing people to the "right" way these sort of things are done. Speaking of introducing, I now have two coworkers who have started brewing their own beer. I hope to have our first "real" event sometime in the next few months, and get things REALLY rolling.

2128

The Pub / Re: Daylight savings

« on: November 07, 2010, 01:24:26 PM »

We changed l' hour d' summer last week; j' again have light of day for my idleness morning. BOUEF.

I guess it can't handle contractions or all caps.

We changed the hour of summer last week; I again have light of day for my idleness morning.  BEEF.

BEEF?

I said "We already changed to DST last week; now I've got daylight when I start the morning laziness."

Bouef isn't exactly an insult, it's more like the verbal equivalent of the Famous French Shrug.

2129

The Pub / Re: Daylight savings

« on: November 07, 2010, 01:22:39 PM »

Waking up the lazy french people since 1784.

Hey!!! We had our DST LAST week, thank you very much. Nous avons changé l'heure d'été la semaine dernière; j'ai à nouveau la lumière du jour pour ma paresse matin. BOUEF.

Mike Ditka would never say that.  Just sayin'

Ditka doesn't worry about changing his clock twice a year for daylight savings time. The sun rises and sets when Ditka tells it to.

2130

All Things Food / Re: BBQ Style

« on: November 07, 2010, 12:25:35 PM »

Heh, yup. It was a hit, fed about 15 people along with some honey chipotle wings. I'm getting closer to convincing these people that spicy = good.

Mesquite: I think it just won't grow here; I dunno if we could get away with bringing it in, the EU typically doesn't like people planting non-native plant species without permission :-p I've been told by the Germans that I need to stop my complainink unt use gut european vood, ya. But I still got about 10 pounds of mesquite chunks I snuck over with me ;-)

You wanna see some crazy prices, you can check out this site: http://www.myamericanmarket.com/us (in English). The lady who runs it is really nice, but it's pricey because people gotta get their French's Mustard on. €3.79 is for one of those 10-oz sizes, btw.

I grew piment d'esplette without a problem so I was guessing I'd be alright, but those were plants as opposed to the seeds I've got now so I think I'll go with the black pot idea. One of the nice things about this climate, though, is that I'm in prime Hallertauer climate range, though, so this time next year I hope to be posting some pics of my bounty.