Two Pork Butts - Total 12 lbs On The 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker

As usual, I smoked two pork butts (cut in half to speed up cooking time).  These total 12 lbs after cutting off the fat cap.  The bone was still in each pork butt.

Time started at 9:30 AM on the 22.5" WSM and finished at 3:15 PM.  It pays to cut the butts in half!  Speeds up the cooking like crazy.  Doing a temperature probe test on each piece, the probe went in like butter.  Very tender.  These should pull really easily after it has had some time to rest.

Yes... pulled very easily!

35th Wedding Anniversary Lobster Dinner

Today was our 35th Wedding Anniversary!

For dinner, I made four lobster tails with chicken, corn and rice.  Stir fried in my wok with green onions and ginger... it was fast and easy to make!

Making Char Siu In The 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM)

This was the first time making Char Siu in the 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) smoker instead of in the oven.

I cooked the meat at 360 degrees in the smoker... a lot hotter than I normally make pulled pork!  I make pulled pork normally around the 250 degrees range, but since I wasn't going to pull this pork and needed it whole, fast and hot was best.

After 1 hour 15 minutes in the smoker, the internal temperature of the meat had reached between 145 and 150 degrees.  I brought the trays back inside and put them under the broiler to sear the meat a bit.

The meat was cut into strips and put on an aluminum pan.  Typically you would hang the meat directly over the coals, but I didn't want to deal with the mess it would probably make.  But the dripping of the fat onto the charcoal imparts a different flavor and that most likely would have been best for taste.

Overall, the charcoal smoking only added a slight flavor of smoke to the meat.  I blame this on the trays and also the fact that I did not use any wood on the charcoal.  Plus, I didn't hang the meat for the dripping of the fat onto the charcoal.  Still, the char siu was very good.  Again, I used the America's Test Kitchen recipe for making the char siu maranade (done overnight), but I skipped the sesame oil and also did not glaze the meat to minimize the added sugar and calories.

For ease, I think it's still easier making this in the oven than in the smoker.  But if I will do it in the smoker again, I'll have to get a hanging rack (don't have one and really don't intend to get one either).

Pressure Cooker Explosion - Fagor Pressure Cooker

My wife was cooking some red bean soup in our Fagor Pressure Cooker.  15-20 minutes after the cooker came to pressure, it exploded!

Luckily, neither of us were in the kitchen, but we heard this huge explosion.  After checking out the damage, we found the pressure cooker had punched a hole in the kitchen wall near the baseboard and put a slight dent in the stainless steel headboard panel of the stove!

Inspecting the pressure cooker, the front assist handle of the pressure cooker had broken, but the pressure cooker was still intact!  The locking mechanism was still locked and the lid did not fall off.

So how did this thing explode?  I'm still wondering that.  If it weren't for the broken front assist handle probably breaking off when the pressure cooker hit the floor or the wall, you would never know that the pressure cooker had exploded!

We won't be using this pressure cooker any longer (although we could just use it as a cooking pot and skip the cover), but it makes me wonder if this could also happen when using our Instant Pot.  I think it most likely can.

Yes, pressure cookers are dangerous.  We were just lucky we were not in the kitchen when it happened.  Even being careful with pressure cookers, they can still explode!

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October 1, 2020: Update - Time for repair!  I cut a hole in the wall using a utility knife approximately 4.5" x 4.5" and got some scrap drywall compliments of Home Depot.  Using a wooden paint stirring stick as a backing for the new drywall piece, I used wood screws to secure it to the wall.  The replacement drywall piece was installed and I found that I had cut the hole a bit too large leaving a gap on the upper section.  I will likely just fill it with spackle and call it a day.

I'll tape the open sections and use dry wall spackle to fill in the gaps and then sand it and paint it.

Relatively easy to do, but it still took me months to get to it.  :)

Japanese Curry Chicken with Rice, Potatoes and Edamame

This is perhaps one of my absolute favorite dishes to make because it tastes great and is SO EASY to make!  Japanese Curry with rice, potatoes and edamame (usually we put peas though).

This is the first time using MILD for the curry.  I usually use Spicy or Extra Spicy, but my wife is getting more sensitive to spicy foods, so we decided to try out the mild.  Still very good!  If you have a spice sensitivity but would like to try this type of Japanese curry, try the mild.

I like this brand of curry... S&B Golden Curry.  Very flavorful and easy to use.  It comes in two packages that break into four cubes each.  Here's how you use it to make this dish.

Cut up chicken leg quarters and/or chicken breasts.  Put the chicken in a big pot and fill perhaps 1/4 of the pot with water.  Add a bit of salt and just put the pot on the stove and cook the chicken for perhaps 45 minutes in the pot.  I add cut up potatoes just about 15 minutes before the chicken is done.  Do not add the edamame (or peas) until later.  Stir every now and then to rotate the chicken pieces in the pot.

After 45 minutes, I take the pot outside to finish the cook.  My wife feels that it doesn't smell up the entire house of curry if you add the curry outside!  I use a portable butane burner that you can get at most Asian stores for less than $20 and put the pot on that.  I add in the two packages of curry pieces and bring it back to a boil.  The sauce will thicken up when the curry cubes have melted.  I stir constantly.  At this time, I add in either edamame or frozen peas.  After another 5-10 minutes, the dish is done!  Serve over white rice and be sure to spoon in plenty of the sauce!

Give it a try!  I think you will like it.  Be sure to buy the S&B Golden Curry brand.  Typically at Asian markets, the curry package of two is about $3.95.  You can get it on Amazon as well, but they sell it for a LOT more money there.  Try finding it at a local Asian market near you.

By the way, the chicken leg quarters were on sale for $2.90 for 10 lbs at my local grocery store, so the curry package cost more than the 10 lbs of chicken!  Add in the cost of 1/2 package of frozen edamame and some rice, the total for 10 lbs of chicken that will last for days was under $9.00.  Can't beat that!