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My son has a Traeger pellet smoker. It's great for long overnight smokes as it's a set-it-and-forget-it smoker. However, IMO, the smoke flavor is not as good as what you get with a traditional charcoal or wood smoker. A little less flavor, but a lot less work!!!
I have a pellet smoker and I agree about the smoke, however i have discovered that one can use wood chips in my pellet grill if the chips are smallish and pass through the auger. It improved the smoke flavor greatly! Last brisket was much better using the chips and pellets together. good smoke ring.
 
Have you made a choice? and will this be on the deck? or does it need to be portable and put up in winter? I bought a Nexgrill from HD several years ago. Because I am cheap, I waited for sales (Memorial Day is around the corner) and special financing offer ($75.00 off anything over $150), then used my military discount. total out the door was under $200. Don't know what they have as of 2024, but I would look around. After a few years the burners, shields, etc have become burned out. I bought on Amazon Stainless parts, grates, etc for ~$50.00. A great upgrade as the grates are very easy to clean. As for the grill mats, they are great to use. I have even used them to make pancakes! and great for soft items.
Thank you for your input. I had a Nexgrill, also from HD and it was great. I sold it (really gave away for $100) when we were contemplating moving to Florida. I would have no problem buying another Nexgrill. That is what I am leaning toward at this point. I think I will get one of them and try the grill mats. I may or may not buy one of the flat surfaces that fit on top of the grill. I have fairly well decided against the flat top gas griddle due to its lack of versatility.
 
Thank you for your input. I had a Nexgrill, also from HD and it was great. I sold it (really gave away for $100) when we were contemplating moving to Florida. I would have no problem buying another Nexgrill. That is what I am leaning toward at this point. I think I will get one of them and try the grill mats. I may or may not buy one of the flat surfaces that fit on top of the grill. I have fairly well decided against the flat top gas griddle due to its lack of versatility.
Not intending to respark the comments here. I just wanted to add that grills and griddles are 2 completely different things and you wouldn't be happy with just a griddle. I have something similar to this, and you would be surprised how useful it is. I cover it with foil and cook salmon skin down. The skin gets crispy and sticks to the foil, to serve I just remove the filet sans skin. The flavor is great.

Burgers turn out great on it. Bacon for those burgers. With a big enough grill you can griddle and bb at the same time. The griddle accessory makes you bbq more useful, where a griddle would just make you bbq-less.

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I'm a Weber guy, through and through (have 4 of them), but they are expensive new. However, two of mine I bought on Craigslist. Especially this time of year, there are a lot to be had out there with people moving, looking to upgrade, etc. You can go used and let the original owner pay for all that depreciation. :D While new Webers are very expensive, they are made pretty well, parts are easy to come by, and their customer service is excellent. Buying used and then updating the guts can be a simple and VERY economical way to get a great grill for not a lot of money. Plus, it's a fun little project.
Done that a couple of times with good results. Although I can’t say cleaning someone else’s grease is fun. Almost always Webers for me too. My current daily griller I did buy new though and it is a Weber. I don’t care for bells a whistles either but will spend for good quality.
 
Mrs. WM81 shopped at Costco this morning, bring home "stew beef", which we haven't had in a while. Her request was for pressure cooked beef, so it got a lot of mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Plus a homemade Gyros seasoning. Served with red and yellow mashed potatoes.

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Funny story -- we had been married for well over 10 years before Mrs. WM81 learned of my aversion to boiled potatoes.

While growing up, our family garden was larger than most building lots in the USA today, and my dad grew a LOT of potatoes. The house I grew up in had a coal furnace originally, which my dad replaced with an oil furnace in the 50's. He cleaned out the coal bin (if my memory is correct, 6' wide by 8' long with a 3' retaining wall. That became the potato bin. Yes, that is a LOT of potatoes when full.

My parents grew up during the Great Depression, and food was a problem for many. Potatoes were easy to grow and stored well, so it was a common food source. Long after WWII was over, my dad grew a lot of potatoes so he'd always have food for his family. His family always had food, but he can recall his mom giving neighbors 50 lbs of potatoes as they were starving.

As a result, we ate boiled potatoes 6 days per week. My mom made spaghetti sauce every other Saturday, and we had rice on alternating Saturdays. I lived for those days! ;)

Since moving out on my own, I have NEVER voluntarily peeled a potato.

Mrs. WM81 loves mashed potatoes, so we do them. I refuse the peel the potatoes, so we clean the potatoes, then cube 'em and boil 'em with the skins on. My mashed potatoes always have skin, as it gives it some flavor and texture. Mrs. WM81 thought it was weird the first time we did it, but after 30+ years together, she agrees that we do not peel potatoes.
 
I turned a whole Costco brisket into 5 meals. The whole point and large portion of the flat, both for quests. Two meals worth of large cubes for hot pot/braised goodness, and a smaller portion of the flat that we ate tonight.

Flavor was a 10, tenderness an 8. Coulda used a bit more time, but I need room to improve, otherwise where is the motivation? 😆

Served with balsamic butter over endive, coleslaw, and jalapeno bbq style beans.

All I can say is I am lucky I got one picture.

That's a legit smoke ring. No Tender Quick for this guy! I either hit the ribs with too much rub, or there was more mesquite than I like in the competition blend chips I used. I was a little worried I wasn't going to be able to get the smoke flavor I wanted, but this was good. Smokey, but not overpowering. It was a little under 2 lbs and got 6 hours cook time with resting for 20 minutes to 170.
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Can you share your sauce recipe, sounds interesting and I have bottles of Limoncello floating around.
thanks,
I dredged chicken breast in cornstarch and browned in olive oil & butter. Seasoned with seasoned salt and black pepper. Added about 1 cup limoncello and 1 cup chicken stock, and simmered until chicken was cooked through and the sauce a bit thickened.

That's pretty much my recipe for many things -- dredge meat in cornstarch, flour, or nothing. Brown it. Season with whatever comes to mind. Add wine or liqueur and stock. Maybe some cream or half-n-half. Maybe sour cream. Simmer until meat cooked through and if the sauce doesn't thicken, maybe add cornstarch or flour dissolve in wine or stock.

My wife asks me to record things, and in some cases I do, but most of the time it's all seat-of-the-pants cooking.

Mrs. WM81 said it's better tonight than it was last night, so I did something right. 😀
 
This one is for you Bryan @winemaker81. You are the only one that I have seen post real sushi and you got some flak for it. Rolls are filler, the good stuff is raw!

In the order it arrived. Spicy tuna and spicy salmon rolls, salmon sashimi, and tobiko (flying fish roe), scallop, and avocado nigiri. A little tea and miso soup to start.

The taste is better than the presentation! This is the heart of my regular order, I may expand, but rarely remove anything.
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This one is for you Bryan @winemaker81. You are the only one that I have seen post real sushi and you got some flak for it. Rolls are filler, the good stuff is raw!

In the order it arrived. Spicy tuna and spicy salmon rolls, salmon sashimi, and tobiko (flying fish roe), scallop, and avocado nigiri. A little tea and miso soup to start.

The taste is better than the presentation! This is the heart of my regular order, I may expand, but rarely remove anything.
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That's a good representation. Try some cooked eel, and seaweed salad.
 
That's a good representation. Try some cooked eel, and seaweed salad.
I love eel sauce, eel I can take or leave. I do love seaweed salad though and spinach Goma-ae is my absolute favorite. We only have one sushi place in our little town and they don't serve it. Next time I make it I will post it. The pictures might inspire others. It is amazing.
 
A first for us,
Maitre’d watches as waitress serves us;
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a brief assembly;
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finished hot pot;
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not positive what we had
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Interesting sign on the wall. The English version is a little hard to read but I believe it says, "To avoid waste, leftovers should be less than 6 oz. or we'll have to charge $6.99/Lb. Thank you for your help."

I like that! It might be something that should be adopted in all restaurants. (Let me add, I was raised at the time when "The poor people in Europe were starving.")
 
Interesting sign on the wall. The English version is a little hard to read but I believe it says, "To avoid waste, leftovers should be less than 6 oz. or we'll have to charge $6.99/Lb. Thank you for your help."

I like that! It might be something that should be adopted in all restaurants. (Let me add, I was raised at the time when "The poor people in Europe were starving.")
I was raised when the poor people in my house were starving. 😂

I hate waste!

Scarcity is a very hard mindset to move beyond. I am getting better, but I have a spare for the spares in the pantry, and no matter what it is. I still get every drop out.
 
Jerk ribs. Rubbed a couple racks of baby backs down with some Walkerswood mild, vacuum sealed, and let them sit for about 24 hours. Threw them on low and slow before my late afternoon meetings and let 'em run for a few hours. Rice with oregano, allspice, S&P, and some slaw. Ends were a tad overdone, but the middles were perfect.

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