Tough call for me. I’ve made two purchases this year that both make me very happy. One is a watch, which I bought with some inheritance money. I’m one of those weird watch guys who has a small collection. Probably not many (any?) other WISs here, so I’ll go with item two.
A few months ago, I decided to up my grilling game and to purchase a Kamado grill (and to add the “smoking” capability to my grill game). I ran into a great price on a Vision Grills kamado and just couldn’t pass it up.
started it off with the best hamburgers i’ve ever had. cooked perfectly, a little char grill mark and a little smoke in the flavor.
then the first weekend with bacon on that first Saturday and a pork shoulder on Sunday. bacon was great, a tad salty (will fix that in the next brine).
since then lots more hamburgers, kabobs (chicken and veggie, mostly), pork loin, steaks, and even a whole smoked chicken. need to get serious with the long smoke and do a brisket.
Congrats on your kamado. When I got one it changed my life. I cook on it constantly!
My favorite recent toy is simple: a $20 induction-friendly aluminum frying pan. I’ve been cooking outside on a portable induction cooktop constantly since I am off work and the weather is great.
Going fancier, I recently upgraded my home brewing equipment. I brew 5 gallon batches every 2-3 weeks and can brew bigger when needed.
my wife was not as convinced until we started cooking on it. probably use it 2-3 times a week.
i’d love to try induction cooking sometime. i love my gas stove, but i’m always up for trying new things.
last years “omg” purchase was an electric pressure cooker. so many easy things to make in that. especially things like bean dishes, rice dishes… while i’m making mediterranean chicken kabobs on the kamado tonight, tomorrow will be beef stroganoff in the pressure cooker.
i have friends who brew. i’ve never tried it myself.
well, we all know the “usual amount” may just be getting redirected to raw materials.
that’s the kind of tool that makes me sad not to have a driveway/garage. my air compressor sits in my shed and doesn’t get used much. too much of a pain to haul it out, plug it into an extension cord and set things up. if i had a garage, i’d just turn it on, let it fill, and use it.
I much prefer gas, but on the patio I have to make do with induction. Still, between that and the kamado I can cook a whole meal outside, which is great.
Since you have a pressure cooker, lmk if you like hot wings and I’ll let you know how to get restaurant-grade crispy wings… it’s epic.
Smoking, beer making now this is my kind of thread. A friend has the large Komado (oval one)/ He also uses it a couple times a week. My self I like my pellet smoker. Set the temp and walk away.
I just picked up a new grill on Thursday to replace this old one
The burners had rusted out and it took me several weeks to of e-mail and phone tag to get the warranty replacements sent. We had continued to use it and unfortunately just a few days before the burners arrived it burst into flames while my son was cooking.
I searched for replacement parts but couldn’t find what I needed. so now I have this one…
of course! i love to cook, too. mostly cuz i love to eat. and something i can make in the pressure cooker is something i can bring to work and cook, if it’s not complex. great crispy wings would make me a popular guy.
i wish i could find a recipe for broasted chicken. the only restaurant around here who made it is gone now, and i don’t want to drive to new england to get some.
I do suggest watching the video once. They show how to load the pressure cooker, and how to prep the wings if you are unable to get 'em pre-trimmed.
You can freeze the wings after the pressure cooker step and fry them direct from frozen. You can also keep the fried wings in a warm oven while you make a big pile of 'em, then sauce them in batches for serving. It’s very flexible and great for entertaining. I liked this technique so much I bought a pressure canner, which I can use for canning OR cooking like 60 wings at a time.
As to sauce, lots of approaches. I am perfectly happy with about 1 cup Franks, 1 quarter stick butter, and a tablespoon or so of vinegar.
I have three compressors. A 5hp I bought for my shop and 2 nail gun sizes one. I bought a tiny Harbor freight one for $40. (On Sale) I use that one whenever I’m not near the two bigger ones.
i have a 23qt pressure canner, too. mostly because i buy 75lbs of tomatoes every august to make a boatload of tomato sauce to get me through the winter.
it’s interesting that the technique reminds me of the proper way to make restaurant quality fries (par fry, chill off in the walk in cooler, then final fry).
Ooh cool! Hubs makes pressure cooked buffalo wings, and they’re amazing. His are not crispy, though … just sent him the link to that video so that he can consider and experiment
Maybe it’s a design feature because mine does the same. Never sure if it just skipped or if it’s empty. But, yep, it was way better than any other options I had.
I bought a Tooli G2 but haven’t done anything with it yet. I was figuring they will be calling my Glowforge home sometime soon and I’ll be without for a few weeks, so I’ll work on the new toy then. First project: figure out how to make faces in my coffee with whipped cream.
that’s not a bad price, but there are a few things to keep in mind with that kamado.
1, it’s a “jr” model, which means it’s the fairly small one. almost like an apartment sized grill. that one has 153 sq inch of surface. my vision grill has 604" across two tiers. so single tier, it’s 2x the size, put on the second tier grate and it’s almost 4x the size.
2, the akorns are not all ceramic, they’re ceramic coating over steel. they have a reputation of rusting over time if you don’t take really good care of them.
that said, the akorns have a pretty good rep for the price. just make sure you’re ok with one that small before you buy that one.
