The Hasty Bake Legacy 133 Corten Steel Has Arrived

[HotSun]

First cook on Monday after work. I couldn't take a bunch of pictures, but there was a learning curve to be sure, especially coming from cooking on a kamado style device. I cooked picanha, indirect heat to start using the deflector and then seared direct to finish, which is my typical method. I could only get the HB up to 450F, but that seemed to be sufficient. So think: roasting then grilling. The fire box (holds the coals), is adjustable in height by a crank. I set it between 'bake' and 'sear'.

The heat deflector covers about 60% of the fire box and I'm not used to so much real estate, so setting up my direct and indirect zones was tricky. No pics, sorry, but I will try to get some next time I cook.

This picanha was probably the worst cut I've ever had, so it was challenging to prepare. I need to be more careful in my selection of meat. I dry brined for 3 days and then did my thing. I cooked with charcoal briquettes because that was closer to me than the lump, with a little hickory for smoke

The HB has a grease channel for routing grease from the angled cooking grates to the tray that I should have installed. Well, lesson learned, because that grease really gets flowing and started running down the side of the HB into my drip pan. Oops.

I Macguyvered this with butcher's twine and a binder clip to flow the grease into the pan:


At 450F, this cooked way faster than I expected, so I ended mainly with doneness of medium and a couple medium well on the 'chef's cuts' on the right.



For me, getting to medium-rare is difficult as I am also juggling other food prep at the same time, directing the kids on various meal prep things. Anyhow, I'll post more about the food on SUWYC.

[HotSun]

One comment on the temperature gauge, when I was doing my burn-off/in on Sunday. They (Hasty-Bake) claim the gauge is accurate to within 2%. I feel the same way about these gauges as Meathead....don't trust them, but I found it accurate when measured against my ThermoPro at about 460F.

On my Kamander, I use the built-in gauge to tell me when it's ready for a given purpose, so it is useful, but I do not rely on it.

[fzxdoc]

I'm enjoying these updates, HotSun . It's like looking over your shoulder.

Nice McGuyver there with the grease, string, and clip. That made me smile.

I hear you about not being able to take photos when you've got a smoker going and have to make the rest of the meal mostly inside, set the table (or encourage the kids to do so, in your case), etc. There's a lot going on--too much to try to grab a phone and snap photos too. With my luck I'd drop the phone into the smoker.

Kathryn

[HotSun]

Thanks! True story about the photos. I'm happy when I can find my phone, let alone take pics. 🤣

[HotSun]

My grill mat came in (end of season discount!), so my deck will be protected from rust stains, . I am going to hold off on any pics for a little while as I allow this to weather for a little longer. I'm allowing this to go uncovered as it weathers, then will cover up at some point.

I am planning a few things, one of which, since I have fzxdoc 's attention here, is beef stock, based on Kathryn's method and recipe. It's been a challenge to do stock on the Kamander, so with all this extra real estate and different shape, I think I will get pretty decent results. I've got the bones and veggies...now I just need the time.