Hello from the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago.
I bought a condo here in February of 2015, and grill on my deck. Wood deck, so the insurance will not allow a charcoal grill. So, for the second time in my life, I am without a Weber 22" Kettle, which was my thing at previous apartments over the previous decade. So, now I'm grilling with gas, a Weber E-330, which I'm just starting to get good at using, after finding the site and rediscovering my Raichlen. I have a few ways of doing smoke, and a few ways to take temperature.
I kind of discovered cooking around the time I turned 30 (I'm 43 as I write this). My brother is a CIA trained chef who currently works as a salesman for Sysco. My dad, my uncle, my grandparents on my dad's side, all took an interest in cooking a wide variety of things for as long as I can remember, but I really found food around the time I turned 30. Since then, I've moved from Los Angeles, to St. Louis, the Alexandria, VA, to Chicago (the condo is our third place in Chicago, where we've been for 8 years). At any rate, I try to cook a lot, read a ton about cooking, and really, it's my main interest, away from work and sleep.
Last year, I did a lot of things sous-vide, which I finished on the grill. I've been doing sous-vide since 2011. I got very interested in modernist techniques, and using some scientific method to improve my regular recipes. Big fan of Kenji Alt-Lopez, ChefSteps and this site. The big takeaway I got from SV is that low and slow improves a lot of things, so now, going back to the live fire for more traditional low and slow. When the weather gets colder, will probably heat up the SV and go back to what I was doing last year. So far, this year, I've been producing some really great product. Ribs, pork chops, smoked chicken, some asian chicken skewers, S&G chicken leg quarters. Largely from going deep on this site, and picking up the Raichlen again.
Any rate, when I'm cooking, I'm a happier person, better to be around. I take a week off from work every year (not sure I'm gonna get it this year), and cook all manner of long projects. So, gonna make it a great summer, by firing up the grill every weekend.
I bought a condo here in February of 2015, and grill on my deck. Wood deck, so the insurance will not allow a charcoal grill. So, for the second time in my life, I am without a Weber 22" Kettle, which was my thing at previous apartments over the previous decade. So, now I'm grilling with gas, a Weber E-330, which I'm just starting to get good at using, after finding the site and rediscovering my Raichlen. I have a few ways of doing smoke, and a few ways to take temperature.
I kind of discovered cooking around the time I turned 30 (I'm 43 as I write this). My brother is a CIA trained chef who currently works as a salesman for Sysco. My dad, my uncle, my grandparents on my dad's side, all took an interest in cooking a wide variety of things for as long as I can remember, but I really found food around the time I turned 30. Since then, I've moved from Los Angeles, to St. Louis, the Alexandria, VA, to Chicago (the condo is our third place in Chicago, where we've been for 8 years). At any rate, I try to cook a lot, read a ton about cooking, and really, it's my main interest, away from work and sleep.
Last year, I did a lot of things sous-vide, which I finished on the grill. I've been doing sous-vide since 2011. I got very interested in modernist techniques, and using some scientific method to improve my regular recipes. Big fan of Kenji Alt-Lopez, ChefSteps and this site. The big takeaway I got from SV is that low and slow improves a lot of things, so now, going back to the live fire for more traditional low and slow. When the weather gets colder, will probably heat up the SV and go back to what I was doing last year. So far, this year, I've been producing some really great product. Ribs, pork chops, smoked chicken, some asian chicken skewers, S&G chicken leg quarters. Largely from going deep on this site, and picking up the Raichlen again.
Any rate, when I'm cooking, I'm a happier person, better to be around. I take a week off from work every year (not sure I'm gonna get it this year), and cook all manner of long projects. So, gonna make it a great summer, by firing up the grill every weekend.
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