A friend made me a steel divider sheet for the barrel grill (if you like: See here, here, here and here) so I can use it as a simple smoker. Basically it works like those Weber-fireboxes you can buy at the hardware store: The idea is to put the coals into the left half of the firepit, setting the divider and thus having a zone of indirect heat and smoke on the right side. Simple, effective and it works (somehow) 🙂
I made a Thing…
So, over the last few weeks I bolted and welded together some kind of a chuckwagon-kitchen-appliance for my garden firebowl. As usual I tried to use mainly scrap from the shop, recycling what I had but in this case I had to buy some steel rods and small parts.
Parts of an Anvil
Another interesting info image with the english terms for a german DIY-er. Taken from here.
Hauke, Part II (Sourdough Starter)
The second day is over. I couldn’t see much change when I added 100g of flour and another 100ml of water today. Also, it didn’t smell sourly yet. So let’s wait for day three.
The trick seems to be to “feed” it day by day, until it bubbles. The naturally occuring wild yeasts and lactobacilli in the flour need some time to wake up, reproduce and populate the mixture thoroughly. When this proliferation has reached a certain level, the developing carbon dioxide makes the dough bubble up and the ongoing fermentation produces a wide variety of aromatics – that finally also end up in your bread.
Looking forward to tomorrow evening and on how it is going on.
The complete Hauke series: part 1 | part 2 | part 3
Hauke, Part I (Sourdough Starter)
Let me present to you: Hauke (a somewhat unusual boy’s name in germany), my first homemade sourdough starter – at least my first try. Since I’ve read that they’re living organisms and thus you’re obliged to give them names, I’ll simply call him – well – Hauke. I started him off today with 50g wheat flour (Type 1050) and 50 ml water @ 27 °C (lukewarm). Recipe taken from here.
Part two and more information on how to make a sourdough starter tomorrow, when I’ll have to fill it up.
The complete Hauke series: part 1 | part 2 | part 3
Pressure Cooker How To
Since I was an absolute beginner when it came to using a pressure cooker (and I somehow lost the manual…), I looked for instructions on the internet lately. Some were plain BS, some just dramatically told elementary stuff and left out the real instructions and, finally, some (especially the relevant forums!) were very informative. I threw everything together and tried it out (BTW – here’s a good article on what a pressure cooker actually does – I won’t describe the principles of pressure cooking here).
So, here’s my personal “Pressure Cooker How To for Dummies” (tested, illustrated and in full color!):
Rotisserie DIY
I welded together a rotisserie mostly from scraps in the shop! I wanted it to fit into the grate slots of my stone barbecue grill so I had to design it exactly to size. I also had to grind up an idea on where to put the electric motor since, in my case, there are walls in exactly the spot where all the store bought ones have their drive.
Japan-inspired Wooden Plates
You can officially call me the great Recycler! I had this leftover piece of beechwood lying around (and constantly in the way) and I saw an inspiring video on japanese cuisine.