Back In The Saddle with a New Mini Max (Pic Heavy!)

JohnInCarolina · January 2015

As many of you know, I have been away from my Large BGE back in Durham, NC, since last August. It is in the good hands of a friend in the neighborhood, who is making good use of it from all accounts.

I looked into trying to buy one in Okinawa. I figured Japan is where these Kamado grills started, right? No luck. Zip. I had to suffer for months looking at all the great cooks on here. It was rough going, but I was born tough and somehow I made it.

We moved to Albuquerque in late December, and I started my MiniMax hunt right away. I know there's some red Kamado cooker out there that's about the same and less expensive, but I've never been a fan of red. Probably because I'm not a communist. Say what you will about the tenets of national socialism, at least it's an ethos.

Anyway... there's only one licensed dealer in the area - Patio Stone and Hearth on Menaul. The next closest is in Santa Fe. I went down and they only had one - and it was on the floor. Would they sell it to me I asked? No luck. But they said they would call headquarters and find out when they would be getting a shipment in and give me a call.

A week passed and they called and said HQ couldn't tell them when they would get more, unless they were willing to order an entire truckload. This is a relatively modest-sized store, and they weren't quite ready to do that, even though they sell plenty of Eggs. It was looking rough, my friends! I started thinking maybe I'd have to drive up to Colorado for one, or else bribe @Mickey to draw my name at Salado. I had a soft-cushion seat I thought might do the trick.

Then after a few days a miracle happened. Patio Stone and Hearth emailed and said they would sell me their demo model, but only if I agreed to buy the plate setter too. Twist my arm man! Giddyup! I was over there faster than your babysitter's boyfriend when your car leaves.

You know the best part about a demo model? No set-up time:

The family approved of the new MiniMax. "It's cute!" Not what I was going for, but whatever.

Of course I had to also purchase some of the local rub:

When in Rome, as the Germans say.

So... how to break it in? I told @cazzy I was going to try a repeat of his three racks of ribs on his small. He texted back that I wasn't that good at cooking. So... I'd have to settle for some ribeyes. I cooked them up Saturday night during the Patriots demolition of the Ravens (haha Joe Flacco!)

Fired up:

Seared on each side for about 4 minutes. Basted with a little sauce made from brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and butter (an APL combo).

Off the Egg:

On my plate:

These were just a touch too rare - I'm a bit off my game. Could have used a bit more crust too, but I just had the SS grill. And I'm out of practice.

Plated with sides and a glass of Stone IPA:

Good stuff! I'm back, beeyotches!!!

(PS: I know this post doesn't really have enough photos to technically be "pic heavy". I just put that in there to piss off people in Katy, TX).

YEMTrey · January 2015

Congrats! Nice score. Cook looks good to me.

Biggreenpharmacist · January 2015

One of those red kamados woulda gave you a better crust and made it not so rare. Just sayin'

JohnInCarolina · January 2015

Biggreenpharmacist said:

One of those red kamados woulda gave you a better crust and made it not so rare. Just sayin'

Yes I have heard that, like Ivan Drago, they are superior in every way possible.

Jeremiah · January 2015

Welcome back. I figured you were probably going nuts with no egg. :-bd

Jeepster47 · January 2015

Great story and great cook ... looks good. Lets see, North Carolina to Japan to New Mexico ... that should really screw with your home boy cooking.

Chubbs · January 2015

JohnInCarolina said:

Biggreenpharmacist said:

One of those red kamados woulda gave you a better crust and made it not so rare. Just sayin'

Yes I have heard that, like Ivan Drago, they are superior in every way possible.

I must break you

caliking · January 2015

And that's how it's done. Back in the game. Touchdown!

JohnInCarolina · January 2015

caliking said:

And that's how it's done. Back in the game. Touchdown!

blind99 · January 2015

What? You cook?!

Looks darned good, welcome back!

NPHuskerFL · January 2015

Right on! Right on! \m/

tarheelmatt · January 2015

Awesome! Congrats on your new Egg. Steaks look great too! Please include a fork the next time.

JRWhitee · January 2015

The only thing worse than not having an Egg is once having one and then not, that had to be a long wait. Congrats and nice steaks!

SmokeyPitt · January 2015

Welcome back and those steaks are beautiful. My family loves the APL Worcestershire glaze. It is one of the few simple techniques in the book.

Fred19Flintstone · January 2015

Way to break it in!!

Scott805 · January 2015

Well Done!

DMW · January 2015

Welcome back, steak looks great!

blind99 · January 2015

SmokeyPitt said:

Welcome back and those steaks are beautiful. My family loves the APL Worcestershire glaze. It is one of the few simple techniques in the book.

@smokeypitt I hear ya -
I doubt many people have cooked many of his recipes in their entirety! My takeaway was that he adds flavor at multiple steps - ie marinade, basting during the cook, board sauce at the end.

YEMTrey · January 2015

I'm at fault. I have the book, and haven't tried near enough of the recipes he has in there. It's rather intimidating to get started.

Carolina Q · January 2015

Jeepster47 said:
Great story and great cook ... looks good. Lets see, North Carolina to Japan to New Mexico ... that should really screw with your home boy cooking.

You forgot New Hampshire.

Jeepster47 · January 2015

Carolina Q said:

Great story and great cook ... looks good. Lets see, North Carolina to Japan to New Mexico ... that should really screw with your home boy cooking.
You forgot New Hampshire.

I'm too new ... missed that one. Geez, if John would just pay his rent he wouldn't have to move so much.

rsterman · January 2015

I'd have to say you are a little over-the-top with respect to your comment regarding the Ravens vs patriots game....... Seems to me that Joe outplayed your quarterback (4tds / 2 picks vs 3 tds / 1 pick)......if the Ravens had a better defensive secondary this year, you could very well be sitting home this weekend twiddling your thumbs..........instead of hitting on Joe, you should be breathing a sigh of relief....... New England was scared to death about playing the Ravens, and remained so until the last pick in the end zone in the final 2 min.....a thrilling game on both sides.....however, it takes real cojones to come back twice from 14 pts down .......?kudos patriots........watch out when our defensive secondary improves next year........go Seattle.!!!!!!

tarheelmatt · January 2015

cazzy · January 2015

rsterman said:

I'd have to say you are a little over-the-top with respect to your comment regarding the Ravens vs patriots game....... Seems to me that Joe outplayed your quarterback (4tds / 2 picks vs 3 tds / 1 pick)......if the Ravens had a better defensive secondary this year, you could very well be sitting home this weekend twiddling your thumbs..........instead of hitting on Joe, you should be breathing a sigh of relief....... New England was scared to death about playing the Ravens, and remained so until the last pick in the end zone in the final 2 min.....a thrilling game on both sides.....however, it takes real cojones to come back twice from 14 pts down .......?kudos patriots........watch out when our defensive secondary improves next year........go Seattle.!!!!!!

Forcing a ball to a well covered receiver with over the top safety help on 2nd & 5 with plenty of time on the clock (prolly too much if he would have scored) most definitely deserves a HAHA Joe Flacco. Unlike 2012, his lob and pray throw didn't pan out, nor does he still have Boldin to bail him out.

Eggcelsior · January 2015

cazzy said:

rsterman said:

I'd have to say you are a little over-the-top with respect to your comment regarding the Ravens vs patriots game....... Seems to me that Joe outplayed your quarterback (4tds / 2 picks vs 3 tds / 1 pick)......if the Ravens had a better defensive secondary this year, you could very well be sitting home this weekend twiddling your thumbs..........instead of hitting on Joe, you should be breathing a sigh of relief....... New England was scared to death about playing the Ravens, and remained so until the last pick in the end zone in the final 2 min.....a thrilling game on both sides.....however, it takes real cojones to come back twice from 14 pts down .......?kudos patriots........watch out when our defensive secondary improves next year........go Seattle.!!!!!!

Forcing a ball to a well covered receiver with over the top safety help on 2nd & 5 with plenty of time on the clock (prolly too much if he would have scored) most definitely deserves a HAHA Joe Flacco. Unlike 2012, his lob and pray throw didn't pan out, nor does he still have Boldin to bail him out.

Ravens fans are the best! My favorite part of working in Baltimore. They are almost elite.

Acn · January 2015

Eggcelsior said:

cazzy said:

rsterman said:

I'd have to say you are a little over-the-top with respect to your comment regarding the Ravens vs patriots game....... Seems to me that Joe outplayed your quarterback (4tds / 2 picks vs 3 tds / 1 pick)......if the Ravens had a better defensive secondary this year, you could very well be sitting home this weekend twiddling your thumbs..........instead of hitting on Joe, you should be breathing a sigh of relief.......

New England was scared to death about playing the Ravens, and remained so until the last pick in the end zone in the final 2 min.....a thrilling game on both sides.....however, it takes real cojones to come back twice from 14 pts down .......?kudos patriots........watch out when our defensive secondary improves next year........go Seattle.!!!!!!

Forcing a ball to a well covered receiver with over the top safety help on 2nd & 5 with plenty of time on the clock (prolly too much if he would have scored) most definitely deserves a HAHA Joe Flacco. Unlike 2012, his lob and pray throw didn't pan out, nor does he still have Boldin to bail him out.

Ravens fans are the best! My favorite part of working in Baltimore. They are almost elite.

New England has some loony fans too; when I was in college in the late '90s I had class with a kid who argued that Troy O'Leary was much better than Barry Bonds and that he had no problems with the Jeff Bagwell/Larry Anderson trade because there was no way Bagwell would play ahead of Mo Vaughan. Different sport, but the same truth applies.

rsterman · January 2015

By the way, your cook looks great.....I'm still learning to enjoy my lbge.... However, I'm getting more & more discouraged watching the NFL.....too much advertising which takes away from the game and ruins team momentum.......I promised myself to watch only the first 1/2 of any game I was interested in......and then go something physical to help my overall health.....I think I'm losing weight as a result .....gotta be a good thing.......football only means something to me until February 1st, and then I don't care......have a great year.... The 'rsterman

cazzy · January 2015

I'm elite!

http://fakeconvos.com/view.php?id=54171

Eggcelsior · January 2015

cazzy said:
I'm elite!

http://fakeconvos.com/view.php?id=54171

OH. MY. WORD.

JohnInCarolina · January 2015

Carolina Q said:

Jeepster47 said:
Great story and great cook ... looks good. Lets see, North Carolina to Japan to New Mexico ... that should really screw with your home boy cooking.
You forgot New Hampshire.

Haven't been in years. I really do consider NC home now. I much prefer the winters

JohnInCarolina · January 2015

cazzy said:
I'm elite!

http://fakeconvos.com/view.php?id=54171

Hadn't seen that - it's **** brilliant.

Back In The Saddle with a New Mini Max (Pic Heavy!)

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