What did you do today?

[MattiJ]

Almost summer in here!

[Dan Dubeau]

Started the day off with a flat tire. Chunk of extruded aluminum with a screw poking out found it's way into my LF tire. Plugged it, drove to work to find the CNC alarmed out running a long finishing program I let run overnight that I really needed to be finished this morning. That puts me about 6 hours behind. Today can turn around any time now.

[Cenedd]

Not going to swap you Dan. Had an irritating stressful day yesterday (sorry, could you tell?!) but today's I'm having a day off doing a pub crawl of the Brewdog pubs round London with a friend. Ahhhh....and relax

[Dan Dubeau]

Today will get better. Just gotta take the bad with the good. I'm knocking off at noon and heading to the city to meet my new Nephew (Wife's sister's newborn). The only reason I came in today was to run a couple more programs on this fixture and get it off the machine. That can wait till Monday, as I'm not sticking around till 3 o'clock. Already had 42 hours this week before I started today.

Enjoy the pubcrawl, sounds fun. Been many years since I've been on one. One of the few things I miss about living in the city. Amazing variety of food being the other. But that's pretty much it lol.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

BEC's (bacon egg and cheese) on the flat top!

No joke, pictures of that grill actually gave me nightmares last night! I wasn't going to say anything this morning but it's still bothering me...

Holly jumping Jehoshaphat, what in the living hell is all of that back voodoo crap on your grill? Do you burn used 10W40 on that grill or something?

I think it's probably time to give that grill to PStechPaul. I'm sure he could use a new grill!!

[gambler]

that's called flavor 3plb

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

that's called flavor 3plb

EXACTLY! Thinking about the flavor is giving me the Heebie-jeebies.

[Corbettprime]

Thats called well seasoned iron, for you northerners.

[Bob Engelhardt]

Regarding VPT's grill: I don't understand the point of the flat top. Without the radiation from the coals or burner and without the effect of food fat dripping onto the fire and creating that aromatic smoke, how is the flat top a grill? How is it different from a skillet on the stove? Bigger, of course - is that it?

[Glug]

Nice griddle setup, vpt! I recently saw a nice outdoor griddle grill sell cheap at an auction but there was no way I could work out the timing and travel.

How is it different from a skillet on the stove? Bigger, of course - is that it?

Great question. He will surely give his own answer, being the owner of a serious outdoor griddle rig.

My answer is that the benefits from the thermal mass improve browning. A proper griddle is 1/2" or 3/4" thick. A cast iron skillet is good, but it still doesn't provide the thermal mass of a griddle. And it's not just about intense heat. It is about having a specific griddle temp and maintaining it, even after the food has been placed. You don't need to over-compensate by overheating the surface before dropping the food. Also, with a proper griddle setup you can have multiple heat zones. And excess grease, and any water, will run off the surface.

And the black.. that is seasoning. Like a polymerized cast iron skillet, but also some carbon. Commercial griddles typically get scraped at the end of the day and maybe during shifts. But they need some seasoning in the morning, and the lack of seasoning can cause problems for foods cooked early.

The outdoor griddle is also really nice for not having to deal with the smoke and spatter issues. And the large area is nice.

Me, I've been on a huge pastrami kick lately. So much pastrami...

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Me, I've been on a huge pastrami kick lately. So much pastrami...

I've been on pastrami kicks before.... Try cutting up some sliced pastrami into little 1/2" squares and dump them into a bowl of oriental flavored Top Ramen... Just make sure you break up the dry Top Ramen into little noddles before cooking the Ramen. Once the Ramen is done and you've mixed in the flavoring, add the pastrami bits in and mix it with the noddles. . De-lish!!

EDIT: Kind of like what I made for lunch today, except I used left-over Chinese boneless spare ribs cut into little pieces. We don't currently have any pastrami.

[gambler]

This is what I’m doing among other things

[KMoffett]

I have had this micrometer stage floating around for years. I've used a steel scale and a stereo microscope the determine the pitch of metric screws. So I attached the stage to a base plate with 1/2" spacers and clipped it to the microscope's base. Now I can get direct measurements to 5 microns!



Ken

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

This is what I’m doing among other things

Nice, but what are you eating for lunch? We can't see...

[Willy]

This is what I’m doing among other things

Fuel pump?
Like putting in an access door to get at the pump or one to access a heater core would be a selling feature. I suppose if they leave them out it is good incentive to trade up to a new/newer car. Most new car buyers only keep their current ride for 3-5 years max so I suppose those folks won't be interested in paying for an "ease of service" feature they'll never need.
Oh well it's good for ramping up the labor portion of the bill come fix-it time.

Outside bay? Your place?
At least you're dry under there today.