Ramp crows

[Mitch f]

My Chinese father in law caught a box turtle in our yard and ate it 3 days later. My wife was pregnant at the time and he fed her the turtle. Apparently in China there is a tradition for pregnant women to eat turtle for health reasons!?!? Who knows, but we had to explain to our oldest daughter (who was 5 at the time) that we let daisy go because her mother was looking for her. 
 

interesting side note: I googled “Box turtle recipes” and the only thing that came up was “ What to feed your box turtle” 😂

[Terrierman]

15 hours ago, 3DHUSKER said:

Sounds like a good guy if you have been close friends that long. I love hanging around people that like to have fun.

Yeah.  He lives in Fulton now and we see each other fairly often.  Meeting for lunch Tuesday in St. Louis.  We do have a good time together.

[vernon]

3 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I keep missing the cap steaks at Costco.  But eventually I will score!!

The one we go in north Kansas City usually has one or two but the guys in the meat department said that if you don’t see them to just ask and they’ll make up whatever you want.  

I’d been hearing about them but hadn’t tried them until now. 
 

They were even better than I expected!

[Mitch f]

13 minutes ago, vernon said:

The one we go in north Kansas City usually has one or two but the guys in the meat department said that if you don’t see them to just ask and they’ll make up whatever you want.  

I’d been hearing about them but hadn’t tried them until now. 
 

They were even better than I expected!

They are truly fantastic. In my opinion they taste better medium plus than medium minus. They are usually so thick and still taste great slightly over cooked

[vernon]

21 hours ago, Mitch f said:

They are truly fantastic. In my opinion they taste better medium plus than medium minus. They are usually so thick and still taste great slightly over cooked

Yeah, there is so much marbling that they're tuff to screw up.

I smoked ours at 225 until the internal temperature hit 110, rested for ten minutes and then tossed them on the grill box at 650 - 700 degrees.

Did two minutes then a quarter turn, two more minutes, flip and repeat.

As awesome as they were I was so terrified of overcooking them that I probably should have left them on a bit longer to really break down and caramelize the fat.

Next time I'm gonna get the internal temp to about 120 before searing although I think a guy could go to 125 or even 130 and probably be just fine with this particular cut.

Also, I don't know how many of you have heard of or have used GrillGrates but they are the most awesome addition to any grill or smoker that I've come across.  They ain't cheap but, man, they instantly transform any grill into a Ruth's Chris steakhouse!

Gas, pellet, charcoal you name it.  In fact, they can be used for stovetop, in the oven and they even make 'em for those Ninja Foodi dealies that seem to be pretty popular.

If you don't know what they are I highly recommend that you checkout their website!

 

[8pounder]

I’ve been tempted to try those grillgrates but skeptical about the claims and advertising. Didn’t feel like wasting the kind of money they want and getting burned on a gimmick. May have to re-think my position now.   

[vernon]

20 hours ago, 8pounder said:

I’ve been tempted to try those grillgrates but skeptical about the claims and advertising. Didn’t feel like wasting the kind of money they want and getting burned on a gimmick. May have to re-think my position now.   

I kinda felt the same way but after doing considerable research I decided to order a set when I got my new Camp Chef smoker with the Sidekick burner/grill and I have been amazed.  They get super hot super quick and virtually eliminate flareups.  On a gas grill things like burgers, chicken breasts and salmon filets take about fifteen minutes.  Five to preheat the grates and ten to cook.  For example, I heat the grates to 475 - 500 and then cook the burgers two minutes then give 'em a quarter turn, cook two minutes, flip and repeat and that produces a perfect medium rare.  

Salmon is three minutes then quarter turn, three more minutes then flip and cook four minutes.  Kathy is NOT a salmon person and even she loves it.

I used to typically smoke whatever I was going to grill for a bit to add that smoky flavor but with the GrillGrates I just sprinkle a dozen or so smoker pellets in the grooves and, presto, smoke flavor!

Since I got mine, my brother and two neighbors were so impressed that they ordered sets and love 'em too.

The biggest thing to be careful of is not to get them TOO hot.  They recommend not exceeding 700 degrees so as to avoid the possibility of warping them and believe me on that Sidekick I can get 'em to 700 in no time.  If you have a temp gauge in the lid/dome of your grill they say that the GrillGrate temperature will be about two hundred degrees hotter than what the gauge indicates.  I use a laser thermometer and they're not kidding either.

They're customer service is fantastic they're great about answering questions over the phone.  Since the Camp Chef Grillbox is somewhat new I ordered mine custom cut and they cost about $80.  My brother did a full custom set for his four burner Weber and I think they ran around $130 and he's thrilled.  My neighbor buddies just ordered the kind that fit on top of the existing grates instead of replacing them and only did half sets instead of full and I think spent around $65 - $75.

If you like to grill I think you'd like 'em.

[Terrierman]

1 hour ago, vernon said:

I kinda felt the same way but after doing considerable research I decided to order a set when I got my new Camp Chef smoker with the Sidekick burner/grill and I have been amazed.  They get super hot super quick and virtually eliminate flareups.  On a gas grill things like burgers, chicken breasts and salmon filets take about fifteen minutes.  Five to preheat the grates and ten to cook.  For example, I heat the grates to 475 - 500 and then cook the burgers two minutes then give 'em a quarter turn, cook two minutes, flip and repeat and that produces a perfect medium rare.  

Salmon is three minutes then quarter turn, three more minutes then flip and cook four minutes.  Kathy is NOT a salmon person and even she loves it.

I used to typically smoke whatever I was going to grill for a bit to add that smoky flavor but with the GrillGrates I just sprinkle a dozen or so smoker pellets in the grooves and, presto, smoke flavor!

Since I got mine, my brother and two neighbors were so impressed that they ordered sets and love 'em too.

The biggest thing to be careful of is not to get them TOO hot.  They recommend not exceeding 700 degrees so as to avoid the possibility of warping them and believe me on that Sidekick I can get 'em to 700 in no time.  If you have a temp gauge in the lid/dome of your grill they say that the GrillGrate temperature will be about two hundred degrees hotter than what the gauge indicates.  I use a laser thermometer and they're not kidding either.

They're customer service is fantastic they're great about answering questions over the phone.  Since the Camp Chef Grillbox is somewhat new I ordered mine custom cut and they cost about $80.  My brother did a full custom set for his four burner Weber and I think they ran around $130 and he's thrilled.  My neighbor buddies just ordered the kind that fit on top of the existing grates instead of replacing them and only did half sets instead of full and I think spent around $65 - $75.

If you like to grill I think you'd like 'em.

I cook on a Komado Joe.  How do they get any hotter than the temp in the egg?

[vernon]

42 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

I cook on a Komado Joe.  How do they get any hotter than the temp in the egg?

I've never cooked on one so I can't really say.  Might want to check out some of the videos on the website as I've only researched gas, pellet and "normal" charcoal applications but I know they've got a bunch of videos and testimonials for using them on eggs both there and on non associated YouTube videos.

[Terrierman]

1 hour ago, vernon said:

I've never cooked on one so I can't really say.  Might want to check out some of the videos on the website as I've only researched gas, pellet and "normal" charcoal applications but I know they've got a bunch of videos and testimonials for using them on eggs both there and on non associated YouTube videos.

Well, I don't understand it but if you got one of those laser thermometers that says they work, I guess they do.  Those thermometers are normally very accurate.