A little nerve-wracking: I cooked for two professional cooks.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Visited a friend's house. He and his wife have been in the biz for years. Maybe it was the beer that boosted my confidence but I naturally gravitate to Weber kettles running hot lump in them ... so I was asked to take over the cooking. Yikes.

The OTS has had a hard life; I think either the lid or kettle is a little bent since it doesn't seal up there right.  BURNED my finger on the plastic lid handle, hence the rag in the photo.

Also, the One Touch mechanism was completely rusted and gone, not even the blades remained. When I whined that shutting down the lid vent wasn't cutting the heat and some olive oil-induced flareups, my friend's wife calmly stuffed foil into the intakes, and offer a few pointers on making sure the mushrooms and eggplant slices were done right. Later, she told me I was one of only about 3 people that ever cooked in their kitchen for them ... glad it turned out well! To say that it was an honor is an understatement.

The pool was a little chilly, so these new friends smartly decided to get where it was warm!



When one of their previous restaurants closed, this Viking table was rescued for permanent outdoor duty.



Not shown here are chicken strips, smoked pork steaks (via elec smoker near the "utility" building in the background) and various salads.

[1buckie]

Well........gee-whilickers......good that you've been practicing up for the real thing !!!!


Looks like it came up out of semi-nowhere.......................and turned out just peachy !!!!


Next possible step is to go back over & fix their One Touch, then do up another cookup......just what I would do.............

[HankB]

"Hold my beer and watch this..."

Famous last words, my friend! I'm glad (but not too surprised) to hear it worked out. The food looks pretty good.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Went back today to pick something up. Dropped off a new Weber chimney charcoal starter since whatever they had was mostly rust and a promise.

Their older boy (he's 13) freaked! "That one is the BEST you can get!"

(How ... or why ... would any kid know that?) Apparently he's become quite the grill master at the house.

On my way over I tried 3 Ace hardware stores and none had a replacement One Touch sweeper assembly, so I'll be mailing them one next week.