n_maher

This might help.

^^ Looking forward to impressions, I still toy with the idea of picking a flat top up. Haven't gotten there yet.

^^ I've had very good luck and been very happy with the Yamaha in my HT rig for the last 5ish years (geez, has it really been that long???) but might suggest sticking with something from the Aventage portion of the lineup as they are supposed to be far more robustly built. That is what i did when I bought mine. Maybe this Shelly - https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio_visual/av_receivers_amps/rx-a2a/index.html - or see if you can find a b-stock or lightly used prior year model online? I'll do some hunting on that front.

I just finally got around to starting this, it's quite good and definitely entertaining.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely to be economically repairable or possible to remap another channel to the FL channel. I've looked at a few similar things and in my experience it's very difficult to find the problem unless there's literally a smoking gun (circuit board) and even then, it's just so unlikely that there are parts that are replaceable that are also serviceable.

Condolences to you and your family, Chris.

Happy Birthday!

Outstanding. NFLO

Happy 40th. Welcome to the decade of experiencing new aches and pains with no discernable cause.

Decidedly 'merican dinner. Homemade 1/3lb burger, american and mozzarella cheese, bacon cooked on the Traeger, lettuce, tomato, pickle, avocado.

Work crushed my ability to post yesterday, happy belated birthday, Greg!

1. Don't mess around with work holding. Either get it clamped right or do an adhesive method. You do not want to experience the carnage of a workpiece coming free. 2. Similar to #1, I fully support the pause until the machine is built right. It's kind of insane to be running it otherwise but maybe the missing bolts aren't in key places? (fingers crossed) 3. For anodized aluminum marking you should look at a laser. I saw the one you posted above but didn't watch the video. There are lots of them and used in conjunction with your CNC would likely but far better than an engraving bit in terms of speed and flexibility. The other thing to consider would be a diamond drag bit, but those are very slow. Some cool possibilities but mega machine time required. 4. My personal approach is to not push feeds and speeds. Just about any mistake/error with a CNC is catastrophic to either the material, tool, or worse. Why risk it to save minutes? It's not like you're trying to maximize a production rate in a shop. Attempt patience. Caveat - I lose mine all the time, YMMV, etc.

A very happy birthday to you, Justin. May all your amps be equal parts over-complicated and profitable.

Only immediate concern that I’d want to see some user impressions of is whether or not that unit tends to have a hot spot over the firebox. The diffuser is quite small in comparison to how Traeger does it (as well as others). The “Trap Door Drip Pan” might address this along with my secondary concern which would be that cleaning the Maverick would be a bitch if you don’t have something like a drip pan. The Traeger pan/liner setup is a godsend for easy maintenance in my experience. You’d get most of the way there with Mav’s drip pan and covering it with heavy-duty foil. Just adds ~$150 to the price of the grill which seems a bit shitty if I’m honest.

I’d say that you and I have exactly the same lines of thinking about these two products and unfortunately it doesn’t seem like either has gotten a ton of reviews or long-term use reports. The Pit Boss has been out for a year it seems which makes that all the more worrisome. The LoCo’s seem new this year so less worried about that, but not a brand I’m familiar with. More deliberation required.

^^ I have been looking at the Loco and Pit Boss Ultimate products but would love some commentary on flat top grills.

Not a chance.

My nickel: 1. The new timberlines do look very nice. I've thought about adding an induction side burner to my Ironwood 885 and still may some day but for now I'm lazy. 2. I don't think the 780 would be enough. I routinely use a lot of my 885 just cooking for small groups and when smoking bacon the real estate is very helpful. 3. One concern with the Timerblines, they may be too well insulated for their own good for warm weather cooking. You need some inefficiency to cause the grill to use fuel and produce, well, fire/smoke. The Ironwood is only partially insulted and still is pretty stingy on fuel during the summer months. I'd at least way for a few reviews and see how some actual cooks do on these rigs. 4. I love my Ironwood 885. Would I also like a stick burner? Yes. How about a kamado-style charcoal rig? Absolutely. But today I got up at 7, fired up the Traeger while I got Andrew ready for basketball camp, threw on a small pork shoulder and went to the office. I checked temps while I worked for a few hours, picked up the kids and came home. I actually looked in on things and they were still cruising nicely so I wrapped the butt, and left it. My parents arrived a few hours later, I checked on things via my phone, saw the pork wasn't coming up to temp fast enough so I bumped the cook up 25 degrees without leaving my chair. Just an hour later my phone let me know that the pork had reached temp and I went and took it off. That's pretty damn convenient and the food produced is easily as good or better than most BBQ I can buy locally. I'm sure there's better out there, but I'm also sure I'd have to drive an hour or more to find it. 5. Coming from an actual stick burner you might need to temper expectations a little. The flavor will be different. Whether you think it's better or worse is impossible to predict but the fires are radically different between the two types of smokers and the food produced will at least be a little different, but unlikely to be radically different.

@en480c4 - let me know if there are tubes that need testing or if you need to borrow a tube tester. Glad to hear that kitty is ok.

Cheers and happy birthday, Kerry!

Needed a little mental purging to finish off the night. This fit.

Welcome to the Team!

This, x2 or something.

Only way to answer that is make it and decide for yourself. Seriously though, it's a pretty rare exception that homemade stuff (especially a reputable recipe) ends up worse than the commercial equivalent.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SPICE MIX: 1 (2-inch) cinnamon stick, pounded into small pieces 1 dried bay leaf 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds 1 tablespoon coriander seeds 1 tablespoon fennel seeds 1 tablespoon cumin seeds 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds ½ teaspoon whole cloves 2 cardamom pods 1 dried shiitake mushroom, broken into pieces 1 (1-inch strip) dried kombu, cut into bite-size pieces 1 ½ teaspoons whole black peppercorns 1 orange, zested 1 tablespoon ground turmeric 1 tablespoon ground ginger 1 tablespoon sea salt 1 teaspoon sweet paprika 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste FOR THE ROUX: 1 ½ cups/340 grams unsalted butter (3 sticks) 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour Add to Your Grocery List Ingredient Substitution Guide PREPARATION In a large skillet, toast cinnamon, bay leaf, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, cloves and cardamom pods over medium heat, stirring until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn the spices. Transfer the toasted ingredients to a spice grinder. Add the mushroom, kombu and peppercorns to the spice grinder, and grind at the highest speed for 30 seconds. Shake the grinder a couple of times as you blend to make sure the cinnamon stick is pulverized. (You can also grind the spices in batches, if necessary.) Transfer the pulverized spices to a small bowl. Add the orange zest, turmeric, ginger, sea salt, paprika and cayenne pepper. To make the roux, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter is nearly melted, lower the heat to medium-low. Gradually whisk in the flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until the roux turns light brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Be careful not to burn the roux. Turn off the heat, add the spice mix and stir until well combined. Divide the mixture among three mini aluminum loaf pans, adding about 3/4 cup per loaf pan, or transfer the entire mixture to a parchment-lined quarter-size sheet tray. Let cool for a few minutes at room temperature, then transfer to the fridge so the bricks can solidify. Once firm, unmold, cut each brick into 9 small curry brick cubes (or, if using a sheet tray, cut the mixture into 27 pieces total) and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for about a month or in the freezer for 3 months.