KFC

The vents on the burners can be closed down to reduce heat and it is better to use too little wood rather than too much for starters. The top vent can be opened too to let a bit of heat out but it doesn't make a lot of difference. It took me a couple of goes to get it perfected👍

I'm definitely on a budget but the Pard007 has been a blessing for me. It's affordable and I can switch it easily between my air rifle and 22lr as well as using it as a spotting scope. Since I changed from lamping the main advantage is that I don't have worry about a 'well meaning member of the public' phoning the Police. I do phone 101 for an incident number but, sometimes, it makes no difference.

Agreed, it highlights how woeful broadband is in the UK. Every day I see interviews cut short because the internet drops out. A few years ago we toured Turkey, even in the remotest villages there was full broadband and mobile phone signal. We can get pictures sent from Jupiter but, parts of Norkolk for example, there's no mobile signal at all. The British disease, try and get maximum profit out whilst putting the minimum investment in.

Half full mate, just cover the gauze, up to the seam inside. If you fill above the seam then meths can leak out of the burners and cause fire to spread. I use one of the long gas lighters to light it. If it's a larger joint of venison then it can be smoked for 25 mins then finished off in an oven. One thing to do before the first smoking is to wipe all the inside surfaces with veg oil then give it a 25 min burn, this 'seasons' the smoker. Good luck with it and let me know how you get on. Geoff

Any hardware or DIY store, 👍 I did some chicken the other day, was delicious.

Yep, that's the one, I've smoked a few trout on it, including fillets of a 4.25lb and a 3.5lb fish at the same time so it holds a good amount. Friends I've given samples to have said they'd happily pay me for more in the future so that's a good endorsement.

I just happened across A-Amaze-N smoker tubes, and other smoking tubes, on Amazon that use wood pellets. They look handy for use on a bbq, either hot or cold. I've not used them but look ideal for smoking cheese.

I bought a Callow smoker from Amazon and it is superb. Fuelled by meths it is easy to set up and use. Two burners, 25 minutes, fuel burns out, job done. I use Apple chips, it's better to start with a few chips and then increase rather than over-smoke. The Apple chips are put into a small foil parcel which is perforated to let smoke out and a layer of foil on the drip tray all helps with cleaning and disposal of charcoal when finished. For Trout I fillet the fish, sprinkle the fillets with rock salt and leave in the fridge for 60-90 mins, which pulls out moisture, rinse off and pat dry with kitchen towel. Light burners, put smoker on the burners, read a book for 25 mins til the burners go out and that's it, cooked perfectly to eat hot or cold. No need to mess about waiting for bbq coals to heat up or cool down. There's loads of different woods to use. A couple of days ago I soaked Chicken breasts in brine for 90mins, dried them off then rubbed them with Cajun spice and smoked them for 25mins, absolutely gorgeous. Definitely best thing I've bought in a while. Word of caution, don't stand it on plastic table or precious lawn. Not me but Youtube vids I've seen😉

I can see the face of Jesus

Avacado on Bacon sarnie sprinkled with black pepper, yummy yum yum. Just had Avacado on toast with scrambled egg this morning, yummy yum yum. I have grown Acacado's by putting a cocktail stick through the stone and lodging it in the top of a glass with the blunt end of the stone in water. But again, 12" -18" is all I could manage.

I was with Sky and the BB dropped out every couple of days and sometimes as much as 3 times a day so I went to EE. From the start EE was dropping out 20-30 times a day and they could see it. They sent an engineer five times and each time was told 'no fault found'. they checked right from the house to the exchange, including changing router channels as there might be too many people on the same channel. At 5am I don't think so. I even used a monitor to change to channels I could see were unoccupied. After the fifth engineer started back at the box on my wall I knew we were going round in circles so I got in touch with BT. They said they would pay if I got charged for early termination with EE so I did that. EE charged me and BT picked up the bill. Since then the only time BB has dropped out is for a few seconds if there's a storm nearby. Other than that it is solid. Now, I'm obviously not saying that there's any collusion but when BT bought EE they had to assure the Monopolies and Mergers Commission that they would keep the two businesses seperate. Of course, if I chose to change then that is down to me and not BT. As we all know, OpenReach, providing the line, is BT as well. I'm only saying that it does make me wonder that once I'd changed to BT then, all of a sudden, my BB is stable. I also used to be on EE mobile and their coverage was very patchy so now I've been on Tesco Mobile, which is O2, for quite a while without a problem. Can't speak for Plusnet but I'm not a fan of EE.

Please don't think I'm saying Vietnam is dirty but I do wonder if our lives in the West are so sanitised that we have a much reduced resistance to infection now.

Hi Rob, I got a Callow smoker from Amazon. It's quite handy with two meths burners underneath it means I don't have to muck about with bbq coals or anything. My buddy uses Oak wood so I'll try some of that too. I wrapped the wood chips in foil, which I punctured to let the smoke out, and also put a layer of foil on the drip-tray. Helped cleaning and disposal of chips afterwards.

Had a bit of dosh spare from Birthday and Father's Day so treated myself to a Callow smoker. Caught a Trout this morning so filleted it, loaded the smoker with some Apple wood and, after an hour in rock salt, gave the trout a 25min smoking. Absolutely delicious and so easy. Definitely the way to go from now on.

He's obviously taken offence🙄

Well done, lovely fish! I've been out this morning and caught 3 Rainbow Trout but, sizewise, they would have done for bait for that Kingfish.😉

That's something I'd love to see is a Hoopoe in the wild in the UK. Judging from these posts they are starting to move a bit further north so there is a chance before I fall off me perch.

I imagine it will be the same as everything that British governments of all persuasions have ever done. It will be too little too late, cost at least three times the original estimate and be capable of achieving, at most, half of what the original requirement was. It will be ok though because our MP's will tell us that the half we have got is fantastic and there's no evidence that the other half would have been statistically significant anyway.

I bet the childrens' game on Prestel called Missionaries and Cannibals went down well🤯

I think one of the main reasons that people dump them is because they don't realise how big nor how vicious they can get, especially the females. I used to keep all sorts, including Snapping Turtles. I doubt they'd ruin an eco-system because they're not voracious feeders.

What a difference a few days make. Went yesterday morning. Wind westerly instead of north so had to fish a different bank. Three of us struggled to catch. Eventually my buddy hooked up just under the surface and landed a 1.75lb and a while later I got one on red diawl bach just under the surface too. We'd all been fishing deep because it was so bright and we saw no rises. The other chap, who's our club chairman🙄 blanked. Don't forget suncream chaps, my arms got a bit burned.😬

Went to our syndicate Rainbow reservoir on Thursday. Gold headed blue flash damsel on point with red diawl bach on dropper. 3rd cast 1.5lb on diawl bach. A few casts later 1.75lb on damsel. A while later I got snapped off on the diawl bach. Retied with red cruncher on dropper and missed quite a few tugs then got a double hookup. The fish took in opposite directions and the point fish snapped off but I landed the dropper, another 1.75lb. Quite a few fish moving. Fish limit is 6 fish over 7 days so packed up to leave 3 fish for Sunday. It was lovely to be out, Cuckoos, Swallows and all sorts of insect life so just sat with coffee for a while just appreciating it all.

At my syndicate trout lake this morning. One Cuckoo sat on power lines calling to my left then an answering call from Ash trees on my right. Cuckoo on my left flew to the Ash trees then a constant call from both of them. A few minutes later the pair of them flew off calling as they went. I guess they'll be looking for nest to hijack soon.

Our syndicate opened yesterday and I went this morning. First hookup on 3rd cast on Diawl Bach for 1.5lb. Finished with two more at 1.75lb. Got smashed off once and on the last fish it was a double hookup. Point fish snapped off my blueflash damsel but I landed the other one on red diawl bach. Missed quite a few tugs. It was just wonderful to be out, lovely session.

nude Norman (new normal=wordplay