I recently had the pleasure of testing out a chef knife from Kitsune Cutlery – the flagship product of an exciting new knife company capitalized with Kickstarter funding. In this article I’ll tell you why I enjoy using this knife and how you can check it out for yourself.
About the Editor: Hi, I’m Mike, That Helpful Dad. As noted in my Trust Guarantee, when you see a product mentioned on my site, please know that these are products that I personally use and enjoy – including this new Kitsune Knife.
Why I enjoy the Kitsune Chef Knife
When it comes to the new Kitsune Chef Knives, there are 3 things I really like about them.
They’re sharp! As with similar Japanese knives made with multilayered steel (in this case 67 layers of Damascus Steel), Kitsune’s chef knives have a razor sharp edge – perfect for making fine cuts in your home chef work.
They’re beautiful! The craftsman Kitsune uses to make these blades do a fine job of hammering in beautiful patterns into the blades giving them a stunning appearance you’ll want to show off in your kitchen.
They capture the spirit of Japanese Chefs – each knife comes in a gorgeous wooden gift box that showcases a Kitsune foxes looking at Mount Fuji. The boxes are then wrapped in one of six Furoshiki scarves. I was lucky enough to have mine in the Dancing Fox wrap as you can see here…
Dancing Fox with Lotus Leaf Hat
Overall I found the blade to be a great size for my home chef tasks – at 10 inches it’s in the sweet spot for a variety of tasks and the knife design allows you to easily perform cutting, chopping, rocking, and more.
While my favorite knives are still made by Dalstrong, I also enjoy using my new Kitsune knife too. If you’re in the market for a new chef knife and a Dalstrong is out of your price range, but you still want to try your hand at Japanese Steel, you’d do well to consider a Kitsune Knife.
This weekend I made my dad’s world-famous Buffalo Chicken Wing Recipe again – and man was it good! If you like Buffalo Wings that are crispy, juicy, and full of flavor, you’ll want to try this Buffalo Wing recipe for yourself – it’s got a secret ingredient that adds so much flavor you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of using it before.
I’m cooked my Buffalo wings in an Ooni Pizza Oven for a wood-fired effect but u can make this buffalo chicken wing recipe on any grill or oven. Best of all this Buffalo Chicken Wing Recipe is EASY to make, easy to customize to your tastes, and so much fun to eat!
Give it a try & let me know what tips YOU have to share.
Buffalo Chicken Wing Recipe – The Video
SKIP AHEAD in the video with these timestamps:
00:38 Kamado & Ooni Pizza Oven views
01:10 Fuel Source (lump charcoal + cooking wood)
01:20 Wings in Marinade
01:50 Getting the Ooni Oven up to temp (watch the temp gauge climb!) 02:20 FIRE – it’s a beautiful thing!
02:35 Wings are ready to cook WITHOUT sauce
03:30 Buffalo Sauce Recipe Ingredients. Discussion on Hot Sauce to Butter Ratio
06:40 Buffalo Sauce Mixed (see below for recipe itself)
I have the full text version of the Buffalo Chicken Wing Recipe – including a step-by-step – on my grilling website called LordoftheGrills.com. Here’s a link you can use to go to that page…
Click this pic for the text version of the recipe.
About the Products used:
Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, chicken wings are in short supply so I could only find I Costco Party wings – normally I’d cook the whole wing with all 3 sections (drumstick, wing, and tips).
Here are the other products I cooked with if you are interested…
Why is this the BEST Buffalo Wing Recipe? Because I’ll show you how to make CRISPY hot wings that are FULL of flavor – using my Dad’s secret ingredient! I’ll share my Buffalo Sauce Recipe & also discuss the RATIO of Hot Sauce to Butter (it’s a ‘hot’ topic!).
[lwptoc]
Cook this Buffalo Wing Recipe on Any Grill or Oven
Today I’m cooking Buffalo wings in an Ooni Pizza Oven for a wood-fired effect but u can make this buffalo chicken wing recipe on any grill or oven. Best of all this Buffalo Wing Recipe is EASY to make, easy to customize to your tastes, and so much fun to eat!
Give it a try & let me know what tips YOU have to share.
Best Buffalo Wing Recipe – The Video
Buffalo Wing Recipe Video
SKIP AHEAD in the video with these timestamps:
00:38 Kamado & Ooni Pizza Oven views
01:10 Fuel Source (lump charcoal + cooking wood)
01:20 Wings in Marinade
01:50 Getting the Ooni Oven up to temp (watch the temp gauge climb!) 02:20 FIRE – it’s a beautiful thing!
02:35 Wings are ready to cook WITHOUT sauce
03:30 Buffalo Sauce Recipe Ingredients. Discussion on Hot Sauce to Butter Ratio
06:40 Buffalo Sauce Mixed (see below for recipe itself)
Before we get into the recipe for the Buffalo Wing Sauce, let me give you a few notes:
This recipe is so freaking easy I didn’t show the actual melting of butter or mixing of ingredients in the video because I figured you are smart enough to know how to do that.
IMPORTANT:we do NOT cook the wings with the sauce on to start. Instead we cook the wings WITHOUT sauce first.
U can make the Buffalo Sauce Recipe after you get the wings started cooking. See Step 4 in the Buffalo Wing Sauce Recipe below for more on how & when to sauce the wings.
Buffalo Wing Sauce Recipe Step-by-Step
Step 1: Marinate the Wings (OPTIONAL)
Wings in Marinade
Put defrosted wings into zip lock bag with a combo of rub of your choice (I used Paul Prudhomme’s Red Magic which is great on chicken too) + 1 TB of EVOO + 1 TB of Kosher Salt.
Mix the wings around in the bag with the marinade ingredients so wings are well coated
Marinate the wings for up to 24 hours.
I did 12 hours for the vid, but you can do it in as little as 1 hour if you don’t have time.
Although u can skip this step, if you do it, you’ll get an extra ‘depth’ of flavor beneath the buffalo sauce so do the marinade if you can.
Step 2: Gather Ingredients for Buffalo Sauce
Buffalo Wing Sauce Ingredients
Franks Red Hot Sauce (ORIGINAL not the “Buffalo” version)
Butter
Good Season’s Italian Dressing Dry Mix (1 Packet) – the SECRET Ingredient!
My vid only used 3 basic ingredients in the sauce itself (salt was added later), but you can experiment next time with a little Lemon Juice, Fresh Basil, Worcester Sauce, Smoke Paprika, other Rubs, or whatever you like
Step 3: Decide YOUR Ratio of Hot Sauce to Butter
The ratio of hot sauce to butter that produces the best Buffalo Wing Recipe it a ‘HOT’ Topic and one that’s full of controversy. But the answer is really quite simple – the correct ratio of Franks Red Hot Sauce to Butter depends on YOUR preference.
What’s the “Official” ratio of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce to Butter?
The Official ratio is 3 parts butter to 2 parts hot sauce
But that’s NOT my preference.
Instead I like to use a ratio of hot sauce to butter that’s MY preferred ratio is the opposite…
3 parts hot sauce to 2 parts butter.
In my opinion, this will give you a nice MEDIUM heat buffalo wing that looks like this when sauced…(BUT do NOT sauce the wings yet – we’ll do that later in the recipe AFTER the wings cook). This pic is must a little preview 🙂
Wings in Sauce
But that’s my preference. YOURS may be different so change the hot sauce to butter ratio depending on what you like.
What’s the Math on 3: 2 hot sauce to butter like in my vid?
For 2 tablespoons of butter, use 3 tablespoons of Hot Sauce.
In this vid I used 1/4 cup melted butter (4 TB) to 1/3 cup hot sauce (6 TB).
HOT OFF THE PRESSES – My “Buffalo Insider” says here are the TRUE ratios from hoods of his town…
MILD Wings: 3 parts butter to 2 parts hot sauce
MEDIUM Wings: 4 parts hot sauce to 2 parts butter
HOT Wings: Only Frank’s, no butter (and find the Frank’s Xtra Hot version if you can)
NUCLEAR Wings: 1 Cup of Frank’s Xtra Hot to 2 TB of Habanero Mash (but be careful – it’ll put hair on your chest for sure!)
How much sauce do you need?
In my vid, I had enough sauce for 12 wings + extra to dip in. If you are making more wings, make more sauce.
Step 4: Mix Buffalo Sauce Ingredients:
Melt Butter
Add ingredients to a medium size mixing bowl and mix
Do NOT put the wings in the mix until AFTER you cook them to temp (165F)
It will look something like this…
Step 5: AFTER wings are cooked at or near temp (165 F), THEN…
At this point YOU have a decision to make. Do you want your Buffalo wings WET or DRY? I.E. do you want the Buffalo sauce dripping on the wings or do you like the Buffalo Sauce cooked onto the wings?
The answer to that question will determine if you are done cooking or not. If you like WET Buffalo Wings then sauce them & either serve them immediately. If you like DRY Buffalo Wings then you’ll put them back in the oven. In BOTH cases you’ll put cooked wings in sauce for this step…
It’s YOUR CHOICE:
If you like WET wings, sauce wings AFTER they are cooked & serve immediately.
If you like CRISPY wings, sauce wings AFTER initial cook to temp & then put them back in oven for 5 mins with sauce ON so wings will crisp up with sauce on them.
If you do like CRISPY Buffalo Wings like me, then here’s what they’ll look like if you cook the sauce onto them.
These Buffalo Wings are Crispy and Amazing!
Step 6: EAT & ENJOY
Congratulations, you’ve just made the best Buffalo Wing Recipe on the planet. Now grab a beer (if you don’t already have one) and enjoy eating your awesome Buffalo Wings.
I’m guessing when you’re done, it will look something like this…
What happened to the wings?
These wings are AWESOME. They are the Best Buffalo Wings you will ever have because they are easy to make and have the perfect combo of FLAVOR + HEAT AND the wings are CRISPY.
It’s time for YOU to try this recipe. Give it a shot and let me know what you like or what you might do different.
About the Products used:
Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, chicken wings are in short supply so I could only find I Costco Party wings – normally I’d cook the whole wing with all 3 sections (drumstick, wing, and tips).
Here are the other products I cooked with if you are interested…
Netflix Best Shows – want some ideas for what to watch on Netflix? I’ll give you 25+ series to watch on Netflix right now, including Money Heist, Ozark, Tiger King, Peaky Blinders, Narcos Mexico, Kingdom, Messiah, You, Dark, and many more. We’ll give you ideas on what to watch on Netflix by breaking down the shows into categories like Must Watch, New Popular Shows, Old Favs, etc. Ready? Let’s go!
Best Shows to Watch on Netflix – The Video
SKIP AHEAD in the vid with timestamps below…
Best Shows to Watch on Netflix – The Must Watch List
Start with these Netflix series if you haven’t seen them yet
00:25 Breaking Bad (Netflix Best All Time Show)
00:55 Ozark (starring Jason Bateman)
02:05 Stranger Things (80’s Pop Culture)
02:46 Narcos (Drug Lords)
03:22 Narcos Mexico
03:48 Better Call Saul (prequel to Breaking Bad)
Best Netflix Shows – Gaining Popularity
04:09 Money Heist (#1 Show in 2020 so far – more views than Tiger King!)
04:44 Peaky Blunders (Irish Mob)
05:08 The Crown (Queen Eliz)
05:38 Dark (One of my favs)
06:19 Mindhunter (Serial Killer Profilers)
Best Shows to Watch on Netflix – Loyal Fan Bases & New Discoveries
06:50 Black Mirror 07:07
13 Reasons Why (Teenage Angst)
07:48 Broadchurch
08:04 The Messiah (NEW Must Watch)
09:04 The Witcher
09:22 Elite (featuring stars from The Money Heist)
09:49 Love is Blind
10:10 Altered Carbon
10:33 The Order 10:47
You (Possessive Relationship 101)
Best Netflix Shows – Reality & Documentaries
11:30 Mind of Aaron Hernandez
12:08 Keepers
12:18 Wild Wild Country (Indian Cult invades Western US)
12:31 Making a Murderer
12:52 People vs OJ Simpson
13:35 TIGER KING (it’s all kinds of crazy!) – note: this review of trimmed by YouTube due to Netflix Claim
14:28 The Chef Show
15:30 Final Table
15:43 Ugly Delicious
16:04 Night on Earth (animals at night)
16:20 Our Planet (amazing 4k)
Best Shows to Watch on Netflix – Don’t Forget these old favorites
Are you a parent confused about whether a mobile monitoring app can help your keep your child safe? You must have read about how mobile phone use has increased among children and teenagers. You probably feel worried about dangers like cyberbullying, access to inappropriate content, or online scams that children are exposed to. Are you considering using a mobile monitoring app? Don’t worry; you have come to the right place! In this article, we will review one of the best child monitoring apps for 2020 called XNSPY. We’ll answer all your questions and also identify the most important features of the app.
About the Author
Alex Miller
ThatHelpfulDad.com is pleased to feature the work of Alex Miller in this guest post. Here’s a bit more about Alex…
“I am a tech enthusiast, programmer and a sci-fi fan. I enjoy reviewing and researching new, innovative software that adds value to human life. I love writing about latest technology and trends, and have made this a full-time job.”
What is XNSPY?
XNSPY mobile monitoring app is used by parents all over the world to keep track of their child’s digital activities. It offers important features that can prevent incidents of cyberbullying, scams, or other similar dangers.
Let’s review some of the reasons why we think XNSPY is the best child monitoring app…
Features that make XNSPY the Best Child Monitoring App
Telecommunications Tracking: XNSPY can monitor all calls made to and from the device. This information is detailed in a call log that lists all incoming, outgoing, and missed calls, along with their date, time, and duration. You can also record calls and listen at your convenience. However, there is no live-call intercept feature available with the app. Similarly, XNSPY can monitor all exchanged texts too.
GPS Tracking: You can use the GPS tracking feature to monitor your child’s location in real-time. The app also offers a geofencing feature. Just mark a specific location on the map to geofence it. XNSPY will alert you if the fence is violated. This is a useful feature if you want to prevent your child from accessing inappropriate locations such as bars or clubs. It can also give you peace of mind to know that your child is at a safe place such as at school.
IM, Text, and Social Media Monitoring: Most children and teenagers rely heavily on instant messaging, text, and social media apps for communication and socializing. Incidents of cyberbullying also occur on these platforms. You can use the IM, text, & social media monitoring feature to track apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, Tinder, and others.
Online Activity Monitoring: XNSPY mobile monitoring app tracks all web-based activities such as bookmarked pages, complete web browsing history, and all exchanged emails. However, you would have to purchase a separate content filtering app as XNSPY does not offer such a system.
Control Your Child’s Phone Apps
Phone Remote Control: You can use the app to remotely control your child’s phone. Some features in this department are a bit on the intrusive side, such as microphone recording and screenshots. However, other features are quite useful. For example, you can remotely view all installed apps and block those you feel are unsuitable or inappropriately used. Similarly, you can view all saved contacts, lock the device, restart it, and delete all saved data in case of theft. The app management and screen-time management features are particularly handy if you are looking to prevent addictive behaviors.
Watch List Word Alerts: The watch list alert feature is among the most valuable features provided by the XNSPY mobile monitoring app. You can add any word, contact number, or a location to the app’s watch list and XNSPY will immediately notify of any relevant activities. For example, you can add words related to pornography to the list. The app will watch out for those terms and if they are mentioned in any text message or typed into a search engine, XNSPY will quickly send you an alert. Unlike with other monitoring apps, you do not need to track phone data at all times. XNSPY will provide the right information at the right time. This way, you can intervene in a timely fashion.
Use Watchlist Words for Monitoring
XNSPY Additional Functions: Other features available with the app include a keylogger that creates a record of all keystrokes, calendar access, and an analytics report that lists important information. This includes details such as top callers, most-visited websites, and other data.
Sounds good! How much does XNSPY cost?
There are two versions of the XNSPY app available for subscription. The basic version costs USD 4.99 per month but doesn’t offer all features. On the other hand, the premium version costs USD 7.49 a month but offers all available features. We suggest you opt for the premium version as the price difference between the two is marginal.
XNSPY Plan Options
Is it compatible with my phone?
XNSPY mobile monitoring app is compatible with all Android versions above 4.0 and supports all iOS versions above 6.0. Most mobile phones currently in use are running on one of the aforementioned versions, so compatibility should not be a problem.
While the installation process is different for both Android and iOS. Let’s go through this step by step on how to install XNSPY on both operating systems.
XNSPY For Android
Step 1: Head over to the XNSPY website and select a suitable subscription package. Make the payment and then check your email inbox.
Step 2: The email will contain a download URL, your XNSPY login credentials, and instructions on how to install the app.
Step 3: You only need physical access to the phone once, so you can install the app. You’ll download Xnspy using a download URL emailed to you. It should not take more than a couple of minutes. XNSPY is completely hidden after that point.
Step 4: Wait for 24–48 hours so the app can begin transferring data from the phone.
Step 5: Log in to your XNSPY account on the app’s website and select the relevant Android phone in the “My Devices” tab on the top left corner.
Step 6: You can access all the data and device control options via the menu bar on the left. All monitoring is remote. You can log in to your account from any web browser, anywhere in the world.
XNSPY For iPhone
Step 1: Visit the XNSPY website and make the payment on your chosen subscription package.
Step 2: Wait for an email that contains instructions on how to install the app, along with your unique log in details.
Step 3: You do not need to physically access the iPhone to install XNSPY. However, you need to have the Apple ID details of the phone you wish to monitor.
Step 4: Make sure that the iCloud backup feature is set to “on” for the device. You can do so in phone settings.
Step 5: Log in to your XNSPY account and select the relevant iPhone from the “My Devices” tab.
Step 6: Enter the Apple ID details and wait for verification.
Step 7: You can now access all data and use device control options through the tab on the left.
XNSPY Additional Considerations
Okay, I get it; but are there any pros & cons I need to consider?
Yes. Like all other services, XNSPY mobile monitoring app also has some advantages and disadvantages. Let’s take a quick look at some pros and cons.
Pros
XNSPY is among the most affordable monitoring apps currently available on the market.
The watch list alert feature is particularly unique and available with other services.
The app enjoys a solid reputation owing to its quality customer support.
Cons
Features such as microphone recording or screenshots are quite intrusive.
There is no content filtering service.
You may have to root or jailbreak the device if you want to use some specific features.
What’s the Verdict
XNSPY is a sophisticated monitoring app that offers a good combination of functions. The app has its drawbacks, such as a lack of content filtering systems. Considering that many such apps are free of cost, this limitation should not be a problem. At any rate, the app more than makes up for it with unique features such as watch list alerts, along with a very affordable price tag.
In a move reminiscent of Michael Corleone killing off his former friends in The Godfather or Carole Baskins allegedly using a meat grinder to feed her husband to big cats in The Tiger King, Amazon’s decision to slash commission rates for its affiliate partners is both sad and shocking.
Does Amazon plan to feed it’s affiliates to tigers too?
Amazon’s move to cut its affliliate commission rates 50-80% is particularly distressing because it is occurring at a time during the Covid-19 crisis has caused many people in the world at be without a viable source of income – even though the same crisis has increased Amazon’s business and propelled the stock to all-time highs.
Amazon Affiliate Commission Changes
So what’s changed and why is it such a big deal?
Here is the commission structure that’s been in effect for some time prior to April 21, 2020…
Here is the new and much reduced commission structure after April 21, 2020…
Amazon Affiliate Commissions Rate Reduction – The Real World Math
Who cares about numbers and %’s? Well in this case numbers DO tell the whole story.
Let’s try an example – imagine you are a blogger who runs a cooking and recipe website and large part of your income comes from recommending and reviewing products from Amazon. You’re driving traffic from your site to Amazon and when people purchase products from Amazon that came from your links the Amazon Affiliate Agreement pays you a SMALL commission.
Over time, you find a way to carve out a faithful following of readers who enjoy your content and appreciate the value of your recommendations. In spite of the oversaturation of the blogger marketplace, against the odds, you manage to eek out a respectable living and after lots of hard work you’re up to a six-figure income.
You make blogging your full time gig and think the future looks bright. You’ve become a success story by creating a win-win-win relationship between your readers, Amazon, and yourself.
And then one day Amazon cuts your income by 50-80% – with just a week’s notice.
Oh and there’s a global pandemic going on so you can’t easily get another job or a new source of income.
That’s the sad reality of Amazon’s decision. It may well destroy your favorite bloggers and cause you to miss out on a lot of new content and recommendations that you’ve enjoyed in the past.
Is Amazon Allowed to Make Affiliate Commission Changes?
Bloggers and websites who sign up to become Amazon Affiliates agree to an Amazon Affiliates Commission Operating Agreement that essentially gives full control of the relationship to Amazon and the organization has always reserved the right to change it’s commission structure at its sole discretion. In fact Amazon has changed/reduced commission rates multiple times in the past – but never in such a crushing manner before.
I feel sorry for my fellow bloggers who are in this situation. Like much in life it’s not fair. And there’s not much anyone can do about it.
If we don’t like the Amazon program, nobody is forcing us to be a part of it.
The fact is that Amazon has every right to reduce their commission rates, but that doesn’t make it the right thing to do from a business ethics standpoint.
Sure Amazon is the online retailer of choice for most of the world and the Coronavirus lockdowns have caused more people than ever to make purchases from the e-commerce giant.
But what’s missing in the equation is that it was the blogging community and review websites who played a large part in driving web traffic to Amazon in such a manner that Amazon thrived – especially in the early days of the ecommerce giant.The decision to destroy the commission structure is thus a de facto slap in the face to the very people who helped make Amazon what it is today.
Amazon Affiliate Commissions Destroyed – So What’s Next?
Expect to see most of your favorite sites move away from recommending Amazon’s products and into other affiliate programs – especially if they rely on it as their main source of income.
Here at That Helpful Dad, we are Amazon Affiliates. In spite of the changes, we expect that relationship (and our other affiliate programs) to continue. Why? Because blogging is not our sole source of income and we don’t produce content solely seek profits. Not that there is anything wrong with having a revenue-producing blog. Heck, we’d love if that was true for us too, however it’s never worked out that way – mainly because blogging is just a side hobby for us.
At That Helpful Dad we blog for the fun of it. And we expect to continue to do so – providing you more ‘practical solutions for real life problems’ and ‘life lessons’ you can use to live your best life now. So worry not for us with this change.
But we DO feel for our peers – today is a sad day in the blogging world.
Don’t just take my word for it. Check out these other articles on the topic of Amazon affliate commissions being slashed.
I’ll show you how to cook Naan Bread Mini Pizzas in a pizza oven or grill using a pizza stone. Watch my boys and I prepare the Naan Bread pizza recipe and then cook the Naan Mini Pizza’s on an Ooni Pro Pizza Oven. You can make Naan Pizza on any grill using a PIZZA STONE or even your kitchen oven – it only takes a couple minutes to cook the Naan Bread.
Gather the ingredients – we used Naan Bread, Pizza Sauce, Mozzarella, Pepperoni, fresh Basil, etc but you can use whatever you like. Because we’re using MINI Naan bread, you can makes lots of different varieties of pizzas to try.
Make the Naan Bread Pizzas
Cook the Naan Bread Pizza’s in the pizza oven or on your grill using a pizza stone or in your oven without a pizza stone.
Don’t forget to EAT the pizza’s too 🙂
Naan Bread Pizza Recipe Result?
The boys & I had great fun making these mini naan bread pizzas. There was just one problem – we loved them so much we ate them too fast! Doh! 🙂
Product Shopping List
As promised in the vid, here are all the cooking products mentioned or shown in this vid via convenient Amazon Affiliate Links.
Traeger Cooking Surfaces – If you’re a Traeger Grill Enthusiast, you’ll enjoy this discussion of the best COOKING SURFACE accessories to buy for your Traeger – from griddles and grill racks, from jalapeno popper holders to grilling baskets, and so much more, we’ve got you covered.
[lwptoc]
Editor’s Note: This article is part of our series about the Best Traeger Brand Accessories. Other articles in the series discuss the best Traeger Accessories for Grill Add-on Parts, BBQ Tools, Pellets, Cookbooks, Cleaning Tools, Prep Tools, Spices & Rubs, and even Traeger Swag.
Why Add More Traeger Cooking Surface Accessories?
When you purchase a Traeger Grill, you’re buying a quality product that will give you great satisfaction for many years to come, and you can certainly enjoy it ‘as is,’ but as with any high-end grill hobby, there’s always going to me more tools you’re going to want to add to your Traeger Toolkit. It’s in this spirit that we wrote this article as we try to highlight some of the best cooking surfaces to consider adding to your Traeger Grill.
Traeger Brand Cooking Surfaces
If you want Traeger cooking surface accessories that are official Traeger Brand, this is your section. You’ll find smoke shelves, grill racks, baskets, and even a chicken stand for beer-can chicken. Check ’em out…
Wanna cook beer can chicken on your Traeger? How about a pizza? Ever thought about using a grilling basket in your Traeger? What about Rib Racks and Chicken Hangers? Or maybe a griddle? Check out these options to up your Traeger Game…
If you can’t find the best Traeger cooking surface accessory from the official Traeger Brand, you’ll be happy to know there are lots of other quality alternatives. Some of our favorites are Cave Tools Jalapeno Pepper Holders, the Camp Chef Smoker Jerky Rack (it’s soooo good!), the BBQ Hack griddle (big enough for pancakes, burgers, and more), and the Bull Rack BR4 (grill, smoke, dry, and cure meats). Before you buy, just be sure these accessories will fit your specific Traeger Grill.
Are you looking for ideas for more Traeger accessories beyond just the best cooking surfaces to add? How about cookbooks, rubs & spices, or grill add-on parts? Check out these links…
Everybody loves pizza and there’s nothing like making your own pie at home, that’s why so many people are adding pizza ovens to their outdoor kitchens. Wanna cook a Neapolitan style pizza in 90 seconds? You can do that when your outdoor pizza oven can heat up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit like the pizza ovens on this page can do. But you can also cook a lot more than just pizza in these backyard oven – crispy coal-fired chicken wings, seared steaks, succulent veggies, amazing homemade breads, and more – an entire universe of delectable delights await you. If you’re in the market for a pizza oven, this article is for you – we’ll discuss the best outdoor pizza ovens for every budget and help you get your own pizzeria set up in no time.
[lwptoc]
Best Pizza Ovens – Top Picks
If you are in a hurry and only want to know our top picks without reading the article, here’s a quick summary…
How to Shop for an Outdoor Pizza Oven – Questions to Consider
Before you go shopping for an outdoor pizza oven, please do yourself a favor and answer a few questions. The following questions will help you narrow down your choices and pick the pizza oven that’s best for your family’s needs.
1 – What SIZE pizza oven are you looking for?
You’ll find outdoor pizza ovens now come in all shapes and sizes – from small portable pizza ovens that help you cook one pie at a time to some pretty massive brick ovens that will have you cranking out pizzas so fast you’ll need to apply for a pizzeria business license!
SpaceSaver Pizza Ovens
If space IS an issue, choose one of these models:
Best Bets: Pick an Ooni Pizza Oven that uses your desired fuel type (gas, wood, or pellets) or a comparable Roccbox (if color is your thing)
If space is NOT an issue and you want to create a professional style wood fired oven or even a real brick oven in your backyard, then choose one of these models:
Are you looking for a traditional wood-fired pizza oven that can cook pizzas with a wood fuel source like lump charcoal, wood chucks, wood logs, or wood pellets? Here are our picks for the best wood-fired pizza ovens that ONLY use WOOD fuel sources…
So you want the speed and convenience of a gas-fired pizza oven? Here are our picks for the best propane pizza ovens that ONLY use gas as a fuel source…
Do you want a pizza oven that can use wood AND gas fuel sources? If you want the best of both worlds so you can cook with both wood and gas, pick up one of these pizza ovens…
You don’t have to spend a fortune to make great pizzas at home. Then again, if you have the budget and you want to go big, it’s great to know that you have options. Whatever your desires, we can help you decide on the best outdoor pizza oven for YOUR budget…
At Lord of the Grills, we are actual consumers and we work hard to provide our readers with well-thought out recommendations based on careful consideration of potential customers needs and our own experiences.
We’re also smart enough to realize that we don’t know it all. As a result, we often include references from other quality websites that will allow you to do further research to validate our recommendations and help you make the best decision. Here are some other articles we found helpful.
Pick any pizza oven from our list above and you’ll likely be very happy. Our recommendations are provided to help you find the best pizza oven for YOUR situation – whether that be a small, portable model or a larger brick oven in your back yard. It’s wonderful to have so many choices for outdoor pizza ovens and we hope we’ve helped you narrow down the best pizza oven for your needs.
All that being said, we DO believe there are a couple pizza ovens that really stand out from the crowd and if you’re serious about getting the best outdoor pizza ovens, you’ll surely need to include these on your shopping list…
#1 Overall LARGE: Chicago Brick Oven 750
Chicago Brick Oven
Chicago Brick Oven features:
MADE IN THE USA:
PROPRIETARY DESIGN: CBO’s proprietary low-dome design, flue system and refractory materials create their signature FlameRoll, which generates temperatures as high as 1,000°F!
BUILT TO LAST: an investment to your outdoor entertainment space.
DURABILITY: reinforced with stainless steel fibers to ensure long-term strength and durability.
INCOMPARABLE FLAVOR: Everything tastes better when it’s wood-fired.
See the Chicago Brick Oven in action
#1 Overall SMALL: Ooni Pro Outdoor Pizza Oven
Ooni Pro
HOT: Heats up to 932ºF and can cook delicious pizza in just 60 seconds
FLEXIBLE: Ooni Pro runs on wood, charcoal, pellets and gas (with attachment).
Versatile: Ooni Pro is perfect for cooking 16” pizzas as well as roasting meat, fish and vegetable dishes in minutes
High heats: the insulated steel body and stone baking board mean optimum heat retention
See the Ooni Pro in action
Pizza Accessories, Anyone?
Once you get the pizza oven, you’ll want some accessories to go with it. We’ve got you covered there too. Check out this page with a full list of Pizza Accessories too…
Click the pic to see pizza accessories
Best Pizza Cookbooks
If you’re gonna get into the outdoor pizza lifestyle, you should do yourself a favor and get 1 or more cookbooks about pizza, wood-fired cooking, etc. Here’s a link to 4+ star rated pizza cookbooks…
There’s nothing like cooking chicken in the Big Green Egg, Kamado Joe, or similar kamado-style grill. In this article, we’ll give you 5 different chicken video recipes to try in your kamado. Given any of them a try and become a grilling champ – whether that be in your neighborhood cooking challenge or just your family backyard.
All of the video recipes on this page have over 100k views on YouTube so you can be assured they are tried and true. Let us know which ones you try and if you have any tips to share too.
[lwptoc]
Recipe #1 – Kamado Smoked Chicken Wings
Let’s start with something easy – smoking wings on your Big Green Egg is a snap. This video from Eric C on YouTube is very helpful – it’s got over 1,000 likes on YouTube. What I love about the vid is that Eric is not necessarily a professional cook – he’s just an Average Joe like the rest of us and yet his video is full of great tips about how to smoke BBQ Wings on your Big Green Egg. Check it out.
If you haven’t done a rotisserie chicken on your kamado, what are you waiting for? Not only is it fun to do, but cooking a rotisserie on your kamado is perhaps the juiciest way of making chicken in your Big Green Egg. The next vid is from Kamado Joe – makers of the world-famous “JoeTisserie” rotisserie attachment – an essential kamado grilling accessory that fits the Kamado Joe, Big Green Egg, and more.
Kamado Rotisserie Chicken Recipe
If you don’t have a JoeTisserie rotisserie attachment yet for your Big Green Egg, you can get one here…
There’s a fellow named Malcom Reed on YouTube who runs a channel called “HowtoBBQRight” – if you have have a Big Green Egg or just like to BBQ, you need to be watching this guy – he’s got LOADS of great content on his channel and his related website. One of my fav recipes of his is this one – Malcom’s “Brick Chicken” Recipe is a twist on the standard spatchcock chicken recipe. Watch it and see what you think…
Brick Chicken Recipe
As Malcom says, “All you need is a fresh chicken, a couple bricks, and some basic ingredients to create a delicious tasting bird right on your grill.”
Do you need a good knife to slice meat and/or cut through smaller chicken bones? Check out these options…
Did you know?
Spatchcocking chicken on a Big Green Egg is super popular. Here are 2 more vids on this cooking technique that both have over 500 likes on YouTube.
The Backyard BBQ Show
Chips & Charcoal
Recipe #4 – Beer Can Chicken on the Big Green Egg
The recipe with the highest view count on YouTube on our list today is this one. It comes to us from FlamingRoosterBBQ’s channel and it features end-to-end instructions for cooking Beer Can Chicken on your kamado.
Recipe #5 – Firecracker Chicken on the Big Green Egg
Malcom Reed scores another on the charts today as his Firecracker Chicken recipe is approaching 3,000 likes on YouTube! As he says ” I use a whole chicken cut into 8 pieces (wings, breast, legs, & thighs). I like having both white and dark meat, but’s you can just use the pieces you like” when you make this chicken recipe.
Firecracker Chicken Recipe
Ideas for Big Green Egg Accessories?
If you’re like me, you’re always on the lookout for more recipes to try in your Big Green Egg and more accessories to buy. Hopefully the chicken recipes on this page will keep you busy for while – be sure to let us know which ones you tried. And if there are recipes YOU have to share, send them our way – we’ll be happy to feature you as the source and send you a shout out.
Meanwhile, I love to shop for more accessories for my kamado and if that sounds like you, check out this page for some ideas…
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That Helpful Dad 