Jamie Thingelstad

Cooking

Outdoor cooking experiments—primarily on my Big Green Egg and new Traeger grill—are documented here. Posts recount brisket attempts, sous‑vide pork butt sessions and holiday tenderloin traditions, with candid notes on smoke, temperature and results.

In our neighborhood the Taschler’s host an annual Fry Party. What is that? They fire up multiple fryers and the guests bring fun things to fry. We brought Twinkies. Fried Dill Pickles were popular. I tried a Fried Peppermint Patty. It was a fun evening and Tyler and Mazie got to help the hosts!

See also 2012 Fry Party.

Person using a red-handled basket to fry food in a commercial deep fryer outdoors, with paper plates and spice bottle nearby. Outdoor patio table covered with labeled plates of fried foods including pickle dip wontons, fried chicken bites, a veggie tray, cheeseballs, and flowers. Outdoor fry party setup with two electric deep fryers, a bowl of batter, and an open bag of food on a folding table in a backyard. Spicy chicharrones piled on a paper towel on a dark plate outdoors, seasoned with chili powder and hot sauce

I always love watching smoke billowing out of the Big Green Egg. Three pork butts in for a finish smoke after 20 hours in the Sous Vides at 165 °F.

Big Green Egg ceramic kamado grill emitting thick white smoke from the top vent, sitting on a deck outdoors. Three seasoned pork butts smoking on a Big Green Egg charcoal grill with thick white smoke billowing upward outdoors.

Transferred the pork butts to the Big Green Egg after 21 hours on the Sous Vides. Time for smoke and developing bark.

Three seasoned pork butts resting on the grill grate of a Big Green Egg kamado smoker, lid open, outdoors.

Tammy and I have a highly optimized team approach to making smash burgers. It is a complex choreography that ends with delicious burgers. This years Blackstone upgrade added air fryer so tater tots and french fries now included! It was five years ago we made these for the first time. Our technique is much better!

Photos courtesy of Tammy’s sister Angie Lundeen.

Two people smiling on a deck as a man in a black apron flips cheesy smash burgers on a flat-top griddle while a woman holds a tray of finished burgers. Man in blue plaid shirt and black apron uses a burger press and spatula to plate cheesy smash burgers onto a blue tray Blackstone air fryer drawers pulled open showing golden tater tots in the lower basket and french fries in the upper basket.