Happy Summer Solstice Day everyone.
this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2023
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Now we're on the downhill slope towards longer nights.
When I'm prime minister, I will be banning all equinoxes, along with winter.
It will be summer solstice ever day.
My son, after watching a YouTube video where the Paw Patrol had a barbecue competition, decided that we needed to also get a BBQ - I was inclined to agree. So this morning I've headed out and bought the family the finest mid-price kettle that mitre 10 has to offer.
Now I can spend the Christmas break subjecting my family to my sure to be mediocre attempts at BBQing.
What are you going to try cooking first?
I'll probably just stick to the standard sausages and burgers to start with. I don't eat meat myself, but the kids do, so probably won't be doing anything too fancy.
I am intrigued with the idea of using it as a pizza oven though
Ooh, grilled pizza is a great idea!
Which one did you get?
I ended up getting a Charmate Corona as it was far cheaper than the equivalent Webber, and is probably all I need as a beginner
Nice! My parents recently got one of the larger Meteor kettles from Mitre 10 that seem to be going pretty cheap at the moment.
Have fun with it!
I've owned both Charmate, and Weber charcoal BBQs; and the latter is (or at least was when I bought this one 15 years ago) much better build quality. But if you can keep them in a garage, ideally out of any damp - or worst case under a cover and give them air time they will both last just fine. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Charmate's products, and some stuff can be improved with BBQ gasket seals etc if necessary; so bang for buck Charmate these days is absolutely the way to go.
Only reason I gave my Charmate to my little brother is because I went ham & bought an Oklahoma Joe Bronco which is a whole different class altogether and really put the Weber stuff into a brand overpriced category for me. I do really like their Q series of gas grills though.
One of the big things for internal rust is to make sure the ashes etc are removed once they are cold and not left in the BBQ for a long time - as they attract moisture and cause the fire grates to rust etc. And counter to most kiwi's attitudes to their BBQs, take the cooking grates out to clean them & let them dry after every cook too :)
If you haven't already - get a chimney fire starter as they just make the whole thing so much easier and faster to get going!
Thanks, that's solid advice. I put it together last night and it seems robust enough, so like you say if I can keep it clean and avoid rust it should last
BBQing gear is just one of those things that gets nerded out over too much. At the end of the day the fundamentals is heat, how much, and where you've got it. And learning how to control all of that is more a matter of time than gear.
Aren’t the Bronco’s about $1000 anyway? I don’t think they’re really comparable to the kettles as they’re more of a drum smoker that can be used as a grill. I’ve been using a MasterTouch kettle for awhile and it’s been worth it. It’s even been knocked over in strong winds and come out unscathed (except needing a little enamel paint on one spot).
I’ve been watching the prices of OKJ gear and it’s honestly about the same as Weber now, except a way shorter warranty. I do think the Weber Smokey mountains are overpriced though.
Yeah they're around that, though I got mine for quite a bit less on a sale. They're definitely more of a smoker, though a kettle can be used the same too, and the Bronco can adapt to bring the coals up higher in the drum to work as a direct grill. Though I was so impressed with the build quality that I actually ended up buying a Rambler a couple years later for grilling and use one of the Espeto Sul rotisseries with that. Have been using that more than the Bronco lately, trying to perfect charcoal porchetta!
The most direct comparison for the Bronco would be the Smokey - and for price vs build quality i'd go with the OKJ; the steel is just so much thicker, and the arrangement with the chimneys makes them so much easier to use apart from re-fuelling which can be a bit of a pain. Though i've never had much problem keeping a fire hot enough for 10 hours of cooking and rarely go longer than that anyway.
Haha yes I've got an Espeto Sul as well, it's a fun little bit of kit.
I've toyed with the idea of getting a dedicated smoker and just using the kettle for grilling, but I think I don't do low and slow often enough (or have the time at the moment) to warrant one. I've been watching the prices for the Bronco's for a few years and they have crept up a couple hundred dollars. Yeah not a huge fan of bullet style smokers either, but I've noticed some of the other brands can get pretty big discounts once in while.
I'm just waiting until I win lotto or something and I'll just get a Summit Kamado.
Ahaha, yeah a Bronco seems expensive until you start looking into Kamado style. Hell even the giant hooded Gas grills are ludicrous, but then they are the Ford Ranger of BBQ so I guess it comes with the territory.
I only do low & slow once in a while, but the hope is with something as sturdy as the Bronco it'll last me a couple of decades or more.
First day off, yay! I celebrated with a pain au chocolat for breakfast. No sleep in though, headed into town to pick up one last gift before things get busy. Now I'm kinda at a loss as to what to do with the rest of the day. Might just chill out and watch stuff. Maybe make some muffins.
I'm having a great day as my lemmy/kbin clone is finally functional enough that I can post this comment and have it show up on lemmy.nz!
Also 1 more meeting, then holidays.
Hey that's pretty cool! The power of the fediverse, not only can you make your own instance, you can build your own software to participate!
Just finished my last day of work for the year. Now I'm trying to make enchiladas. Very festive! I'm missing ingredients. Guess I will need to add more cheese to compensate.
Great, enjoy!
Last day of work! Got a bit of reading to do today, which I should have plenty of time for as the one of the only people working
People start arriving for Christmas from tomorrow so I guess I better finish preparations.
Had a bit of a busy end to the year at work, but we're finally there!
Anyone got a suggestion for smart-ing a dumb TV? Preferably away from big tech and towards the self-hosted end of the spectrum.
Ability to play from Jellyfin, Netflix, Disney+, etc would be great.
Plus ability to control with a remote rather than keyboard & mouse that we currently use with the PC plugged into TV setup.
I went through this a while back and ended up with a SmartVU a7070 which I highly recommend. Main features for me were:
- I still wanted freeview satellite connection, which this has and is all set up for out of the box
- certified by Google play/Netflix. Virtually all of the cheap ones off aliespress and the like aren't certified for Netflix, so they are apparently limited to low playback resolutions.
It's not quite away from big tech being an android TV box and all, but I've been able to sideload apps and it runs emby/jellyfin great. It has a good remote too, which runs off Bluetooth so you can still use mice/keyboards etc.
Oooh, interesting! Yeah I kinda wanted to avoid Google but I will keep this on my potential options. I have heard the Jellyfin app for Android TV is bad, and people recommend Kodi with the Jellyfin add on. How have you found it?
Virtually all of the cheap ones off aliespress and the like aren’t certified for Netflix, so they are apparently limited to low playback resolutions.
Our TV only does 720p anyway 😆
To be honest I've mostly used the emby app so can't say too much about jellyfin's. I tested it at one point and it seemed to work the same re playback - generally the interface isn't as good I find.
Haha, the resolution downscaling for Netflix is to 480p I think, so you may notice it even on your 720p TV.
To be honest I’ve mostly used the emby app so can’t say too much about jellyfin’s. I tested it at one point and it seemed to work the same re playback - generally the interface isn’t as good I find.
Probably if it's 'OK' then it will do.
Haha, the resolution downscaling for Netflix is to 480p I think, so you may notice it even on your 720p TV.
Ah nuts.
Honestly the big tech way is so much less headache than the other stuff. I've had a Chromecast and not apple tv and its quite decent. Most game consoles do the job really well too
I've had a Chromecast and not apple tv and its quite decent.
The main thing that bugs me about my Chromecast is the gradual loss of functionality over time, presumably as a part of planned obsolescence or deliberately crippling features to make you pay for premium options.
Next time I need to replace/upgrade something, I think I'm just going to skip streaming at all and just hide a full desktop somewhere and pirate everything.
Today I wall-mounted our TV, then strapped an old laptop to the back with Kodi on it. Looks great so long as you don't look behind the TV 😆
I don't mind headaches 😄. We don't have any game consoles (and none planned for Christmas). I was thinking of setting up Kodi or something but I'm not sure how the remote would work in with that.
I'm not sure if you count this as big tech, but the Roku devices I've used have been great
Hmm not big tech but I don't think I want a Roku: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/roku-streaming-sticks/
Roku is like the nosy, gossipy neighbor of connected devices. They track just about everything they can. And share the data with lots and lots of advertisers, channel providers, business affiliates, and more.
Yeah, most of the off-the-shelf stuff will phone home in one way or another. The second you sign into Netflix, etc, that phones home and sells your data in the same way.
If you're running a Sonarr/Plex set-up anyway, maybe just a tiny htpc and you're done.
The difference with Netflix is it's limited in it's data collection as it runs in the browser. A hardware device pretty much has free rein.
I've got a PC attached to the TV, I was looking for an alway on option (as the PC fan is noisy) that doesn't need keyboard mouse, it's just kinda there and you use a remote with it. I was considering Kodi, though others seem to think it's a headache to work with so I might install it on my laptop and have a play as a low-stakes way of trialing it.
I've also heard the Nvidia shield does a great job
Yeah I've seen this come up a lot, it seems it's Android TV with decent specs so it isn't slow like some others. People are pretty happy with them.
I'd prefer to avoid Android TV if I can, so first I'm gonna set up Kodi on hardware I already have and order a cheap remote to see if it will do the job. If not, I'll have to make a call between Apple TV and an Android TV based one like the Shield. But I'll try the almost-free option before spending hundreds 😆
I'm usually very hands on with tech, and at some point I found a lot of happiness in just letting go and getting off the shelf stuff that just works. Apple TV has been ideal for me after fucking around with everything else out there. Plex watched what I watch and serves up suggestions, at some point I just don't care haha
I'm still in the phase of being very hands on and enjoying it! I'm sure it won't last forever but for the moment I get a lot of pleasure out of doing stuff myself.
All the power to ya Dave
Coincidentally came across this post with a person being presented an ad while watching a DVD, apparently it's a Roku thing.
Ugh I'd bin the thing if it did that to me 😔
From the info in that thread, it seems like Roku owns the technology to screenshot what you're watching and identify it, to base ads on. They licence this technology to other TV makers so it's not just Roku but other smart TVs. I think it's the TVs and not the Roku Stick, but I guess you're just a software update away from on screen ads...
Gotta agree with shartedchocolate. I used to mess with the htpc’s, different IR and universal remotes back when kodi was still XBMC. I’m not sure if it’s changed now but, it was a lot of hassle back then.
I’m just using a non 4K Apple TV for quite a few years now and it works seamlessly with my TV remote. If the TV has an ARC or eARC HDMI, it simplifies audio if you’re not using seperate speakers. Also it’ll turn on the ATV when it detects the TV is turned on to that source.
Our TV is probably at least 10 years old (not sure exactly as it was a hand-me-down). So may not have newer technologies.
The Apple TV path may work, but I'm now thinking instead of diving into something head first, I might instead use what I already have and install Kodi to try it out. It seems like wireless 2.4Ghz remotes with dongle are the popular option for connecting to Kodi rather than IR remotes, though after the comments here I'm hesitant to invest too much at this stage and will probably install Kodi on something I have already and test it with an Xbox controller.
I would check if your specific model has a HDMI ARC port. ARC was added to the HDMI standard in 2009. It's possible it doesn't if it was a really cheap model from 10 years ago.
They usually only have one or two ports with ARC (I think? may have changed. Ours isn't that new either, around 6 years old).
I searched the model number and it turns out the TV was released in 2009, no ARC as far as I can tell. Oh well, I'm sure we will manage fine :)
LTT just dropped a video on the various options for that sorta stuff on the tubes the other day.
This one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdLnieL90d0
I'll check it out when I get a chance, thanks!