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DaveinVA
07-28-2013, 11:36 AM
I have been nosing around this forum for about a year and figured it was time to introduce myself and start posting. I live in the shadow of the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia and have a Primo XL. The information and cooking knowledge found here has been invaluable and helped greatly in my decision to buy the XL back in August 2012. A big thanks to all the contributors at this forum!

My Primo's First Light:
http://apercu.gnomefoo.com/misc/Misc_Pix/Primo/LightingTheLump.jpg

Having cooked with wood for decades on various steel grills and the occasional open pit, I realized that to refine my techniques I needed more fire control than my equipment afforded. So I started a search for a better "cooker." It took about a year to settle on a Primo oval. And then another few months to decide whether to go Jr or XL.

Bringing it home:
http://apercu.gnomefoo.com/misc/Misc_Pix/Primo/Primo_Home.jpg

The final decider was coming across a local dealer who had an XL in a cypress table at a very, very attractive end of season discount. They loaded it into my trailer and I just had to figure out how to get the beast up onto my deck. And no, the XL was not in the box upside down as the picture might suggest.

While I was working on varnishing the cypress table we placed the XL on some patio blocks on our deck. I started out getting to know how the Primo operates with some easy things like burgers and ABTs.

http://apercu.gnomefoo.com/misc/Misc_Pix/Primo/FirstCook.jpg

Hmm...pretty much works like the wood stoves I have had. Not a very steep learning curve to get control of the lump and guage how low it takes for temps to go up and down. Again, based on posts at this forum I initially lit my lump using small pieces of twisted paper towel dipped in corn or olive oil. That quickly escalated to a torch. As others here have said, "Once you go MAP you never go back."

Reverse-Searing Some Tenderloin Steaks:
http://apercu.gnomefoo.com/misc/Misc_Pix/Primo/BeefTenderloin_05-2013/Tenderloi_Steaks.jpg

The Finney reverse-sear I learned about at this forum has changed my whole approach to cooking meats. I use it on steaks, roasts, and lamb. Any meat that does not require a low and slow gets the Finney treatment now - except for poultry.

No Finneying for my Ducks:
http://apercu.gnomefoo.com/misc/Misc_Pix/Primo/2013_NewYears_Duck.jpg

I've averaged at least two cooks a week since this Primo was purchased last August. The only thing now lacking is the romance of fire. Moving from wood to lump has made cooking life easier but the romance of the flame is something I miss. So on occasion...

Thanks again for all the great info emanating here from the regulars! The Primo has turned my outdoor cooking from a hobby into an addiction.

http://apercu.gnomefoo.com/misc/Misc_Pix/Primo/Primo_Deck_Sam.jpg