No argument from me. I was in that position before where I couldn’t afford any option and so the cheapest option it was. I was able to afford to have someone else do my oil changes though, so I did... until they ruined my oil pan and tried to tell me that “someone” overtightened my drain plug. Long story short, I…

If you thought I was 100% serious about brick and mortar parts stores disappearing, you take a guy with a sarcastic cat as his avatar far more seriously than necessary. ;) I was having a little fun at O’Reilly’s expense because I was agreeing with the premise that talking with them to get down to a part…

Also to address your original reply a different way: I just did a search for oil filters on an 11 year old car I have. Amazon has about 50 unique listings for oil filters for that car. You think O’Reilly, Autozone and NAPA have 50 different filters when you add them together? So no, you get a better variety on…

Wait. What? People will pay for that? #ProblemsLivingUnderARock

You’re also probably not on a tech blog making tongue in cheek comments on posts, either. I was teasing about O’Reilly a bit. Didn’t realize this was a sacred topic around here. I find that I avoid O’Reilly and Autozone as much as possible. My last car parts purchases came from (in no particular order) eBay,…

I was being facetious. The point being in this day and age there are parts at your finger tips, and usually of much better quality AND price than compared to what ever O’Reilly happens to carry. Perhaps Amazon Prime wasn’t the best example, but then again I’ve found some great parts on Amazon in the past. A…

The first time I read it, I was wondering WTF this guy was talking about... and the second time I read it, it clicked, I was transported back to my last conversation with O’Reilly’s and realized man it has been a long time since I’ve had to call them for anything. Are they still in business in the day and age of the…

I wrap the removable bottom tray in aluminum foil. I also generally use a piece of aluminum foil on the rack. I replace the one on the rack very often. I only replace the piece of foil on the bottom tray when it gets dirty. Very easy to clean up, that way. ;)

I wrap the removable bottom tray in aluminum foil. I also generally use a piece of aluminum foil on the rack. I…

I had to pay for a $200 stamp and wait 10 months to buy a suppressor. A suppressor reduces the sound of a firearm from the roughly 130 dB ear destroying range to 100 dB which is still as loud as a Rock Concert and can hurt your ears with 15 minutes of prolonged exposure. In other countries a suppressor is considered…

You get char on the crust with a stone. Maybe not on a cold stone, but in that case let it preheat a bit... just not 800+ degrees preheat.

I see what you mean by light/refined olive oil. I wasn’t familiar with that. I’ll need to give it a try. I live in New Mexico, so while we interestingly enough have our own varieties of wine that I quiet enjoy, we do not have the varieties of olive oil readily available. I really wish we had a Trader Joe’s in the…

The pizza stone eliminates the problems. The “quick and dirty” way to do it is buy some ready made pizzas like Papa Murphy’s, Walmart/Sam’s Fresh Ready Bake or if you have a better brand available to you, buy it and take it home.

I’m glad to discuss it. I appreciate you taking the time to consider my thoughts and reasons why I do it. I would love to use olive oil instead, but it has too low of a smoke point for the kind of rocket hot grilling I do. Now, if I was making smoked steak burgers (which I have done) I would gladly use Olive Oil…

I can certainly relate, except for the grill jockey part. I grill at home and have been interested in it since I was a teenager.

I 100% agree with you about the stabbing and squishing, though. You can use lean meat, just have to have a tiny bit of fat on the outside to help prevent sticking, help it cook properly and you have to be VERY careful to not overcook the burger, otherwise it will dry out. Freshly chopped steak made on clean equipment…

A half pound patty of 80/20 beef is 1.6 ounces of fat. A lean chopped steak burger patty is 0.2 ounces of fat. A light spray of canola oil on either side of the burger adds less than 0.1 ounces of fat. I don’t soak it in the oil. I just don’t want the burger to stick. Lean meat sticks when grilling. The pat of…

Exactly! I put the thin pat of butter on top of the cooked side of the burger after it has been flipped. It renders down into the meat just like you would cook a steak in a cast iron skillet and finish it with a butter baste as it finishes cooking after the flip. Except steak isn’t very porous and isn’t very…

Butter and Beef fat are both high in saturated fats. Butter is an emulsion of water, fat and milk proteins. So, yeah it brings some flavor to the party. I’m also only talking about adding a VERY thin pat of butter for flavor. The spray of canola oil adds a negligible amount of fat. I don’t sit there and drown the…

A light spray of canola oil adds a negligible amount of fat to the outside of the burger. The thin pat of butter (less than 1/8" thick) adds flavor. Butter isn’t just fat. It is an emulsion of fat, water, milk proteins. You are basically basting your burger but adding a thin pat of butter. Any more butter than…

I love Alton Brown, but I would put my steak burger up against any 80/20 burger he could make. AB could outcook me any day of the week with an arm tied behind his back and probably whip me, but not when comparing my lean steak burger to his 80/20 ground beef. In fact, it was AB himself that gave me the idea to use…