I kept my trusty Weber for about a year when I bough mine, and it quickly became a charcoal storage unit. Things that the egg-shaped cookers do "better" than a kettle or gas grill, are, in my biased opinion, and in no particular order: * High temperature sear -- I can easily get the coals to a yellow-orange temperature. It is hot enough that the stainless-steel grill "self cleans" and I get a beautifully marked and seared steak. * Capacity -- I can easily get a 25# turkey *and* four full slabs of ribs into mine (equivalent of a 22 1/2" Weber grill size) * Temperature control -- with the top and bottom dampers, I can much more easily control fire temperature than I ever could on a charcoal kettle. I can be at 700 deg (dome) temperature and shut it down to a 400 deg "dwell" in a minute or two -- basically puts the fire out and cooks using the heat stored in the dome (this also means that unused charcoal is not consumed) -- see warning below * Cook pizza -- Real pizza. 700 deg isn't at all hard to obtain and maintain. * No cover needed -- It's pool tile. Hose it off with the pressure sprayer from time to time. Disadvantages -- its harder to have a "hot" side and a "cold" side. It is clearly cooler around the edges when using it as a grill and I generally deal with it that way. WARNING -- Get yourself a good set of mitts and a ideally a fire-resistant apron, and always, always look away when opening any charcoal-fired cooker of any sort that has been "shut down" in this manner. The high temperatures that remain can "vaporize" all kinds of combustibles, that basically burst into flame when the oxygen rushes in when you open the top. Think turning on the gas in the oven and then tossing in a match. It has never happened to me, but I'd hate to find out that I lost the roll of the dice. Here is a link that might be useful: Cooker Flashback

The egg wash has been baked at a high temperature and is no longer raw, so it is safe to store at room temperature, just as a bread, cookie or cake recipe that has egg/s in it is safe to store at room temperature. FYI: The quickest way to have bread stale is to store it in the refrigerator. That's a big no-no in the world of bread. As the ultimate frugal person, I would never waste an egg for making an egg wash for the simple sake of being shiny or making the end product dark. I achieve that by using wholegrain flour and a little honey or agave nectar will add to the browning. An egg-free alternative is to use heavy cream instead of an egg. Another option I often see when judging foods at Fairs is a spray-on product, "Quick Shine", from King Arthur Flour, and I must say it's impressive stuff. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Quick Shine - King Arthur Flour

I think 2 tsps of salt should be enough...taste the dough and see what you think How about this recipe: I like to make them in the mornings for a breakfast roll too. I usually double the recipe using only 1/3 cup sugar in the doubled recipe. If you keep the dough for a week, punch it down every day or so. They are a great roll. Buttermilk Refrigerator Rolls 1 Package dry yeast 1/2 cup warm water 1/2 cup melted butter 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon soda 2 cups buttermilk Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large mixing bowl. Let sit 5 minutes. Stir in butter Combine dry ingredients; add to yeast mixture along with buttermilk. Stir well. Turn dough out on a floured surface, knead gently a few times and shape into a ball. Place in greased bowl, cover, and refrigerate until needed. Keeps for one week. Break off a soft ball sized lump of dough and roll into a circle about 1/4" thick. Cut into pie shaped wedges and roll up from the wider edge into crescent shapes. You do not have to let them rise again. Bake on greased baking sheet at 400 for 8-10 minutes I'm glad you liked the rolls Emily. I'm about to make 300 of them for an upcoming event. I should have mentioned that the dough is very sticky after stirring. I scrape it onto my board and very gently knead in another 1/2 to 1 cup more flour. Just firm enough to handle. The flour is coating the outside of the gluten ball. Later, when punched down, I use enough flour to roll them out..it's actually more of a streching the ball into a flattish round. I try not to disturb the gluten sack. I do roll a bit, however. I'm not explaining it very well, but bread doughs can be managed by using flour on the outside and not incorporating it into the dough itself. This makes a lighter roll. Or these...just what we need at Thanksgiving...more butter but they are very VERY good. Julie Trussler's Butter Brite Rolls 2 pkg dry yeast 3 eggs 1/2 c warm water 1 t. salt 1 1/2 c. milk 4-6 cups flour 1/2csugar 1 1/2 c. butter softened Disolve yeast in warm water and add 1 t sugar and let rest until proofed. Add sugar milk and salt and beat in 3c flour , add eggs and another cup of flour and mix very well. Add enough more flour to make a soft dough and refrigerate 15 minutes. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 15 X 20 rectangle. Spread bottom 2/3 of the rectangle with 1/2 c of butter and fold top 1/3 over middle 1/3 and bottom 1/3 over all. Fold each end to the center and fold one more time. Refrigerate 30 minutes and repeat buttering and folding 2 more times. Refrigerate overnight ( Julie says.....but a couple of hours is enough) Makes crescent rolls dinner rolls and sweet rolls. Bake 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes depending on size. These are not yeast rolls...but very good. New England Biscuits with Cranberries and Rosemary 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces ½ cup dried cranberries 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary, finely chopped 1 cup buttermilk 1 egg, lightly beaten Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Place the mixture in a large bowl. Stir in the cranberries, rosemary and buttermilk. Mix well. The dough will be sticky. Transfer to a floured work surface. Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough 10 times or until smooth. Pat into a round about ½ inch thick. Using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter or drinking glass, cut out biscuits and place on the prepared pan. Gather the scraps and repeat until all the dough is used. Brush the biscuit tops with the beaten egg. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool slightly.

We had a nice sunny day today, late morning and afternoon. Did some running around, so never did try the bread manually. When I mentioned setting it in the sun.....I meant the sun streaming in through the window. (in winter I get full sun, summer.....no sun in my apartment). Like Cynic, I preheat my bread-machine pan with hot water and heat up the milk in the microwave. I've read that the light bulb in the oven is all it takes to make bread rise, but that's hard to believe. But what do I know. Even if I never do remember to bake it in the oven, that's fine with us. We love the bread out of the machine. Hole and all. lol Hmmmm dinner rolls, though. That's a possibility! Oh, how much is 2 packets of yeast (as per the recipe above). I buy my yeast in bulk and put 2 1/4 tsp of yeast in my machine.