Topic: Domestic Tandoors - TandooriQ vs Puri vs Spices of India etc

[sp]

First time attempting seekh kebabs today, used the C2G recipe.  The recipe should have made 8-10 kebabs... how many did I get to actually eat?  A big fat 0    total disaster, they kept slipping off the skewers or wouldn't stick in the first place.  I hope the naans are more successful tomorrow! 

[sp]

Note the empty bowl and bare skewers... and the big pile of semi-cooked mixture smouldering in the bottom of the tandoor

[Peripatetic Phil]

Oh oh oh.  Very sincere commiserations.  Maybe add a bottom-stopper such as an onion ?  Or did they just disintegrate and not just slide down the skewer ?

** Phil.

[sp]

A bit of both Phil, they stayed on the skewers just long enough to slide off the end when angled downwards - I did have potatoes as stoppers but they dropped off too!

It did say in the instructions to wipe the skewers with oil before use, which probably didn't help (although my tandoori chicken came out fine and I did nothing different).  I think the mixture was too wet.

You live and learn, what you've never had you never miss I suppose  :

[Zap]

Well, it all makes sense now... the tandoor I've got was never fired properly.  Went to go check it out after not having bothered with it for a while.  Clay literally fell off the wall, all the way to the insulation behind it (and this was after properly following the burn-in procedure and running the thing a few times more to try and season the walls for Naan.  There are other places where it still appears to be totally solid and intact.

At least that explains why Naan either refused to stick to the wall or stuck so bad it had to be peeled off, and when it was, that it tore and had lots of clay on the bottom of it!

Caveat emptor - hope that nobody else gets a dud unit.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Send it back citing the Sale of Goods Act and the key phrase "unfit for purpose".  Take it to the Small Claims Court if necessary.

** Phil.

[sp]

Yikes!    Best of luck with getting a refund or replacement, who made that one?

On another note, here are a few pics of my naan bread... getting there, but a bit of experimentation to go yet before I'll be happy with them

[Kashmiri Bob]

Looking very good there sp. My next purchase me thinks.

Rob 

[Zap]

I'm not in the UK myself (US here) so the rules are a bit different, but I did get a refund for this unit some time ago due to the other substantial damages it suffered.  Many of the units, though, are shipped here from the UK (as this one was).  I was actually going to scrap it since it wasn't wanted back (goes to say something itself), which now looks quite necessary since it is making a mess!

The place I've been talking with now also does commercial units and has rave reviews from restaurants.  I shouldn't have any shipping problems, as I'll likely be picking the new one up myself.  They are considerably better built (and therefore a lot more $$$$$), but apparently my story isn't uncommon and the quality on some of the low-end India-built units has too much variation depending on where they come from.

Their recommendation for Naan is to use a bit less heat, around 450F or 232C, but that could be related to the type of clay being used in these specific units.  There is definitely a trick to learning it, I was told.

At least here, most restaurants are using gas due to regulations and greater difficulty of using solid fuels indoors - but I've been to at least one place that does use charcoal for the extra flavor.

[vindapoo]

I've meed the c2go kebabs loads and they are spot on. You have to make sure they are well chilled before putting them on the skewer. There is a technique involved in 'stroking' them onto the skewer, maybe ask the mrs to do it as they seem to have the knack ........