Donald's assessment seems very fair and balanced to me, but I don't think that it is in this site's best interests if we use its resources to discuss former members.  May I therefore respectfully request that we regard this topic as closed, and move on to more relevant and interesting discussions ?

** Phil.

I don't think I've every disagreed with a post you've made, until now.

Whilst the other site is still running, there will always be a trickle of leavers who will end up here.
Some might have put work in to documentating, photographing and posting their own recipes on the other site, only to find themselves banned and no longer able to access their own work. Meanwhile they know the site owner is charging newcomers to view someone' else's work.

Ask yourself, are those people going to be just slightly annoyed?

If they end up here, do they want someone to say, "the topic is closed, move on" ?

Or do they want someone to say, "Hey newcomer, welcome! Pull up a chair, have a cup of tea, and tell us all about it. Get it off your chest, and after that we'll tell you what a great friendly community we are, and how warmly we welcome you".

Welcome Mark. 

So I guess this explains why the forum was down.

Thanks to those who did the work.

I'm fully aligned with the ever-practical Phil. Starting off chicken in the pan with G/G until white, then cooking the curry for a little longer than the recipe. I also use a cheap temperature probe to double check the temperature in the largest chicken chunks.

In trying to emulate BIR, I've come to the conclusion that it's important to split BIR techniques in to :

1. those done for speed/efficiency/cost reasons.
2. those that are done for flavour/texture/mouthfeel/looks.
3. those done for both reasons.

In "group one", I have:

- Pre-prepared G/G (IMO used for speed).
- Alu pans (IMO done for reasons of cost and rapid heating up of the thin pan in a busy kitchen).
- Used frying oil (IMO used as an easy way to dispose of used oil, rather than having to collect and transport it for disposal, and possibly paying a disposal fee).
- High output burner (IMO used for speed).

Authentic indeed!!!