Norm Matthews

I went to Hen House market to get a whole brisket today but the butcher told me he wouldn't have any until tomorrow. I looked at other stores yesterday and no one had anything for sale except flats. I got a small pork butt instead and defrosted a corned beef and seasoned it for pastrami and am smoking the two of them. I expect to have them ready for dinner in 30 or 40 minutes. They both have shrunk quite a bit. I have figured out that Franklin smokes his meats with the firebox door open and uses just enough fuel to maintain temperature while I tend to build a longer lasting fire and regulate the temperature with the damper.

Radtek ad Shel-B As was the case with Oklahoma Joe smokers, New Brauflels smokers are also now owned by Char Broil

Even in the long ago, Ernie Kovaks, when asked why TV was called a 'medium', said because it is neither rare nor well done.

I have made beer can chicken a few times on my Weber. I found that those devises made to hold the chicken, make it sit up too high for the lid to close.

The book just came. The mailman was three hours late and he was a new guy. I was standing by the mailbox and he handed me three envelopes and said " that's it" I told him that a book was supposed to come today , so he went in the back of the truck for a couple of minutes and found it.

City BBQ = Grilling: Direct and high heat, quick cooking for steaks, hamburger, tri-tip, London broil, hot dogs, etc. Southern BBQ = low indirect heat, long cooking and smoke is almost always involved. Meat that is tough when cooked too high and fast: ribs, pork shoulder, brisket, etc. Other meats can be smoked too. Cold smoking imparts flavor without actually cooking the meat. Salmon and cheese are a couple of cold smoked items.

In Texas, beef is king and brisket is most popular, but you can get ribs, sausage, pork, chicken, mutton, rattlesnake and armadillo. In West Texas cabrito ( young goat) is popular. In South Texas there is a dish where the head of a cow is wrapped in burlap and cheesecloth and BBQ-ed. Mexican seasoning is an influence in Texas cooking in general. Kansas City was a meat packing center for beef from Texas and hogs from Missouri. It's central location made it a place where BBQ influences came from all over. Beef, sausage, chicken and pork are common in restaurants here.

A whole pig with an apple in its mouth brings to mind Hawaiian luau cooking where the pig is buried in the ground with hot rocks and wrapped in banana leaves (or burlap and chicken wire). It is also done in Cuba and a tradition BBQ in Eastern North Carolina. Most other places in the US do pork shoulder (butt) and/ or ribs. I had a friend here in Kansas who used to do a whole hog in a 50 gallon drum cut in half and hinged for roasting. He did it over coals as a roast rather than with indirect heat as is done with smoking (true BBQ). I think that is what adey73 saw. That is probably done as a roast as my friend did. It is over direct heat at a moderate (325 to 350 degrees) Length of time is determined by the size of the pig. My friend rotated the pig at least once during the cook. I remember helping him a few times with that.

Nature Sweet cherry tomatoes are better than your average store bought tomato, IMHO.

Radtek, it is a 20-inch. They didn't have a 16-inch model on the floor. The price was a littlr shy of $2000.

I've seen those grill grates sold separately. http://www.sportys.com/preferredliving/grill-grates-includes-grate-tool-spatula.html I wanted to get some a couple years ago but didn't for some reason. They are supposed to be really good replacements for your grill. re that Yoder... wow. Just WOW.

I noticed they gave Guy a show right after they fired Emeril. I figured they wanted a flamboyant personality to replace him. Tie that together with programmers who think the model for daytime food TV is Let's Make a Deal and they have no one to blame but themselves.

His thermometer was specific for brisket. I guess the place most people put it is a "general estimate for anything" place. edit. I have used the kind of thermometer with the wire that goes inside and the gauge sits outside for a second thermometer once in a while but they aren't always trustworthy. They are OK for back up and most smokers I know use a thermopen on the meat itself.

It's useful to put one at either end so you know the high and low range.

radtek, here is the 20" Horizon that you like

rotus, just got back from the KC BBQ store. They only sell Traeger pellet smokers. Here is the large one Here is a smaller one

To tell the truth, I only go there two or three times a year. I was going to go tomorrow though to get some apple wood. I'll ask them about pellet smokers, but I think their answer will be a Traeger. They sell those. I hear Yoder's are very good. Here is something to read about pellet smokers. Check out the part about flavor profile for pellets. http://bbqbeat.com/buying-pellet-smokers/

Fortunately or unfortunately, it is right down the street from me.

Off set smoker is made in Oklahoma by Horizon. I ordered it from here http://www.thekansascitybbqstore.com/ in April, 2012. and they delivered it a week or so later. I generally use apple wood. (the birch wood you see under the smoker is from a dead tree in my yard and is used in the nearby fire pit on cool nights. Thanks for the compliment. I may do that next time. I know more now than I did day before yesterday

Thanks for the Crepes and CatPoet, If you click on the http link at the bottom of my post, it will take you to the recipes. The two recipes were brought to my attention by people I know. My daughter-in-law asked me to make the fried pepper rings. They were batter dipped and the batter was thicker than I'd make it next time. CP: Funny you'd say the recipe looks like Betty Crocker. The recipe was actually Pillsbury's. The taco dips were using up extra food bought from yesterday's Cinqo de Mayo.

For what it's worth, here is an in-progress shot of the last time I smoked a brisket. I only have done half briskets in the past but now feel ready to do a whole one.

Everyone's meals look great. Our dinner was several appetizers and a salad. Salad was marinated cauliflower, broccoli, sunflower seeds, dates and onion. Apps were two taco dips, one meatless and leftover from yesterday, deep fried red bell peppers, and Buffalo chicken ring with sour cream and bleu cheese dip.

I might add that when Charbroil acquired OKJ, they sold off the assets and closed down the company. All they kept was the name Oklahoma Joe which they have started applying to the name of some of their smokers.

That link is blocked to me but the lead-in mentions off-the-rack smokers. About 15 years ago I had a Brinkman horizontal smoker. In retrospect, it was well built. One day when I came home from work it was missing. My son told me some guys with a pick-up said they were following instructions from my ex and were here for the smoker and his basketball goal. He said they loaded them up and were gone a few minutes before I got home. I had modified it by extending the smokestack downward improve the heat and smoke circulation, added a place to add hot water for increased moisture and did a baffle in front of the firebox. A few years later I got a Charbroil of the same design. It was a piece of junk. The lid was warped and would not close completely. It started rusting right away. I gave it away before I moved here. One of the first things I did here was to go looking for was an Oklahoma Joe smoker. I learned that the owner had sold the company to Charbroil and moved to Texas. Horizon was run by his brother and maintained the same line of smokers and quality of the original.

Those are nice. I've smoked sausage and Canadian bacon , but they were laying down.