Norm Matthews

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.

I have a Horizon smoker. The one I have did cost about 1K USD and it is the smallest one they make. It is as big as I want to go. It's made with 1/4" structural pipe and is fully welded. The thermometer is an extra. At least it was when I got mine about 3 years ago. http://www.basspro.com/Horizon-Smoke-16-Classic-Backyard-Smoker/product/10202039/?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&om_mmc=shopping_googleproductextensions&kpid=10202039&kpid=10202039 I am not particularly interested in doing a whole brisket though. That is too much meat for my family. A lot of people who use Horizon smokers are serious competitors, caterers or restauranteurs who need to do a large amount of meats. I was never interested in doing that. I am just interested in improving myself to be able to get the best results from my smoker. edit, ps: I have modified my smoker with a convection plate (link below) and had a larger burner grate custom made to make more room under the heat source in order to make it easier to clean out the ashes during long smoke sessions. http://www.horizonbbqsmokers.com/accessories-1/

I just ordered the book. Looking forward to reading about smoking brisket. I have an offset smoker. I have smoked a few briskets but am looking forward to reading about his take on them. I consider brisket more challenging than ribs or a pork roast, but that may be because I do those all the time.

I cooked some spare ribs and their trimmings in my smoker today.

A saute pan is the one with is wide flat bottom and straight sides while a skillet has sloped sides. The bottom of a 12-inch saute pan is 12 inches while the bottom of a 12-inch skillet is about 10 inches. The saute pan allows for more volume and less chance of spillage when you move it around and a lid fits tighter so there is less evaporation. With a skillet, it is easier to flip or toss the food without using a spatula (if you do that sort of thing) I choose a saute pan if I am going to fry or boil something, or have a large volume to cook, and a skillet for most other things, plus evaporation with a skillet is faster so reduction of a liquid is qucker.

If you are used to European knives but want a Japanese-ish shorter knife, take a look at the Australian made Furi knives. I had one, (santoku) didn't love it, but thought is nice enough. My son loved it. They make chef style knives too. http://furiglobal.com/au/products

Meatballs and spaghetti for dinner tonight.

This evening Cassie and Charlie got back from visiting her brother in NYC for a week and I made a dinner for the first time in a week. I made Shrimp in Escabeche and served it on a bed of romaine lettuce and Chicken Manicotti with lots of cheeses, salsa and an enchilada sauce. I also made some garlic bread.

The package said achiote on one side and annatto on the other side. I figured they were both the same thing. Thanks for the explanation. I didn't know that. The recipe I used was from a video demo and he used seeds but called them achiote.

Achiote seeds was in a Mexican recipe I recently made and had to take a trip to the Mexican grocery down the street to find. They had it in a paste form. I had a Rick Bayless cookbook but gave it away because at the time I lived in a rather small Kansas town and could never find at least one ingredient in just about every recipe. I got rid of a Mario Batali cookbook for the same reason. I kind of wish I had them now. I am a fan of Diana Kennedy cookbooks though. PS We like Queso Quesadilla cheese in place of any Mexican style recipe that uses Mozzarella. My DIL has a Mexican father.

Shipping and handling: $800.

I told the kids that if they were going to spend a week in New York, I was going to have a lobster dinner. The picture represents a lot of firsts for me. First time I have taken a picture of food with my phone, first time I have taken a picture of food while in a restaurant, first time I have sent myself an email from my phone and first time in almost 20 years since I have been in a Red Lobster restaurant. Well hey, if you are going to have lobster in Kansas, there aren't many places that have it. The food was better than I remember but still the lobster was my least favorite thing on the plate. The parts of the crab that weren't overcooked were my favorite.

Carbon steel knives can be sharpened very sharp and with relative ease but they take a lot more care.

Except for the boning knife, they seem rather small, at least for my hand. IMHO somewhat awkward shapes too. If it is any consolation, they will get rusty and will be very difficult to clean with that texture.

I wonder why those who sell vegetarian food tend to tout how much is tastes like meat?