Mallette

22 yo Klipschorns, with PWK in his lab 51 yo Klipschorns, and Cornwall center Dave

Man...losing a brother. My brother is the only blood family I have left and I so hope I pass before him. Deepest condolences, my friend. Dave

As my niece said concerning having been informed that her generally expressionless brother-in-law was "excited" about attending a baseball game, "How can you tell?" Dave

Pressing on with Calvinist determination towards depression... Dave

Agree on all the above. I only met him briefly as I helped unload the HUGE variety of incredible sweets he and his wife brought, but I like them both immediately and my heart goes out to the family. I've been here long enough to have lost many "virtual" friends over the decades. Virtual in quotes because it's so bogus. Anyway, each loss brings to mind the others. Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

The reason I like my big, cast iron, fire box end barrel smoker was that to smoke at a constant 140 I learned to cut wood the precise length of the firebox. I'd then get charcoal going, put it in the firebox, then pack the wood on it to completely fill the box. In an hour or so, I could regulate the air and chimney to hold the temp, which would vary no more than 5 degrees or so for 24 hours. Need a good, tight box for that. Dave

Pellets are WAY overpriced, IMHO. So are chips. I use chips in the Masterbuilt electric as it's too much of a hassle to cut wood thin enough and they last pretty well...but I use chunks in the 7 in 1 that I cut myself with a table saw. Honestly, wish I could afford another good quality large barrel smoker, but at 350.00 or more just out of range for a fixed income retiree. BTW, did you see my post about my son having his goal as the Naval Academy and Silent Service? We'll see if he makes it. One of the RMHC Board members just happened to be friends with the head of the area Blue and Gold, and he's tasked with recommending candidates. Even more coincidental, his son is on leave before deployment to the ...Silent Service...after just graduating from the Naval Academy. Told my son he may want to consider there may be higher forces at work here. The coincidences are a bit too much.

Others make the same form factor. This one goes for 200.00 or so, but I got an open box return good as new for about 80. It's killer for camping as with all the various options, you can do anything from wok to wood smoking. I'll post a picture when I do the ham. Dave

Pretty crappy picture, but I didn't look at it until the meat was 3/4 eaten by Thomas and I. It was good. Not pit master good, but certainly good for us also rans. I hadn't used this thing for two years, and I intend to adjust a bit next time. As I mentioned, I only cooked it at 225 for 9.5 hours, then accelerated to 275 as my son was starving. That also meant it didn't get to rest for a couple of hours, which is the final touch. Anyway, it's always fun. Next project is my first attempt to cure a fresh ham in my 7-in-1. For those familiar with the Brinkman bullet cooker, it's the same form factor, but this one is on steroids. Can be used as a bubba cooker, a gas grill, a two level smoker fired with charcoal, or a charcoal grill for steaks and such. I am quite expert at slow curing...smoking at 140 degrees for at least 20 or more hours...in a large smoker, but haven't tried it in anything this small before. Should be an adventure. A properly fully cured smoke ham needs no refrigeration. I love 'em. Dave

Wood. It's black, perhaps from use. He sliced from 11AM until closing in the evening and honed it every couple of plates, so it got a LOT of use! I am sure it was a 30.00 or more knife even in the mid-70s. Dave

Always SOUNDS yummy...but, as most know, brisket is the Waterloo of smoking. I am no brisket master, but it's generally tasty. I've only done a couple that totally met my aim of being able to hold a heavy butcher knife with two fingers and slice it by simply dragging it across the brisket without pressure. I set that standard when I saw the owner of one of the best BBQ places I've ever been to do this in the 70s at Big Spring out in west Texas. It also simply ran with juice as he cut. Best I ever had. I commented on the knife, a 15 inch Victorinox. He said he'd about sharpened it down to where he was going to change it out, and I could have it for 5 bucks. Still have it. Dave

Starting to get hungry, but still at least an hour before that brisket hits the magic number. It's taken two hours to get from 191 to 200...5 degrees to go. Everything else is ready. I may, at my peril, cheat a bit and raise it to 240 or so to finish. Unfortunately, you can't rush barbecue without paying a price. Dave

I was very impressed with how Rodney's whole crew had the process from cooking to serving down so smoothly and professionally. It is NOT easy! Doing brisket today. Put in on about 0730. It's at around 191 at the moment and probably another couple of hours to get to 205 since I am smoking at 225. Of course, at that temp, the hotter the meat gets the slower the temp rises. Have potatoes boiled and cooled for southern mustard potato salad. As per the custom of my area, I use Miracle Whip instead of mayo. No Yankee comments, please. Pinto beans and fresh bread. All for my son and me...SO glad to have him home! He has his goal set as the Naval Academy. That would make me a very proud man, indeed. Dave

Given my three decades in programming design, I can say with certainly this is still impossible. Humans are a chaos model, like the weather. Supercomputers spend days grinding on a single scenario of chaos and still, at best, approximate an answer. The only people who can test these softwares are human. Millions of miles of data of subsystems are accruing constantly as so many autos have adaptive cruise, braking, lane control, etc. Progress is rapid, but it's utter fantasy to expect to go from 50k deaths a year to zero without going through the space in between. I've no idea why this is so hard to comprehend. Dave

Seems that would cover a table saw. Nearly lost a finger myself doing something I'd never dreamed would get my fingers close to the sawblade. However, after the fact, I see that it was foreseeable misuse. Fact is, I did not follow instructions written in red bold. Now I do! Dave