New Member from Georgia

Thanks to all for the welcome messages.

I will try to remember to take pictures to post when I cook and post them. We've really enjoyed the PG500 since we got it. We've been canning food from our veggie garden for several years now and since we got the pellet grill we tried making smoked sausage and we are very pleased with the results. The homemade sausage is like home grown tomatoes. The difference in taste is remarkable. Until we started getting too much rain a few weeks ago we were using the grill 2, 3, and sometimes 4 times a week. Our grandson loves the smoked chicken off the pellet grill. 

I hope to learn a lot from everyone and will share what we do when I remember to take pictures. All I have now are old pictures since we got the smoker.

Here is a ribeye roast we smoked for Christmas

Here is the FE PG500 and some picts of recent cooks.

One eyed Jack said:

 
Great looking smoker OP.

Fine looking chow, too.  You'll fit in just fine round here. 

Point!

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Thanks. 

Over the years we've had charcoal grills, propane grills, water smokers, electric smokers, etc. etc. We started watching the BBQ cookoffs on TV with Myron Mixon, et. al. and I kept seeing the pellet smokers and the food they turned out. They looked like they were so easy to use that I might be able to do it too. So I put one on my bucket list since I'm half way retired and work from home now, and maybe I would have more time for cooking things I like to eat. Back in June an old friend I grew up with died in a freak accident and I figured I wasn't getting any younger so I pulled the trigger and gave myself the pellet smoker for my birthday. It replaced a Masterbuilt Electric smoker, our propane grill and our little Weber smokey Joe. I threw a little outdoor kitchen up around it on our covered deck and away we went. It's actually paying for itself by saving $$ because we don't have to go out to eat things we can now cook at home. Not to mention we get better food now. 

As I mentioned, we make smoked sausage, but we also make Canadian bacon, roasts, ribs, pulled pork, briskets, etc. We also use a seal a meal thingy to freeze small portions we can heat in boiling water and have a meal in a hurry. Between this and the food we grow and can we can eat pretty good, pretty quick almost anytime. Our sons buy roasts, etc. and we keep them in the freezer until the next long cook and cook theirs along with ours.

Still learning how to make food better and many things about cooking and enjoying our food more. I'm looking forward to learning more and more so our food will get better and better.

gary s said:

 

  Good morning and welcome to the forum, from a nice chilly day in East Texas, and the best site on the web. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.          That's some pretty Ribs !!

Gary

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Thanks. 

It's a brisk 27° at 9 o'clock this morning here. 

I'm real pleased with the ribs in that picture. My wife doesn't usually care much for ribs but starting with those she was nudged a little bit closer to being a rib fan. That was also the first time I cut out the St. Louis ribs myself rather than buy them pre cut from the butcher. I'm looking forward to spending some time exploring the site and learning as much as I can.

gary s said:

 
Yep, 27º here too   I'll bet she will be a rib fan in no time if you keep cranking out ribs like that.  Question why was she not a rib fan, Seasoning, Texture ?    When I smoke ribs for my whole bunch I end up doing 3 different flavor profiles to make everybody happy

Gary

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She is from Chicago and didn't grow up with BBQ like I did here. My ribs on charcoal, propane, and other grills in the past were a bit hit and miss over the years and not really that consistently good.  I had better luck pressure cooking baby backs then baking them than grilling, smoking, etc. The new pellet smoker gives me so much more control over the cook I can be consistent and keep a flavor profile she likes. Learning how to cook ribs has been a big help and I make a BBQ sauce using Wicker's, brown sugar and tomato sauce that she likes and that helps too.

We have a lot of good BBQ joints here and I could probably eat BBQ 2 or 3 times a day most of the time. There are a few places we meet friends and eat BBQ but she isn't a big fan of BBQ. So we end up at the OK places that serves a family menu with generic foods too so she can find something. 

She started recording the TV program with Myron Mix a few years ago and we started watching recorded shows when there wasn't anything on the box worth watching. She learned that there were things that she would love to eat other than pulled pork and ribs but you can't necessarily find them in BBQ restaurants around here. We also like other cooking shows like Top Chef, and a few other cooking programs. Bobby Flay, DDD in particular along with a few others on Food Network. We both enjoy cooking and over time we both learned a lot about internal temps, cooking temps, seasoning, etc. We do the cooking for holidays and have the family over so we are always looking for better recipes, new recipes and better ways to cook. When we got the PG500 we started applying all the things we learned from watching the programs over the years. 

So, now that we are getting older and eat way less than we used to we have learned to cook pretty good. So we have learned how to can it, freeze it and put it in small portions to eat later. We enjoy good food even though we can't eat much any more. It helps that I work at home now and can do the low and slow cooks while working at home. Put it on in the morning and check it a few times during the day and have a great feast for dinner.   

mike5051 said:

 
Sounds like y'all got it covered OldPro!  As a long time hacker but lover of golf, thank you for your contribution to the sport!  I look forward to your contributions here.

Mike

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Thanks Mike.

We've really enjoyed the PG500 and the food always seems to be good no matter how we cook it.

I'm more retired than not but still have my shop and build clubs for old customers. If there is anything I can do to help give me a shout. 

SmokinAl said:

 
Everything you smoked looks superb. Your smoker is awesome. But what caught my eye was the ribeye. Done to perfection! A beautiful roast!!

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Thanks. It really came out good. I have so much more to learn but I'm getting there.