Heya. I found this forum a while back and have been lurking and getting some info but it's time for some questions and maybe some comments. I've been on all sorts of forums from 4x4 to wood working to many food sites and more and this looks like one of the best ones I've ever found. Loads of information that's reasonably well organized and very friendly and helpful people. A few years ago I visited another, "BBQ forum" and I quickly came to the conclusion that the only way anyone on that forum was going to survive was to have extremely thick skin. It was the most vicious forum I've ever visited. I never posted and I didn't stick around.
I'm a married 45 year old father of an 11 year old boy and a 13 year old girl. I've been cooking for about 28 years and I was a chef for about 10 years...Great restaurants, great food, bad hours, bad pay, no thanks. But I still cook a lot and much of that food is smoked, grilled, and/or rotissioried pork, beef, chicken, homemade sausage, fish, and whatever else I could find. I don't claim to be a BBQ/Smoke expert and certainly nobody on these forums would call me a, "Purist". But I have produced many hundreds of pounds of succulent meats that many of my guests have said is the best they've ever had. Okay, so some people are just plain ol' ignorant but my spare ribs, (By my taste buds) have only been beaten by one BBQ joint I've ever been to. But now it's time for me to get a little closer to being a, "Purist" and simplify my process at the same time.
I've owned a Big Chief top loading electric smoker for at least 20 years and while it is far from being a perfect setup it has served me well when combined with other cooking techniques. For a long time now I've been combining 2 or 3 pans of chips with a few hours in my countertop electric roasting oven, (See I TOLD you I wasn't a purist!) and then finishing on my 15 year old Weber gas grill.
I usually dry rub and, (At least for ribs) I finish on the grill with 2 or 3 coats of my own espresso based BBQ sauce. I know, I know, there are those that think that good smoked meat doesn't need sauce. To that I say that a good hot dog doesn't need any condiments and neither does a good hamburger. I really don't see any difference between the two other than sometimes a burger is a little dry. BBQ sauce is a matter of personal preference and anyone who tries to tell someone that they are, "Doing it wrong" is narrow minded when it comes to food. My food philosophy is that if it tastes good that's all that matters. I won't tell you that mustard overpowers the flavor of a good hot dog and you shouldn't tell me that a great BBQ sauce, (Mine is awesome!) overpowers the flavor of a good rack of ribs. No offense intended to anyone and I respect other people's right to their own opinion. I just object to being told how my food is supposed to taste.
While I don't consider myself a BBQ/Smoke expert I do claim the title of Expert when it comes to many other types of foods. But I still learn more about food all of the time and now that I've found this great forum I hope to learn more about smoking and more, "Traditional" BBQ than I've been practicing for the past 20 years. Since my introduction is way longer than I intended it to be and it's likely that nobody is reading anymore I think I'll save my questions for my next post.
Bruce
I'm a married 45 year old father of an 11 year old boy and a 13 year old girl. I've been cooking for about 28 years and I was a chef for about 10 years...Great restaurants, great food, bad hours, bad pay, no thanks. But I still cook a lot and much of that food is smoked, grilled, and/or rotissioried pork, beef, chicken, homemade sausage, fish, and whatever else I could find. I don't claim to be a BBQ/Smoke expert and certainly nobody on these forums would call me a, "Purist". But I have produced many hundreds of pounds of succulent meats that many of my guests have said is the best they've ever had. Okay, so some people are just plain ol' ignorant but my spare ribs, (By my taste buds) have only been beaten by one BBQ joint I've ever been to. But now it's time for me to get a little closer to being a, "Purist" and simplify my process at the same time.
I've owned a Big Chief top loading electric smoker for at least 20 years and while it is far from being a perfect setup it has served me well when combined with other cooking techniques. For a long time now I've been combining 2 or 3 pans of chips with a few hours in my countertop electric roasting oven, (See I TOLD you I wasn't a purist!) and then finishing on my 15 year old Weber gas grill.
I usually dry rub and, (At least for ribs) I finish on the grill with 2 or 3 coats of my own espresso based BBQ sauce. I know, I know, there are those that think that good smoked meat doesn't need sauce. To that I say that a good hot dog doesn't need any condiments and neither does a good hamburger. I really don't see any difference between the two other than sometimes a burger is a little dry. BBQ sauce is a matter of personal preference and anyone who tries to tell someone that they are, "Doing it wrong" is narrow minded when it comes to food. My food philosophy is that if it tastes good that's all that matters. I won't tell you that mustard overpowers the flavor of a good hot dog and you shouldn't tell me that a great BBQ sauce, (Mine is awesome!) overpowers the flavor of a good rack of ribs. No offense intended to anyone and I respect other people's right to their own opinion. I just object to being told how my food is supposed to taste.
While I don't consider myself a BBQ/Smoke expert I do claim the title of Expert when it comes to many other types of foods. But I still learn more about food all of the time and now that I've found this great forum I hope to learn more about smoking and more, "Traditional" BBQ than I've been practicing for the past 20 years. Since my introduction is way longer than I intended it to be and it's likely that nobody is reading anymore I think I'll save my questions for my next post.
Bruce