# Cooking background/training



## homebrew & bbq (Nov 12, 2007)

Maybe this thread already exists, but I didn't come up with it when I searched.

From reading the posts, it's pretty easy to tell that we a have wide range of cooking expertise in this forum. I was curious about what training or experience folks have had and maybe others would like to know too.

I have zero formal training, not even a one-shot class at a kitchen supply store. What I know about cooking comes from what I learned growing up, reading cookbooks, plain old experience and place on the web like this one (but none as good as this one).


----------



## fatback joe (Nov 12, 2007)

Same story here, nothing formal.

My mom did some catering while I was growing up so I got to see a lot of stuff outside the normal home cooking.   Otherwise, I do a ton of reading and experimenting...............oh and asking questions.

But I would say I rely on the reading the most.


----------



## deejaydebi (Nov 12, 2007)

I saw, I ate, I tried to replicate - life is good!


----------



## hawgheaven (Nov 12, 2007)

... but I did spend the night at a Holiday Inn Express. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Butt seriously, I learned how to cook out of self defense and survival. My first wife was an *AWFUL* cook, so someone had to do it. I learned through cook books, asking my Mom and Grandma questions, and just plain ol' trial and error. Once Al Gore invented the internet, then that became my main source of education.

Hey, if it weren't for him, we wouldn't be here right now...


----------



## cowgirl (Nov 12, 2007)

I am impressed with the number of men here on the forum that can cook.

I personally know 2 guys that will grill or cook on a smoker....but they do not know how to cook anything in their kitchen.
Hats off to you guys, I'm impressed.


----------



## shellbellc (Nov 12, 2007)

Learned growing up from mom, she has also been the manager of a cafeteria for like 25 years so she's good with volume cooking.  My brother-in-law is a caterer and we help him every so often, the second time I ever helped him I was in charge of a golf outing dinner.  Had 2 groups of 4 coming off at a time.  Had the line set up and ready to go but then I was cooking steaks for them.  Instead of pre-cooking I was doing cook to order.  I had one girl working for me who had never helped before.  Everything worked out great except for the lack of hair on my hands and arms when I was done!  Hubby and I do group cooking for the VFW quite often and we do a mean tailgate for 50 people every year on our Notre Dame trek.  Teaching our son how to cook also, which is by far the most enjoyable! (well, other than the eating)


----------



## cajun_1 (Nov 12, 2007)

Basically the same as Hawg Heaven. Survival ... Still ... a "student" of the "school of hard knocks". (But I did eat what I cooked) 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	






....I'll never be the Next Iron Chef  ...


----------



## ajthepoolman (Nov 12, 2007)

I burnt my first batch of fishsticks and macaroni fresh out of high school and have never looked back.  Although I still burn the occassional batch of fishsticks.

My wife claims to be allergic to cooking, so I do pretty much all of it.  She makes a killer alfredo, so she can have that.  But otherwise, it comes from me.


----------



## flagriller (Nov 12, 2007)

No real formal training.  I just started cooking when I was a young lad.  Never followed a recipe, I just use them as guidelines.  And of course some help from my mom when growing up.


----------



## raypeel (Nov 12, 2007)

I started making Chef Boy-r-d (sp) pizza's from a box when I was about 11.  I got married when I was 19 and had the same issues as Hawg.  Thanks to the food channel and Internet its now a hobby.


----------



## hawgheaven (Nov 12, 2007)

Oops, yeah... I forgot to mention the Food Channel... great stuff on there!


----------



## shellbellc (Nov 12, 2007)

Back when I was in the USMC, got a place out in town. This was when I was first introduced to kraft mac & cheese and hamburger helper! Never had the stuff growing up. My one friend and I cooked 3 or 4 turkeys the one year for everyone who wasn't able to head home for Thanksgiving. This was definitely a jump into the frying pan. Neither of us had ever done anything like this. We started on Wednesday and finished with the last turkey on Thursday morning. We had all kind of sides going, no way to keep them warm, beer had to be iced down in the tub because of space. We had 30 +/- hungry Marines we fed and they all loved it. Afterwards they played football out front and we moved the TV outside so everyone could watch football. It was a great day, the food..eh, metsa metsa...it was still probably one of my best Thanksgivings.


----------



## richtee (Nov 12, 2007)

Nothing formal as far as training here either. But having the science bent, I was kind of the origional Alton. Facinated me when Mom or Grandma...and GRANPA...both sides - cooked. Why? How much? Why not higher temps? This oil, that grease. I come from the Old Countries...not literally, but my food background does.

I have seen <and made> moonshine <grappa>, pig ears and feet, sparrows in spaghetti sauce, all sorts of wild game, milked a cow or two, helped butcher a pig, made ice cream, and many other things most folk would never have even considered as "making a meal". But its all related. Formal training? naw... maybe one day when I can afford to learn alot of cool things that really don't matter in my situation right now.


----------



## pescadero (Nov 12, 2007)

For me, it was somewhat early in life.  I got in big trouble messin' with my little Chemistry Set, so that was taken away from me.  But, I just could never get past the urge to mix up batches of stuff and was looking for an outlet.  Since I couldn't make my little chemical concoctions, I moved on to the kitchen.  Family had seen me in action before and so at first they were kinda worried about eating anything I produced.  When they finally decided I hadn't blown anybody up or poison anybody, they relaxed and started to enjoy it.  That was all the encouragement I needed.  Have been hooked on cooking, grilling and smoking ever since.  

Skip


----------



## deejaydebi (Nov 12, 2007)

Now it all makes sense huh? Mama must be proud!


----------



## hawgheaven (Nov 12, 2007)

When I was a kid, my Grandma (on my Mom's side), was an awesome cook. She always produced a down home, mouth wipin' meal. There was always a container of lard and a container of bacon grease sitting on the stove, along with an iron skillet with bacon grease in it from last night's supper to be used for tonite's supper. Incredible.

Now, my Grandma (on my Dad's side), could burn water. She was from Scotland, boiled or burned (her rendition of pan frying) everything. I hated going there for dinner. But, one good thing came out of her cooking... we never had any doubt as to what to get her for Christmas... new cookware. She totally ruined a complete set of cookware every year. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  But, she did know how to bake! Amazing.

So, as I said earlier, I _*HAD*_ to learn how to cook. But, aside from the need, it became a passion with me, somewhat obsessive to some degree. When I got my first Weber kettle grill many years ago, I was hooked on grillin' and cookin' outside.

The rest is history in the making...


----------



## rip (Nov 12, 2007)

If ya'll haven't guessed I have lived in the country all my life. I was raised by my grandparents, my grandfather had an old country store were the school bus would pick me up and drop me off. I learned alot about smoking BBQ and meat selection while working there. When there was nothing to do at the store I was hunting or fishing and always ate what I shot or caught. I would cook at the store on a barrel grill/smoker that my grandfather cooked his BBQ on, and at home with my grandmother. Training ahhh no. But good ole country cookin? Hell Yeah!!!


----------



## pop smoke! (Nov 12, 2007)

Great thread!

Initially, my mother got divorced when I was 11 and enjoyed the "single" part of being a single-parent more that the "parent" part. My younger sister and I got tired of eating TV dinners and canned soups so I branched out into making the Chef Boyardee meal kits. The pizza kit really grabbed me; I enjoyed making, rising, and shapping the dough. I soon learned to add different meats, cheeses, and spices to the sauces. 

After I got out of the Army, I went to work at a TV station in Tucson. We carried the Galloping Gourmet show with Graham Kerr. At the end of the show, they would always have his new cookbook for sale. The employees got the left over books when the promotion was over. Later, I bought a copy of the Better Homes and Garden loose-leaf cookbook and worked my way through it. Also, my girlfriend had a Joy of Cooking cookbook and, when we broke up, I bought one for myself.

When I got married twentsome-odd years ago, my wife was already a very good cook and introduced me to wokking and Chineese dishes. She also had a ton of Julia Child, Frugal Guormet, James Beard, etc, books. We also started making and drying meals for backpacking and sailing trips.

Ten years ago she got a copy of the CIA's New Professional Chef manual and recipe book free with a book club suscription. I learned a lot of professional techneiques from it. 

The smoking and grilling comes from my mother's second husband. He was a rancher in Oklahoma and we had tons beef and pork and grilled often.

The funny thing is, I don't eat all that much. In fact, to this day, it drives my in-laws crazy that I never have seconds or eat dessert. After 24 years, they are still surprised that I say "no" when asked, and they ask every single time. (Well, "they" did. My MIL died three weeks ago.)

Now, I've come here to learn the Magic!

Pat


----------



## gypsyseagod (Nov 13, 2007)

grew up in grammy's(she was married to a commercial fisherman)galley-he was from florida- she was an alaska sourdough(native). so i grew up watching & helping & definitely eating. soon as i was old enough to go on the boats i watched more. it became my job(as rigman-they cook too,part of the job) to cook the crew's meals as part of my job, worked @ then ran a few restaurants,started my own catering biz, & went back to cooking for a living in the offshore oilfield. now i'm getting back in to catering.part of the fun when i was charter fishing customers was to cook for them too to teach them how to cook their catch when they got home. free drinks,a deck party, & awesome tips that way- not to mention guaranteed repeat customers. but no real "formal" training.
oh yeah.... always kenw who justin wilson was & every man in our family cooks or can cook. plus, dad's side had a ranch in west texas so i guess i got the best of both worlds.


----------



## gooose53 (Nov 13, 2007)

Never had any formal training either.  My wife of 35 years is a great cook, so I've learned alot from her.  All the men in my family can cook, my dad did a great job in the kitchen and my grandfather was a professional chef...meaning he worked as head cook at a fish camp here in South Carolina for years.  I worked with him during summers cooking, breading, and doing just about anything in the kitchen.  I have always had somekind of grill....in fact just tossed my small weber of about 32 years because I had a larger one and a gas grill......my wife made me do it!  This year went to a bbq cook school put on by two outstanding cooks.  One of them won the best cook here in South Carolina last year.  I'm hoping when I retire to do some comps.  And of course cook for the church every week for about 100 people.


----------



## lovetosmoke (Nov 13, 2007)

I learned everything from my mother and grandmother.  I must be doing something right because I have not killed anyone with my food.


----------



## wilson (Nov 13, 2007)

Like Y'all, I first learned to cook from my Grandmother and my Mom. I got my formal training in the kitchen of a home town dinner, cooking my way through High School and Collage. Then I spent then next 10 years trying to learn all I could from my Dad before he passed away. My dad was an excellent cook.

"I wish I could taste my Nana's Apple Pie again 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






 , I have her recipe but I just can't replicate the love that her hands put into them, it is the missing ingredient.........Somethings you can never learn."


----------



## richoso1 (Nov 13, 2007)

I have no formal training, just meals on the fly. Currently , I usually make the dish in my thoughts, record them in Word, and later I adjust or delete them. Sometimes the thought of presentation takes longer to decide on than how to cook/smoke or grill the dish. My wife goes nuts when I'm in a creative mood, she says it's TMI.


----------



## gypsyseagod (Nov 13, 2007)

mine calls it ocd- obsessive(or overly bored) cooks disorder....


----------



## rip (Nov 13, 2007)

And mine calls it "Good hes cooking so I don't have too."


----------



## gypsyseagod (Nov 13, 2007)

yeah we're supposed to have this deal- whoever cooks doesn't get the dishes... well thats never worked out just right either......


----------



## walking dude (Nov 13, 2007)

none hear either.........just like to cook in the kitchen........
then i found the ecb ......... never looked back..........that was 20 years ago or so.......but that was trial and error......used the times from the lil. booklet that came with the smoker.....did that for those 20 sum years or so.......i bought the ecb gourmet.......cause it was easier to add charchol and wood chunks.........galloping gourmet......i remeber him......BEFORE he got health concious.......drank wine on his show.....VERY funny.......i have the joy of cooking cookbook......and the better homes and garden cookbooks.......prob with the bh&g cookbook.......they had me PAR-boiling my ribs........i used CANNED parmisan to make al fredo.....hehe......till i found it in a block.......it melts WAY easier than the can variety.......DUH....been messing with smoking for these 20 sum years.......or what i THOUGHT was smoking.......then in AUG. i stumbled cross THIS site.........NOW I CAN SMOKE........i was just fooling myself before......thankx jeff.......and EVERYONE else here

d88de


----------



## down yonder bbq (Nov 13, 2007)

Well as for me I dont know where to put myself, growing up after parents divorced my mom would teach home economics to high school kids and teach them how to cook, bake, grill and keep from starving. As time went on I learned from her, being part Italian its hard not to , learn somethings. Then as I grew I learned from my sisters, joined the Army and met my wife, who was an awarded gourmet chef, have been married for 18 years and alot was picked up through her. Then along that road her famiily has 6 BBQ resturants in Houston and sourounding area along with 9 Greek Resturants so it also trickled down from them being a new member of the family I had to learn how to cook and que through the family. Spent 2 years at the culinary school of Arts in Houston learning to cook everything else and learned how to do Ice carving, got bored and left and went back into the BBQ bussiness with her family and was eventually introduced into pit cooking at the local rodeo's and BBQ cook off's, in turn led to becoming a cook off judge. Then we moved to Washington State and now we are trying to get a rub and spice company off the ground alond with a catering company and eventually a BBQ resturant.. So that about sums it up, I still have alot to learn about the different styles of cooking throughout the United States and the different styles of BBQ, all I really know about is Texas BBQ and the ways and history. So teach me ya'll and show me the light, SHOW ME THE SMOKE AND MEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## fat sal (Nov 13, 2007)

Like most of you, I never had formal training either.  Although I once took a foie preparation seminar in Barcelona.  Never made any of the recipes, of course...but I'm prone to whip-out the certificate whenever I have guests over and we're on our third Martinis.

Anyway...I learned to cook mainly via Cook's Illustrated magazine and it's most excellent collection of cookbooks (in particular, the "Best Recipe" series).  I subscribed to Cook's when it began publishing (about 10 or 15 years ago) and have nearly the entire collection.  I've just, throughout the years, read as much as possible and tried as many recipes as possible.

After a while and cooking and/or ruining hundreds of recipes, you just kinda notice common trends that weave their ways throughout most dishes.  Plus, you also learn that it's the little things that often mean the difference between mediocre eats and great eats.

As for smoking Q, it was born out of necessity.  I had lived in Spain for five years, and was jonesing for Q in a huge way.  The only Q available here is a lone Tony Roma's in Madrid.  Ok in a pinch, but I thought I could do better.  Plus, I had just divorced and really needed to  focus my mind onto something else.

So I started reading the Virtual Weber Bullet website, and The Smoke Ring website, and a few others.  Then bought Smoke&Spice and Peace, Love & Barbecue.  Eventually I bought a WSM through Amazon and shipped it here.  The rest is history.  A very yummy history.

BTW, let me say it again.  I really like this SMF website and all the folk posting to the forum.  If there should ever be a SMF Mass Smoke-o-rama taking place in the midwest, let us know.

Sal


----------



## scotty (Nov 13, 2007)

My dad owned a  bar /Italian restaurant  called SCOTTYS. He later went into grocery store business.
 When both  my parents came down with different types of cancer  I returned home and took over the  grocery store. I opened a second location in the same town  in the  DELI style. Eventually  named  both places after SCOTTYS.
  Lots of  cooking there  but cooking always was  my  second life.

The closest i ever came to smoked anything was a piece of smoked fish given to me about 5 years ago.

 The honest truth is that i cant remember how i  got into this thing.
 Ill guess that someone on the finevinewines site mentioned smoking or the SMF but for the life of  me  i can't remember.


----------



## rodbuilder (Nov 13, 2007)

I started cooking some 40+ years ago right after I got out of the Navy.  When I got married 42 years ago between the two of us we knew 3 dishes...  WOW, that's a long time ago...  lol

Anyway, today I do most of the cooking when we are on the road in our RV and about half the time at home.  Needless to say I love to cook.  And now I'm addicted to smoking...


----------



## goat (Nov 13, 2007)

No formal training here.  I am the oldest of 3 boys/no girls and my mom cooked 3 meals a day for us until we all left home.  Both Grandmas cooked 3 meals a day.  That was pretty good training.  My Grandfather made/sold Angel Food cakes when he was young to supplement the income.  I have an old newspaper clipping to document this.  Exposer is how I learned to cook.

No one grilled or BBQ'ed, so I just learned that thru trial and error.  No internet during that learning period.  I taught one wife how to cook and she left.  I never tried that again.

No fancy stuff, just lots of comfort food.  I have over 3 hundred family recipes compiled and will publish a cookbook containing them if I live long enough.

I like to cook and I like SMF.  There is a family here and anyone is welcome to join.  This is a very different atmosphere here than most other forums.  Thanks to Jeff.


----------



## richtee (Nov 13, 2007)

Well, eat yer veggies and GET WRITING! I'd like to be young enough to buy it   ;{)

Indeed. This is an incredible resource, and just plain fun!


----------



## pop smoke! (Nov 13, 2007)

I forgot one of the "Real Men Can Cook" moments.  In High School, the Shop and Home Ec teachers came up with the idea to swap students for one 6 week period.  The girls would learn basic wood and electrical work and the boys would learn to sew and cook.

Everything was done from scratch including the shopping.  The sewing project was making a shop apron.  We had to go to town and buy the pattern and all the notions.  The meal was multi course around a pork chop main dish for about 15 guys.

To this day, at class reunions, this is the one class that everyone, male and female, talks the most about and felt was the most useful.

@Dude.  I forgot about the parboiling.  The newer editions of BH&G don't have that.

Pat


----------



## shellbellc (Nov 13, 2007)

already posted my experience, but I wanted to pass on about my son...he's 13 and has been in charge of a meal now and then since he was 8.  His first meal???  I thought hot dogs, nope, ribs, mashed taters and peas!  If he has a friend over he will get up and make "dippy" eggs and bacon.  Of course if I wake up first then he forgets how to cook, but...He was in charge of steaks on the grill one time, he got his hand towel tucked in his front belt loop, his tongs, and called himself Emeril Magatski, then he said oh, forgot something, ran in and got a can of soda, cracked it open and set on the side of the grill, now I have no idea where he got that from!


----------



## jts70 (Nov 13, 2007)

I just always like to cook, starting helping my mom as youngster. Soon as I could see over the counters I started cooking things on my own. Mom worked so one day i just decided to make dinner for her, when she got home dinner was done and she was happy and a bit surprised . From that point on i have just never looked back. My aunt and uncle would have huge dinners for family and friends, my uncle was grilling when the horse's got out and he had to round them up i just took over, I was only about ten. From that day on the grilling duties where handed over to me. people would get worried seeing a kid man the grill, my uncle would just tell them not to worry, once dinner was served nobody seemed to mind.


----------



## walking dude (Nov 13, 2007)

nice thread Homebrew, that you started.......nice to see how all of us started out........some interesting stories


d88de


----------



## hawgheaven (Nov 13, 2007)

Shell, that's a great story... and still in the making! I wish more parents would do that with their children... the world would be a better place.


----------



## skinnerc06 (Nov 13, 2007)

Clearly my interest in cooking was derived from my interest in eating.  I have always been interested in it as long as I can remember.  When I get out of school, I would like to make a career out of it.  Work my way up to head chef at a renouned restaurant for a few years, and ultimately open one of my own up with my sister (business degree) a few years from now.  But, I am still in school, and for now I cook for friends a lot and they seem to like it, so I figured I may as well make a career out of something I love and am apparently decent at.  I like entertaining, and food seems to be the main event in entertaining a lot of the times.  Good food gathers good people who tell good stories.  Whats better than that?


----------



## homebrew & bbq (Nov 13, 2007)

Thanks, dude, but it's only a nice thread cuz so many folks are willing to share. I agree there are some really interesting stories from folks.


----------



## geek with fire (Nov 13, 2007)

That's a memory you will never forget! (Father of 3, here)


----------



## bigarm's smokin (Nov 13, 2007)

*I grew up on a ranch, when my brother and I got off the school bus, mom was on her horse checkin cows, dad was either in his logging truck or oil tanker, Ted is 2 years younger than me,  I was cook, so everyone had supper when they got home. I have cold smoked since I was a kid, fish, jerky, duck, grouse and geese, but never in my life did I know what "real" BBQ was, once I found it, I ran with it. Now it is my joy. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			




*


----------



## walking dude (Nov 13, 2007)

cold smoke JERKY?

did you cure it first?


thought temps had to be abit higher for raw beef?


d88de


----------



## richtee (Nov 13, 2007)

Some of us ate enough dirt to make that irrelevant, D"eighty-eight"de. We coddle our immune systems WAAAY too much IMHO.


----------



## bigarm's smokin (Nov 13, 2007)

* yes sir, cold smoked, had a cure on it,(or at least a seasoning, my God Dude, that was a hundred years ago)
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  the meat was thin strips. Didn't the tribal people, and mountain men, just salt the meat and dry it over a fire?   I just cold smoked some jerky with Hi Mountain a few weeks ago. I'm pretty much, kinda, sorta, still alive and kickin. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	



*


----------



## walking dude (Nov 13, 2007)

i see that...........from what i have read.........not over a fire..........dried in the hot sun........

and raw beef is no concern.........ever heard of steak tartar?
heheheh......eating raw hamburger........what some of them fancy folks come up with......let alone eating sushi......raw fish.........let alone raw fish eggs.......my lord

more concern would be, i would think, poultry and pork

d88de


----------



## bigarm's smokin (Nov 13, 2007)

*Yes sir, I agree, useta be, we'd eat what ever didn't eat us first. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	



*


----------



## pescadero (Nov 14, 2007)

What a great, fun thread this has turned out to be. I posted my story a couple of days ago. But tonight, I sat down and read through the entire thread. Not just whizzing through but read each post and took a minute to think about how life was and how the situation was, for each individual, at the time each story unfolded. (I know, "This guy should get a life", huh!), Yeah, maybe. . . . But I think there are some really good stories here. 

Many of us have encountered each other, through posting and/or PM's. But, most of have never met. We wouldn't know each other, if we showed up on each others porch. Most of us know each others screen names, but don't even know our actual names. Funny how you get a certain impression of someone from their postings and then it gets altered when they speak from the heart, to a subject like this. 

Several common themes have showed up; Learned from mother or grandmother, to help the family, self-defense etc.

OK, OK, too nostalgic and Fil-a-Sof-Tickle, but I really like the thread and have enjoyed it. I feel like I know some of you better than I did before the thread.

Skip


----------



## richtee (Nov 14, 2007)

introspection and empathy are both seemingly dying disciplines. Good example of both here. Thank goodness. The world needs more. OK  so now I'm soliphistical...sillisophical...oh heck with it!


----------



## linbru (Nov 14, 2007)

Cooking - well I guess that is why I am here!

Mom was a poor cook and cooked for 4 when there were 6 of us.  Dad sent her to cooking classes and it helped some but the best thing that ever happened to her was the microwave. LOL Mom and dad are in there mid 80's now and still kicking so they must have gotten enough nurishment.

Got a job freshman year as a cooks helper in a small short order resturant.  Learned a lot. 

After finishing my education I got smat and married a farm girl. Now this womman can cook.  She won a bunch of blue and grand prizes at two different county fairs. No biggy like the Betty Crocker cook off but you get the point.

Well when you have someone who cooks sooooooo good and you never see the same dish twice in two months, why learn.

Well for the past four years I have been going to fishermen gatherings and some of these guys can cook, smoke and bake.  On site!  Well I have been helping out and learning and told the wife I wanted to learn to cook and especialy smoke.  She said I was to slow, to used to someone else doing it and didn't know what to do if I opened the pantry or frig but if I was serious she would be glad to help.

So I'm learning and the big challenge is this smoking but with the help of SMF and the wife, I think this is doable?


----------



## walking dude (Nov 14, 2007)

hang in there linbru.........we are here to help...........



d88de


----------



## chris_harper (Nov 14, 2007)

i worked in several restaurants in high school. that, and what my mother taught me when i could reach the stove, is all the training i have had. i do alot of experimenting in the kitchen too. i like to take some, say, ground beef, and mix different stuff with it- just to see what i will get. usually it is something decent. i have concocted some stuff that i threw out though.


----------



## wavector (Nov 14, 2007)

No formal training

My mother, grandmothers, stepmother, sister, girlfriends and wife have all contirbuted to my ability to boil water. Seriously though, they have all helped learn to cook, but they are much better cooks than me. I'm learning to smoke meat from you guys and books. Thank you very much for your patience and understanding.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the Food Network and people I meet everywhere. Heck, I get information from everyone I can. From customers to butchers to guys at work to chefs I meet at the grocery store. Everyone. It takes a community to raise a child.


----------



## linbru (Nov 14, 2007)

I better add a little to my prior post.

Mom has become a pretty good cook but not untill after I moved out in 69'. Still remember that thanksgiving turkey that wasn't quite done and she nuked it to finish it off. LOL Dad (a doctor) married her for her look not her cook.

Dad taught me how to smoke a turkey and ham in a Weber kettle. So now that I think back I have smoked something but it's been awhile. Wish the wife hadn't made me put the Weber on a rumage sale. No matter how bad it looked!

So if I try real hard, maybe someday I could cook as good as Mom does now (she had a stroke three years ago and can't use her left arm). And she cooks pretty good. I will never catch up to my wife. Some day they will wish they could smoke as good as me?

My avatar is laughing at ME!


----------



## richtee (Nov 14, 2007)

That, my friend is entirely up to you. Well, and God.


----------



## dingle (Nov 14, 2007)

Nothing formal here. Friends and family have been good ginnea pigs(spelling?). Watched Gram an awful lot when she was alive. Mom never did and still doesnt cook. She attends a lot of resturants. 

I like to cook with wine and beer. Sometimes I even put it in the food!


----------



## walking dude (Nov 15, 2007)

HAHAH.......good one DINGLE........yeah......i don't drink the last of my beer........i just pour it in the food.......or over the meat in the smoker
no need to waste good alcohol.......its called alcohol abuse......
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	






d88de


----------



## salmonclubber (Nov 15, 2007)

no formal training here 

i have learned a lot about smoking here and i have learned a lot about making sausage by reading books and the internet i love this place SMF is a great place to learn 

huey


----------



## ds7662 (Nov 15, 2007)

I also have no formal training in cooking. When I was growing up mom was in school for her college degree. I was the oldest so I had to cook. Most was stuff I picked up from her after watching for years. I started to become big into grilling during my years working for the propane company since the gas was free and the grills were cheap. I still go through an average of 12 grill tanks(20# cyls.) a year. I started smoking after seeing a friend somke some food indirect on a charcoal grill. Picked up an ECB and began to expierment. That is what everything is to me, just one big expierment.


----------



## minn.bill (Nov 15, 2007)

my dad was a meat and potatoes man.7 days awk.he did all the bbq mom all the house cookin.i took the best of all thiere cookin and found my own twists of improvement,sometimes anyway


----------



## pescadero (Nov 15, 2007)

Huey:

I have been a life long smoker.  But, as you know, it was mostly Salmon/Steelhead and various game like ducks, pheasant, quail etc.  I never tried actual "Meat" until joining the SMF.  I don't think I even thought much about it.  I just knew that I had some equipment sitting there that only got used during a few short seasons of the year.  When I got introduced to this site, the lights went on.  'Bingo'  There are other things I can be doing the rest of the year.  

You and I living in the pacific northwest, has made it a lot of fun.   I really like being able to e-mail, IM or even grab the phone and give you a call.

You have given me a lot of good advice and heard me out when I was bouncing ideas off you.  Several times you accused me of "Over Thinking" things.  You were probably right.  

I just wanted to let you know how much you have helped me and how much I appreciate your being there.

Having said all that, I am still not going to cut you any slack.  You still have to dig out your gear, so we can go diving soon.

Skip


----------



## salmonclubber (Nov 15, 2007)

skip

10-4 glad i could help out i do enjoy this stuff


----------



## rip (Dec 3, 2007)

Bump this one up for the newbies.


----------



## bigarm's smokin (Dec 4, 2007)

*Skip, what a great thing to say about a friend. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






 I commend you. We often think these things about our friends, but seldom put them into words. Good for you Skip. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 I would like to echo your thanks to all those here who I have become close to. (you know who you are. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	













 )*


----------



## smokeys my pet (Dec 4, 2007)

I am pretty much self taught with the aid of cookbooks and wonderful people I have know. As for smokin I have learned almost all I have from the WONDERFUL SMF and the friends here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gramason got me started.


----------



## muddy pond (Dec 4, 2007)

I started smoking as a hobby 25 yrs ago and finally turned it into a profit making business about 8-9 yrs ago. I came into smoking to help out a friend that was tired of just plain grilling for his parties so we made a smoker out of a couple 50 gal drums and ruined a few pounds of pork the old fashioned way....(blackened)... I am an avid reader and would recommend a good smoking book before just trying to smoke for smokings sake until I came across this fine forum and now I refer all my customers to this site to learn what is needed to smoke.

I am a true trial and error type of learner but now that I have SMF to reference I am actually starting to blossom.


----------



## gramason (Dec 4, 2007)

No formal training also, Basicly learned soups and basic knowhow in the kitchen from my mother. As far as grilling, I learned on my own from watching other people, and the food chanel. I have a guy at my firehouse that got me on my way with pit beef, ham, turkey. I have some cook books but was never one to follow a recipe, just get some ideas and wing it. Smoking on the other hand, Started messing around with it on my CG before I had a sfb, and then got one. Learned a little from some friends, and the internet. Then I found SMF. I learned some things I was doing wrong, and basicly all of my smoking knowledge from here.


----------



## ggnutsc (Dec 4, 2007)

No formal training here..... Not unless you count cooking shows on TV. 

I started cooking little by little at home as a kid, sometimes helping my mom in the kitchen. Then, when I was 16, I was allowed to go on a camping trip with my older brother and some friends. The catch was that I had to do all of the cooking. Their rule was "Everything had to have beer in in".

As time went by I dabbled in cooking some, but my oldest son was a colicky baby. So when my wife and I got home from work the choice was deal with the screaming kid or make supper. That was almost 17 years ago and I still do the cooking. 

Things I read on SMF, the Food Network (I think Alton Brown is pretty cool), have been a real help. I've read some cooking books.

My favorite thing to do is camp cooking. Making something tasty with a minimal mess and using cast iron with a bunch of coals in a pasture is one sign of having mastered the art of cooking.(IMO)  Then getting up the next day and making a great breakfast utilizing any leftovers. 

Almost anyone can cook in a kitchen, but taking simple food in simple conditions and making it special is what I love to do.


----------



## vlap (Dec 4, 2007)

I don't know how to cook. Any one have a spare frying pan so I can boil some water.


----------



## crewdawg52 (Dec 4, 2007)

Always enjoyed cooking.  No formal class, etc.  But I have and still do watch alot of cooking shows.  Love to get new ideas and experimenting.  And besides, the little mrs can burn a pot of boiling water ( Dawg ducks as fist flies by head).


----------



## hawgheaven (Dec 4, 2007)

No no no Vlap! Frying pans are my wife's attitude adjusting tool... if I come home with an atitude, WHAMMO! It's all better!


----------

