Hello from Orange County, California!

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panammaniac

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 8, 2015
10
10
La Palma, California
Hello all,

I've been lurking on this forum for a while and decided to finally join.  I have been an avid griller for about 20 years now, and I fire up my gas grill 3 - 4 times a week year round.  It has become the predominant way of cooking meat in my household.  Unless we're making soup or an occasional casserole in our oven, we're grilling.  I've also gotten more and more into grilling veggies and sides whenever possible, and even an occasional dessert.  I just recently (within the last couple weeks) completed my outdoor kitchen that you see in the avatar, which is outfitted with a 38" Allegra gas grill.and a Blaze double sideburner.  Allegra is a little known brand at this point and I'm still in the process of getting to know my new grill, but early on at least it looks like I made a good choice.  I'll share more on that later.  The island features a counter height bar which allows us to dine in the great outdoors as well.

Before the island, I cooked on a Weber Genesis propane grill, which I have owned for about 8 years.  I thoroughly enjoyed using the Weber - it has been an amazing grill for me - but I decided to go a different direction for the built-in.  I'm now debating what to do with the Weber.  I have a small emotional attachment to it since it was such an awesome grill for me for so many years, but on the flip side I know if it hangs around my back patio for much longer it will probably turn into a spider habitat more than anything.  I have some thoughts of trying to convert it into a pizza oven, or I may just break down and see if I can find a good home for it on Craigslist.  If anybody has thoughts on good uses for a well loved Weber, I'd sure love to hear them.

In addition to the gas grill, I recently got into the smoking world and bought a Traeger Jr. Elite.  I don't use it nearly as often as the gas grill, but having the smoker in the arsenal has certainly added a new dimension to my family's outdoor cooking.  My favorite recipe so far has been the pulled pork tacos from Jeff's Fire & Smoke book.  I smoked a couple butts for a party at my house and people are still raving about the pulled pork nearly two months later and practically begging me for more!

I work as a marketing manager for a larger manufacturing company and travel extensively, mostly in Asia these days.  When I'm not traveling or grilling/smoking I love watching baseball, and I am also a high school basketball official.  I have a wife and a 9 year old daughter who is a competitive figure skater, so while it's nice and sunny here in Southern California I get to spend a lot of my spare time hanging around a cold, damp skating rink.  
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I look forward to being on here more often and sharing grilling and smoking stories with the community!
 
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  Good afternoon and welcome to the forum, from a warm, breezy and cloudy day here in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary
 
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