- Aug 11, 2017
- 41
- 18
I live in Northwest Arkansas.
Been an avid bbqer for about 25 years. Started with a little Weber Smokey Joe grill and cheap Brinkman bullet smoker. About 20 years ago (when they were still made in Stillwater) I was gifted an Oklahoma Joe’s horizontal offset. Had many years of great service with it. About 15 years ago I bought a ceramic (Grill Dome) which quickly became my “go to” bbq unit. Absolutely love it.
I smoke pretty much all the usual suspects, but also bbq/grill a lot of ethnic foods.
I have been associated with the food industry in one way or another—and to lesser and greater degrees—since I was conceived. Along the way I’ve at least dabbled in pretty much everything from “farm to table” except direct sales, making feed, and driving trucks.
My grandfather was one of the first (maybe the first) in this area to commercially grow poultry on a “large scale.” He would get chicks through the mail, raise them, then drive them himself to Chicago to a processing plant. By the early ‘60s, others in the area caught on (most notably Tyson) and started raising chickens commercially, so Grandpa switched to raising turkeys since there was less competition. I still remember when all turkeys were “free range” and colored black similar to wild turkeys. My cousin still runs the turkey operation.
My Dad started working as a retail meat cutter back in the days when all beef was dry aged and “hanging,” and they had no band saw. After I was 12, my “after school care” was working as a grunt in his meat dept.
He eventually bought his own small-town store in which I worked after school and on weekends throughout my teenage a years. When I graduated high school, I hightailed it out of there determined to get as far away from the food industry as possible.
I pursued a couple different career paths for many years, but somehow wound up back in the food industry.
The first was working for an R&D facility for Campbell’s, the main focus of which was developing protein products for their Swanson’s frozen division. It was mainly fried chicken stuff, but we also worked some with turkey and beef. It was a fascinating place to work because it was a microcosm of pretty much the whole food supply chain.
We had the agri part that raised chickens. We had a small-scale kill line, and the pilot plant for the cooked part had pretty much everything a large production facility has, just less of it. Both were FSIS inspected. A lab for nutritional analysis and such, and a professionally trained taste panel. Learned a lot there that would serve me well professionally and as a home cook.
Next step was as the brewer at a brewpub for several years. While there, I got to be friends with a lot of folks in the kitchen and would even sometimes help out with prep if things were slow in the brewery. Learned a lot about cooking there. One of the chefs, trained in New Orleans, became one of my best friends, and the CIA trained pastry chef taught me things that took my desserts to a whole ‘nother level.
Next stop was working for a global-mega-agri corp in their Walmart/Sams support office. We were mainly focused on fresh beef/pork, turkey products, and deli meats. My desk got most of the oddball stuff like frozen hamburger patties/hot dogs/bacon/wings, veg oils/salad dressings/mayonnaises, bread, flour, and probably a couple other things I don’t remember off-hand. For several years I worked with Sam’s for their holiday turkeys—mostly repressed memories of that experience. I learned a heck of a lot about the products, large scale production of food products, and the tear-your-hair-out world of being a Walmart supplier.
The two things that improved my home cooking the most are: accurate thermometers (big fan of Thermoworks and have several of their products) and using high quality spices.
As an example of the latter: I made some molasses cookies for my parents a few years ago. They liked them so much I gave them the recipe. After a couple goes at it, they complained theirs didn’t come out as good. After going over the process with them a few times, it hit me. Next visit I took them the spices I had used (and some high quality butter). They were happy to report their next batch was “just as good” as mine. Good spices make a noticeable difference, even for folks in their 70s.
Haven’t smoked much the last year or so for a variety of reasons, but am ready to get back after it. I was poking around the internet to refresh my memory of some things and just to check out what’s new. That’s how I ran across your site.
I am impressed by the quality of information, tips from experienced bbqers, and the overall attitude of teaching. I also like the emphasis on food safety. I was involved in (although thankfully not responsible for) a major e. coli “situation.” Also been around some salmonella recalls. This stuff is not to be taken lightly. You can eat a hundred hamburgers from pre-ground beef cooked med-rare without a problem. But that 101[sup]st[/sup] could make you sick or cause permanent damage. Even worse if your cooking harms a loved one or guest. I liken it to “Russian Roulette” with food.
I look forward to learning a lot from y’all.
Been an avid bbqer for about 25 years. Started with a little Weber Smokey Joe grill and cheap Brinkman bullet smoker. About 20 years ago (when they were still made in Stillwater) I was gifted an Oklahoma Joe’s horizontal offset. Had many years of great service with it. About 15 years ago I bought a ceramic (Grill Dome) which quickly became my “go to” bbq unit. Absolutely love it.
I smoke pretty much all the usual suspects, but also bbq/grill a lot of ethnic foods.
I have been associated with the food industry in one way or another—and to lesser and greater degrees—since I was conceived. Along the way I’ve at least dabbled in pretty much everything from “farm to table” except direct sales, making feed, and driving trucks.
My grandfather was one of the first (maybe the first) in this area to commercially grow poultry on a “large scale.” He would get chicks through the mail, raise them, then drive them himself to Chicago to a processing plant. By the early ‘60s, others in the area caught on (most notably Tyson) and started raising chickens commercially, so Grandpa switched to raising turkeys since there was less competition. I still remember when all turkeys were “free range” and colored black similar to wild turkeys. My cousin still runs the turkey operation.
My Dad started working as a retail meat cutter back in the days when all beef was dry aged and “hanging,” and they had no band saw. After I was 12, my “after school care” was working as a grunt in his meat dept.
He eventually bought his own small-town store in which I worked after school and on weekends throughout my teenage a years. When I graduated high school, I hightailed it out of there determined to get as far away from the food industry as possible.
I pursued a couple different career paths for many years, but somehow wound up back in the food industry.
The first was working for an R&D facility for Campbell’s, the main focus of which was developing protein products for their Swanson’s frozen division. It was mainly fried chicken stuff, but we also worked some with turkey and beef. It was a fascinating place to work because it was a microcosm of pretty much the whole food supply chain.
We had the agri part that raised chickens. We had a small-scale kill line, and the pilot plant for the cooked part had pretty much everything a large production facility has, just less of it. Both were FSIS inspected. A lab for nutritional analysis and such, and a professionally trained taste panel. Learned a lot there that would serve me well professionally and as a home cook.
Next step was as the brewer at a brewpub for several years. While there, I got to be friends with a lot of folks in the kitchen and would even sometimes help out with prep if things were slow in the brewery. Learned a lot about cooking there. One of the chefs, trained in New Orleans, became one of my best friends, and the CIA trained pastry chef taught me things that took my desserts to a whole ‘nother level.
Next stop was working for a global-mega-agri corp in their Walmart/Sams support office. We were mainly focused on fresh beef/pork, turkey products, and deli meats. My desk got most of the oddball stuff like frozen hamburger patties/hot dogs/bacon/wings, veg oils/salad dressings/mayonnaises, bread, flour, and probably a couple other things I don’t remember off-hand. For several years I worked with Sam’s for their holiday turkeys—mostly repressed memories of that experience. I learned a heck of a lot about the products, large scale production of food products, and the tear-your-hair-out world of being a Walmart supplier.
The two things that improved my home cooking the most are: accurate thermometers (big fan of Thermoworks and have several of their products) and using high quality spices.
As an example of the latter: I made some molasses cookies for my parents a few years ago. They liked them so much I gave them the recipe. After a couple goes at it, they complained theirs didn’t come out as good. After going over the process with them a few times, it hit me. Next visit I took them the spices I had used (and some high quality butter). They were happy to report their next batch was “just as good” as mine. Good spices make a noticeable difference, even for folks in their 70s.
Haven’t smoked much the last year or so for a variety of reasons, but am ready to get back after it. I was poking around the internet to refresh my memory of some things and just to check out what’s new. That’s how I ran across your site.
I am impressed by the quality of information, tips from experienced bbqers, and the overall attitude of teaching. I also like the emphasis on food safety. I was involved in (although thankfully not responsible for) a major e. coli “situation.” Also been around some salmonella recalls. This stuff is not to be taken lightly. You can eat a hundred hamburgers from pre-ground beef cooked med-rare without a problem. But that 101[sup]st[/sup] could make you sick or cause permanent damage. Even worse if your cooking harms a loved one or guest. I liken it to “Russian Roulette” with food.
I look forward to learning a lot from y’all.
