Howdy folks! My name is Holly, and I'm in Houston, Texas. I'm a married 40-something with a kid in Pre-K, and a house with a back yard near downtown. I work in the O&G industry as a finance analyst (lots of time in front of spreadsheets, and talking with engineers about their costs) at a ginormous multi-national company.
I grew up in this city, and have very fond memories of my Dad's home-built brick smoker. The thing was HUGE -- probably 6’ tall and a good 3' deep. He was a big fan of smoking, and by default, so was I. Nothing but charcoal and small logs of mesquite. I remember first seeing those chunks of twisted prickly scrub brush tree cut into 18" chunks in storage of the side of the smoker, and I knew that meant a brisket (or whole Thanksgiving turkey) was on the way soon. *DROOL*
Fast forward 30+ years, and now that we are finally homeowners, I convinced DH that we needed to build a patio in the bare backyard. So, lots of sweat equity and a few months later, we have an awesome raised 13’ x 13’ patio, with a ground-level 10’ x 10’ patio adjacent to it. The kitchen inside is tiny, and as soon as we moved in 2 years ago I started thinking about an outdoor kitchen. A full-blown one is just too pricey, and would more or less lock me into a gas grill if I went with an island. I’m more of a charcoal gal. At first, I was eyeing the Char-Griller Duo 5050 for its versatility, but I really wanted to get into smoking more (plus we have a little portable charcoal grill which is fine for now) so I figured go with something built for ONE task to do it well… and I’ll be picking up a WSM today or this weekend to get started. Pictures will follow soon J
Now, I’ve appreciated smoked meat my whole life, but I’m a total novice at MAKING it, so a place like SMF is an AWESOME find, and I gotta say I’m totally inspired and impressed by the September fatty throwdown. Wow.
Anyhow, there’s a bit about me. Looking forward to talking with ya’ll here J
I grew up in this city, and have very fond memories of my Dad's home-built brick smoker. The thing was HUGE -- probably 6’ tall and a good 3' deep. He was a big fan of smoking, and by default, so was I. Nothing but charcoal and small logs of mesquite. I remember first seeing those chunks of twisted prickly scrub brush tree cut into 18" chunks in storage of the side of the smoker, and I knew that meant a brisket (or whole Thanksgiving turkey) was on the way soon. *DROOL*
Fast forward 30+ years, and now that we are finally homeowners, I convinced DH that we needed to build a patio in the bare backyard. So, lots of sweat equity and a few months later, we have an awesome raised 13’ x 13’ patio, with a ground-level 10’ x 10’ patio adjacent to it. The kitchen inside is tiny, and as soon as we moved in 2 years ago I started thinking about an outdoor kitchen. A full-blown one is just too pricey, and would more or less lock me into a gas grill if I went with an island. I’m more of a charcoal gal. At first, I was eyeing the Char-Griller Duo 5050 for its versatility, but I really wanted to get into smoking more (plus we have a little portable charcoal grill which is fine for now) so I figured go with something built for ONE task to do it well… and I’ll be picking up a WSM today or this weekend to get started. Pictures will follow soon J
Now, I’ve appreciated smoked meat my whole life, but I’m a total novice at MAKING it, so a place like SMF is an AWESOME find, and I gotta say I’m totally inspired and impressed by the September fatty throwdown. Wow.
Anyhow, there’s a bit about me. Looking forward to talking with ya’ll here J
