I kind of got the cart before the horse and posted a question to the Beef forum before introducing myself here. Could be that's because I've been reading posts for years and years, just had never posted.
I've been smoking for at least 30 years. I grew up in a Western Kentucky family that did backyard grilling, but my dad really didn't get into smoking until I was well out on my own. I guess an even bigger impact on me in my youth was the fact that we lived in an integrated neighborhood and there was a black-owned BBQ joint less than 1/4 mile from my house. Gravel parking lot, just a few tables, and a pit made from cinderblocks and covered with big sheets of roofing tin. To this day, I give extra points to a Q joint with a gravel parking lot and a few flies. My grandpa told me once that you probably shouldn't trust any place where the flies didn't want to eat.
First name's Mike and as of 2017 I'm a year or so from retiring, depending on a lot of factors. As my board name implies, I love fishing, hunting, benchrest rifle competition, reloading, and various other outdoor activities. As a kid I hunted squirrels, rabbits, and quail. Those activities require dogs and access to lots of farms, which I don't have here in Louisville, so for probably the past 30 years the only things I've hunted are deer, beer and good bourbon. I've learned that smoked Bambi backstraps are spectacular if you cook them very rare, slice them fairly thin, then put 'em on a cracker with a little mustard. Yummmmmm!
As for my profession, which I hope is winding down, I studied journalism in college and was a copy editor for various
daily newspapers for about 25 years. After that, I did some technical writing, and ended up in corporate communications.
This seems to be a cordial, helpful group and I'm glad to have found it.
I've been smoking for at least 30 years. I grew up in a Western Kentucky family that did backyard grilling, but my dad really didn't get into smoking until I was well out on my own. I guess an even bigger impact on me in my youth was the fact that we lived in an integrated neighborhood and there was a black-owned BBQ joint less than 1/4 mile from my house. Gravel parking lot, just a few tables, and a pit made from cinderblocks and covered with big sheets of roofing tin. To this day, I give extra points to a Q joint with a gravel parking lot and a few flies. My grandpa told me once that you probably shouldn't trust any place where the flies didn't want to eat.
First name's Mike and as of 2017 I'm a year or so from retiring, depending on a lot of factors. As my board name implies, I love fishing, hunting, benchrest rifle competition, reloading, and various other outdoor activities. As a kid I hunted squirrels, rabbits, and quail. Those activities require dogs and access to lots of farms, which I don't have here in Louisville, so for probably the past 30 years the only things I've hunted are deer, beer and good bourbon. I've learned that smoked Bambi backstraps are spectacular if you cook them very rare, slice them fairly thin, then put 'em on a cracker with a little mustard. Yummmmmm!
As for my profession, which I hope is winding down, I studied journalism in college and was a copy editor for various
daily newspapers for about 25 years. After that, I did some technical writing, and ended up in corporate communications.
This seems to be a cordial, helpful group and I'm glad to have found it.
