It stinks watching good food get ruined and not be able to help.

[ohiojason]

My son is a cub scout and this weekend we are the guests of a boy scout troop at their annual family campout. All i heard about befor this campout was how good their food was, especially their famous smoked ham and their baked beans. So of coarse, when I see smoke I mozy over to check out the setup, hoping to get some inside info on this famous ham. BUT... when I round the corner I see this little electric smoker just pouring out this THICK GREY smoke from ever crack. I just watched in horror, being a good guest, not wanting to give the guy pointers on how not to ruin his famous hamn before I even tasted it.

3 hours later I finely got to taste this famous ham and it was terrible. It was black, the smoke ring, if you can call it that, was 1/4 inch deep and also black as can be. It tasted like an ash tray. That creosote taste just coated my mouth and was impossible yo get rid of. I cut at least an inch off of my meat and the inside was edible, but still super smokey.

Fortunately, those famous baked beans, they were awesome!

 

[jcbigler]

That sucks. Maybe you should talk to his troop about doing a course on smoking meat. Do they have a barbecue badge?

You can set up demonstrations of different types of smokers, different woods, different cuts of meat, what goes into the prep, how to use each types of smoker, how to get good smoke, and of course food safety. Then of course everyone gets to eat it afterwards.

 

[ohiojason]

That sucks. Maybe you should talk to his troop about doing a course on smoking meat. Do they have a barbecue badge?

You can set up demonstrations of different types of smokers, different woods, different cuts of meat, what goes into the prep, how to use each types of smoker, how to get good smoke, and of course food safety. Then of course everyone gets to eat it afterwards.

That is a great idea, I will have to look into that!

If he joins this troop I will definitely volunteer to smoke the ham next year!

 

[joe black]

Please don't volunteer to cook the ham next year. JC had a good idea. Volunteer to provide a cooking class. Remember, it's a BOY Scout troop, not a leader/dad troop. The boys need to learn from their mistakes. I had the extreme privilege to instruct Scout Leaders for many years and it was a very rewarding experience. I always taught that it's impossible to starve a 12 year old to death in 48 hours and you can't drown one in rain water. They've all been wet before and they've always dried out.

The only time that a leader should ever intervene is in cases of safety or morals.

 

[ohiojason]

Sorry, I didnt think to point this out and should have. The leaders cook this particular Saturday night dinner, the boys just did the deserts.

My understanding is that this is the one campout of the year that they do it that way. (Because families are invited for dinner there were well over 100 people there)

 

[allen]

I came across something like that 3 years ago at a graduation party, 3 young males at the smoker smoking briskets and smoke coming out of the smoker like a house fire, when it was all done and over with the briskets taste like burnt wood and black, the 3 guys took pride in what they did until they saw people tossing the meat away.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

That's cool . Do a friendly one on one with the Scout leader and then let HIM instruct his Charges himself . Saves face !

And yes , the cooking badge will cover BBQ .

Have fun and . . .