To everyone.....today is a very special day for me Veteran's Day since I am a Vietnam War veteran but today is also a bit embarrassing as well. I joined the SmokingMeatForums sometime in September or October. I can't recall just when but I have been maneuvering around the site, asking questions and making comments on several Forums and just determined to day that I have never announced myself on the "Roll Call" site. Ears are double the normal size and are definitely red in color......maybe "Piggy Pink" instead.
I have been smoking for the past three years utilizing a Meadow Creek SQ 36 off set stick burner doing butts, chicken, chicken wings and leg of lamb which all turned out quite well but with a lot of effort on my part.
I have wanted to upgrade to a better quality smoker so I did a bunch of due diligence this year going from one site to another looking at a wide number of smokers. Someone told me about the Kingsford BBQ Pittmasters Competition that was going on weekly on Discover America I believe so I tuned in anxiously watching what I soon found out to be some of the more notable BBQ Team competitors around the country all vying for the $50K winners prize.
I watched intently as to what they had to cook, how they did it and what king of smoker they used. Needless to say I learned a ton of information. Part of that was also the different smoker cooking methods that I was not aware of....."Hot and Fast" and "Low and Slow".
After all of this watching TV, making notes etc. I thought that I had my new smoker pretty well identified and was talking with the company owner about what I thought that I wanted, associated costs etc.
Then I became recently involved with a Church BBQ Team and had the opportunity to work along side a group of people who have smoked a wide variety of foods, (butts, briquettes, half-chickens, whole chickens, chicken wings, turkeys on and on for crowds of 1500 people and larger for several years.
The net net was I saw and participated smoking some 115 butts for 12 hours on a Lang 108 Smoker.
This reverse flow smoker designed by Ben Lang is out of this world. The ease of use, consistency of temperatures throughout the entire length of the smoker at 230 degrees was uncanny. We cooked strictly with cured oak wood and didn't have to go through a ton of wood for the cook. Temperatures were maintained at 230 degrees for an hour and a half before we needed to add additional wood.
The end result.......without a doubt some of the most moist and tender pulled pork I have ever eaten. To that end, in my travels over the years I have been to Memphis and Nashville, TN eaten lot of BBQ and often at "Neeley's" BBQ on the Cooking Channel.
This Q was as good as I have tasted.
My smoker decision changed and I am in the process of purchasing a Lang 48 Patio and can't wait to get it.
I look forward to talking and learning a lot form all of you and I am more than glad to share my smoking experiences with you as well.
Happy Veteran's Day
I have been smoking for the past three years utilizing a Meadow Creek SQ 36 off set stick burner doing butts, chicken, chicken wings and leg of lamb which all turned out quite well but with a lot of effort on my part.
I have wanted to upgrade to a better quality smoker so I did a bunch of due diligence this year going from one site to another looking at a wide number of smokers. Someone told me about the Kingsford BBQ Pittmasters Competition that was going on weekly on Discover America I believe so I tuned in anxiously watching what I soon found out to be some of the more notable BBQ Team competitors around the country all vying for the $50K winners prize.
I watched intently as to what they had to cook, how they did it and what king of smoker they used. Needless to say I learned a ton of information. Part of that was also the different smoker cooking methods that I was not aware of....."Hot and Fast" and "Low and Slow".
After all of this watching TV, making notes etc. I thought that I had my new smoker pretty well identified and was talking with the company owner about what I thought that I wanted, associated costs etc.
Then I became recently involved with a Church BBQ Team and had the opportunity to work along side a group of people who have smoked a wide variety of foods, (butts, briquettes, half-chickens, whole chickens, chicken wings, turkeys on and on for crowds of 1500 people and larger for several years.
The net net was I saw and participated smoking some 115 butts for 12 hours on a Lang 108 Smoker.
This reverse flow smoker designed by Ben Lang is out of this world. The ease of use, consistency of temperatures throughout the entire length of the smoker at 230 degrees was uncanny. We cooked strictly with cured oak wood and didn't have to go through a ton of wood for the cook. Temperatures were maintained at 230 degrees for an hour and a half before we needed to add additional wood.
The end result.......without a doubt some of the most moist and tender pulled pork I have ever eaten. To that end, in my travels over the years I have been to Memphis and Nashville, TN eaten lot of BBQ and often at "Neeley's" BBQ on the Cooking Channel.
This Q was as good as I have tasted.
My smoker decision changed and I am in the process of purchasing a Lang 48 Patio and can't wait to get it.
I look forward to talking and learning a lot form all of you and I am more than glad to share my smoking experiences with you as well.
Happy Veteran's Day