Painful lesson learned

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Smoke Blower
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
113
10
Monroe, WA
Fired up the smoker this weekend to do some ABTs and a fatty for the family. Nothing major. Got the chimney lit and went upstairs to finish stuffing the fatty with sliced turkey, ginger, and provolone cheese. Rolled it up and coated some good rub on it. Nothing fancy - just testing out stuffed fatty and pre-cooking the bacon on the ABTs. The store had peppers & sausage on sale. ABTs were stuffed with provolone/turkey and spicy krab spread.

Went down to the smoker and dumped the chimney full of red hot charcoal into the firebox. Nothing I hadn't done before. Except this time I didn't have flip-flops (aka shower shoes, slippers, etc) on. Turned back around to put the chimney back in its spot. Took a step and the sole of my bare foot found a red hot coal that had apparently dropped out of the chimney. Did the quick step up but the coal stuck to my foot so when I came back down the coal just pushed farther into the burned skin. Found a puddle of water nearby to put the fire out but the damage was already done. Threw a chunk of cherry wood on then went in to clean the burn.

Net result: 2nd & 3rd degree burn
Lessons learned: Always wear shoes around a hot smoker & tattoos hurt less than burns.

The fatty and ABTs came out nicely. Partially pre-cooking bacon is a definate keeper. The bacon crisped up real nice around the fatty. But it was harder to wrap since the bacon slices were slippery. The sliced ginger in the fatty didn't go over well. Maybe next time I'll try some ground venison.
 
LOL, yup we all have stories like that-I did the same over the weekend in my house slippers,just felt the heat didn't get burned.
 
LOLOL..........me also............only mine was using lump, that popped and stepped on it in my house slippers.......didn't notice for bout 5 minutes.......took that long to burn thru..........
 
Sounds like you were lucky to find a puddle. What a spot for a burn, it must be tough walking.

Now that you have my sympathies, I have to ask what all the others were thinking..................................If the charcoal had some oak in it.......ummmmm, well........was there an aroma of good barbecue near your foot before you stepped in the puddle?

Sorry for the question, but I couldn't resist:-)
 
If you play with fire long enough you are gonna get burned, that is just the way it is. The trick is only getting burned a little so you can laugh about it later. The fact of the matter is that I have never been burned doing somthing smart. Unfortunatly I am not all that smart.
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Now i am sure most of us have a thermometer lookin strip on a finger somewhere.... or a lid line across a forearm... or one of the usuals.... but a hot coal stuck to your foot.... man that had to smart!!!
 
Ouch, been there before. The worst I ever did was when I was about 12 or 13 dad was redoing some pigpens because they got rusted out, so he was teaching me to weld. Everything went great, until I did something stupid, of course. I let the bead get real hot, and hadn't learned not to keep body parts under it. a big dollop of molten steel dripped off, ran down my leg, and into a pair of rubber boots I was wearing. Couldn't get the darn things off fast enough. Still have a scar on top of my foot.

Learned a few lessons that day, and never welded in open top rubber boots with shorts on again.
 
LOL I feel your pain. Fortunately my set up is about 3 steps from the pool, so I get some relief pretty quick. Has happened more than I would like to admit.
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So I have to ask, what kind of rub did you use on your foot?
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I know you were rubbing it after.

Stepped on a lit cigarette barefoot once, didn't like it much.
 
LMAO! Sorry dude, that had to hurt!

But just think, now you know what a "Hot Foot" is!
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Besure you don't become a "Hot Head"!

That indian rain dance had to be a sight to behold man, jumping around on one foot looking for water!
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Hope you heal up fast partner, take care of that foot!
Best Wish's friend!
 
Man sorry to hear of the burns....ooouchhhhh!

Can you tell me? I have never cooked a fatty and will do my 1st one in the a.m.! Do you just basiclly roll 2-3 rolls together to stuff them? Or do you start with some on bottom and seal it off like stuffing a hamburger patty (Just bigger?) Thx! FNOZMAN

Late
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FNOZMAN:

I used 2 pounds of tube sausage, 1 maple flavored the other plain. Use what ever you like in this respect.

I mixed the sausage together, then flattened it out about 1/2 inch thick on wax paper making a rectangle. Lay ingredients out on the sausage leaving an edge all the way around that does not have any stuffing on it, this is for sealing. I kept the sausage as cool as possible, seemed to help keep it from sticking to the paper better.

Now gently start to roll the fatty up like a log using the wax paper. Peel the paper back as you roll. When the roll is completed, I form or seal the ends with my hands and the final seam as well.

I used the wax paper to carry the fatty to the cooker. Season the outside with your favorite seasoning or with bacon. I slathered mine down with real maple syrup.

While cooking, I spritzed mine with a bottle of: 1/3rd Ten High Whiskey, 1/3rd Maple Syrup and 1/3rd Water. Mainly to help control temperature.

I tried to maintain about 225* of heat and pulled the fatty at an internal temp of 162*. 160* to 165* is about right.

Hope this helps and good luck!
 
OK, so you learned to do the bar-b-que dance finally.
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Now I will ask a question of you. WHY, if you are using your smoker, are you dumping a chimney load of FULLY hot coals into your fire box? I know most smoking is done low and slow with partially lit coals.
Is your firebox off to the side and you must go fully lit to get adequate temps?
The only time I use a fully lit chimney of coals is when I am trying to maintain top heat during the middle of the smoke, otherwise the minion method is the way to go.
 
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