SMOKING on HOLD????

[smokin relaxin steve]

Man oh man... I only smoke on the weekends (unless i get time off of work during the week) its just to hard for me to get a good smoke going byt the time i get home Mon-Fri... last weekend we did the Mom's Day thing so i didn’t get to smoke... I was planning on doing some Baby Backs & London Broils this coming weekend, but now my plans have crumbled before my eyes

!!! My neighbor/good friend is in the process of moving and everything just went threw for them so now i will be helping him this weekend and next going back and forth between the houses... i probably wont be smoking for a couple more weeks... what a world what a world... I guess being a good friend does repay somewhat... he is gonna supply "drinks" & food...

 

[justpassingthru]

Steve,

We have to learn to overcome, I'm often called to work on Saturdays, but I still smoke, that is why I have a WSM and a GOSM, after I learned how to use them they are pretty much set and forget. Sometimes I miss the mopping or spritzing times, but it still turns out good, sometimes better than if I had been home all day messin' with it. I use the Maverick ET-73 for temps and call home to see where they are, when it's close to being done I go home, take it off and wrap in foil for the cooler, ...after all, I am working on my day off.

Where there is a will there is a way, you can make it work for you.

Keep on smoking my brother,

Gene

 

[smokin relaxin steve]

AMEN Brother! you are right... im just being a baby LOL!!!! im sure i can manage something... i guess i just annoyed my original plans have gone up in smoke (no pun intended)...

 

[justpassingthru]

Life is full of detours, we still get where we're going just different scenery, go for it and post some finished Q-view.

Gene

 

[smokin relaxin steve]

Will do, I try to Q-View most if not all my smokes now... and thanks for the motivation!

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Hey Steve,

Just caught this thread...

I know exactly where you are coming from, brother. A year or so back, I had what I thought was more than my share of upsets on smoke day...many instances, the cause was beyond my control. I actually pitched what could have been some great Bbq into the trash a few times because I let frustration take over my thoughts, which left me feeling pretty helpless. The worst thing about it for me was that the upsets would hit about 80% of the way through an all-night pork butt or picnic smoke.

I don't let these things bother me much now days...things can and will eventually happen to challenge your patience and skills. When everything seems to be hitting the fan all at one time, I can take a slap to my pride and bend my personal rules to make an exception or 2 just to save a good meal...the dreaded oven has helped me make it through a few tough situations.

It's all a matter of adapting to different situations which take you away from your comfort zone, and setting your priorities to gain an achievable goal. Maybe you can get a 5-6 hour smoke on a butt or brisket and have to make a decision to finish it in the "O", if someone else is not around to watch things for you.

I had leave for a medical emergency and rely on my 14 year old boy a while back to watch a rather large smoke I had going (spares, beans, a butt, and some sausage loaves) while he gave me input as to what was going on with meat temps, chamber temps, etc. So, we worked together on the tasks that needed to be done to finish all the meats, and through coordinating via cell phone, we pulled it off just fine. I was pretty proud of my boy for being there for me through the whole ordeal, and carefully following my instructions after giving me feedback on what he was seeing.

Anyway, as said, where there's a will, there's a way. Sometimes you gotta just go with the flow, brother, and things will turn out just dandy.

Great smokes, my friend!

Eric

 

[smokin relaxin steve]

Thanks Eric! your right... things usually dont work out as planned, but my rule of thumb on life is EVERYTHING ALWASY WORKS OUT!

 

[thestealth]

I know what you mean. It seems like something always comes up on the weekends I've been tentatively planning a smoke.

To tide me over, during the week I'll do mini-smokes. Something that doesn't take all night/day...things like burgers/brats, a fatty, meatballs for spaghetti. Obviously, no big accomplishment, but it is a quick fix for smoking blues.

For instance, last night I had thawed/marinated some KC strips. I wanted to try something different, so I got a nice little maple fire going in our charcoal grill, once it was barely flaming up, I tossed on the steaks for a quick sear and moved them to the other side of the grill. Put some foiled asparagus on the top rack and cooked/quick smoked everything for about 20 minutes at 350*. The steaks turned out great, rare/medium rare and a nice hint of smoke flavor. Got my fix in the for the week.

Just some suggestions.

 

[smokin relaxin steve]

Very True Stealth... THanks fellas... its all a matter of simple work arounds and doing what i can in the time i do have... the great news is I talke my neighbor into letting me smoke some ribs instead of ordering Pizzas... He agreed and even said he would pay since i will be lending him a helping hand...

Like i said everything works out!

 

[coco]

I hear ya. I just got into smoking, and now a whole bunch of weekends seem booked. No time to smoke.

I've been doing some "quick" weekday smokes. I might cook something else for dinner, but I'll fill the smoker with "2 hour" goods. I'll pick up some plain old brats, a pork tenderloin, and split it in two...maybe some boneless chicken breasts. Those get smoked, and put in the fridge/freezer depending upon the smoke planned eating day.

Just this Monday, I took a few smoked brats from late last week (pullled "rare"), and threw them on the grill. 10 minutes for the pre-smoked brats, some veggies, some good bread...mustard varieties...and you have a great meal.