Southern Colorado Introduction

[thethom]

Hello all,

I'm Thom. I live in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado. I've been smoking meat/food for about 8 years.

Originally forma Western Colorado (Montrose) but a parent's job took us to Arkansas in middle school. I always say that there's 2 things the South does better than anyone else: football and BBQ. 

I didn't truly appreciate good BBQ until I left the South and couldn't find it. I moved around while serving the Navy for 7 years and am once again a civilian back in my home state of Colorado.

I initially tried a couple of things with indirect heat on my propane grill. Then I got an electric bullet smoker to see if I would like it. I did. I started following Jeff's site and e-mails around that time.

After a couple of years I got a new 5 burner grill with a smoker in the lower cabinet. That was better but I still had trouble with some temperature control depending on the the outdoor weather.

Last summer I for Father's Day, I got an electric digital MasterBuilt Smoker with the Cold smoker box. I LOVE it!

I live in one of the coldest places in the country during the winter so I've rigged up the smoker with a chimney and some forced air vents in my workshop. It allows for year round smoking.

For my birthday last fall I got KitchenAid attachments for a meat grinder and sausage maker. Now I'm trying to learn that process.

Happy to be on the forum!

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to the forum!

Glad to have you join the group!

Al

 

[notorious q u e]

Hi TheThom,

I served in the Navy in Pensacola and that's where I got the BBQ bug being just 20 minutes from the Alabama state line. It's the BBQ taste that's never left me. I separated 7 years ago and have taken BBQ into civilian life. Funny how many Navy vets end up far from the sea right here in Colorado! PS I had a Navy flag sewn into the cover of my cooker.

 

[submariner]

Welcome to the Forum!!!  Sounds like you have a meat lovers set-up with your smoke house!!

 

[bronco billy gj]

Hello from another Coloradoan and Navy vet (separated 42 years ago), and welcome to the forum!

With all of those here from Colorado, you might appreciate this:

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You might be from Colorado if…​

98% OF AMERICANS SCREAM BEFORE GOING IN THE DITCH ON A SLIPPERY ROAD. THE OTHER 2% ARE FROM COLORADO AND THEY SAY, "HOLD MY DRINK AND WATCH THIS." Now, you're from Colorado if... You eat ice cream in the winter. It snows 5 inches and you don't expect school to be cancelled. You live above 5,000 feet, sometimes Summer comes on Sunday and you can go fishing!

You'll wear flip flops every day of the .........year, regardless of temperature. You have no accent at all, but can hear other people's. And then you make fun of them. "Humid" is over 25%. Your sense of direction is: Toward the mountains and Away from the mountains. You say "the interstate" and everybody knows which one. You think that May is a totally normal month for a blizzard.

You buy your flowers to set out on Mother's day, but try and hold off planting them until just before Father's day. You grew up planning your Halloween costumes around your coat. You know what the Continental Divide is. You don't think Coors beer is that big a deal. You went to Casa Bonita as a kid, AND as an adult. You've gone off-roading in a vehicle that was never intended for such activities. You always know the elevation of where you are.

You wake up to a beautiful, 80 degree day and you wonder if it's gonna snow later. Every movie theater has military and student discounts. You actually know that ** South Park ** is a real place, not just a dumb show on TV. You know what a 'trust fund hippy' is, and you know its natural habitat is Boulder, Aspen, Crested Butte, Paonia, and Telluride.

You know you're talking to a fellow Coloradan when they call it "Elitches," not ""Six Flags." A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you. When people back East tell you they have mountains in their state too, you just laugh.

You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels "sticky" and you notice the sky is no longer blue. Re post if your proud of Being a Coloradan

 

[submariner]

 
Hello from another Coloradoan and Navy vet (separated 42 years ago), and welcome to the forum!

With all of those here from Colorado, you might appreciate this:

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You might be from Colorado if…​

98% OF AMERICANS SCREAM BEFORE GOING IN THE DITCH ON A SLIPPERY ROAD. THE OTHER 2% ARE FROM COLORADO AND THEY SAY, "HOLD MY DRINK AND WATCH THIS." Now, you're from Colorado if... You eat ice cream in the winter. It snows 5 inches and you don't expect school to be cancelled. You live above 5,000 feet, sometimes Summer comes on Sunday and you can go fishing!

You'll wear flip flops every day of the .........year, regardless of temperature. You have no accent at all, but can hear other people's. And then you make fun of them. "Humid" is over 25%. Your sense of direction is: Toward the mountains and Away from the mountains. You say "the interstate" and everybody knows which one. You think that May is a totally normal month for a blizzard.

You buy your flowers to set out on Mother's day, but try and hold off planting them until just before Father's day. You grew up planning your Halloween costumes around your coat. You know what the Continental Divide is. You don't think Coors beer is that big a deal. You went to Casa Bonita as a kid, AND as an adult. You've gone off-roading in a vehicle that was never intended for such activities. You always know the elevation of where you are.

You wake up to a beautiful, 80 degree day and you wonder if it's gonna snow later. Every movie theater has military and student discounts. You actually know that ** South Park ** is a real place, not just a dumb show on TV. You know what a 'trust fund hippy' is, and you know its natural habitat is Boulder, Aspen, Crested Butte, Paonia, and Telluride.

You know you're talking to a fellow Coloradan when they call it "Elitches," not ""Six Flags." A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you. When people back East tell you they have mountains in their state too, you just laugh.

You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels "sticky" and you notice the sky is no longer blue. Re post if your proud of Being a Coloradan

 

[notorious q u e]

Hallelujah!! Got to cut and paste and save this one. We call them trust fund babies and they're multiplying like rabbits now that word has reached California and New Jersey about our mountain refuge!!