Well, this has to be the one of the best moments and one of the worst all at once… Actually, not sure where to start.
12 years ago I purchased an offset Brinkman smoker, only because I didn’t like the taste of propane in my meat. Growing up in Kansas City, transporting to San Diego one can be desperate for REAL BBQ – Phils BBQ being nothing but a JOKE. Many, many, many sessions of burned, salty, rubbery, bbqs was in the Brinkman’s future;-)
Old friends and internet research, trial and error galore resulted in some BBQ that started to resemble some pretty good BBQ. Pork Butts, Spare Ribs, Briskets all start to turn some heads. Finding my own resource for wood, cutting my own apple and oak trees in So Cal, huge! Lets get to the point, after catering 100+ events, I was out growing the smoker (here comes the sad part) and she had to go.
What was next, the happy part – almost like a new father. The incoming Horizon 20” Ranger! Gods gift to us smokers, a welding delight. Ordering through Bass Pro was another painful experience, taking forever. 4 weeks turns into 6 and then 8…
With all options ordered, and calls every other day it finally arrives! Renting a trailer, I haul my butt up to the store making the commute back to San Diego in a 4pm So Cal traffic Jam. After what seemed to be the longest road trip ever, the stork has arrived and not a moment early.
No time to waste, I had planned a Lebanese style whole Lamb BBQ to break it in. With only 48 hours left before company arrives, the Ranger goes on a non-stop “bender” of seasoning smoke. But, before that was to go down - we just had to cook up some fresh caught lobster from a few days before ;-)
With the seasoning gloss in place, I am ready to turn my attention back to the Lamb.
My dear Lebanese friend could not resist helping.
Trim, season, DRINK, laugh and drink some more. The Lebanese are so serious, the Irish not so much!
She goes on the next morning, butterflied and seasoned.
All apple wood, LOW heat, and 6 hours later reaching the desired ham temp. Thrown on some pomegranate molasses glaze and we have some happy folks.
The cook and close friends needed some nibbles of the Ribs
No question, one of the best BBQs and 48 hours of my life!
12 years ago I purchased an offset Brinkman smoker, only because I didn’t like the taste of propane in my meat. Growing up in Kansas City, transporting to San Diego one can be desperate for REAL BBQ – Phils BBQ being nothing but a JOKE. Many, many, many sessions of burned, salty, rubbery, bbqs was in the Brinkman’s future;-)
Old friends and internet research, trial and error galore resulted in some BBQ that started to resemble some pretty good BBQ. Pork Butts, Spare Ribs, Briskets all start to turn some heads. Finding my own resource for wood, cutting my own apple and oak trees in So Cal, huge! Lets get to the point, after catering 100+ events, I was out growing the smoker (here comes the sad part) and she had to go.
What was next, the happy part – almost like a new father. The incoming Horizon 20” Ranger! Gods gift to us smokers, a welding delight. Ordering through Bass Pro was another painful experience, taking forever. 4 weeks turns into 6 and then 8…
With the seasoning gloss in place, I am ready to turn my attention back to the Lamb.
My dear Lebanese friend could not resist helping.
Trim, season, DRINK, laugh and drink some more. The Lebanese are so serious, the Irish not so much!
She goes on the next morning, butterflied and seasoned.
All apple wood, LOW heat, and 6 hours later reaching the desired ham temp. Thrown on some pomegranate molasses glaze and we have some happy folks.
The cook and close friends needed some nibbles of the Ribs
No question, one of the best BBQs and 48 hours of my life!
