I'm 51 years old, and still play with my food...

Have respected the old traditional ways... that's how I found this place.

However - also appreciated the aspects of new techniques, too.

Today's traditional methods were born from yesterday's experimentations...

Keep trying new things here and there...you never know what you'll discover.

If everyone just used the old way, we would be still be cooking our food on a stick over an open fire.

I don't know enough to know if the methods I'm using are traditional or experimental. I typically search this site when looking to prepare a meal.

I tend to like to keep things simple...recipes with 20 ingredients or 20 steps get passed over for better or worse.

If I like it I do it again if I really like it I'll do it twice.

... rules? :shock:

Fark, there are rules. I seem to recall Biggie pointing those out to me. :doh:

I start with the traditional, but am always willing to try something new.

I'm always tweaking my cooks in the quest for the holy grail of Q.

I still prefer smoking my tri tips to grilling them. :wink:

I use the traditional methods I have been taught as my base line. I adjust from there depending on many factors such as time available and even fuel sources. I have found that in today's world, one size does not fit all. Back in the day, there was much more time available for traditional methods, and people frankly didn't know any different in my opinion. Every thing evolves to some degree.

As a child of the 70's/80's growing up in the upper midwest, the only piece of BBQ equipment I ever saw was older men with the lid of a weber kettle in one hand and a Canadian Club in the other. I'm not one to argue with older gentleman so I have done the same damn thing for another 20 years. If it's wrong, I don't wanna be right.

220 for as long as you can stand it. Under no circumstances can you use direct heat. At least that's where I was when I joined this crazy place. Now I will never go back to Q under 275, and that's low. Can't imagine not using my UDS.

Without the need to experiment with my food, I'd never have had a smoke meat loaf, an apple pie, or even a pizza. Now I'm not sure I will ever cook one in the over again. This place has completely given me the encouragement to branch out on my cooking a lot.

And I'm with Grain Belt ^^^^ up there. I'm an Iowan, so I grew up believing that ketchup was a spice and food could not have taste. Neither could beer. Of course, if he saw a Weber kettle, he's way better than I am. We had a Charbroil gasser and it got fired up once a month whether it needed to or not.

The vast majority of how I cook could be best described as traditional, or at least an attempt at it. I still feel I need to know the rules better in order to break them, but occasionally I will follow impulse and do something "wrong" just to see what happens. I am still stimulated and challenged by the basics for the most part. Needless to say, this place has played a huge part in my outdoor cooking.

tortaboy said:

I still prefer smoking my tri tips to grilling them. :wink:

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I'm just the opposite. Something about a good 'ol Santa Maria style Tritip on a Santa Maria or Argentine grill is really hard to beat. I've yet to smoke one because I'm just too scared to mess up one thing I have down on a grill.

I like to try my foods traditional as a springboard, then change things up quite a bit from there. Occasionally, something comes back full circle.

one should never stop learning or trying differant things. the way i cook now was from trying things and observing things. course reading here keeps the juices flowing.

Rules are made to be broken

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I stick to normal things

I grew up thinking you had to "mop and slop" your Q to cook it so it would have taste and not be dried out. When it was finally done, the cook was "done" also. Usually to the point that he had to sit at a table by himself, or eat outside.

After researching and reading this forum, I discovered Fatties, (Who woulda thought something called a "fattie" would be edible? Why would you want your smoke to be thin and blue instead of smoking like a diesel truck with a bad injector? Why would you burn your food up, cooking it above 225 degrees?

And then, I discovered the UDS, and agonized over not getting to peek at the food every 10 minutes. Surely you can't cook something for 8 to 10 hours without looking at it, or expect it to not be dry as shoe leather when you take it out.
And what is this about "resting" your meat after cooking it half a day? I am the one needing to rest after worrying about whether or not it will be edible. The people waiting to eat are ready to eat NOW!

Why would you use different wood flavors to cook with, a burning stick is a burning stick, right? Who cares what the temp is at the grate level, or even more the temp of the meat you are cooking. We never worried about all this 50 years ago when I started cooking over these new fangeled Briquets.

Just some thoughts to ponder....

Omar