Qczar
Full Fledged Farker
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2004
- Location
- NorthEastern, PA
Spend this past weekend riding my bike down to a motorcycle rally in the Maggie Valley / Cherokee, NC area (pretty incredible area as I bet a few of you southern folk know). As always there were vendors and always a few smokers. I spend some time with one fella, eating a little of everything he had to offer. He had a very large horizontal ( about 6 ft wide X 4 ft dia ) smoker with an additional adjacent vertical box ( about 20" wide X 36" high X 25" deep, this was offset from the horizontal for lower temps) and of course a large fire box. He smoked strictly with fireplace sized logs and used mainly hickory with some apple and cherry. He told me he only smokes at 200º for about 12-14 hours or so and his thermometer was right on track. He supported my theory of once the meat gets to temp, it`s the slow temp cooking afterwards that gets the meat to 'fall apart'. I asked why such a large diameter chamber? His reply was that the cylindrical shape of a smoker is good because it creates a type of 'vortex' that keeps the entire cylinder the same temp. He showed me small pork butts that were fully cooked for about 6 hours, compared to those that have been in there for say 12 hours. The tenderness came with time. He used the vertical box as a warmer.
He glazed his chicken with a 2 parts Parkay margarine / 1 part molasses mixture. Mentioned that Parkay mixes well with the molasses and stays melted better. Being new to smoking, is it common for chicken skin to harden? His chicken was as tender and flavorful as can be but the skin was tough. I`m thinking of squirting a similar mixture under the skin?
On another note: While sitting, eating and BSing with the cook, a fella :evil: noticed my northern accent and warned me that I might want to be careful talking like that around some parts here. Not too amazed I heard him say that, I reminded him that I was a true blue American (born and raised), the Civil War has been over for nearly 150 years, and my family not only did not fight for the north in the war (as probably 80% of 'Northerners') but did not even move to America until the war was a good 50 years over. Plus I reminded him his concern might want to focus on what is happening now in this great country (immigration and terrorism comes to mind) and not what happened then........geez
I am changing my 'User name'. Seems there is anouther 'Greedyweed' out on the west coast and is having his lawyers contact my lawyers for the usual documented threats before any court hearings :lol: I guess to change my name I will have to delete my current acount and start a new one? BTW, my new name will be 'XCZAR'.
Next weekend............. SMOKE !
Peace all, ........................ Xczar (the former Greedyweed)
He glazed his chicken with a 2 parts Parkay margarine / 1 part molasses mixture. Mentioned that Parkay mixes well with the molasses and stays melted better. Being new to smoking, is it common for chicken skin to harden? His chicken was as tender and flavorful as can be but the skin was tough. I`m thinking of squirting a similar mixture under the skin?
On another note: While sitting, eating and BSing with the cook, a fella :evil: noticed my northern accent and warned me that I might want to be careful talking like that around some parts here. Not too amazed I heard him say that, I reminded him that I was a true blue American (born and raised), the Civil War has been over for nearly 150 years, and my family not only did not fight for the north in the war (as probably 80% of 'Northerners') but did not even move to America until the war was a good 50 years over. Plus I reminded him his concern might want to focus on what is happening now in this great country (immigration and terrorism comes to mind) and not what happened then........geez
I am changing my 'User name'. Seems there is anouther 'Greedyweed' out on the west coast and is having his lawyers contact my lawyers for the usual documented threats before any court hearings :lol: I guess to change my name I will have to delete my current acount and start a new one? BTW, my new name will be 'XCZAR'.
Next weekend............. SMOKE !
Peace all, ........................ Xczar (the former Greedyweed)
