Category: Personal

Too much to do this weekend.  There’s a high-power match at the club tomorrow, so I had to pull the Garand and the AR out of mothballs.  I haven’t shot anything more than .22LR since May, and it showed in my shooting.  On the bench I was pleased with how my Garand loads shot.  Nice groups.  Same with my 6.8SPC load that I never got around to testing.  I’m going to shoot the 6.8 tomorrow, largely because it’s one caliber I have enough cartridges already loaded that I don’t have to spend all night loading up .223 rounnds.

On top of that, I also have to get my new workstation, which I will also use to run the blog, prepped and ready.  X-Plane is working fine.  I copied over MythTV from the old box, but still have to make that work.  Then after I’m confident the system is good, transfer all the blogs and web sites I’m hosting for various people over to the new system.

Tomorrow afternoon we have a Philly blogger meet, at 1PM.  It’s going to be cutting to close with my match.  Hopefully we’ll have everything wrapped up by noon.  If not, Bitter will have to head over there on her own, and I’ll join up when I’m finished with the match.

Mowing grass is one of my least favorite activities.  The neighbors are all religious about it, and have well manicured lawns.  I can’t be bothered.  I won’t let it develop into a rats den, but if it’s a few inches high, with the odd weed sticking up, it’s no bother to me.  It’s still green.

Since it’s been a wet June, I’ve had to mow more than last year.  Several of the neighbors have people that come out and do it, but I think there’s too much cheap Irishman in me to consider something like that.  My lawn isn’t really that big anyway.

I’ve been thinking it’s time to get a new mower though. I have a long and hateful relationship with my current mower, since I’ve been using it since Dad made me start mowing the grass as a teenager.  Date of Manufacture on it is 1979.  Sadly, corn farmers in Iowa are destroying it by having Democrats mandate ethanol in fuel, and it’s starting to rust out the exhaust and rot the fuel lines away.  Considering I’ve never bought a lawnmower, I know little about them.  No need for riders, or fancy self-propelled models, but I’d like something that will last as long as this old Murray mower has.  Simple and well made.  Not sure about bagging models vs. side chute models, vs. mulching mowers.  Are mulching mowers anything to write home about?  I think I’m too lazy for anything with a bag.  Anyone have suggestions?

I had my dad over for some pulled pork BBQ.  Got up at 7AM to get it started, and spent all day maintaining the fire at the right temperature for BBQ, around 225 – 250 degrees.

Turns out 7AM wasn’t quite early enough.  I ended up pulling it off the smoker at 4:30PM, when the Butt was about 180 degrees F.  It was a bit hard to pull, which I attribute to the temperature of the meat not getting high enough.  The other mistake I made was not taking notes when I made the BBQ sauce.  It was pretty good, but I don’t know if I could make it again.  I know what I put in it, but just kind of did everything to taste.  The base was ketchup, molasses, Jamaican Rum, brown sugar, and cider vinegar.  Other spices were chili powder, cumin, some garlic and onion powder, a little paprika, and some other things I don’t remember.

Now that I’ve gotten better at controlling temperature (a real grill thermometer that reads actual temperature goes a long way), I’m thinking of trying ribs again.  The good thing about BBQing is that even when you make minor mistakes, the food is still pretty tasty.

Mine’s on the smoker!

If I had paid for this in a restaurant, I would not have been disappointed.  This was our Independence Day dinner, and I will cook this salmon recipe again before too long.

Sitting out in the deck watching the neighbors’ pyrotechnic displays.  Fireworks are largely illegal in Pennsylvania, but it doesn’t stop anybody.  Considering some of the deep booms I’m hearing, there are folks who have shit that’s not legal in any of the 50 states.

Neighbors across the street are lighting off fireworks in the street.  Just saw them go retrieve something they lit because a car was coming.  I would think it be less hazardous to just go out and stop the car.  Bitter won’t let me bring out my potato cannon.  I can make it a pyrotechnic without putting potatoes in it, but I don’t think she’s convinced.  Probably best considering my judgment is impaired.

I have enough 1792 bourbon to last more than the night.  Happy Independence Day everyone!

UPDATE: From Glenn Reynolds:

FIREWORKS SAFETY. I say, do it yourself if you want, just be smart. “Leave it to the trained professionals” is one of the cancerous mantras of our age, and there’s a big difference between setting off your own fireworks and sitting passively while others do it for you — the difference, if I may say so, between having sex and watching porn. And, in both cases, the presence of a degree of risk is part of the difference . . . . Some related thoughts on this subject are here.

I couldn’t agree more.  I only wish I had some of my own pyrotechnics.  Maybe next year I should plan ahead.

I’ve got a couple of chicken breasts on the smoker.  I mostly just want to see if I can control the temperature of the smoker with the modifications I made.  All the symptoms from the ribs last weekend pointed to too high a temperature.  I went to Home Depot today, and made some modifications to the firebox to be able to control air intake and to elevate the coals off the bottom of the box to improve airflow around the fire.  Bought a grill thermometer that reads something more than “Warm/Ideal/Hot” so I could check actual temperature.  Turns out “Ideal” is somewhere around 300 degrees.  That’s great for baking, but not for BBQ.  Looks like with the air intake mods, I can control temperature, and get the fire down to 225 degrees.  This is the Minion Method of BBQ, and I think that’s what I’m stuck using as long as I’m using a bullet type smoker.

I have obtained a smoker from Lowes.  I decided to go with a Brinkman charcoal smoker, mostly because it was cheap, and I didn’t want to invest a lot of money.  I have a habit of buying toys that I use a few times, and then just take up space.

Tonight we will be making Memphis style dry ribs, with a little Jack Daniels BBQ sauce that I have found a recipe for on the side, along with corn on the cob, and some cole slaw.  Bitter will post the recipe later on her food blog.

UPDATE: Could be heard emanating from my house today, “How the hell is it that you have to be shown how to get charcoal going by a damned Yankee?”  Considering this, and the fact that she doesn’t like Carolina BBQ, we might have to revoke Bitter’s southern credentials.   But then again, on her mother’s side, she does have the Davis family.  Yes, that Davis family.  So I guess that trumps not knowing how to light charcoal :)

UPDATE: Ate the ribs.  While I could identify the ribs as BBQ — as they had a nice smoke ring, had a delightful smokey flavor, and fell off the bones fairly well — the rub was problematic.   The rub was heavy in brown sugar, which rather than form a nice, caramelized crust on the outside, formed tough, charred exterior, which did not taste all that good.  Ribs don’t have enough meat on them to sacrifice the exterior layer.

I used hardwood lump charcoal to power the BBQ, and while think this good for providing flavor, it also burns through very quickly, and does not burn all that consistently.  I had a hard time maintaining temperature in the ideal range.  It’d get too cool, I’d add more coals, and it would get too hot.  I think I probably got the temperature a bit too much on the hot side for too long.  I’m thinking that f0r smoking, Kingsford might actually be the best, since the smoke is provided more by the wood chips than the by coals.  If I were to try again, I’d reduce the amount of sugar in the rub, and use a more consistent burning charcoal.

I am considering getting a smoker, so Bitter and I can make our own BBQ.  I’ve had a few recommendations.  Caleb suggests the Traeger line, but I’m looking for something a bit more application specific, since I already have a grill.  I was thinking about buying this electric smoker.  I figured electric would maintain a constant temperature better, and I’d only have to add new wood chips, rather than also having to add charcoal constantly.

But I have to admit that I know almost nothing about smokers, short of you put in wood chips, water, and somehow through heat and time this is transformed into BBQ.  Is an electric smoker a sin in the eyes of BBQ?  I do not wish to be a heretic.  I figure among all the guns nuts out there, someone has to be able to help a dumb yankee figure the ins and outs of smokers and BBQ.