Other Stuff
I don't know what to put in here yet, but seems like a good place if I want to get on the soap box to rant about the decay of our society or tell you why I'm right and the rest of the world is wrong.
Book Reviews and Recommendations
I don't do reviews like the pros do, I either like a book and tell others, or don't say anything at all. I do have a couple of favorites for cooking though. One of my favorite books is Julia Child's "The Way To Cook" as it is very informative, had a basic recipe and then Julia gives you some suggestions so you can build on the base and make variations to your liking. It gets down to simple things like the best way to hard cook an egg and be assured of a perfect, bright yellow yolk every time.
My new favorite book is Russ Parsons' "How
To Read A French Fry" that recently hit the stores. It is the
best book available of food science made simple. Russ is the food editor
for the LA Times and has written other books also. I learned more about
frying foods in one night from this book than in my years of cooking.
Following a recipe is easy enough, but most of us want to create, to expand our
abilities, to enhance what we already know how to do. This book will help
you understand what is taking place as we cook, and it will allow us to find the
correct path to that fabulous meal. Many good recipes in here
also. While the ingredients used in Russ' recipes are readily available,
some of the combinations are not what I would think of. Peach Fritters,
for example, have a crust that includes Italian almond cookies. I'd
give you the recipe, but I'm too lazy to type it out right now, and for
$15 delivered, you can get the book from www.newbookscheap.com
More Stuff
Here are some photos you can view also. I put them back here so the rest of the pages loads faster.
My brick smoker from Plantation Barbeque Pits.
Randy Dewberry designed and made the metal frames, inside cooking rack, and the top sheet metal. I bought the firebrick locally and assembled the pit in less than a day. No mortar is used as the frames hold the structure together. The bricks you see removed in the front are the "dampers" for the firebox. Inexpensive and very functional. Brick holds the heat well and is a very good material for making bbq.
This cooker is versatile as it can heat with indirect heat using the firebox in the front, or is can be used as a direct vertical cooker simply by shoveling some of the burnig coals directly under the meat. With the burning coals directly under the meat onthe grate, radiation cooks it faster and makes for a crispier skin.
My SWOCS Lazy-Q smoker. Uses propane for heat but
wood for the smoke
Another view of the SWOCS but now you can see me.
This smoker is unique in that the burner is actually on the outside on the bottom and shoots a flame into a sealed heat exchanger inside the cabinet. Wood chips or chunks on the heat exchanger provide the smoke. It can cook unattended for many hours and that is a big plus for long cooking sessions such as briskets. Most times I'll start a brisket late at night and let it cook while I'm catching some sleep. Next day it will be ready for lunch or dinner.