What is the only thing worse than having your favorite golf course closed because of snow? The enormously enjoyable task of snow removal on your driveway. I hate shoveling snow. The past couple of years in Utah have been odd. It isn't that we have had a huge amount of snow (that is fairly typical here) it is that we seemed to get snow every other day. I tend to have a little bit of OCD when it comes to snow because snow put under pressure becomes ice and ice sucks even more than snow. We have moved into a new house and with this new house comes about 3x the amount of exterior concrete. My boys are getting older and are becoming much more of an asset around the house so last year they were the main removers of snow, but this year, they will get a bit of a break because of our work today.
We have a lawn tractor with some good American power (Wisconsin based Kohler) under the hood. This tractor hasn't had much to do the last couple of years and has been somewhat neglected as it has been in storage. I thought, what if I put a snow blade on the front of that neglected tractor ? A Saturday project was born.
This baby needed some tlc. The front tires were flat, there was a oily grime under the hood. I am not sure when any of the filters or the fluids had been changed. Off the boys and I went to the parts store for supplies to tune this baby up. We came back and got to work. The oil was drained, fuel filter replaced, oil filter replaced, spark plug replaced and the oil refilled. My two boys, Zach & Matt were right there with me watching and doing the whole way as I tried to explain to them what each part did and how to do each task. We got to the carburetor and decided we might as well take a look at that. We ripped apart the carburetor, got some carb cleaner and went to work. We opened the carb and cleaned it all out and blew it dry with our air compressor. We put it back together and mounted it to the engine then replaced the air filter. I got out the power washer (more Wisconsin power by Briggs and Stratton) and got the grime off the engine and frame. We then put the hood and fenders back on the tractor, hooked up the electrical connections, inflated the tires, put the key in the ignition, and she fired right up. Honestly I thought for sure the battery would be dead. She is purring like a kitten. I let the boys take a celebratory lap around the cul-de-sac.
Like most men, when you can take a menial task and put a toy between the task and the man, the task is now fun. I now look forward to the snow and will have to fight the boys to push that snow around.
So...If women truly understood that more toys, er I mean tools equals more stuff gets done around the house with a better attitude. Perhaps they wouldn't object so much when we "need" something. Just a little thought.
BTW- More meat marinating in the fridge for a date with the smoker in the morning. Details to follow...
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Meat
Meat is one of my hobbies...I like to smoke meat low and slow, bring over some friends or family and get sauce all over my fingers and face. For those of you who say meat isn't a hobby, you are wrong. This is my blog and I will decide. For those of you who would say that cooking is girly. Once again, wrong. If you ask a real woman (like my wife) I am probably the most sexy when I am feeding the family and smell like the smoke of some good wood. My first post is the process of getting some good carne to the table. I hope it ends well as I am trying some new things this time, but that is why meat is a hobby.
This Thanksgiving I will smoke a 14lb turkey and an 11 lb ham.
I found some wood yesterday for the smoker that is not that common, I got some plumb, red oak, apple and the most exciting sugar maple. The oak and maple are used for fine furniture so it is not that easy to find just for smoking, but now "I know a guy". I always feel cool when I can say "I know a guy"
This morning I am working on the brine for the turkey. So far I am simmering the vegetable stock which will make up half of the brine solution. This is what I have in the stock pot: (simmering is a means to an end for eating meat, therefore, it is manly)
3 onions, coarse chop
3 celery stocks chopped
3 carrots chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 med potato diced
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 dashes of ground thyme
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp crushed red pepper (one of the most manly of spices)
1 tsp black pepper
2 bay leaves
I do have to admit that there is nothing manly about rosemary or thyme, they are just good. I have decided from this point forward rosemary will be changed to butch and thyme will be called spike.
It is simmering right now for another 30 minutes (1 hour total or until the veggies are soft) then I will strain the stock and cool it, it smells so good.
.....
The stock is done simmering, I strained the solids out of the stock and put it back on the heat. Then I added:
1.5 c kosher salt
1 c brown sugar
1 T. more of black pepper (you can never have too much pepper)
1 tsp ground ginger
I brought it back to boil and dissolved all the solids in the stock. It is now off the heat and I added one gallon of tap water into a 5 gallon bucket lined with a trash bag. I will wait until it cools, put it into the fridge until it is cold then put the turkey into the brine for the rest of the day and overnight until it goes in the smoke about 7am in the morning with its buddy the bone in ham. This should be really good...
...
Now on to the pig. Nothing in this world smokes better than pork. It is the night before and I just prepped the ham. I took it out of its wrappings, smothered it in yellow mustard (sounds weird i know but the mustard loses its flavor when it cooks and holds the rub on very well) then I put a generous coating of my special rub all over the ham. (If you want the recipe let me know, this is a recipe I don't want out for everyone to see, same with my BBQ sauce.) The prep work is almost done.
In the morning I will get up around 6 start the smoker and cut up some aromatics to put into the turkey cavity; things like onion, celery, an apple and a sprig or two of butch. The ham on the top rack of the smoker with the turkey beneath with the drippings of the ham falling onto the turkey. Nothing wrong with little pork fat on the bird.
To the fire!
...
It is now Thanksgiving morning, the bird and pig have been cooking for 3 hours, I figure they have another 1.5 hours until they are done. This is a new smoker, I have only used it one time before this and I noticed something today, I didn't have the dampener open enough to keep the wood smoldering (it is electric, so the wood is not the fuel) I am not sure it will have the amount of smoke to make the food as good as it could have been which is a big bummer. I am sure it will still be good, but it might be a little light on the smoke. Cherry didn't have this problem, but the maple must be a little harder to burn. The major problem was that the moisture venting from the smoker was fooling me as it is chilly this morning, I was mistaking the vapor for smoke. I won't make that mistake again.
The meat is done, right on time. The turkey reached 165 degrees in 4.5 hours about 18 min/lb at 255 degrees in the smoker. The Ham is at 140 in the middle so warm enough as it was already cured. They look great and smell outstanding.
...
Thanksgiving is over. I took the meat to my parents house as they had our whole family together for the big meal (very big, I have 7 brothers and sisters and a boat load of nieces and nephews for a grand total of 45 people) the turkey and ham were great as was everything else my family made. The sugar maple is outstanding for both of those meats, I highly recommend it for both turkey and pork.
Man cave rating:
450 out of 500 Horsepower
This Thanksgiving I will smoke a 14lb turkey and an 11 lb ham.
I found some wood yesterday for the smoker that is not that common, I got some plumb, red oak, apple and the most exciting sugar maple. The oak and maple are used for fine furniture so it is not that easy to find just for smoking, but now "I know a guy". I always feel cool when I can say "I know a guy"
This morning I am working on the brine for the turkey. So far I am simmering the vegetable stock which will make up half of the brine solution. This is what I have in the stock pot: (simmering is a means to an end for eating meat, therefore, it is manly)
3 onions, coarse chop
3 celery stocks chopped
3 carrots chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 med potato diced
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 dashes of ground thyme
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp crushed red pepper (one of the most manly of spices)
1 tsp black pepper
2 bay leaves
I do have to admit that there is nothing manly about rosemary or thyme, they are just good. I have decided from this point forward rosemary will be changed to butch and thyme will be called spike.
It is simmering right now for another 30 minutes (1 hour total or until the veggies are soft) then I will strain the stock and cool it, it smells so good.
.....
The stock is done simmering, I strained the solids out of the stock and put it back on the heat. Then I added:
1.5 c kosher salt
1 c brown sugar
1 T. more of black pepper (you can never have too much pepper)
1 tsp ground ginger
I brought it back to boil and dissolved all the solids in the stock. It is now off the heat and I added one gallon of tap water into a 5 gallon bucket lined with a trash bag. I will wait until it cools, put it into the fridge until it is cold then put the turkey into the brine for the rest of the day and overnight until it goes in the smoke about 7am in the morning with its buddy the bone in ham. This should be really good...
...
Now on to the pig. Nothing in this world smokes better than pork. It is the night before and I just prepped the ham. I took it out of its wrappings, smothered it in yellow mustard (sounds weird i know but the mustard loses its flavor when it cooks and holds the rub on very well) then I put a generous coating of my special rub all over the ham. (If you want the recipe let me know, this is a recipe I don't want out for everyone to see, same with my BBQ sauce.) The prep work is almost done.
In the morning I will get up around 6 start the smoker and cut up some aromatics to put into the turkey cavity; things like onion, celery, an apple and a sprig or two of butch. The ham on the top rack of the smoker with the turkey beneath with the drippings of the ham falling onto the turkey. Nothing wrong with little pork fat on the bird.
To the fire!
...
It is now Thanksgiving morning, the bird and pig have been cooking for 3 hours, I figure they have another 1.5 hours until they are done. This is a new smoker, I have only used it one time before this and I noticed something today, I didn't have the dampener open enough to keep the wood smoldering (it is electric, so the wood is not the fuel) I am not sure it will have the amount of smoke to make the food as good as it could have been which is a big bummer. I am sure it will still be good, but it might be a little light on the smoke. Cherry didn't have this problem, but the maple must be a little harder to burn. The major problem was that the moisture venting from the smoker was fooling me as it is chilly this morning, I was mistaking the vapor for smoke. I won't make that mistake again.
The meat is done, right on time. The turkey reached 165 degrees in 4.5 hours about 18 min/lb at 255 degrees in the smoker. The Ham is at 140 in the middle so warm enough as it was already cured. They look great and smell outstanding.
...
Thanksgiving is over. I took the meat to my parents house as they had our whole family together for the big meal (very big, I have 7 brothers and sisters and a boat load of nieces and nephews for a grand total of 45 people) the turkey and ham were great as was everything else my family made. The sugar maple is outstanding for both of those meats, I highly recommend it for both turkey and pork.
Man cave rating:
450 out of 500 Horsepower
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