What are you cooking today and how?

[2dumb2kwit]

This mornin', I had bacon, egg and cheese, on a toasted english muffin.
Mmmmm, Mmmmm!

[huntermj]

Today i made SD's bean glop.
I'm gonna call it, bean soup. its darn good.
i cut the garlic in half and added 2 onions finely chopped and brown sugar. I also made some bread to sop it up with. Down side is i will eating this for many days to come.

[roar-k]

Well I lit up the smoker about 2.5 hrs ago. I am going to smoke about 6lbs. of pork butt and see how it goes this time. I didn't buy any hickory chips this time because my pappaw gave me a crap ton of it split. So I decided to use the knife I won at the Jamboree and make my own chips. So far it's going good!

[crashdive123]

We need action shots of that knife.

[2dumb2kwit]

We need action shots of that knife.

....and samples of the pork.

[crashdive123]

....and samples of the pork.

Well yeah. That goes without saying.

[Rick]

Just remember, you can't eat too much smoked pork. You can try but it can't be done. What they said on the pics.

[roar-k]

Well here you go.

Here is the fire I made after batoning some wood:

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Some sorry action pics due to it being dark:

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And I lost my spray bottle which I use to spray the pork every hour or so. I used a 20oz. bottle and put a small hole in the top with a nail and it allows me to squeeze water onto the pork.

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And you can see the light from the fire through the hole:

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Oh man the smell is getting to me!!!!

[Rick]

My wife made beer bread for dinner this evening. It was mmm mmm good.

3 cups of self rising flour
1/3 to 1/4 cup of sugar
12 oz beer (do NOT use non alcoholic)

Stir it up and place it in a loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. That's it!

This is probably one of the easiest breads you'll ever make.

[2dumb2kwit]

My wife made beer bread for dinner this evening. It was mmm mmm good.

3 cups of self rising flour
1/3 to 1/4 cup of sugar
12 oz beer (do NOT use non alcoholic)

Stir it up and place it in a loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. That's it!

This is probably one of the easiest breads you'll ever make.

Help me out, with this one. (I've never baked bread.)
Are you saying that you don't have to let it rise, and all that stuff?

[Rick]

That's right. You don't. You just mix it, pour it in the pan and put it in the oven.

[BENESSE]

2D, don't forget the bacon bits!

[2dumb2kwit]

2D, don't forget the bacon bits!

B...You're a geneyu....jeanuo...dang, you're smart!!!

That way, in the mornin', you could just put a couple slices in the toaster, and BAM.....instant bacon sammich's!

[oldtrap59]

Just as a side note Ricks recipe works well in a dutch oven over a good bed of coals. Saw this bread recipe in Backwoodsman a couple of years ago and have used it many times since. Very easy way to make good bread. Remember self raising flour. Had a buddy try it with regular flour and it don't work.

Oldtrap

[Sourdough]

Bean'Glop & Cheese on corn shells.

[roar-k]

Pork came out great. My friend came over because he smelled it and now it's almost all gone. Hopefully when the wife wakes to find only a little bit left she won't be too mad...

[Rick]

There are a lot of different ways to smoke pork and most of them come out just fine. Here's some points on how I do it in case it helps. If you're satisfied with your method then don't change on my account.

I generally order my shoulders from the butcher at Kroger and ask them to debone and tie the shoulder. They don't charge extra for it and you wind up with all meat that stays together in the process.

The night before the event I place my wood chunks in a bucket of water and let them soak all night. I generally use hickory because it gives a flavor that everyone is accustomed to but most fruit woods work really well as do some others.

A couple of very important things that you probably already know, but just in case.
Before you put the meat in your smoker (pork shoulders, ribs etc), make sure they have come up to room temperature, or close to it. The other thing is make sure you have dabbed all the moisture off the outside. I usually use a little fan. What this does is allows the smoke to penetrate better as well as prevent getting that bitter taste you sometimes get.

I set a pan between the meat and the coals to catch any fat drippings and there is usually a lot. You'll get flare ups if you don't. I still get occasional flare ups from the wood so I keep a spray bottle handle to douse the fire.

I use a Polder thermometer so I can monitor both the smoker temp and the internal meat temp at the same time. They aren't very expensive. Twenty bucks or so and it does a great job.

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Once the fire has started and the smoker is close to 225°F I add some of the wood and place the shoulder fat cap side up so it self bastes with it's own fat. No seasonings or rubs go on it.

A lot of folks say the pork will only absorb smoke for the first hour or so but I add wood throughout the cooking. The smoke lays down a nice black coating that tastes pretty yummy to me.

I never lift the top of the smoker unless I have to regulate the heat. My smoker is a cheapo gas smoker and sometimes I have to move the lid to let excess heat out and bring the temperature down. I just keep an eye on the thermometer and adjust accordingly.

Once the pork reaches 185°F to 190°F I take it off, chunk it, put it in a pan, cover it and toss it in the fridge if I'm doing a day before some event. Otherwise I just use two forks to shred the meat.

It will take anywhere from about 15 hours to 18 hours to reach temp depending on weather conditions (wind, temp, humidity). I try to start very early in the morning because I know I'll run into midnight or after before I can put it in the fridge.

When you are ready to serve the meat I use Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. I've never made or found anything better. I just mix it with the meat for BBQ sandwiches. I also make a finishing sauce for those that like a more traditional BBQ.

Pulled pork finishing sauce

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 cup cider vinegar
* 2 tablespoons salt
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon cayenne
* 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

PREPARATION:
Mix all ingredients together. Let stand as long as possible, at least 1/2 a day, but the longer the better.

It's sounds like it would taste really vinegary but when it combines with the smoke some chemical action must take place because it's actually very mild.

I hope that helps.

[Winnie]

Just chucked a handful of rice into a pot of homemade chicken broth bubbling away at the moment. I'm using some of the veg I dehydrated to see how they taste etc.
It's just about 39F raining and blowing a hooley, so I'm looking forward to this!

[Winnie]

Just had the soup, it was so awful I had to have a second, then a third bowlful to check!

[BENESSE]

What a relief it wasn't any good.
If it were, you'd be in trouble.