Brick Pig

Here’s my finishing sauce recipe. I just sprinkle in a little bit once in awhile as I pull. Not very much. If I had to guess, probably around 3 tablespoons for a ~10 lb. bone-in butt. Of course you should adjust for your own taste. I use just enough to give it a bit of punch; not so much that you can really taste the sauce itself. 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1/2 cup white vinegar 2 Tablespoons brown sugar 1 Tablespoon rub 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes Mix well. Keeps for a long while in the fridge. NOTE: I’m no longer sure where this recipe originated. I’ve probably tweaked it over time, but I definitely did not make it up from scratch. It is very, very possible that someone here on this site created it, and if so it is not my intention to take credit for their work.

We never, ever give a thought to "preparedness" in terms of emergencies. However, we tend to buy pretty much everything in bulk whenever possible. There are only two of us in our household, but we're generally stocked more like a family of four or more, simply because it's usually a lot cheaper to buy larger quantities and we have plenty of room for storage. In addition to our kitchen fridge, we have a "beer fridge" and a chest freezer in the basement. I put beer fridge in quotation marks because beer most often is the smallest percentage of what's in there. Mostly it's extra sodas, seltzers, and other stuff that we need at the ready but don't have room for in the kitchen fridge. The chest freezer is almost always at least 3/4 full, mostly meats. Under all-out siege conditions, I would imagine we'd have food for 4 or 5 weeks, and basic cleaning supplies and sundries for probably 3 or 4 months. But it's driven purely by economics.

We routinely order our TP by the case from Amazon just because it's easy and cheap. Got a case delivered about one week before the virus hit the States, and still haven't opened it yet, so we're good in that department for a long while. I wouldn't mind picking up a couple rolls of paper towels; we're on our last roll now. But of course it's not too hard to find an alternative to paper towels, if needs be. I'm working from home now (for the first time in my 33-year career), which has freed me up to get to the grocery at varied times, and one trip they'll maybe be out of chicken, the next time maybe they're out of potatoes. But then those things will be restocked the next trip. All in all at one time or another I've been able to get everything we need except flour (and the aforementioned paper towels). Of course there are plenty of things I can cook without flour, but as a rule I bake fresh bread at least twice a week, often three times. My waistline doesn't really need it, but I don't like doing without it. But obviously I shouldn't complain. We're d@mn lucky people compared to a bunch of others out there right now.

I definitely find this to be true. Of course everyone has an opinion on how much smoke is enough, or too much, or too little, but I almost never add any smoking wood at all to any cook except for a butt or ribs. Even then, the most I'll put in is a chunk about the size of a tennis ball. Maybe not even that big. When I got my kamado and retired my offset, I had two new large bags of wood chunks, one cherry and one hickory. Here we are about 4 years later and neither bag is even half empty.

This is awesome!

I really have to get back to weeknight grilling. I blame my 80-minute commute for not doing it, but the truth is I go in earlier and I still get home at the same time now as I did at my old job, and I grilled 3, 4, or even 5 nights per week back then. Agree with @ckreef: the only real trick is to start the fire as soon as you get home. After that it's easy-peasy. Maybe I'll consider this my New Year's resolution.

Looks delicious.

Yes, but you should not use soap on unglazed stoneware, such as the baking dishes I posted above. The soap will get into the pores and your food will taste like soap. And since I mentioned cast iron in my post, I should also say that you shouldn't soak cast iron. Not because of soap, but because the prolonged exposure to water can cause it to rust.

It's the same unglazed ceramic as a common pizza stone. You clean them similar to a cast iron pan. Hot water and a scraper. No soap*. If something is really stuck, you can just fill the dish with water and let it soak. Then a hot water and scraper rinse will do the trick. (Like a pizza stone, the do get discolored.) *I realize it's a myth that you can never use soap on cast iron, which is why I'm saying "similar to."

I have four unglazed stoneware baking dishes of varying sizes and shapes that I use all the time in my Big Joe. They're all discolored from sitting in smoke, but they work beautifully. The one on the left was fairly new in this picture. You can see how dark the other one is after years of use. It's like seasoning on cast iron.

When we moved 18 months ago, I asked the movers how they wanted me to prepare my Big Joe. The main guy told me to empty it and bubble wrap all the innards, and otherwise don't do anything. When the day came, they rolled it up into the truck, padded it, strapped it down, and went on about their business. I was skeptical, to put it very mildly, but a week later when they showed up at the new house, they rolled it right down the ramp and onto the patio. Done and done.

Amen to variety. I've never been able to understand how people can narrow down their musical tastes to just two or three types. Heck, I have a pretty hard time even distinguishing between genres. There's just so much great music out there. Make a joyful noise, everybody!

Great, thanks! Definitely going to try this.

Looks fantastic. I need to stop looking at these cook threads while I'm eating my puny little lunches. (Or I need to make better lunches. ) The umami powder you mention is very interesting. You just put shiitakes and porchinis in a blender/processor until they're powdered? That's it? Am I the only one who didn't know about this?

Been carrying this cheapo card case for several years now. (I virtually never carry cash.) Other side has a pocket with a plastic window for my license. I still carry it in my back pocket even though it will easily fit in front. I just don't like carrying anything in my front pockets.