daninpd

Use some of that post oak you have there, get it to the point to there's 3/4 hot coals and 1/4 smoking wood and then do a fast sear on both sides and move things around a bit to cook to you liking. You might surprise yourself.

If I was planning to put smoke on a burger I would use some oak out of my pasture and get a hot, smoky fire going and burn it down to coals with some smoke and then do the burgers over the hottest part of the fire. For high temps and a sear I'm with @ckreef

I normally take the skin off before curing. One of my favorite cures is Steven Raichlen's "Rum Smoked Salmon" and then he grills the salmon skin to make crispy salmon chips.

It's wonderful to have this group around to start 2019. Happy New Year to all of you.

Well, it's a bit more than that, the way I drive, but it is worth it, watching how Texas goes from flat coastlands to river and hill country in a relatively short distance. And Franklin's is worth the drive. Just saw a Andrew Zimmern show that included Gatlin's and it looks worth trying, next trip.

What is this, a magic trick? Where did it go?

Let us know where you went! I'm going to New Orleans next year and will probably have to visit Houston for a few days.

You left out Oysters! You need to go to Dragos in New Orleans for their flame broiled oysters. That experience will reorder your priorities.

Merry Christmas! As soon as I saw your "Purple Haze" I was transported back to barbecued shrimp at Redfish Grill in New Orleans, drinking Abita Purple Haze. Happy Holidays, indeed.

It's about food being Kosher. For seafood to be Kosher it must have fins and scales. I was a kitchen designer for 40 years and had to learn a lot of stuff to make things functional for a lot of different clients.

You are absolutely right, you have jumped into the deep end of the pool. With the Joe you'll find learning to swim is pretty easy. Watch John's videos in the KJ thread.

A few years ago I was talking to a well known chef about cooking turkey. He said "The only time we cooked a whole turkey in my restaurant in the last 10 years was for a photo shoot." Basically they break down the bird beyond spatch to get light and dark meat cooked just right. So spatchcock is just fine for you. Merry Christmas!

From what I hear from someone here, vegetarian college students consider bacon "It's bacon!" to be acceptable weekend food for vegetarians. So you nailed it with home cured pork belly. At my house a really good bottle of wine would not be turned down...just saying.

Welcome to the forum. Hope your Joe arrives in time for a Merry Christmas. Let us know how it goes. By the way, my cattledogs are named Ripper and Roo.

Welcome to the family. Christmas and New Years is the perfect time for those posts.