Jerry N.
TVWBB Emerald Member
Cooked today for the first time in over a year. Two things ran through my mind all day. First, the Glenn Frey song - The Meat Is On (okay I adlibbed a bit there) and second, the Arby's commercial - We have the meats!
I cooked some ribs and some beef short ribs. They weren't as good as I've done in the past, but pretty good for being out of practice.
The last year or so has been a challenge. I moved, downsized, dealt with DW's medical challenge among a few other things. In the downsizing process, I gave up my 18" WSM and kept my 1880. I didn't really want to smoke on my 1880 but with the introduction of the 14" WSM, the 1880 doesn't have the same value or appeal it once had so I decided to just go ahead and cook on it. Given that I had never cooked on it, it was a bit of a challenge but overall, it went well. The worse thing was that the temp kept getting away from me. I choked it down and did alright but as I finished and took the meat off, I realized that one of the vents, that I thought was closed, was entirely open. Not sure what happened, but seeing as it did not have a vent stop and it was loose (turns very easy), I probably just over shot the closed position. I think that if I'm going to keep and use the 1880, I'll need to replace the vents.
Anyway, the ribs turned out good and the beef could have used a bit more time but by that time, The Heat Was Gone. It felt good to get back on the smoking wagon. DW was very happy as well. It was a good day. Even the weather fully cooperated. It was a beautiful day here.
Hope everyone else had a great weekend.
I cooked some ribs and some beef short ribs. They weren't as good as I've done in the past, but pretty good for being out of practice.
The last year or so has been a challenge. I moved, downsized, dealt with DW's medical challenge among a few other things. In the downsizing process, I gave up my 18" WSM and kept my 1880. I didn't really want to smoke on my 1880 but with the introduction of the 14" WSM, the 1880 doesn't have the same value or appeal it once had so I decided to just go ahead and cook on it. Given that I had never cooked on it, it was a bit of a challenge but overall, it went well. The worse thing was that the temp kept getting away from me. I choked it down and did alright but as I finished and took the meat off, I realized that one of the vents, that I thought was closed, was entirely open. Not sure what happened, but seeing as it did not have a vent stop and it was loose (turns very easy), I probably just over shot the closed position. I think that if I'm going to keep and use the 1880, I'll need to replace the vents.
Anyway, the ribs turned out good and the beef could have used a bit more time but by that time, The Heat Was Gone. It felt good to get back on the smoking wagon. DW was very happy as well. It was a good day. Even the weather fully cooperated. It was a beautiful day here.
Hope everyone else had a great weekend.
