Will some people NEVER understand?!


 
I don’t cook on the hillbilly hearth, it’s mostly for burning yard trimmings from the walnut tree. Brush, twigs and such. Now and again, I throw a log or two on if we are playing music or just enjoying the cool air of a Michigan spring or fall evening.
 
My Mother-in-Law is actually a pretty active griller.

She uses these pressed paper pucks that her husband brought home from working at a printing press. Has a whole tub of them but still uses very sparingly.
 
Before my father in law passed away, I would cook on an 18” Jumbo Joe at his house. Normally just right out the front door and on the side of the street in the neighborhood. It was wild to me how many neighbors walked by and asked me how to start a charcoal grill.
 
Like life, I look at everyone in bbq as ‘That’s where they are at’. Heck, I’m usually burning and learning. If I’m doing something wrong, or there’s a better way to go, I’m the first to take advice from someone who has been there/done that. In my experience, most others will not, so I mostly mind my own business unless asked.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Thanks to this site, I have not had any real disasters aside from the wings a couple of weeks ago. Those were victims of sheer negligence on my part, I got chatting!
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Yeah, sheer negligence can take a toll. Fortunately the Italian sausage I put on before I wandered off smelled so good that I was reminded.

Folks, getting old is going to kill us one of these days!
 
In the 70s, 4-H had a chicken-Q contest. We cooked over direct heat on the little round open-top grills. We were taught to use the coffee can as a starter, and we used lighter fluid. It worked really well.

Even with the fluid, the fire is small at first once the fluid-flames go down. There would always be a kid or two who had not practiced and, fearing his charcoal was not lit, would pour the fluid to it repeatedly. It was good entertainment for the rest of us.

Some kids would also screw up in the time-limit contest by buying the biggest chicken they could find. (We cooked them in split halves.) Time would run out while they tried to get their big bird done, and they’d serve the judges pink chicken. There were no meat thermometers available, so we tested doneness by seeing the drumstick bone would turn in the joint. We used cotton gloves to turn and test the chicken; no tongs. We had to make our own BBQ sauce; wish I had the recipe my mother devised for me. During the cook, we basted the chicken with a butter sauce, to keep the skin from blistering, before applying the BBQ sauce

I won our local Parish contest two years in a row, to my great surprise as one of the youngest contestants, but could not get in the purple ribbon group at regionals to advance to state. Settled for two blue ribbons at regionals and retired. Good times.
 
I just finished off a box of the Weber, slower than snot on a frosty morning lol, I will buy a chimney to use at home and might try those other starters called tumble weeds when I am traveling, I can set the chimney on the performer burner and have it up to temp pretty quick I am thinking. Been wanting a ribeye for a few weeks but prices have been crazy, wife bought 4-5 packs yesterday with 3-4 in each for $6.99 at Kroger's . Grilled up a pack on the JJ and they were great, to busy to get a picture will try to do better next time lol.
 
MikeCantell said:
I just finished off a box of the Weber, slower than snot on a frosty morning lol, I will buy a chimney to use at home and might try those other starters called tumble weeds when I am traveling, I can set the chimney on the performer burner and have it up to temp pretty quick I am thinking. Been wanting a ribeye for a few weeks but prices have been crazy, wife bought 4-5 packs yesterday with 3-4 in each for $6.99 at Kroger's . Grilled up a pack on the JJ and they were great, to busy to get a picture will try to do better next time lol.
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I tried Royal Oak tumble weeds a couple years ago, and I was impressed. They lit easily and provided a tall flame. I got them at a Wal Mart during the earlier stages of the lockdowns. I had trouble finding them after I went through that 1 box, so I ordered an off brand from Amazon. I figured they would be similar, and the off brand had more per package than RO. I was proven wrong. Apologies for not recalling the brand name right now, but they were lackluster to say the least. So not all tumbleweeds are equal.
 
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