This weekend seemed to be a weekend full of smoke for me, or those around me….
One source of smoke was BlueTang getting his smoker fired up to smoke off a few Boston butts, one of them for me. He’s been trying to get his technique just right, and is thinking about possibly competing in one of the local barbecue festivals. We go back and forth on what he thinks works and what doesn’t, and he never seems tho think he’s got it quite right. It seems old BT is a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to his “product”, not a bad thing, but the man can out out some serious eats already, I cannot imagine how good it will be if he DOES think he has it.
Our current conversation revolves around two options, fat cap on or off, and to foil it or not near the end of the cooking. The fat cap is the thick slab of useless fat he prefers to trim off and use for sausage. Pork fat being as hard to come by as I’ve posted previously, I understand that. I, however, prefer to keep it on, as it adds flavor and moisture to the pulled pork. Foiling a butt is still a bit of a mystery to me, I’ve probably been told, but have forgotten BTs exact reason (maybe he’ll chime in down at the comment section). Form what I understand if offer several possibilities;
- it can be to cook off the roast a little faster, they tend to take 10-12 hours if done “low n slow”…
- it can be to prevent the “bark”, that tasty outer rind of fat and smoke flavor, from getting too thick, strong, dark, hard, etc..
- it can be to retain moisture to keep the butt from drying out too much
- or possibly to catch the final rendered fat to add back in
…again, I’m not sure 🙂 I know I like the bark nice and strong, and to me wrapping seems like a waste of foil…BTs product is mighty fine as a straight run, no foil.
So in our discussions, we arrived at a lovely solution. At the same time,”We” cook four butts:
- cap on, no foil
- cap off no foil
- cap on foil
- cap off foil
…and we taste them next to each other. (My first “we” was in quotes, since he does everything, I just provide two butts. And listen to his stories of growing up in Stuart when it was a tiny dot on the map.) I’m looking forward to it…
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The second occurrence of smoke involves RidgeRunner and his group at the Treasure Coast Muzzleloaders club. RidgeRunner invited me out to one of their monthly shoots. I got to meet some of the regular members, talk guns, and shoot the bull with some guys that REALLY knew how to spin a tale. I didn’t do any shooting, though plenty was offered to me. I was more interested in getting to know the club members, call it an investment in my future…
Well run, I learned quite a few things, questions I’d always had regarding flintlocks, one of them being “how do you not loose the priming powder when you are out hunting?”. It seems the frizzen pivots down to act as a cap to the pan. I didn’t know that….
Writing about it does it no justice. Shooting is fun. Shooting black powder is MORE fun! Plus there is a level of history involved that makes it a learning experience as well. Stories of the hows and whys of the evolution of firearms, particularly the black powder era are fascinating. The elegance of the working mechanism astounds me, when you think they were designed and built long before we had CAD or milling machines. The simplicity of the operation is really amazing. If you’ve ever had an interest, some on out, they’d love to have you. I’m joining, if only to hear the stories. And talk about some SHOOTERS! They may be somebody’s grandfather when they walk down the street, but put a “smoke pole” in their hands, and they’ll shoot the eyes out of a squirrel at 50 yards.I saw some shooting that was simply impressive.
A friend of mine and RidgeRunner’s, we’ll call him GlockSmack (to protect his secret identity) also showed up for his fisrt time as well. Here are some shots of him trying out his first black powder shot. It brings a whole new meaning to “ready, aim, FIRE!”
I think he was hooked. By the time I got home from the shoot, I had an email from him asking for the pictures I took. By the way, he arrived in beat up Toyota SUV he refers to as “the Bug Out vehicle”. He’ll do.
And RidgeRunner himself showed me his technique for putting meat in the pot.
RR was in the process of adjusting to his new front sight, something he had just recently installed. It was shooting low, so he simply took a file to it, trimming it down, and resolved his problem. Try doing THAT with an AR15!
If you want to get involved, or just see what its like, more information can be had by contacting RidgeRunner (Hank) via email at TCM @ floridahillbilly.com (remove the spaces around the “@”)
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My third smoke story involves a failed trial run on a boat, but I’m not going to get into it, or mention names. You know who you are. I’ll simply say that you are surrounded by family and friends that love you, and you’ve worked hard for what you have earned. It seems that your life is running smoothly, due to your efforts, and you should realize by now that you will have a bit of trouble now and then, you of all people know how adversity can make you stronger. So just smile and realize things could be worse…you didn’t have to swim home, right?
And isn’t this what I talk about all the time, preparing for bad times? You’ll be fine….and like I told you before, it will make a great story…We love you, man!
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So that was my smokey weekend. Butts, black powder, and boats. Just another average weekend for a FloridaHillbilly.
Peace,
db