On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 16:40:50 -0700, Grant Erwin
wrote:

OK, I'm going to sound like a lovestruck baby, but I took a local
blacksmithing class this weekend (my first ever) and oh boy does
this open up a whole new vista! Anyway, this isn't a blacksmithing
plug. I'm now seriously into 3 things that I can see merging into
a really great project.

Cooking, machining, and blacksmithing. Barbecue/smoker, anyone?

Seems like there has *got* to be a to-die-for BBQ design out there
that you need to know about metal cutting/welding/propane orifices/
piping/forging/cooking to pull off right. Maybe electrical too if
the design had a rotisserie mode.

Anyone know of a really cool design? Maybe start with a leftover
chunk of Alaska Pipeline (well not that big, that stuff was 48"OD)
or some other pipe, put a perfect cut on it with a plasma cutter,
forge some really cool handles and stand, you get the idea.

Grant Erwin
Kirkland, Washington

Barbeque means a lot of different things around the country. Up here
in Michigan, I found out it means hot dogs and hamburgers. In Texas,
it's brisket (plus sausage, ribs, and chicken for variety) for 12-14
hours with a wood fire, not charcoal, and definitely not gas. The
brisket must be fresh, or you won't get the bright red nitrate ring
that says barbeque. Sauce is a side dish, not for mopping. Mopping
sauce is 1/2 water, 1/4 oil, 1/4 vinegar, with an onion cooked in the
oil, salt and pepper (never pepper the meat).

I do mine with a german style pit (firebox on the end). I prefer
pecan or oak wood, but up here I've used maple, because it's what I
could get. Works ok.

Pits can be as fancy as you want, just put the firebox low and have
enough stack for some draw. I rotate the briskets (untrimmed, about
10-12 lb. each) and mop once an hour to even out the cooking.

Trim the black and fat off the outside when done. I use the remains
of the mopping sauce (full of smoke and drippings by now) to make the
barbeque sauce, which isn't ever the same twice.

Matter of fact, I'm going to do a barbeque in a few weeks. Hope it
doesn't snow.

Pete Keillor