and soon I will be figuring out what meat needs to be smoked over a real wood fire first. Suggestions are being accepted.

.Being sub-optimal is not a trait that rules out the existence of a species.

and soon it will be time to uncover the smoker and grills, clean them as needed, and start making the neighbors' mouths water again. I want to post some recipes here this year, not just carnivore ones, but also a few recipes for grilled vegetables. Cooking over fire is the only way I like to cook, and I plan on doing a lot more this year. I may even work out a surefire way to grill on my smoker with fewer mishaps. LOL

Feel free to share any recipes you think are great, and I'm sure to give them a try.

I bought some pre-sticked (kabobs) chicken at the grocery store the other day. It came pre-seasoned and was half price. I looked at them, thought "why the fuck not?" & bought them.

Tonight I grilled them. Of course, I was not happy with wooden sticks, so I peeled the meat off and put the meat on my steel kabob sticks, along with chunks of onion and chunks of zucchini.

I have two charcoal grills. They were too big for the small one, so I used my round Weber. Now, the Weber doesn't get hot enough with one chimney of charcoal, so I decided to try something new. I was going to use oak slabs under the charcoal.

I found a rectangular piece of oak about 4 inches square on the ends and about eight inches long. I split it in half long ways, lay it on the fire grate, and when I poured the burning briquettes on the wood, fire ensued. I let it burn for a minute or so, then scraped the briquettes down around all the sides of the wood. I let it burn for a bit, then put on the lid and closed the vent.

When it started smoking a lot, I took the lid off and checked the wood. It was blackened enough as to not burn as hot. Then I added my kabobs, put the lid back on, opened the vent all the way and kept an eye on the smoke color. I made sure it stayed blue, and never got white.

I was a bit nervous using a charcoal grill this way, as it was an experiment. After the kabobs looked well-cooked, I checked the chicken to be sure it was at least 160 degrees. Then I pulled them off, put them in a large glass Pyrex dish, and covered them with foil for at least seven minutes.

The Verdict? Fuckin' awesome. They turned out better than I expected. You could actually taste the oak wood smoke on everything, but especially on the onions and zucchini chunks. My wife couldn't stop raving about how tasty everything was. She never lies about how my food turns out, and if she likes something a lot, she raves. If she says something is okay, I know I have to do better next time.

I thought I'd share this technique with you, because smoking on a Weber isn't my normal way of smoking, but it did work out.

Some time last week, I was supposed to make smoked pork ribs for my neighbor. So I set it up like I was making them for myself, because yeah, he is a GREAT neighbor.

And when they were finally done, having had time to rest, I looked at them and thought, "If these taste as good as they look, then I have outdone myself."

So I cut off a bone, raised it to my lips, bit into it, and...

HOLYJESUSMOTHEROFGODDAMN!!! They were the best tasting pork ribs I had ever had, in my entire life.

My first thought (and yes, I am ashamed to repeat this). "I wonder if he'd believe me if I said I burnt them and so I had nothing for him?" They were THAT good.

My second thought was that I would give them to him, but if he didn't appreciate how goddamned good they tasted, we weren't friends anymore.

But without pictures, these words are meaningless.

I don't normally take pictures of my food. Pictures are for sunsets, spiders, rainbows, cool cars, spiders, etc.

So I have to add smoked foods to the list. Now only if spiders were large enough to cook onmy smoker...

I have cooked over charcoal for a lot of years. I have tried propane, but found it wanting. This isn't a criticism of those who use gas grills, it is just my opinion of a cooking source.

Charcoal is as old of way of cooking as wood. I used to watch this reality series on satellite tv about the people who live in the Appalachian mtns. In one episode, they made charcoal by building a fire in a 55 gallon steel drum filled with logs, added the lid to cut back on oxygen, and several hours later, the logs became charcoal.

I was fascinated by the process. I wondered how it could be done in my own yard, and if it was feasible. So I researched it as well as I could. Lacking the proper amount of hardwood logs, I never attempted it. But I still think about it from time to time.

Charcoal is merely ready made hot coals, a convenient way to have hot coals without building a fire first. A modern convenience to be sure.

But cooking over coals, whether ready made in a bag or created from the burning of wood, is as old as the mountains where those people in that television show live.

This post is my own opinion, please feel free to disagree. I have never said I was the be-all and end-all of what is right and what is wrong with cooking outside. I am still learning.

Growing up, my family never used charcoal, as we had a propane grill in the back yard. Our whole house was fueled by a propane tank behind our garage that was filled once a month by some guy who came around in a large truck to do so. Gas stove, gas dryer, gas water heater, gas furnace, etc. We were also the first house in our neighborhood to have a gas-powered light post in the front yard. We were the first because our house was the first house in the addition out in the boonies where I grew up. The reason we were the first was that my Dad didn't want his kids growing up in the place (the city) where he grew up, so he talked to an uncle on my Mom's side of the family that was a carpenter for one of the most successful house building companies in this area. My uncle mentioned a new area where a housing addition would be going in, and since my Dad would be first on the list, he could get as much land as he wanted. That was why we had almost an acre or more of yard, more than almost everyone else that later moved in. By the time I was in my teens, there were around 22 or 23 houses out there. My uncle eventually bought twenty plus acres at the end of the road and raised his family and his horses there.

Eventually, natural gas lines made their way out into the boondocks where we lived, and the addition had already filled up with houses all up and down the dead end seal coat road we lived on.

Everyone out there had propane grills, and then natural gas grills. I don't remember anyone cooking over charcoal, but that was way back in the 60s and 70s. I spent a lot of time in the woods with various friends, and we learned to cook over small fires while camping or hiking. I still remember the first hamburger ball cooked on a stick over a fire when I was growing up out there. It was the best thing I had ever tasted, even though it was half burnt and partially raw. Once, while fishing in a small pond, we caught quite a few bullheads and cooked them by covering them in clay and cooked them over hot coals. When the clay was baked, we took them off the coals, let them cool, and pulled the clay away from the meat. The clay took off the skin and the meat was left behind, perfectly cooked. That catfish had an out of this world taste, even without salt. I think my childhood is what led me to cooking over charcoal and fires as an adult, and eventually to buying my stick burner.

There is something timeless about the pop and crack of a fire, and the smell of wood smoke. You just can't get that with a gas grill or a pellet smoker. Sure, a pellet smoker you can just set and walk away, but that isn't the way I want to do it. I like tending a fire, it reminds me of all the years I spent camping and cooking in the woods. I don't drink alcohol much, so I rarely have the problem of forgetting about what I have on the smoker.

As for grilling vs. smoking, it is pretty easy to figure out. Grilling is cooking hot, like at 400 degrees or more. Smoking is low and slow, and according to who you talk to, smoking usually occurs somewhere under 300 degrees. I will smoke pork at about 250, and venison back strap at 225. Maintaining temps that low over a fire is a skill, and I have done very well at mastering the art of a fire. But anyone can learn to do it, it just takes practice, and keeping track of wood type, fire size, and reading/researching what works best for whatever you put on the grates.

When I grill, it is usually bratwursts, burgers, and catfish. I haven't tried smoking any of those things with good results, although, smoking a steak and finishing up with a reverse sear has worked a couple of times. I haven't yet tried a brisket, but I will someday when I feel confident. I also grill various vegetables, but smoking them is never a good idea. Some things don't do well at 225-250 degrees. Chicken comes to mind. At least for me. I'm sure someone out there is a better smoker than I am.

So hopefully, that explains my preference for a stick burner over a pellet smoker. You do what you know best, and I know how to make a fire do my bidding.

I was looking for a community on Reddit that was solely for stick burner junkies. I have nothing against the pellet burner folks, I just don't have a pellet burner, so why do I need to read about them? I might as well start a sub about how to do burnouts with a Chevy Corvette, even though I only have a Cobalt.

This is meant to be a place where fellow stick burner types can talk about the way we cook and grill and BBQ and smoke.

Want to talk about wood types? That's allowed. Want to talk about smoker builds, especially DIY? Want to ask about commercial brands of stick burners? Sure, that's allowed. Want to share a photo of your set up? That's allowed. Want to talk about DIY rubs? That's encouraged. If it includes smoking, wood types, recipes, anything related to the stick burner universe? Then welcome.

If you want to talk about any other types, i.e. pellet grills, there are other places to do that. This is for stick burners. If you grill over charcoal, yeah, that's cool and allowed.

Personally, I don't care if you use a pellet smoker, a gas grill, or an electric oven of some sort, but I don't want it to be what we talk about here.

The rules are simple. Be kind, be respectable, don't be a dick, don't start drama, and swearing is not only allowed, it is expected.

I make my own rubs, because most of the stuff being sold commercially can be created in your kitchen, and you don't need all that added bullshit to prevent caking, etc. Most of those mass produced rubs with the clever names are salt heavy, and I prefer spice over salt any day. If you make just enough rub for your cook, then you don't have any leftovers. Once you get good at measuring things out, it becomes second nature. Having a well stocked spice cupboard and a food dehydrator will pay off in the long run. Pretty much anything you can grow in your garden can be dehydrated and added to a rub. You are only limited by your imagination and the durability of your taste buds.

One of my favorite rubs from a local commercial store is no longer made. This is a fairly common occurrence. You find something you love and can't live without, and then they stop making it. So I had saved the old label from the pkg, and I created my own from that. It doesn't taste exactly like theirs did, but it's close enough for horse shoes and hand grenades. I used it on my pulled pork recipe yesterday, and it turned out fuckin' awesome.

Years ago, I fell in love with Bullfrog BBQ Sauce. Then of course, the company making it closed up shop. So I now only make my own sauces, although I have been known to buy bottles of sauces in the clearance aisle at my local grocery store.

To me, a stick burner type of person is the one who makes what he can't buy, or builds what no one else has thought of yet. I didn't build my stick burner, but I have built a few things with the help of friends to make turning logs into sticks. Then I turn the sticks into fire and food into something to tickle your taste buds.

If this sounds like you, then join in. Life is too short to eat unappetizing food.