CheezWizHed

I can't speak to sous vide and how it turns out. I have friends that swear by it, but seems like a specialty thing where it is harder to make large quantities of food. I'll let Baldkin sing its praises. But that isn't grilling or smoking, so I'd probably go there after figuring out what you want for a grill. From what you are cooking, it sounds like you want to grill, not smoke. So you probably want a Green Egg or Weber. Either of those will handle charcoal grilling well while still allowing you to do intro to smoking stuff with indirect cooking (poultry or smaller roasts). I have a Weber 26" charcoal grill with grill "wings" you can lift and add charcoal without removing the grate for longer cooks like a turkey. I've done longer cooks like pulled pork on it, but it is annoying to be feeding it every hour. FYI, I've had my weber grill for about 20 years now. I've replaced the grate a few times and the ash collection system once. I used to put a cover on it, but it really doesn't need it. Just a really simple well-made product that has stood the test of time. From what I've heard, Traeger's are not great for grilling, wonderful for "leave it and forget it smoking", but don't leave a strong smoke flavor to foods (none of the pellets do). But I don't own one. This would be the high-cost "easy entry" to smoking. I personally have a Pit Barrel smoker and have heard good things about the Weber Smokey Mountain. I love my Pit Barrel for its simplicity, but everything hangs so if I smoke a large quantity, I can't finish it on the grate when the meats get very tender. For most things it is great, but occasionally it is annoying. Right now, I'm looking into the Chargriller Gravity Fed 980. Just don't waste your money at the big-box store cheap smoker grills. They tend to leak and you will fight them tooth and nail to keep them at temperature. I'll do anything from burgers and brats to pulled pork, ribs, brisket, and hot-smoked bacon on my setups. I've cooked enough pulled pork for a picnic of 100 people or so (32 lbs) at one time. I'll also recommend amazingribs.com as my favorite website. They'll do product reviews, but also lots of recipes and coaching on how to get better at grilling and smoking. Welcome to the family!

My gut feeling was not a chance, but looking closer, Cooper has been around a 800 OPS 1B in the MLB for the last 3 years. Still wouldn't have Feliciano in that trade as I believe he will be shooting up into the top 100 list this year. If the Marlins have a decent 1B prospect coming up, that might make it easier to part with him. Though it would be weird to be yelling "COOOOOOP" for our left-handed 1B again...

Nice... I might have to raid the strawberry pyramid as they are ripening soon. My wife might be upset though...and the kids.

This reminds me of when Tom Hanks asks his limo driver to take him clothes shopping in "Joe vs. the Volcano". The limo driver says he can't tell him what clothes to buy because he doesn't know who Joe is and clothes define who you are. What to buy for grilling/smoking is very much dependent on the type of cook you are. Can you characterize what you want to do and/or accomplish? What do you want to cook? For how many? How often? Cooking skill?

I doubt they would. Similar to Favre skipping minicamp back in the day too.

*Ring, Ring*... Thank you for calling the Buck's Buy-a-Bucket program. Unfortunately, we are sold out and waiting on our suppliers to deliver more. But for tonight, the Buck's can not buy a bucket. *click*

If I were an IRS agent, I know who would be getting some special attention...

Well, I'm guessing the people who run the team do think it matters.

[sarcasm]Lose to the Cubs? Please take your negativity elsewhere![/sarcasm]

Great job! Keep it up!

Until Rodgers gets hurt and our playoff hopes are in the hands of a UDFA. Also, remember that Rodgers was declining for a couple of years prior to the pick (still playing well, but declining). And at his age, the Packers were right to have some concerns. But, if all Love did was light a fire under Rodgers, it was worth it.

It was going so well...

Great...as if the umps aren't blind enough already...

The funny thing is that I already have one just like it!

We'd probably get more rivalry votes from the Cardinals if we still untuckem'ed.

I was fortunate to listen to Bob Uecker for most of Juan Nieves' no-hitter back in 1987 (I missed the beginning of it); though it took me a bit to figure out he actually had a no-hitter since you didn't talk about it then. Will this finally be the year that we break the drought? We certainly have a couple of things going for us: - Three pitchers that legitimately have a chance to go no-hit on any given night. - A dead-ball year or reduced offense year (however you want to term it). But which one will pull it off? Woodruff seems to have the best chance as he tends to have lower pitch counts than Burnes and Peralta. But really any of them could pull off the feat. So do you think we will see a no-no this year?

Yes, agreed. I lived on the IL/WI border (working in IL) for 8 years. Cubs/Cardinals are obviously the #1 rival (and ironically hating the Cardinals is the only thing Cubs and Brewers fans agree on). But there have been plenty of ugly games and rival moments. The proximity of Milwaukee and Chicago builds it up too. As does the fact that after the Braves left, many WI people became Cubs fans... My boss at Motorola wanted to take us to a Cubs game, but couldn't get enough tickets for the team. I convinced him to go to a Milwaukee/Cubs game in Milwaukee instead. I've never been to an uglier game with people throwing things and swearing at each other. Certainly they are rivals.

#1: Cubs (50) - Both from the competitiveness of the teams, big games, and "fan fighting" #2: Cardinals (35) - I'd say the rivalry died a bit with Matheny leaving, but still competitiveness and big games. Not as much fan vs. fan. Then I'd say the Twins as much as the Pirates or Reds (5 each). Just from the AL history and proximity. Granted, I've lived most of my life on the west side of WI and now MN.

[sarcasm]Of course, LaRussa came back into the league in 2021...[/sarcasm]

Really hard to prove or disprove "talent levels" for either team. Obviously if you win the NBA championship, your team has a lot of talent. Probably the difference is that Jordan's talent was typically "homegrown" (Rodman being the main exception compared to Pippen and Kukoc being drafted/developed). LBJ just likes to go somewhere and recruit all-stars from other teams to play with him (Wade was already in Miami, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, AD). Cleveland being the main exception - though he kind of tried with Kevin Love - it just flopped on him. Different times though, so who knows if MJ would've done the same if he played now...

I don't know art, but I know what I like. This ain't it.

I'm sure there are some legit supply issues going on also (slaughter house cyber attack, gasoline supply cyber attack). But I was at a restaurant recently that I visited prior to the pandemic and was stunned at the price increase...

I certainly agree the eras are different - especially how defense is played. The man-only defense of Jordan's era did allow him to shine as his one-on-one skills were incredible. I shutter to think what Giannis would do if the "wall" was illegal. Sorry, but you won't sell me on the Pippen superstar concept. Maybe my standards are just higher. Pippen just couldn't carry a team like a superstar does. He was a very good player; just not a superstar. When I compare him to Khris, I'm talking about their peaks. Khris took longer to get there and Pippen had a nice long career. But Khris' impact right now to the team is similar to Pippin's impact to the Bulls, IMO. Neither will carry the team to a championship.