Thurston Fluff

I used to use the propane with a wood chip basket in it but changed to all natural fire in a larger pan. Maybe it's in my head but I think it turns out better. A friend of mine who also does a lot of smoking agrees. We came to the conclusion it might be because of the variance in temperatures is greater than when I used the propane to regulate the heat. Either that or with the heat coming totally from the wood it ends up getting a fuller spectrum of the smoke flavor. Not sure though just believe it is slightly better. Having an OCD border collie really helps on the early morning startups. She'll go a full 8-12 hours if I want. Really helps with winter smoking. Doing it on a Sunday means you can listen to a Brewers game for a portion of it as well. Wiffle ball is also a good way to pass time. Biggest hassle for me is when I do things like pork butt or shoulder or a brisket which means getting up anywhere between 3-5 am to start it. Not a morning person but, as you said, it is worth it.

I smoke at 150 until it hits around 140 then usually finish on the grill or in the oven. If I'm doing a pork butt or just want to finish in the smoker I just run the temp up after it hits around 140. As far as the danger zone A smoking temperature of 150 is safe temperature to smoke at for whole cuts of meat, because bacteria grows on the surface of food and smoke has anti-microbial effect. I sear my meat to make sure any surface bacteria is killed. If the food has not been cured, then you need to make sure that you can accurately monitor the cabinet temperature, because you are very close to the danger zone of 140 F. A lot of people say that once you go over 180 your are no longer smoking; you are technically barbecuing. So I aim for 150 as the low and let it bounce to 180. I tend to bounce my heat up and down a little because I end up with better results. It mimics the Texas style that rotates closer to the fire then away again. If you had problems with the texture in brisket, or any tougher cut of meat for that matter, the longer you can keep it between 110 and 120 it helps break down the meat better. Here is an explanation of what happens at certain temps. http://www.scienceofcooking.com/meat/slow_cooking1.htm One thing I've noticed is meat tends to hit a stall point where the temp seems like it sits forever. I smoke through to where it starts to go up again and finish it on a grill or in the oven. You can easily over smoke chicken but it helps a lot to use fruit wood as opposed to oak, mesquite or hickory type woods. one thing you have to get used to with chicken is the longer you smoke it the worse the skin turns out. If you are really into chicken skin then smoking it is not for you. The meat though is outstanding. Wood wise as a general rule I use cherry for chicken, sugar maple for pork, oak for beef and alder or olive for fish. Avoid using bark if you can. raw12 if you want an easy smoke to start with that takes very little time try steak. I get my smoker up to temp and smoke them for 1/2 an hour then finish them in the broiler for 2 1/2- 3 minutes each side. Quick easy and no real time spent. A beef loin can be done in about 4 hours to a temp around 130. I tend to think medium rare is burnt so take that into account. Though smoking beef firms up the mushiness that some people don't like when done rare.

I do and love it. Do you have a propane assist or is it straight up wood? If you would like there are a few adjustments to the smoker that I found to be useful. The time commitment is real but you can usually get away with about four hours of smoke time and still end up with a decent end product. You don't even need four hours if you are smoking chicken cut into pieces. I smoke steaks for about half an hour and finish them on the grill or broil them. Not only do you get the smoke flavor but the smoke process firms up the steak so rare steaks aren't so mushy. You can also smoke a full beef loin in about 4 hours that turns out really well. Pork butt and brisket takes longer. Ribs are fine after four hours then wrap them in foil and finish in the grill or in the oven. I tend to smoke my stuff at around 150 instead of 250 as it leads to less dry meat. I have heard that isn't high enough a temp but have done so for over 20 years and have never had any trouble at all. Feel free to ask about specific cuts of meat and which wood to use.

I think you might have missed the main point of the article if you still think that was the goal. I know you believe he is doing it the Atros way but I sure hope tanking for five years to get one magical sub 90 win wild card season before going back to sucksville again isn't the plan. I read the article but the team will need to be on the 25 year rebuilding plan if the main tool is adding Villar, Carter, and Junior which are the only Stearns added players who have done much. The team is worse than last year -on pace for 66 wins - and the farm system has under performed. Yes it's too early to give Stearns a grade but based off the non draft tools it sure isn't great. The goal is to acquire talent in all areas, not tank and lay all our eggs in the top draft pick basket. They are expected to be very big in the international market this season. That does not require tanking. They are even rumored to be looking at 28 year old Cuban defector Yadiel Hernandez as a free agent. That does not require tanking. Nor does it make any sense at all to even look into him if the plan is to tank for several years like you keep saying the plan is. There is ample evidence showing tanking for the draft pick is not the goal. While it is a nice perk of rebuilding I just don't get your insistence that tanking for the high pick is the main goal. There is no evidence to that effect other than he came from the Astros so he must be copying their MO. At this point one has to wonder why copying the Astros plan is a good idea anyway.

They have mowed their lawn exactly once this year and never so much as said thank you for me snowblowing their sidewalk all winter, let alone chip in for gas. So no, I can't say I am all that fond of either upstairs or downstairs residents. But that is not new for residents there so I don't think it would be better if we got new people. But it might be fun just to see their expression.

When we first moved into our home over 20 years ago the guy who lived next door has some mental health issues. He was very nice on good days but he was very paranoid. He once told me he did better if he didn't watch tv because he felt it was talking to him. Sadly about 15 years ago he commit suicide in the house. Since then the house was sold and rented out. I was talking to the maintenance man a few years ago and he was telling me he couldn't figure out why a tv would shut itself off on occasion in one room upstairs. Everyplace else it was fine. I don't know which room he killed himself in but I do know it was upstairs. A few days ago I was talking to the new neighbors living in the house and they told me it happened to them once. I don't believe in ghosts but that is pretty weird. Not sure I should tell them about what happened or not. Probably creepy enough without knowing the history.

Considering how many shifts teams play now is it any wonder the game has devolved into a strikeout or walk dominated game? Hitters have the choice to succeed by either trying to hit the ball in a way they seem incapable of or working the count to get a walk or mistake pitch. I am not si sure htters are taking pitches and working counts to get into bullpens anymore. Relievers throw harder and have nastier stuff than many starters these days.

I think you might have missed the main point of the article if you still think that was the goal. I know you believe he is doing it the Atros way but I sure hope tanking for five years to get one magical sub 90 win wild card season before going back to sucksville again isn't the plan.

That happens all the time but I never see it done for that reason to start a period. If you are down by one and have the choice take down and go for an escape. The bottom is generally speaking the easiest place to score a point from. I know it's a baseball site but love to talk wrestling. Was a former wrestler and coach myself. Coached everything from pee wee to college at one point or another. If you want to PM me I would love to talk strategy, or anything wrestling related for that matter, but I'm guessing the mods would like to keep it on subject.

Since each wrestler gets a choice, in either the second or third period, you still have to give up the point if you want to take it to the feet if the other guy chooses down. Which most wrestlers do because of that. All the neutral choice does is allow a guy to avoid going on the bottom if he is facing a tough rider, is worried about riding time or is looking to get a five point TD/NF combo or a pin. That usually happens when someone is far behind and needs a big score or trying to pin someone for the team points.

I don't think it has much to do with how well the team is playing as it does the manager being the wrong guy for what the team wants going forward.

And the reason they made it illegal was because it was dangerous. Either way the legality is irrelevant to the point. Whether that was legal or not it was done to hurt him. With the exception of a complete misfire, which can happen with the same results on any pitch, the odds of them accidentally missing and hitting the head instead of the backside on a fastball is infinitesimally small. If any pitcher was that far off they wouldn't be in the majors.

Nobody's head was thrown at. As far as punching someone in the face I tend to think it's more bush to slide into someone's knees in an attempt to hurt them than to stand toe to toe in a fight and land the best punch.

Every single quote published in a newspaper is cleaned up. And not just from athletes. We speak in an entirely different way than we write. So even in conversation a given stametn seems fine it can look ridiculous in print. They clean up quotes to take out non words and unintelligible noises and such. usually with ... on each side. It is more problematic to change word order or phrases. Given how often we hear people claim they were misquoted or taken out of context I think it should be apparent for the need to keep quotes as close the the actual words and phrases as possible and still be readable. When a situation like this comes up they just shouldn't use direct quotes. There is nothing wrong with saying you are paraphrasing for clarity due to Gomez speaking a second language. There is something wrong with saying it is a quote when it really isn't. It creates a vague, grey area where the reader doesn't know if the writer took liberties with the meaning or what. I am not defending what the writer did in this instance. It was bush. I think the direct quotes created a false impression of Gomez and it was intentional. A quote should never be used for that at all.

Seattle drafted Fernando Vina from the Mets and after 45 at-bats gave him back. Shane Victorino was drafted by the Padres from Dodgers then returned to Dodgers in May. Miguel Batista was taken by the Pirates from Expos and returned to Expos in April. It is way too early to give up on any player even if he isn't going to be Johan Santana or Josh Hamilton type picks.

I agree it was bush. I disagree they should clean up a quote though. A quote should be a direct word for word translation. There is enough trouble these says with quotes being taken out of context to start taking liberties with what is actually said. I think if the quote doesn't look or feel right due to language barriers, context or whatever then don't use direct quotes. Paraphrase and say you're paraphrasing due to language barriers. Gomez always seemed like a thoughtful person and certainly didn't deserve to be made to look stupid like that.

While that is a very reasonable argument I don't think he is ever going to be more than a bench player. If that is how the Brewers view him the real question is he better off learning to be a part time player by being a part time player in the majors or in getting regular playing time in AAA and not really ever adjusting to sporadic play? I guess they could send him down and make him a bench player in AAA to learn how to there but I don't think that ever happens. Not to go off subject too far but I often wonder why teams don't use players in the bench player role if they are going to be that in the majors.

I think he's going to have to learn to take a few more walks before he gets called up. In years past maybe he'd get the call a little early but Stearns seems to like on base guys and Arcia isn't exactly lighting it up in that department. I seriously doubt he gets anything more than an emergency call up or as the roster expands in September unless he really picks up his on base skills.

i remember reading an article where Melvin mentioned he planned on flipping Junior Spivey almost as soon as he traded for him but decided to keep him for a while. I don't remember the reason he gave but I think it might have had something to do with Week's time table. Whatever the reason Spivey was flipped eventually. Just not exactly at the high point of his trade value.

I am kind of interested in seeing what he can do. While he isn't young finding someone who can contribute for a year or so has some value.

While I agree he isn't a fit for what we are doing for the future we have to get through this season as well. Trotting out guys who can't go more than five innings is going to burn out some arms. That isn't good for the future either.

At this point I will be excited about any starter who can go more than 5 innings.

I don't think someone who cannot actually hit at all can maintain a high enough OBP. At this point in the season a couple walks makes an OBP look good. Eventually pitchers are going to realize he can't hit and pound the zone. While he will still get a few walks out of pitchers who cannot throw strikes those guys don't stay in the majors very long. Hoping to get enough poor control pitchers to maintain a high OBP over any appreciable amount of at bats is not a very good strategy for a long major league career.

Which is doubly impressive when you consider Ben counted everytime the bat made contact with a ball as a hit.

With Perez up now it is more feasible to do that. That said I think I'd rather let Cecchini stay in AAA for a good couple months at least. From what I remember he is trying to regain his swing from a few years ago. I think it would be better for his overall development to do that in AAA. Let him become good instead of good enough and he might end up helping more down the road.