Welcome!


This is a membership forum. Guests can view 5 pages for free. To participate, please join.

[ Pitmaster Club Information | Join Now | Login | Contact Us ]

Only 4 free page views remaining.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

David (fuzzydaddy) Polston

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    David (fuzzydaddy) Polston

    Moderator, June 2016 - April 2017

    Hello, David here from Murfreesboro, TN. I am 56 and most of my experience has been in the form of turning on a gas grill, cooking the food until it looked right (whatever that is), then finding out if I was lucky enough to have food worth eating. A few months ago I bought a Big Green Egg based on a recommendation of a friend. I did some searching on cooking on a BGE and found you guys. I have also bought a Thermapen and a ChefAlarm. I am learning a ton thanks to all the wonderful information here and have cooked a couple of turkeys, chickens, and pork butts, all of which were pretty good for my first attempts.


    More about me (June 2016).
    I am 58 and have lived in middle Tennessee my entire life. My wife is from Southgate, Michigan and on May 30 of this year we celebrated our 30th anniversary. We recently purchased a house in Milton, Florida and our plan is to move there permanently when her job no longer requires trips to the office. Living in Florida is a dream we share. We have one son, a granddaughter, and a grandson. Our granddaughter calls me FuzzyDaddy, hence my Pit name.

    I started working for AT&T in November 1976 as a data input clerk and retired as a Senior Network Engineer with Cingular Wireless in December 2004 after learning that my position was being eliminated. I currently work part-time supporting an attorney who is a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee and my work is all web based with no office to ever go to. I use a Windows Laptop, MacBook, iPhone and iPad Mini.

    When I was born my parents owned a restaurant on a major highway (no interstate back then) just outside of Nashville and Dad was the cook. He smoked pork shoulders over hickory coals on an outdoor pit that my Mom’s dad probably built as he previously owned the restaurant and trained my Dad. It was my memories of Dad smoking the pork shoulders and the crusty delicious (fatty) bark that caused me to want to learn how to smoke butts, and I found AmazingRibs via a Google search in late 2014. Butts and Ribs are my favorite meats to smoke so far. The smell of them smoking and seeing the smiles on family and friends faces when they eat my pulled pork and ribs, reminds me that I made a good decision when I decided to learn how to make a product similar to what Dad had made in his younger days. My goals are to cook a much wider variety of foods, share some of what I cook with friends and neighbors and continue to learn. I am honored to be a part of The Pit where we share a love for grilling and bbq, freely share what we know and the food we cook, and encourage others.

    FuzzyDaddy (David) Polston
    Last edited by fuzzydaddy; June 16, 2016, 07:34 AM.

    #2
    Hello David, Welcome to the pit!

    Comment


      #3
      Welcome, pics look great! I used to do the same thing with my gasser, the first things to look done were for people who didn't like well done and the rest were. Sometime the most done was medium, sometimes it was well done a while earlier, just put ketchup on it.

      Comment


      • Huskee
        Huskee commented
        Editing a comment
        Lol.

      #4
      Welcome Fuzzy - this place will definitely help you step up your game

      Comment


        #5
        Welcome aboard David

        Comment


          #6
          Hello David , welcome to the Pit. Those pork butts look great

          Comment


            #7
            Welcome! I never thought I would ever type this on the internet...but here goes... "Nice butts fuzzy daddy". (Big Lol)
            Last edited by Huskee; June 8, 2016, 10:17 AM.

            Comment


              #8
              Thanks everyone! Signature set up and homework done. I am out of town and dying to get back at it...on the BGE. I was fortunate to get Christmas gifts of cash (a few hundred bucks ), so now I've got to decide what to buy next when I'm back home. Maybe a Weber kettle to go with my BGE? Suggestions appreciated.

              Comment


                #9
                If you're interested in a charcoal grill, you cannot go wrong with a Weber kettle, they average about $150 for a 22.5". The Performer version of them comes with it's own table/cart and the platinum vs of the Performer comes with a gas charcoal lighter. If you want a dedicated smoker you can opt for the Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) HUUUUGE fan base for those. Or a Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM). I'm assuming your budget here of 'a few hundred bucks' means the $300 range. You can get a nice large sized 26" Weber Kettle too....the kettles can be used as smokers too for what it's worth. You have several options!

                Comment


                  #10
                  Thanks for the suggestions Huskee! Yep, about $300 bucks to spend. I'l take a look at these...reviews on Amazing Ribs of course.

                  Comment


                    #11
                    Welcome FuzzyD! We're glad you're here. Hmmm, money for a new toy... that's always fun

                    If you want to dedicate two grills to two zone cooking (one runs at low and slow temps and one runs at sear temps (as needed)) you can take the BGE in either direction. It can sear and it can cook low and slow, it just can't do both at the same time. So you're in the befuddling position of deciding which zone you want the BGE to be. Personally, if you have an accessory that lets you get the meat very close to the charcoal (like two inches) I'd use the BGE for searing and get a smoker. The Pit Barrel / BGE combo would be awesome... and then in a couple of months you could also get a Weber Kettle! And then a Hasty Bake... and a Mak... oh wait I started talking about me all of a sudden. lol

                    Basically, we're here to help you catch the barbecue bug and to justify buying about three more grills than you need.

                    What does need mean really anyway?

                    Comment


                      #12
                      AH, btw your signature had been formatted into "webdings" and was nonsensical. We couldn't read it. I copied it into word, deleted all the formatting, bulletized everything, and pasted back into your signature. Take a look and let me know if the new look works for you.

                      Comment


                        #13
                        David P. - My signature looks great (thank-you)...and I've been here long enough before joining the Pit to get the bug. Appreciate the suggestions. It's going to be hard to decide what to get next. I've been doing all low-and-slow on the BGE, but the PBC looks awesome. I'm leaning toward a Weber kettle next...and the Hasty Bake looks fantastic too. Oh well, one purchase at a time!

                        Comment


                          #14
                          Glad to help! I like the kettle idea very much. Weber made several updates to the 2015 model of the One Touch Gold, so when you go shopping make sure you grab model "Weber 14402001 Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill, 22-Inch".

                          Here's a list of the updates (copied from a review on Amazon. I don't have first hand knowledge):


                          1) Handle with shield.
                          This is a great improvement. The old handle had two flaws. It got hot (this one doesn't) and it would rust where it was welded to the kettle lid. This lid has 2 holes and the handle is attached by two bolts. Time will tell, but I think this will solve the rust problem.
                          2) Legs attach with a spring loaded "push pin". A big complaint with the old design was the fear that the legs would come out when trying to move a hot grill. It felt that way because the legs were wobbly. They still are, but the tab gives you peace of mind that they will stay put regardless. The old legs just slid in and were held by friction.
                          3) The thermometer and top vent are now on opposite sides of the handle. Not sure what the benefit is, but there has to be one. I will update this as soon as I figure it out. The hook to hang the lid on the kettle is still under the top vent, so it's a little bit different since the handle is turned differently in relation to it. Gives it a "weird" feel for those of us that are used to the old way.
                          4) The stamped cutouts on the ash catcher are improved. Before, you knew which way you had to turn it to open or close the vents, but what you realized was that 'open' and 'closed' really were closer together than you would have thought. This is more accurately portrayed. The markings are closer together with a "trash" cutout on the far side to show that moving it that far is only necessary to help clean the grill.

                          Comment


                            #15
                            Those are some nice butts fuzzy daddy. Smoke on, Bro'!

                            Comment

                            Announcement

                            Collapse
                            No announcement yet.
                            Working...
                            X
                            false
                            0
                            Guest
                            Guest
                            500
                            ["pitmaster-my-membership","login","join-pitmaster","lostpw","reset-password","special-offers","help","nojs","meat-ups","gifts","authaau-alpha","ebooklogin-start","alpha","start"]
                            false
                            false
                            {"count":0,"link":"/forum/announcements/","debug":""}
                            Yes
                            ["\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1157845-paid-members-download-your-6-deep-dive-guide-ebooks-for-free-here","\/forum\/the-pitcast","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2019-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2020-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2021-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2022-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2023-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2024-issues","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here"]
                            /forum/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here