Next year

[TomfromtheSoo]

Oak Smoke Thanks for posting the question cause it gave me a minute to reflect.

For fresh fish we have Lake Superior Whitefish and Lake Trout. Not sure what happened but we used to grill that at least once a week but I didn’t do hardly any this year. I’d like to get that back in the rotation regularly. We would have cedar planked, grilled or griddled whitefish or lake trout for tacos or dinner. Grilled whitefish fillets for breakfast with eggs and grilled peaches or plums is killer. My fish monger is only about 1-1/2 miles away.

Another thing I would like to do is more campfire cooking. We campground host for a month and this year bought a cheap hibachi and that worked well for the two of us but I would like to do more Dutch oven campfire cooking. Charro beans, pork butt tacos, etc.

[Oak Smoke]

You’ll love the Dutch oven campfire cooking. I bought the daughter the Lodge book on that subject 2 years ago. She is incredible at it now. They love to camp so she get plenty of practice.

[captainlee]

I really like a Whitefish spread on crackers. You just can't find that here.

[Whiskeyman53]

Use my outdoor pizza oven more. More rotisserie cooks Just get outside more during the winter months and light up some charcoal. I would also like to expand my grilling to include more international dishes. But who am I kidding, it’s just easier to use the pellet grill or push a button to light the gasser.

[bbqLuv]

I am wanting to expand my knowledge on smoking/grilling/Traegerizing seafood.
Below I found on internet research, I done did.
I am glad to share and welcome any and all feedback
Preheat the Grill Temperature: 375–400°F

Pellets: Mild woods work best—alder, apple, cherry, or pecan

2. Prep the Fish
Pat dry (important for good texture)
Lightly oil both sides
Season simply: Salt & pepper
Optional: garlic powder, lemon zest, paprika, or dill

3. Grill the Fish Place fish skin-side down (if it has skin)
Close lid and cook:
Thin fillets: 6–8 minutes
Thicker fillets (salmon, halibut): 10–15 minutes
Flip only if needed (often you don’t have to)

4. Check Doneness
Internal temp: 130–135°F (medium, juicy)
Flakes easily with a fork
Slightly translucent center is OK (it finishes resting)

Low-and-Slow Smoked Fish (More Smoke Flavor)
Best for salmon, trout, or steelhead.
Grill temp: 180–225°F
Cook time: 45–75 minutes
Pull at 125–130°F

Optional glaze during last 10 minutes:
Butter + lemon
Dijon + olive oil
Sugar-free maple-style glaze if managing A1c

Cedar Plank Option (No Sticking, Extra Flavor)
Soak plank 1–2 hours
Grill at 375°F
Place fish on plank, not directly on grates
Cook 15–20 minutes

Fish-Specific Tips
Fish Type Best Temp Notes
Salmon 375°F Skin-on preferred
Cod 400°F Use grill mat or foil
Halibut 375–400°F Thicker cuts work best
Trout 350–375°F Great whole or fillet
Tuna 450°F Sear 1–2 min/side

Prevent Sticking
Clean grates well
Oil fish, not grates
Use a grill mat or foil for delicate fish

[cruiseplanner1]

If you are smoking Salmon/Trout/Whitefish other than for a meal use a wet brine 1G water, 1 1/2 cups Kosher Salt, 2/3 cup brown sugar. 2 Bay leaf. Soak overnight then grill per the directions you have above. |I usually take mine up a bit higher in the temp as I like them drier and smokier not squishy. Then place in paper grocery bag lined with newspaper so the gases escape the meat for two days in the refrigerator and then chamber/ vac seal them and they will hold in the freezer.

[Alan Brice]

Fish is the only thing I wet brine anymore.

[bbqLuv]

TomfromtheSoo perhaps you have #1 and #1a in reversed order?
Maybe not. LOL

[Hulagn1971]

I want to cook more on my parrilla grill that I had custom made a few years ago. I think I may have used it once this year. I'd also like to get the fabricator to make a Santa Maria attachment for it. To be honest, I'd probably get more use out of it if I got it on my deck and out of the garage. Always use it in the driveway and that needs to change.
Wow! I just looked and it's been over 5 years since the grill was made. Here's the original post if interested.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/santa-maria-grills/866109-picked-up-my-custom-made-parrilla-grill-today

[Finster]

that's a cool cooker.
I just don't cook enough volume at one time for something like that to be practical for me.
Looks fun though

[Hulagn1971]

Finster it is definitely not practical for sure. I tend to cook on it when my stepdaughter and grandsons come over for a weekend meal. I'll throw some corn on it and a bunch of chicken parts along with maybe a tri-tip or picanha. The smell of all that meat cooking over live coals really is quite intoxifying.

[DavidNorcross]

Something that will not use the outside cookers but I really want to regularly make my own pasta.

[Richard Chrz]

Pasta is fun! You’ll love it.

[Alan Brice]

Try Spetzel(Sp). Pasta in my book.

[WI Bubba]

Pasta sounds daunting until you do a couple of batches. Then it's easy peasy. If you use a pasta roller you have to get used to getting the dough to be just wet enough to run through the machine without sticking, but that's the only real learning curve to get past.

[jayjordan]

Retirement is beginning to lighten the horizon of 2026. When the first week of April arrives I want to spend more time with all my outdoor cookers. Since I got more into smoking food my Blackstone hasn’t been used as much, the WSM and PBC have seen drastic declines in usage since the Traeger arrived.
Definitely want to expand my cooking horizons to new things that I have been exposed to here.
And I want to break out of the work from home shell I’ve been in the last 8 plus years, get out among people.

[Finster]

people are overrated...imo

[Oak Smoke]

jayjordan I just got back from an annual test at the Dr. office. Even the nurses were sick. Stay home until spring, there are a ton of sick people out there right now. You’re going to love retirement! Heck we can go fishing!

[Alan Brice]

Going on week 4 with some sorta RSV. They said not Covid, not Flu, not Strep.
The coughing is a BEEyatch! Feel like there is cotton stuffed into my ears.

[shify]

Want to be more creative with chicken outside. The wife always asks for chicken vs pork/beef or demands chicken to be cooked along side a steak. I feel like I fall back on the same 2-3 ideas and want to be more creative in how I cook and flavor all manner of chicken cuts.

I will also smoke a lamb shoulder at some point in 2026. Already bought a super nice (but hella pricey) one from the farmers market, so just need to find the right time to do it, not to mention how to do it.

[jfmorris]

Hey - not sure what cookers you have, but something creative for outdoor chicken is "grill fried chicken". There are a few posts about it on here. Basically, indirect high heat using a Vortex or other method, chicken brined and breaded, and live fire cooking.

Another way to go with chicken is to do stir fries, or cordon bleu type stuffing of boneless chicken, etc. The list goes on...

[SheilaAnn]

Stop me if you heard this one before….

https://www.seriouseats.com/peruvian-style-grilled-chicken-with-green-sauce-recipe

[Alan Brice]

shify try the Team Cook from mebe June. Fried Chicken on the Gasser! Impressive!

[Skip]

I just need to Cook Healthier and Eat Healthier! My worst downfall is eating too much.

[cruiseplanner1]

Hear you there. Been watching my |LDL so I don't smoke the meats I love as much as I used to. Leaner cuts work their way in.

[Alan Brice]

My down fall is washing it down with too much Barley Pop.

[bbqLuv]

Skip I feel your pain. I bought portion control plates to control overeating. They help as a reminder that I do not need 2nds.

[cruiseplanner1]

I am going to try and make Canadian Bacon this year. Did the jerky, pastrami, smoked Salmon/Trout but that has been on my list for quite a while. Never pushed it as we don't really eat breakfast often just fruit and two whole wheat toast each morning.

[bbqLuv]

How did the smoke salmon turn out?

[cruiseplanner1]

Oh they turn out great. I have been doing them for many years. We are fortunate enough to have them in our waters here.

[dubob]

I have never done smoked chicken; that will not be true after 2026. I'm thinking some boneless thighs with skin on for the first attempt. I do love chicken.

[Oak Smoke]

Despite its temporary unpopularity beer can chicken is really good!

[dubob]

Oak Smoke I think I'd rather DRINK the beer. 😉 Know what I mean Vern?

[jfmorris]

I feel I started the year with a similar resolution to cook more fish and chicken, and do a Mediterranean style diet. I don't feel I succeeded in 2025, and in fact, grilled and smoked less in 2025 than any year since probably 1999. I feel I came back from the abyss with my Thanksgiving rotisserie turkey on the kettle, and other cooks in December.

My goal is in fact to get back to more outdoor cooking, using the outdoor griddle more, and to perfect my thin crust sourdough pizza. And learn to do more with veggies on the grill.

[HawkerXP]

You've had a couple of distractions for sure this past year. Hopefully 2026 will be much easier for you all.

[jfmorris]

Alan Brice the RFX is going into a spiral sliced ham tomorrow morning, for lunch/dinner on Jan 1! Thanks again!

The RFX did encourage me to smoke a butt as well as ribs in December.

[Willy]

Thumbs up on the roto turkey!

[J-Melt]

2026 is a huge mystery to me cooking wise. We have no idea where in the country we will be and have never moved as a family, so I'm not sure how many of my cookers will get to come along. We also don't know if we will end up in a house or apartment. If the process keeps getting longer, I could be in the same spot next year and have plenty of outdoor cooking opportunities. Only God knows what this year shall bring!

My hope is to keep doing a good amount of outdoor cooking. Getting a job that does not require me to be at work at 4:30am as my current coffee shop job does will make that much easier! I hope to get into bacon making at some point. I currently have about 37 pounds of chicken leg quarters vacuum sealed in my freezer, so there will be lots of chicken on the menu! I also look forward to playing with my new rotisserie and learning the different things I can do with that. I also look forward to learning how to do pizza on the pizza oven attachment for my kettle.

[Alan Brice]

Early Bird gets the worm. The sooner you go in the quicker you are home with daylight to spend as you wish.
It will happen J.

[J-Melt]

Haha Alan Brice You are not wrong about that one. Thanks

[jfmorris]

Praying for things to work out for you and your family, and that God will bless you this year.

I'm anxious as well to see how that pizza oven part of the rotisserie ring works out.

[Sweaty Paul]

Oak Smoke what a great question. Think I'd like to work on more asian foods and using my woks and learning about wok cooking. I'd also like to do more homemade pastas, breads, and pizzas. The good news is I can keep the temptation from the house by taking the experiments to the office for the staff there. They are like piranhas with free food! Also, if it is bad they will let me know and keep me honest!

[Oak Smoke]

I miss coworkers to feed and what they brought to work to share. If it was setting in our break room it was eaten. This time of year there’d be fresh tamales almost every day.

[Sweaty Paul]

mmmm tamales.

It's fun for sure to share with others. They have started begging for brisket. It's been 4 months so they have a hankering. They forget it's hunting season and cold. Soon!

[Richard Chrz]

I think I’m still due a report on those Christmas pizzas!

[Richard Chrz]

Boy, I don’t know, I have all sorts of wants. I really want to advance my pizza knowledge in the frozen pizza direction, need to advance that. Bread I’m always learning, so I just hope to continue to grow my understanding.

Diet this year will be like others mentioned here, I will be diving down some middle eastern & Asian cultures and. I’m convinced eating does not need to be expensive, I’ve been moving this way this fall and into the winter now, and I’m enjoying building rice, or grain and bean bowls. Go back to the basics, humble ingredients, good technique and good spices. I also want to learn a proper biscuit and sausage gravy,

We hosted almost no family or friends, just an occasional annual gathering, and a I want my cooking area to have more people. I dropped down on smoking this past year, just too many things pulling me, like resting , I can get so lazy lol! I hope to correct that with offering bbq on Saturdays.

I have way too big of new cooker goals,… both inside and out. I do hope to save enough from my food sales, to be in a position to purchase a 30 - 36 gas range, with an electric oven, I’m reworking my kitchen area a bit, and this would be an absolute spoil, Although learning a new oven with bread sounds scary, lol If it were a perfect world I would also own a LSG mini cabinet on wheels for community cooking, but that truly is more likely a few years down the road. But dream big, right?

Mostly I just want to keep cooking fun

[Alan Brice]

Richard, def be careful making yer hobby, fulltime. Then it becomes another JOB(just over broke). Happy New Year, to you n yer Sweetie.

[Richard Chrz]

Bruce, I will likely never advance to having a pizza in a store or bar, but when I wheel down an aisle, I say why not me? I watched my wife run a business, I don’t have that drive, and won’t make the commitment to it.

But I’d like to understand the how, and then I could make them and just sell or give to family and friends. I want the knowledge, and the ability to share it, possibly teach it.

[Alan Brice]

Richard, it is a shame we cannot just live our lives, W/O some spoiler coming at us with a Micro Scope n hate in their hearts.

[Johnny Booth]

2026 - taking better care of myself physically and spiritually. Everything I do will be centered on this.

I no longer smoke, but I must Complete my nicotine cessation. Now using 3mg ZYNs. Will quit entirely this year.
Complete physical therapy on injured rotator cuff and start strength training again in January.
Drop 25lbs before March, completing my journey from 265 to 200lbs. Dropping my BMI from 38 to 28. A1C from 6.5-5.0.
Read scripture every day for at least 30 minutes in a quiet place.
Garden.every.day, preserve everything I grow, compost the rest, Throw nothing away.
Burn meat and vegetables as often as possible.

[Ace]

Yes... As Larry the Cable Guy says, "Git er done."
You got this! :-)

[Johnny Booth]

Yeah. Been procrastinating on the last of my health goals all year in 2025. Big 1st quarter effort should help me cross the finish line on that. The rest is just consistentcy.
Thanks for the encouragement.😎

[Oak Smoke]

Johnny Booth I quit smoking using the Equate nicotine in lozenges from Walmart. When it came time to truly quit I switched to their small lozenges for a couple of months. The day I stopped those I bought a box of tictacs. They were about the same size. I never had a day of withdrawal, my brain just accepted that I was doing the same thing I had been. I would have beta paycheck that it wouldn’t work, but it did. That was 12 years ago. I haven’t wanted to go back, not even once.