So Saturday caught your OA crack team in the lab pursuing truth through experiential data.

As I explained in Part 1 of this post we wanted to discover a better way to distribute the flavor through our pork butt. Mat had the idea that brining the shoulder would get a more thorough distribution of salt and, ultimately, flavor.

Turns out that the Brine did indeed give us a much nicer flavor. It also turns out that the hardest part of smoking meat continues to be making yourself avoid drinking too much. What was supposed to be a modest day in the sun with the smoker, possibly some freelance work being taken care of on the side, turned into a a night that ended somewhere between 4-6am with the kitchen being tarred and feathered as we attempted and failed miserably to make chocolate bacon pretzels.

Posts were abandoned, plans aborted, but, as always, lessons were learned.

So, yes, brine your butt for 12 hours before prepping with your rub. Let that rub sit for another 10-24 hours. Pull your butt out of the fridge about 2 hours before you smoke to bring it to room temp and not shock the meat and you should be golden.

The next experiment is going to be injecting water, butter and rub (what we use for our mop as well) into the pig in mulitple places. I can’t wait to see how this effects the flavor.

We’re trying an experiment this weekend with a couple pork butts in an effort to see which approach is better for flavor; either brining the hog and then applying a dry rub or just applying the rub without a brine.

The reason we’re trying this is that, although we’ve had some great results the past few times we’ve smoked our hog butt, the majority of the flavor tends to stay towards the bark. We’re going to try a couple different experiments on how to get a full flavor penetration, the first of which is this week’s experiment with the Brine.

Here’s the basics of the experiment:

1. 2x 6lb bone-in, super fatty pork butts
2. 1 of the butts sat in a brine solution of 1 gallon water and 1/2 cup kosher salt. 12 hours before the smoking we’ll apply the rub with a significant reduction in salt (recipe for the rub is below).
3. The other butt will only have the rub applied to it with full salt content, applied 12 hours before smoking.

I got the recipe for the rub from Beer Advocate‘s July issue where they featured some recipes for beer-b-queing.

3/4 Cup Paprika
1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
3 Tblspns Ground Cumin
3 Tblspns Ground Coriander
3 Tblspns Mustard Powder
2 Tspns Dried Ground Sage
2 Tspns Dried Thyme
2 Tspns Mixed Ground Peppercorns
1 Tspns Ground Cayenne

I’ll be smoking these monsters tomorrow AM, so I should have a full report up in the next few days.

Probably the single most difficult part of snowboarding, when you live in Chicago, is being able to come up with the cash to afford your fix. There is nothing worth riding within reasonable riding distance so any attempt to tap your vein appropriately means time off work, airfair, hotel accomodations, food, drinks, shuttle service, and, of course, lift tickets. It’s not hard to see how this can become prohibitively expensive extremely fast.

Because of this I’m always looking for some way to cut back on expenses without sacrificing experience. One truly great deal I’ve found, and my wife and I continue to exploit year after year, is the Canyons ‘SpringGruv’ special. ‘SpringGruv’ is typically the last 2 weeks that the Canyons are open for the season, this year it was from March 21st – April 6th. During that time the resort hosts live music and the infamous Pond Skimming event where participants get dolled up in costumes, thoroughly hamboned and attempt to cross a fairly large and very cold body of water without sinking.

Honestly, the day of the Pond Skimming is typically a day me and wifey-poo take off, sip cocktails by the pool and escape the throngs of humans denting up the mountain and filling out the Ganjola line like it’s Disneyland. But, for the locals, this is a huge draw.

Oh, and frankly, the music typically sucks at ‘SpringGruv’ as well. This year featured the Wailers, Bob Marley’s old back up band which has been pretty thoroughly renovated to compensate for time. I have a hard time stomaching reggae ever since I got past age 13 and it’s even harder to sit by and watch throngs of Hard Lemonade sipping Trustafarians ease their well-considered vibrations to music that has more post-consumer recycling applied to it than the bottle they’re drinking out of. Though, we did happen to be staying in the hotel room next to a few of the Wailers and, being the solid, good-natured folk you would expect, they managed to deliver on more important levels than simply the stale ‘Redemption Songs’ of days of yore.

But, I digress. The reason I drag my middle western tuchus to The Canyons in Park City, Utah every end of March is twofold:

1. Hands down, no bones about it, Utah has the best snow in the world. In the world.  And it DUMPS those last few weeks in March.
2. The lodging deals at the Canyons are off-the-hook.

We paid, this past year, $200 a night to stay in a decent sized room with a kitchenette at the base of the mountain. For that $200 we also got 2x $25 breakfasts every morning and 2x the $80 lift tickets. Not to mention right out our door is a heated pool, a hot tub and 2, yes 2, gas grills where we cook our dinner (salmon was the meal of choice this year). Combine that sick deal with the incredible natural bowls that are all over this GIANT mountain (I think there are like 6 peaks at the Canyons?), add-in Southwest offering roundtrips to SLC from Chicago for under $200 and top it off with the majesty of this fine planet’s atmosphere bestowing us with the best snow in the world night after night and there’s just no beating it, no way.

This year we were there from Sunday – Sunday and it literally dumped at least 1 foot of delicious, delicious powder every day from Tuesday – Sunday and kept that up for at least another week after we left. It was crazy.

The downside: The Canyons resort is pretty lame. The food is just mediocre and the bars are closed by 8pm. If you need to drink you’re going to have to rent a car, take the free public bussing (which are clean and on time typically), or get raped by a cab service.

The upside: Crazy cheap deal and the best snow you’ll ever ride in your life.

Sometime around my 32nd year I really ripped the cord on my waistline. My daily diet of delicious meats, calorically prodigious drinks and interpretive sleep schedule started to catch up to me. Where I had managed to maintain a large, but healthy frame for the majority of my life, around my 32nd year I started pushing into fat guy territory.

My pants were fitting worse, my balance became strange, I was getting out of breath walking up steps or running down the street. I found my energy levels diminishing and, even worse for me, my mental resources becoming clouded.

I was now 33 and looking down the barrel of the rest of my life as I tipped the scales at 260lbs. At 260 the threat of 300 is not a strained logical jump. Something had to be done.

A friend of my wife turned me onto the 7-Day Detox Miracle. An admixture of macrobiotic diet, mega-vitamin supplementation, meditation and conscious living the 7-Day Detox Miracle managed to coalesce several disciplines I had pursued over the course of my life into a relatively non-invasive program that was short on commitment and high on claims of feeling better. I gave it a shot.

The 7-Day Detox Miracle is essentially 2 days of a water/lemon fast followed by 5 days of macrobiotic eating coupled with supplementation. Having done some far more intense fasts in my past (mainly Yogi Bhajan’s Banana Fast) this program seemed easy enough.

As with any fast, the first half of the first day is the hardest, if you can get through that you’re in. If you can get into the 2nd day you’re golden. By the third day, you’re feeling like a new man and, by the end of the detox, you live under the delusion that twigs and berries could sustain you for the rest of your life (this one hasn’t quite played out in the field in my experience).

What I have found with the 7-Day Detox Miracle is that it is extremely effective for hitting my reset button on my dietary habits. Participating in this detox about once every quarter or, at least, twice a year has helped me bring my health back into order over the past 2 years.

Typically on the week long detox, following a daily routine of some of the great vegan and macrobiotic recipes they provide in the book and doing some nominal exercise and meditation, I lose anywhere from 6-10 lbs. About 1/3rd of that is gained back after I come off the detox, but the rest typically remains off. After I finish the detox I continue eating vegan/macrobiotically for a few more weeks before returning to my typical diet.

With my last detox in early July I started to employ a new lifestyle choice: I follow the detox diet 5 days of the week and 2 days of the week (sometimes 3) I can eat what I like and drink what I like. Following this routine with 3-4 days a week of about an hour of exercise, I have managed to bring my weight down about 20-25 lbs. over 8 months. I’m hoping to bring down my weight another 20 lbs. over the next year.

It is no coincidence that my reengagement with the world outside is a direct result of my losing weight and regaining some kind of control over my body. And for that reason alone I am greatly indebted to 7-Day Detox Miracle. This is not a fad diet, but a sensible and achievable means to recontextualizing your approach to living, an essential element for anyone hoping to lose weight and keep it off for good.

Here is one of my favorite variations on a recipe found in the book:

1 cup of Mung Beans boiled in 1 quart of water for about an hour (you can add a teaspoon of baking soda to hasten the softening of the beans)

In a separate pan saute 1 white onion, about 5 cloves of garlic, and about a tablespoon of diced ginger in light oil (I prefer olive) and water to add moisture.

Once the onions become transparent add a teaspoon of Cumin, 1/4 teaspoon of Cayenne, 1 tablespoon of black pepper, and a teaspoon of Turmeric. You can also add Coriander, Garam Masala, Hot Curry or other savory spices to your taste. Saute with the spices for another couple of minutes and then add some diced tomatoes or split cherry tomatoes. Once the tomatoes get soft add your mung beans along with a couple tablespoons of fresh mint. Keep on heat for another 5 minutes or so stirring well throughout.

When you are ready to eat dish up your food and add a little more oil and some Bragg to taste.

Seriously, this is delicious.

About a month ago I decided to jump into the world of smoked meats. Little did I know I would discover a new means of penetrating the numinous as well as preparing some of the finest meals I have tasted in this world. Seriously folks, if you have any acquaintances suffering from vegetarianism, a properly smoked brisket cooked lovingly and longingly over the better course of a long summer day will bring your wayward friend back from the brink of boredom like no other salve I can recommend. Knees will buckle, eyes will heave into the back of the head and tongues will take on the ravenous, dancing posture of a starry-eyed lunatics upon tasting these carbonized cullinary creations.

But when I began my journey I was not certain how vastly my life would be altered by this discipline, though I knew I wanted to experiment in it’s corridors. Being the reasonably minded human that I am I thought it would be best to begin my experiments on a budget and, if properly swayed by the siren songs of smoked sirloin, than, perhaps, next season I would indulge in a more compelling and complex tool for my adventures.

After some light stalking of the internets and tapping of mind’s of friends who smoke I narrowed my search down to the Brinkman Square Vertical Smoker. I chose this for several reasons:

1. The price was right at $69.00
2. There was much more space than the r2-d2 looking smokers in the same price range
3. With the 2 doors on the side access was much easier as well as containment of smoke was much better than said r2-d2 garbage can looking smokers
4. 4 vents is much better than 1 vent

Now, I’m sure, anyone that has done any research on these smokers will be itching to mention the fact that some people can’t seem to get the Brinkman over about 150*.  Left unmodded this is true, I’ve tested it and sure enough my heat would hover around 150*.  The solution to this problem is incredibly easy, however.  Simply buy a Weber Replacement Charcoal Grates and place that on top of your charcoal pan.  This puts your coals right about level with the 2 bottom vents and gives you plenty of air passage to bring your heat up as high as 325* if you want.

This issue is the only one I’ve really had with this grill and, frankly, it strikes me as pretty much a non-issue.  Aside from that assembly was incredibly easy – far easier than the mind numbing cartwheels demanded upon you by the Char-Griller family (which I’ll review at a later date) and peformance has been totally satisfactory for a $70 piece of equipment.  The grates are easy to remove which makes cleaning and mopping and adding coals, wood and water extremely easy.  And the look is deceptively sharp (it is not a cast iron smoker, though you might fool some people into thinking it is). Make sure to start up your coals with a Chimney Starter and the hardest part of your day is taken care of in minutes.

The only other thing I might add to this is that we’ve been propping up the smoker for easier access during smoking.  I’ve been putting down 4 paint buckets and placing a piece of concrete board on top of that.  This brings the smoker up a few feet which really limits the amount of bending needed to maintain your smoker and also gives you a nice, flame-retardent work space to start up your coals or keep gloves and tools while you are working.

The Brinkman Square Vertical Smoker is a totally servicable grill that will get you great results for your smoked meals. It’s design places your food and coals in separate compartments to limit heat loss and come as close to displaced heat as you’re going to get until you actually move to a smoker with a firebox. It does require a little more attention than a larger, professional smoker, but, for me that is actually a plus, I love to fiddle and monkeying with the vents to properly manage my heat over a 14 hour smoke only adds to the pleasure I derive from this highest and holiest act of carnage.

I was chatting with a friend of mine the other day over several pints of Surly Furious about the many virtues of smoking dead animal. Whether it be the subversion of time, the hours of anticipation, the communal properties of fire, or the ability to offer friends and family religious epiphany by means of properly tended food, smoking meat is, hands down, one of the finest methods of escaping the death march of the daily routine.

As we discussed the finer points of the carrion call my friend mentioned a new fad in artisan cooking, smoked salt. Apparently, people have been purchasing or producing smoked salt as of late to add a quick smoked flavor to meats and veggies, punching up home made caramel and bloody marys, or otherwise twisting a pasta dish or dessert into a new, compelling direction.

The basic method of making the stuff is as you would guess:

1. Make a flat tray from tinfoil or take a cookie sheet
2. Cover the sheet with a thin layer of kosher salt or sea salt
3. Put it in your smoker for 3-4 hours (@225*) or until a nice shade of brown

This weekend I’ll be adding it to home made pretzels I’m covering in chocolate and bacon.  I’ll post about the results next week.

Science News has a great piece on the American Chemical Society’s chem-themed cook out and it appears that eating your meats properly cooked, that is medium and rarer cuts your carcinogenic intake by, at times, 88%.

“Unfortunately, if you ask the [food] safety people they’ll tell you to cremate everything,” said Shirley Corriher, a food chemist and cookbook author from Atlanta. Meats should be cooked long enough to kill bacteria, she noted, but they don’t need to be cooked beyond medium to be truly safe. For one thing, carcinogenic chemicals called heterocyclic amines form when creatine — a substance found in muscle tissue — reacts at high temperatures with amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. The amount of HCAs formed in grilled meats typically triples if meats are cooked well done rather than medium well, she noted.

Other research-proven tricks for reducing HCAs, as noted in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, include using marinades, garlic and onion, said Risch. A marinade of red wine, for instance, can reduce the formation of HCAs by 88 percent, she noted. Although scientists aren’t sure exactly how these techniques work, moisture from marinades may ensure that the meat directly in contact with the grill remains at a relatively low temperature, she said.”

Read the full article here.

Osiris makes my favorite low top skating shoe, the Duffel. I love these so much I’ve got 2 pair spare sitting in my closet for when I blow out my present pair.

Super comfy, nice and wide for my big feet and sweet detail on them that calls to mind the old Vision Mark Rutgowski Gator boards from the 80s.

It looks like Amazon’s new shoe venture Endless.com has got a killer deal on them for $35.99.

I got mine from a great site, probably my favorite site for snowboarding gear on the internet, thehouse.com, for $39.99 and I got a free DVD, Derelictica with the purchase.

Here’s an excerpt from “Derelictica”:

You decide who you want to support.

I’ve come quite a ways since purchasing my Arbor Hybrid
back in April.  When I first received that board I struggled to stay relaxed while kicking around a block or two or maintaining balance while bombing pretty low grade hills.

When I first started  skating the park at Wilson in May it was on the Arbor.  And, while the Arbor was essential for giving me the courage and stability to get back into skating after almost 20 years, it was not long before the extended wheelbase, higher lift, and length between trucks became in impediment to both the speed and agility required for any serious bowl riding.

I purchased the Powell-Peralta reissue of the Ray Barbee Death Angel
board with Independent Trucks
and Rat Bones wheels from Skates on Haight.  While some will still write this board off as too big, it’s the perfect size and weight for my body type at 6′ 235lbs.

So now 3 months after I was too intimidated to even ride down an access ramp at Wilson I’m now successfully dropping in on some of the smaller spots.

I read several articles on how to drop in, including one that recommended that I get low enough to grab the nose of my board.  While this is an interesting way to limit the height you might fall when you inevitably screw up your first dozen or so drop-ins this technique actually makes dropping in harder.  What I found was that if you are already that low, with your knees pretty much fully bent you have nothing left to absorb the impact of grade changes.  If you have nothing to absorb your energy when you come off the vert, then you will absorb that energy into your entire frame and find yourself cozy with the cement as a result.

Skateboarding, more than anything, is the artful meneuvering of energy in service of balance.

There’s a few things I’ve found that need to be considered when dropping in and, if you do these, you should be able to get the hang of it with a little determination:

Wear pads.  Helmet, knee, elbow and wrist.
When I was younger my pride kept me from properly protecting myself.  Now that I’m a bit older, and am keenly aware that a bad spill could be both painful and expensive, I take umbrage when I see someone NOT wearing pads. 

To me there’s nothing cool about someone unable to realize all the potential results of an experiment they are undertaking.  For example, when I see some weekend warrior buzzing around the city or on the highway on his motorcycle wearing shorts and sandals I don’t think that guy looks cool, at all.  To me that level disconnect from the events one is participating in is a time tested tell offering a clear indication that you are observing an idiot in action.

What is cool is someone who relishes the thrill of a good risk and takes considered steps in order to prolong their ability of enjoying new and more exciting risks.  And, let’s be honest here, if you have really considered all possible outcomes of dropping in a dry pool on a skateboard, you’ll be wearing your pads, hotshot.

Start at a spot that has a small amount of vert and a longer roll out.
There appear to be three predominant events involved in the drop in: the drop, the transition, and the recovery.  With the exception of the drop you want to prolong the events as much as possible while you are learning.  The longer your transition and the more time you have to get your act back together before approaching a new change (ie. the other side of the pipe) the better off you’ll be and the more energy you’ll have to focus on what you are learning.

You always want at least a little vert to practice dropping in on.  Some people will recommend practicing on less severe grades and building up to vert, but, in my experience, it’s much harder to stomp your board with a softer grade and, also, the coping tends to lock your wheels and keep you from rolling before you are ready.

As you learn gradually increase the vert and decrease the transition.

Stomp the board.
Probably the most important part of dropping in is stomping the board.  Where most failures occur while dropping in is in a reluctance to adequately stomp the nose down.  Failure to stomp will keep too much weight back, make your nose kick up, insuring that you will fall backwards.

The best method I have found to insure I stomp down enough is to first look at the front of my board where I want my foot to go.  Once my foot makes contact I then look past the board and keep my eyes locked on the cement where my front wheels must connect in order to successfully drop in.

The commitment to fully move all of your body’s energy forward enough to successfully drop in is the greatest challenge dropping in presents.  A failure to commit is the #1 reason people are unable to properly drop in and thus, properly enjoy all the treasures that a skateboard and an empty pool can bring you.

Surrender.
The hardest part of dropping in is overcoming the mental hurdles it provides.  The longer you stand at the top of the pool and stare down at the bottom the harder it’s going to be to succeed.  Nothing you are doing while dropping in is any more difficult or more challenging than what you can and already do, it’s simply that the mechanics you know are now being applied to a more dramatic and ultimately more satisfying stage.

Once you master your mind well enough to properly surrender to the task at hand, you will find dropping in opening up a whole new world of possibilities for you to explore on your skateboard.  Enjoy it.