Life

How it turned out

/ hsoi

So…. how did the brisket from the new smoker’s maiden voyage turn out?

Pretty good!

The meat itself was tender, juicy, good flavor. After 10 hours in the 200º-250º range, it did well.

There was a little bit more blackening on the exterior than I cared for, made things bitter, but avoid that and it was quite good. I admit I didn’t watch the actual meat as much as I normally did. See, with the Weber I had to take off the lid to add fuel thus I always checked the meat. When I was doing the initial burn in this new smoker I realized how the big lid was well… a big lid. If you open it, all that heat and smoke was quickly lost, so I did my best to NOT open the lid to look at the meat. Just trust the time (you know it’s going to be at least 6-8 hours), but by then it was too late.

A few things learned about the new smoker:

  • It’s certainly not as airtight as I’d like it to be. One gaping issue is the lid has holes in the side for a rotisserie, but then just little seal issues here and there, some due to lack of fit, some because it’s just sheet metal and might have a slight bend in it. I got what I paid for. It wasn’t horrible, but someday I’ll want good sealing.
  • The lack of airtightness was rather evident when I was trying to cool off the fire a bit. The firebox door vent ended up being totally closed and the chimney vent almost closed, yet more than enough oxygen was getting in to keep it burning.
  • I do not like the big-ass lid. Or rather, I don’t like that it opens all the way up letting all the heat and smoke out. I’ll want to get a model where the body is mostly closed and the lids are just “small” door openings. Next question then is, one big door or multiple smaller ones? I’m thinking multiple smaller.
    • But on the same token, I do like the roominess under the lid. I need to try some beer-can chicken under there, because there’s certainly room. Thanksgiving turkey will have a lot of room too. I’m probably going to have to ditch the warming rack, which I don’t see much need or use for anyway.
  • Cooking with pure wood sure is different. Used to be I used charcoal as the primary source and just added a wood chunk or some wet wood chips for the smoke flavor. But this? I started with charcoal then put a small log of oak on. I was able to keep the temps just fine using small logs of oak the whole time, no more charcoal. I’m not sure if that contributed to the black/bitter; I recall one time I used mesquite chunks the whole time and by the end it was way too strong a flavor, almost bitter. Have to get used to using just wood, plus I need to go buy another cord or two. 🙂
  • As for the black/bitter, could just be a need for some foil earlier on in the process (and not sweating the lid issue), could be the wood, could have been the brown sugar in the rub (I just used a rub recipe in a book I have… which I now remember I didn’t like the last time I used it, but I was in a hurry). Half the fun is finding that perfect combination.

Anyway, the main thing here is the Hondo itself. No, it’s not perfect, but it seems to do the job just fine. I’m going to see what else I can do to tweak it.

My new smoker

/ hsoi / 11 Comments

When I bought my first house so many years ago, one of the first things I put in the backyard was a Weber kettle grill. Life was good. The way I grew up, that sort of “outdoor cooking over a fire” just meant grilling. To “BBQ” or to “grill” were interchangeable terms. And if you were smoking something, it typically involved something in rolling papers or a pipe. But you can’t live in Texas and not come to learn that grilling is one thing, BBQ-ing is another, and smoking is yet a third thing.

Some years ago I bought one of those upright bullet smokers. I hated it. I ended up keeping it for a number of years tho because it made for a good storage container to keep my wood chips dry.

I came to realize that most of my uses of the Weber grill were indirect grilling, so I thought why not make the best of what I’ve got and use it for BBQ’ing and smoking? I bought a proper thermometer, drilled a hole in the lid, and now that I could better control and monitor the heat, I actually made out for a good many years using the Weber grill for smoking. The main problem? The grill surface is small as it is, so when you smoke you lose a lot of what little grill space you have so you just can’t do a whole lot. I’d have to smoke smaller briskets or only one rack of ribs. But I pressed on because I couldn’t justify buying something new while the Weber was still kicking.

Well, the Weber is no longer kicking. It finally wore out enough that I cannot control the heat adequately, so it’s time for a replacement.

As I started to shop for a replacement I knew what I wanted to look for: a big, heavy, offset-side-box smoker. I wanted a lot of grill surface area so one could hold a lot of food or just larger food e.g. a whole feral hog hind quarter. It needed to focus on smoking, but some grilling ability would be useful. No need for an upright box as I won’t be doing much stuff that hangs. And I wanted something high quality, because I know if I got something good that it would last me for decades.

Then I saw the prices on these things. Cheapest ones might be $1000-$1500, and of course you could go up from there. Yikes! I just don’t have the ability to drop that kind of money right now.

New Smoker. Click to embiggen.

So I compromised and have a New Braunfels Hondo Smoker. New Braunfels Smokers went out of business I believe about 8 years ago, but Char-Broil bought their IP and still sells under their brand name. It would appear that Char-Broil’s American Gourmet Deluxe Offset Smoker is the same thing. And it cost me only $150.

Yes. It’s cheap Chinese crap. Yes, it’s somewhat thin sheet metal. Yes, it’s got cheap plastic wheels. Yes, I figure the firebox is going to burn out within a few years of heavy use. Yes it doesn’t seal tight enough. Yes I had to buy a couple proper thermometers and install them myself. But you know what? It only cost me $150 (and $20 for the 2 thermometers).

The smoker, lids open. Click to embiggen.

What convinced me to do it? The Internet. I started my general research into new smokers and in that general searching this smoker (or models just like it) kept coming up and getting pretty good reviews. Yes people admit it has limitations, it is what it is, you get what you pay for. But that for that money, it’s actually not too shabby. Furthermore, a guy wrote up an article about a few inexpensive modifications to make that really help the quality. I haven’t made the modifications because it looks like my version of the Hondo is “new and improved”, having a large tray within the body so you could use it as a big charcoal grill, plus there’s a warming rack in the lid. I’m going to try it out as it is and experiment with what I’ve got because the coal tray could work as the heat shield and deflector… don’t know, will need to experiment. And really, experimenting is half the fun.

Close-up of the interior (click to embiggen). Note the inner tray? That's for charcoal to use the thing as a grill. I'm going to play with it as a heat shield (yes, the slant is my intentional first experiment).

The way I see it? It’s training wheels. Yes, I know how to grill. Yes, I know how to BBQ and smoke. But I haven’t used this sort of setup before. So why not buy something inexpensive to help me learn about this specific cooking implement. It will also help me learn what I like and don’t like, what I want and don’t want. That way when I do go to plop down a big chunk of change for a custom smoker (new, or even a used one off craigslist) I can know exactly what I want and don’t want and be able to buy just the thing that will keep me happy for the rest of my life. I’ll feel better buying this way than shelling out a lot of money now for more expensive training wheels.

A few days ago I pulled a beef brisket out of the deep freeze. Last night I applied a dry rub and let her sit in the fridge overnight. This morning, I put her on the smoker for the maiden voyage. Started with charcoal but put a small log of oak for fuel and flavor. I am glad I bought two thermometers because the temperature difference between the left and right sides is significant (again, playing with heat shields will be critical here; someone also suggested putting a few heavy bricks in the bottom to help with heat control), but it leaves about 2/3 of the grill area free for use, so that’s good enough for now. Been slowly adjusting the vents to keep the temperature where I want it. But so far so good. This brisket may not turn out primo, but it’s all part of the learning and fun.

We’ll know in about 8 hours. 🙂

The smoker, maiden brisket inside.

Flew the coop

/ hsoi

Was out of town for the weekend. Came back last night and saw this in our Carolina Wren nest box:

Looks like the babies are all grown up. 🙂

The thing is, we only saw 2 in there. We’re not sure what the deal was. Are these perhaps the younger 2 and the others already fledged and left? Just don’t know, as we were gone all weekend. The other thing is, you can see they are atop all the nesting materials… that’s not how it was before, so they obviously moved and tramped things down.

As of last night and still this morning, the box is empty and we don’t hear any of the wren chirping. Are they gone for good? Not sure. Going to wait a few days and keep watch on things. If they don’t come back, we’re going to crack open the box and take a look at things. We’re all very curious to learn about how they nest.

Nothing yet…

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

In an effort to figure out what’s eating the ducks, I put a game camera in my neighbor’s backyard (with their permission, of course).

Did my first pull of the camera contents this morning. Saw a few neighborhood cats, a racoon, there’s a possum that likes hanging out back there, and of course deer. In fact, just a couple of hours ago a doe had hopped their back fence and had breakfast in their backyard. 🙂

But nothing more than that. Obviously no duck-eater yet.

However, these shots made it clear that the smaller critters (not the deer) are in fact crawling under the fence just where we suspected. Can’t close that up until we get to the bottom of this, but once we figure it out that area will need to be sealed off.

Nice morals

/ hsoi

Paying bills this morning.

I notice a couple strange charges to a credit card. I investigate and certainly they are fraudulent.

One of them was interesting. It was to an Internet parental control and filtering software company.

So you want to protect your child from porn, and you do so with a stolen credit card number.

Interesting set of morals you’ve got there.

Running into Aikido?

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

One of the motivating factors in starting my practice of martial arts so many years ago was wanting something physical that got me out of the chair I sit in all day. But I didn’t just want something physical, I wanted something mental as well. Running held no allure for me because it didn’t have any mental stimulation, but martial arts had a lot of mental as well as physical.

Since I stopped regular martial arts class attendance a few months ago, I’ve been working out at home. Oddly, there was a voice in my head telling me to do something different: “Go running”.

Running

I’ve never enjoyed running. I don’t like how it pounds on my body. I don’t like how “mindless” of an activity it is. But that voice kept saying “go run”. I don’t know why. I don’t know where it came from. I ignored it thinking it was just a passing thing, but it kept calling to me. So a couple of weeks ago the voice came back and I just went with it and went out for a run.

That was painful. 🙂

I ran for a little bit, then had to walk, then a little more run, then a lot more walk. I’m in good shape, but these past some years my training has been a different sort of training. Sure I could go 3 3-minute rounds of sparring just fine, but that’s a different sort of training and muscular endurance than just running for a good 20-30 minutes. I also think part of it was due to 1. my body just wasn’t used to that activity, 2. nervousness about my ankles and my knees, which have issues, and I didn’t want to have my first time out be too strenuous. I need to work my way up to it.

After I came back from that first run I used Google Earth to measure the distance, and it’s about 1.5 miles. I figure that’s a good way to get started.

Since then I’ve gone out every 2-3 days and run the same route, trying to run a little more and walk a little less. Trying to improve my form so I’m not pounding my ankles and knees to death, but staying relaxed yet remembering to keep picking my legs up so I don’t eventually trip on my feet when I get to tired.

This morning I ran the entire route, no walking and only one stop at the mailbox on the way in. Did it in about 15 minutes. Not too bad, I suppose. I also had much better form and relaxation today. My brain wasn’t going “what the hell are you doing????” but was actually just calming down and being free with the run.

And that’s perhaps why my body is wanting to run right now: because it is mindless. My younger sister runs a lot (does half-marathons, 10K’s, and such) and she says she likes running because it’s mindless and she can just unwind from her day. I’ve been under lots of stress the past some months, my mind’s been very busy, and perhaps the old noodle just wants a break. I really don’t know why I’m running, but I’m running. Will I still with it? I don’t know. I’m just taking it day by day, because maybe something else will come along.

And that something else may be another martial art.

Aikido

No, I haven’t started any new formal martial arts practice, but it’s been on my mind. So what to practice?

I have thought about taking up Kuk Sool again. Part of me would like to get my 2nd degree black belt because I stopped half-way through testing and gosh it’d be nice to finish it. But…. the drama of WKSA is nothing I’m interested in. I wouldn’t be opposed to joining Master Lee’s new Mu Sool Won group (Master Lee, 9th degree, so close with the Suh family and WKSA for so many years, awesome man, and they treat him like they did and he understandably left… still teaching Kuk Sool but doing it on his own, good for him!), but I really don’t know if I want to go back into that world.

Why not go back to the kali/silat/muay thai study? I really liked that stuff, but I realized that the structure of my old school was part of the problem: there wasn’t much structure. Now, I did like how the class schedule was structured, e.g. you knew if you went Wednesday at 6:30 PM it was going to be weapons class, but what you did in that class was totally unknown until you got there and the grander scheme seemed rather free-form. For instance, I had no idea what I needed to know for the next rank. Contrast this to my Kuk Sool study where the schedule had basic structure (e.g. 11 AM, adult class), but the curriculum was very structured. I realize that between the two, I like the more formalized curriculum, or at least having some idea of what I should know and thus what I really need to focus on in my study and practice.

So as I look around at what’s available to me, Aikido has a draw. First, the roots of Aikido and Kuk Sool (Hapkido) are similar, when you talk the joint lock, throw, projection, circular sorts of stuff. Aikido takes it further tho, because that’s mostly what Aikido is about. One reason I didn’t add BJJ to my previous study was because I wanted to narrow things down a bit and focus. Kuk Sool studied “everything” and that was a little too broad. With Aikido, it’s just one thing, if you will, and that sort of focus will be welcome. I want to explore more about body mechanics, locks, throws, circular movement; Aikido has that at its core. Plus there’s a formal curriculum. Yes it may vary from school to school, but there’s something to it. Plus there’s something to be said about having so many flavors of Aikido out there to see how others have interpreted it yet remain true to the core. Those others study and practice together, there isn’t a closed controlling notion.

One turnoff about Aikido is the philosophy. Now granted, that is what makes Aikido Aikido and distinct from other arts. But come on… I carry a gun. I acknowledge that sometimes deadly force is necessary and the only answer. But that’s also part of why I wish to study Aikido: to delve deeper into that contrast. I certainly wish to avoid use of deadly force, and if I can have greater resources at my disposal to do so, all the better.

I do not know if I actually will start to study this, but I’ve been pulling the Aikido books off my bookshelf and re-reading them. I’ve been looking up Aikido stuff online. I’ve been talking with an old friend that studied Aikido for a time. Yes, if I could study more full-time with Leslie Buck I would, but I can’t. There’s something about Aikido has pulls me, at least to explore it. Who knows. I may shake this off as a whim in a few days. I may try a few classes and not care for it. I may do it for a few months and then bail. Or I may end up studying it for the rest of my life. Who knows.

Whether it’s running or Aikido or whatever… just taking things as they come, enjoying life’s journey.

Public School FAIL

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

As you may know, the Texas school boards are working to rewrite history — literally.

Some of the changes I agree with. For instance, I see nothing wrong with teaching religion in school, from a scholarly standpoint. I learned about ancient religions (what we now call mythology) and studied ancient religious texts. I studied modern religions and texts. We looked at them from a scholarly standpoint because you cannot fully understand other civilizations and history if you do not look at the religions of that civilization. But yes, this implies looking at all of them, not just emphasizing one or another nor does it mean being “sensitive” to one so as to not risk offending it.

Some I don’t, like removing the study of Sir Isaac Newton. How can you understand modern science if you don’t understand Newton!! Good grief!

And some things I think are just appalling, such as dropping “references to the slave trade in favour of calling it the more innocuous ‘Atlantic triangular trade’, and recasts the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as driven by Islamic fundamentalism.”  Denial or revision (even in the name of political correctness or “sensitivity”) of history undermines the whole point of studying history in the first place.

But whether or not you agree with what the Texas board is doing, it all points to one thing: the growing failure of the public government school system. A few work to gain political leverage, then work in their agenda in hopes of longer-term indoctrination of their view of the world. This is not education, this is brainwashing. This is not education, this is politics, and our children are the sacrifice. But, true education has been dead for a long time.

Just one more reason that the public government school system is a failed organization. We do better when we can have choices, when you can choose what school your child attends. If you want your child to have a particular view of the world, then send your child to that school… be that school one with a narrow view or a broad view. Public government school is supposed to serve everyone, but because of that it serves no one.

I could go a step further and say it’s a greater failing of our social structure, where we demand others teach and raise our children instead of doing that job ourselves. This isn’t to say you have to homeschool, but at least when Junior comes home from whatever school they are sent to, take a look at their textbooks, look at the notes they take, discuss with them what they were learning in school. Get involved in your child’s education. Discuss alternative viewpoints. Expand upon what the school taught. Help them see the world that you want them to see.

A Good Day

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Watching the local morning news, weather report comes on. I see stuff about Fredericksburg, TX and say to Wife “Want to go there today?” Just on a whim. And off we went. I’ve been wanting to take the family out there for some time, just because. It’ll be good to go in a month or two when peach season kicks in. But hey… we had time today, so seize the day!

Drove out. Stopped at Whittington’s for some of their awesome jerky. Wanted to stop in Luckenbach but opted to save that for next time (we were getting hungry). I figured if we’re going to Fredericksburg, we need to eat German food. Yelp seemed to have mostly favorable reviews of Der Lindenbaum, so we gave it a try. I’ve had some German food in my life, but despite my ethnic heritage (look at my last name!) not a whole lot of it — when Mom is in charge of cooking well, that’s why I ate a lot of Korean food while growing up. 😉  So really, this was a “first experience” for the whole family.

Everyone was pleasantly surprised, even Oldest got adventurous. I had a beef sauerbraten (made with raisins), Wife had a jager schnitzel, Oldest had some bratwurst, Daughter a cheese-potato soup (can’t remember the German for it), Youngest had a wiener schnitzel. Very good stuff all around. I loved the cheese in the soup, very hearty flavor but not overpowering. I really liked how the raisins in the sauerbraten and this red kraut (which was both clove-sweet and sour) mixed together. But for my money, it the jager schnitzel was the winner — I’m having that next time. But of course, I think next time we ought to try one of the other German restaurants in town.

We perused the shops. Wife found some nice clothing. Kids all found some cute toys in a toy shop. Me? I was just happy to be with my family.

On the way home, stopped into a vineyard. Which? We just picked “the next one” along the road (and one that I hadn’t been into before). This one was Grape Creek Vineyards. Did a tasting, 6 wines apiece. Wife and I overlapped on a few wines, but for the most part we tasted different things because we have varying tastes: she likes lighter, sweeter stuff, whites more than reds; I like more robust, drier, reds more than whites but I also like a good port. Now, I’m no wine snob or even all that wine educated… I just know what my taste buds and my nose like and don’t like. So with that….

  • 2008 Cuvee Blanc — Nice, crisp. I could see having that with say a light pork cooked with fruit, or a light fish.
  • 2008 Pinot Grigio — Sorry, but neither Wife nor I are fans of Pinot Grigio. We try, but we just can’t get into it.
  • 2009 Viognier — Surprisingly good. Wife liked it, but not enough to want to buy it (given we could only buy so many bottles and we preferred some other things).
  • 2009 Riesling — This surprised me. I usually don’t like Reislings but enjoy trying them. This was very peach/apricot on the nose, and went down very nice. Stupid me forgot to buy a bottle, because I could see enjoying a glass of this on a hot summer night after dinner.
  • 2008 Grand Rouge — Wife liked this a lot, we bought a couple of bottles. I didn’t care much for it, but it could be because by the time I tried a sip I had so many strong reds on my tongue (even after crackers).
  • Port — I didn’t like it. I mean, it wasn’t bad, but it’s just not my style of port. I forgot all the details the guy told me as he was pouring it, but for instance it didn’t use sherry to fortify it and didn’t have as much sugars as other ports. It wasn’t bad for what it was, but just not my preference. Wife isn’t a port drinker.
  • 2007 Bellissimo — Wow. This was fantastic. Complex but not overly so. Robust, full. Just great overall. Picked up a couple of bottles of this.
  • 2007 Mosaic — Very strong, their strongest, fullest, “biggest” red. It was too much for my palette. It’s not bad, just a lot for my tongue. I could see maybe having a small glass of this with a fine cigar.
  • 2007 Merlot — Picked up a bottle of this. A “light” red, but a very good flavor and still “full” and “strong”, just lighter than ones like the Bellissimo and the Mosaic.

Not a bad place really. Certainly one of the better Texas wineries I’ve been to in recent years.

Anyway, just a damn good day with my family. Life can’t be all work. And I got to spend it with the people I love most. 🙂

Updated to “It Happened Again”

/ hsoi

Here’s the backstory.

We thought through all the options. The best we could come up with was seeing if there was another nesting mother and set the eggs with her. I called around to a bunch of local wildlife rescues, but because it was Saturday the only one I could reach was the Austin Wildlife Rescue. They agreed that setting the eggs with another mother was probably the best recourse. Sure enough, there was another nesting mother across the street. We took in all 20 eggs, candled them, and 6 were certainly viable. I donned a pair of heavy work gloves and set about annoying the other mother duck as I set the 6 eggs underneath her. Boy, she can bite! I went back a few minutes later and she had repositioned herself over all the eggs. So, it’s the best we can do given the situation. We’ll see what happens.

I went around the yard doing some cleanup of the feathers. We went into our neighbor’s backyard to see if we saw feathers… and we got more than we bargained for. Just behind their back fence, just inside the greenbelt (i.e. just inside lots of brush and cover), we saw the half-eaten carcass of the duck. I went back into the greenbelt and looked around. Given the grasses have grown much higher and with the rains last night, it was easier to tell that certainly something has a pattern of behavior. In fact, I found a second carcass just a few feet from this one, likely that of the duck from last month.

I want to figure out what this is that’s eating the ducks.

It happened again

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Momma Duck #2 was eaten last night. 😦  The pattern looks the same.

About a month ago Momma #1 was taken. I had set a game camera out but it turned up nothing. I figured the critter would have come back relatively soon and when nothing did I turned off the camera. The camera has a flash (not infrared) and was poised near my neighbor’s house and their daughter’s window — I didn’t want “other critters” to keep tripping the camera at night, flash going off, and disturbing my neighbor’s daughter. Thus I turned it off after nothing came back.

Of course, now I’m kicking myself for having turned it off. But who knew?

Camera goes back out and will remain as long as I can. If the critter came back, I’ll bet it’ll come back a third time.

The bummer part? Momma #2 had about 20 eggs and had been sitting for quite a while. We figured another week, maybe two at most, and we’d have ducklings. So, we brought in a sampling of the eggs and candled them. Sure enough, some of the eggs have chicks growing. Not 100% sure how far along they are, but certainly there’s blood vessels and “masses” within.

We’re trying to figure out what to do about them.

On the one hand, the neighborhood duck situation is getting out of hand. Most neighbors like it, but some really hate it and have been complaining. There’s effort to get ducks captured and relocated. To hatch more babies would just contribute to the “neighborhood vermin” problem. So in a way, whatever is eating the ducks is actually helping to control the population, which is good. Furthermore, it can be argued that adding more ducks to the neighborhood could risk bringing more unwanted critters. Once I figure out what is eating the ducks well… what if it is a bobcat? Do we really want to continue to encourage that by growing the food source?

But on the other hand, I just can’t stand to see little babies die, at least not without a fighting chance. Sure they’re just ducks, but something still pulls at me to try to help them live. As well, if we do something like say incubate them, the whole thing becomes quite a learning experience for the kids. Even for Wife and me because well… if someday we’re going to move to the country and raise ducks or chickens or whatever, such would be a good experience. Of course, another option is to find someone to take them, but being Saturday there’s not much open right now.

*sigh*

What to do… what to do….