Devv's 2014- Stick a fork in me, I'm done....

Devv · Aug 3, 2014

Roguejim said:
That's an interesting grill you have there, Scott. Home made, I'll bet. Can you tell us a bit about the construction of it? Do you also have a smoker, or do you use the grill for that, too?

I know you already posted your tomato sauce recipe here somewhere, but it would be cool if both the tomato sauce, and jerk chicken sauce recipes were posted in the Cooking forum for others to enjoy. If I get permission, I'll copy/paste them over to that forum.

Here's some pics of the pit. I've had it 15 years, LB's brother made it, used it twice and decided to move out of state. He wanted too much (for me at the time, as I had a brand new pit), he later offered it for $350.00. I couldn't pass it up.

I replaced the firebox, the original was made from the same pipe and the lid warped so bad I had a heck of a time controlling the temps. The pipe is 24" diameter and 34"s long.

I also made the grates or racks and the baffle. The baffle isn't pretty but keeps the flames from running under the food. I had to replace the 1 1/2" flat stock on the lid as it rotted out. I wasn't satisfied at the seal, as the lid was tweaked. So I ran a couple of beads using a 7/16 rod turned all the way up which helped settle it down.

Originally it had expanded metal to cook on. I made the grates out of angle iron and 5/8's rod. They should last a few weeks

I also added the angle iron so they can be slid about. You can see on the right where I fashioned a plate to seal where the original firebox was.

This is the old firebox converted into a charcoal kiln. You can also see how the lid warped badly in the pic.

I made this little guy to cook burgers, steaks, chicken, etc. on. No need to fire up the big guy for small stuff.

I made a copy of the pit for my son out of half of a 300 gal propane tank. Pipe on that one is 30"s diameter, it's 36-40"s long and stands on a frame that allows it to swivel.

Here's my smoker:

I've had it for quite awhile and use it to make jerky, smoke sausage and peppers. Nice little unit!

maximumcapsicum · Aug 4, 2014

Nice gear Scott! I bet you eat well 8 days a week.

I love jerk chicken, almost as much as I love mughlai and tandoori chickens. Rick's recipe has a ton of sweetness and a nice balanced flavor. I need to get some time to make it after we finish our move.

Everything is looking great over there in Texas. Keep it goin!

Pulpiteer · Aug 4, 2014

Wow, your glog is huge! I'm sorry I've missed so much of it. I was only able to scan the last few pages, covering sauce confiscation, a jungle of a garden, huge harvests, great food, home made grills and a beautiful smoker. Wow!

Your garden looks amazing!

Thanks again for the package of peppers. I went through the story on my glog, but they were a wonderful tool in helping me connect with my new church and introduce some people to some real heat.

PIC 1 · Aug 4, 2014

Very nice Scott !
Love the tomato and jerk recipes....and the ~~weapons~~....grilling arsenal !
I hope the temperature drops in your area so you can get some bumper crops of peppers.

romy6 · Aug 4, 2014

Looking like some mighty fine food and such my friend. keep up the amazing grow sir .

Devv · Aug 4, 2014

maximumcapsicum said:
Nice gear Scott! I bet you eat well 8 days a week.

I love jerk chicken, almost as much as I love mughlai and tandoori chickens. Rick's recipe has a ton of sweetness and a nice balanced flavor. I need to get some time to make it after we finish our move.

Everything is looking great over there in Texas. Keep it goin!

Thanks Adam,

The older we get the more stuff we aquire, and I try to make it last

LB is the cook around here, I do the BBQ, but she makes the meals. I can cook, but not near as well as she can.

Rick's recipe is very good, I wouldn't even start to try to improve it. Except to add another MoA next time. I decided to start on the low side, as we both have to be able to eat it.

Pulpiteer said:
Wow, your glog is huge! I'm sorry I've missed so much of it. I was only able to scan the last few pages, covering sauce confiscation, a jungle of a garden, huge harvests, great food, home made grills and a beautiful smoker. Wow!

Your garden looks amazing!

Thanks again for the package of peppers. I went through the story on my glog, but they were a wonderful tool in helping me connect with my new church and introduce some people to some real heat.

Thanks Andy,

It's been a good, but crazy busy year for sure.

You're very welcome on the peppers, glad they helped out

PIC 1 said:
Very nice Scott !
Love the tomato and jerk recipes....and the ~~weapons~~....grilling arsenal !
I hope the temperature drops in your area so you can get some bumper crops of peppers.

Thanks Greg,

I've had my share of many different red sauces and that one is (for me) by far the best tasting. It's certainly worth the time when 16 quarts are made as it lasts quite awhile, unless my son comes over with his 4 kids...LOL. The jerk recipe was the first I've ever made, and I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I have another pit roughed out with the other half of the 30" propane tank, it's been sitting 3-4 years. Just not enough hours in the days anymore

I still have a bunch of peppers hanging but it's slowing down. I decided to make September 1st. the cut off date. I feel the soil needs to be perked back up, and it will give me a few months break to catch up on some other things I've been neglecting....the wood shop is calling me...

romy6 said:
Looking like some mighty fine food and such my friend. keep up the amazing grow sir .

Thanks Jamie,

Glad you stopped by!

Trippa · Aug 4, 2014

Good stuff devv!! Are you going to let the area just sit fallow until spring or are you going to put a green manure or nitrogen fixing ground cover in ?

Devv · Aug 4, 2014

Trippa said:
Good stuff devv!! Are you going to let the area just sit fallow until spring or are you going to put a green manure or nitrogen fixing ground cover in ?

Thanks Tristen!

Around the 15th of September I plan to plant Crimson Clover, once it's well established add some rye which can be planted in December. But before doing that I want to grind up the 4 truck loads of leaves and the yd of cow manure I have maturing. Over the winter I should be able to gather more cow manure and add that before spring.

Trippa · Aug 4, 2014

Sounds great Devv ... the soil should repay you big time next season.

Devv · Aug 4, 2014

Trippa said:
Sounds great Devv ... the soil should repay you big time next season.

Yes sir, it's a yearly investment. And last year I feel I cheated the soil. I grew peppers until December, so it didn't get the rest it deserved. The ones I planted in that same space never amounted to much. And adding nutes really didn't help. I learned one can't play "catch up".

Jeff H · Aug 5, 2014

hehehe. 96 pages and still the beginning of Aug. Hurry up Scott, you can break 200 easily by the time you wrap it up for the year.

Your tomato sauce recipe makes me droll every time you post it. Loving it. Jerk chicken, and a cool grilling and smoking tools too. Great updates.

beerbreath81 · Aug 5, 2014

Holy cow! your glog has gone into hyper speed. You dont play around when it comes to the gear, nice equipment that will stand the test of time, I dig! Nice foodie pics too! Are you still updating your recipe site? Can we get that link one more time, need to bookmark it.

I keep procastinating on getting my garden set-up for next years grow. The wife just cant let it go yet. Alot of the peppers have come back but are very tiny. To my surprize I am actually getting flowers on my 5-6" tall plants even one set a pod thats about to turn ripe. I wanna just scoop the ones I really want to save for seeds and get to working the soil! I scored an awesome deal last week on a tow behind tiller for the riding mower, the guy was practically giving it away. His loss, my gain! I will need to re-think the garden fence I think with this type of tiller.

Take care buddy and keep the pics coming!!

gnslngr · Aug 5, 2014

Nice hardware, thats all I'm gonna say right now.
You had to slap that jerk chicken in my face, right when I am in full growling hungry mode.......unfortunately no Jamaican around nearby. So , its off the Wild Wings, for their poor imitation....with MY sauce

!.

Devv · Aug 5, 2014

Jeff H said:
hehehe. 96 pages and still the beginning of Aug. Hurry up Scott, you can break 200 easily by the time you wrap it up for the year.

Your tomato sauce recipe makes me droll every time you post it. Loving it. Jerk chicken, and a cool grilling and smoking tools too. Great updates.

Thanks Jeff!

I couldn't remember if I had posted the red sauce recipe this season or last, but knew I had at one time or another. Regardless it's always worth posting IMHO.

Actually I'm cutting the grow short to get a cover crop in before it's too late. Peppers I have, ran out of room and have been giving them away. Mainly to a local restaurant we frequent

beerbreath81 said:
Holy cow! your glog has gone into hyper speed. You dont play around when it comes to the gear, nice equipment that will stand the test of time, I dig! Nice foodie pics too! Are you still updating your recipe site? Can we get that link one more time, need to bookmark it.

I keep procastinating on getting my garden set-up for next years grow. The wife just cant let it go yet. Alot of the peppers have come back but are very tiny. To my surprize I am actually getting flowers on my 5-6" tall plants even one set a pod thats about to turn ripe. I wanna just scoop the ones I really want to save for seeds and get to working the soil! I scored an awesome deal last week on a tow behind tiller for the riding mower, the guy was practically giving it away. His loss, my gain! I will need to re-think the garden fence I think with this type of tiller.

Take care buddy and keep the pics coming!!

Thanks Anthony,

Here's the link: http://www.devtex.net/recipe.html

In most cases it pays to go with better gear, I just ordered a new ~~toy~~ piece of equipment. I did the research and hope it turns out as a good product that I can leave to my son...after I use it for 25 years that is!

My garden rehab commences September 1st, will be potting up those I wish to run longer. I'm gauging this on where it's at now and how it would be then. There won't be any new pods setting until late September, and then the wait will make rehab time too short. So I would say your thoughts are on the right track.

Congrats on the tiller! I've only found one good deal locally here, and that was a cattle trailer that I feel we flat stole

gnslngr said:
Nice hardware, thats all I'm gonna say right now.
You had to slap that jerk chicken in my face, right when I am in full growling hungry mode.......unfortunately no Jamaican around nearby. So , its off the Wild Wings, for their poor imitation....with MY sauce !.

Thanks Dave,

We make wings with an equal mix of hot sauce, honey, and BBQ sauce. Lately we've been using Greg's Red Fury to crank things up. With that ratio the wife can eat them too

A year ago she wouldn't even have tasted one, so progress is being made!

jedisushi06 · Aug 6, 2014

Have you tried to make a dry jerk rub yet?

JJJessee · Aug 6, 2014

Hey, Scott.
I was away with my birthday girl too last weekend.
Looks like your garden fared quite well in you absents.
Time to get back to work. That pull with keep you busy.

Cover cropping is time and money well spent.
I've put very little else on my row garden since 2012 -just post-holed in the plants. Tater's and beans were OK without anything else.
I sowed a quick summer cover of buckwheat right behind my peas and onions in the raised beds.
Even using it as a shade/nurse crop in a patch of summer lettuce and it seems to be helping so far.
I sowed my winter cover underneath my pepper row canopy before harvest last year and it did OK.

Keep up the good work.

Devv · Aug 6, 2014

jedisushi06 said:
Have you tried to make a dry jerk rub yet?

No, this is my first try, got one?

JJJessee said:
Hey, Scott.
I was away with my birthday girl too last weekend.
Looks like your garden fared quite well in you absents.
Time to get back to work. That pull with keep you busy.

Say Happy B-day to the Mrs.!

Cover cropping is time and money well spent.
I've put very little else on my row garden since 2012 -just post-holed in the plants. Tater's and beans were OK without anything else.
I sowed a quick summer cover of buckwheat right behind my peas and onions in the raised beds.
Even using it as a shade/nurse crop in a patch of summer lettuce and it seems to be helping so far.
I sowed my winter cover underneath my pepper row canopy before harvest last year and it did OK.

I'm in total agreement!

Below is a pic taken the beginning of the second week of July where I outlined (all I have is paint) the area that the peppers lived until mid December. It's quite easy to see the difference the soil building makes. Those plants never did anything.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks JJJ!

Ordering some Comfrey really soon.

LB and went into Rockys Grill for lunch today here in Devine. During my in and out of town month of July I brought him peppers 3 times, 8 or 9 gallons of a mix of whatever was ripe. Mostly supers.

He saw us and ran into the back and brought these up to the bar.

There was one more but I gifted it to Daylon. He told me "This is your share of the haul". I was impressed as I didn't expect anything. I just wanted to see the peppers put to good use I as have way too many already!
The pot he used...I'll call it a caldron

was about 30-34"s across. He roasted the peppers with Olive Oil and Kosher salt. Pureed them. Added the peppers, 10 #10 cans of chopped tom's and puree (50-50). He said he had to add water as the tom's were very thick, juice from 12 Limes, Celantro (but not an overwhelming amount) 10 Onions, and 8 heads of fresh Garlic.

The sauce has a wonderful flavor, different from any I've tasted. I'm guessing because he roasted the peppers. He said he used ALL of them. It also has some good heat, too hot for LB for sure. He said his buddies told him "he needed to tone it down some". I told him "let them buy the store bought stuff

".

He said he did this Sunday, and he still burns from the preparation and clean up. I love it!

JJJessee · Aug 6, 2014

That salsa style is sounds pretty much what my daughter turned me on to last year.
Yesterday, I made small batch of green when ripe toms, MoAs and the usual suspects then this morning canne it.
I want to see how the processing affects the flavor be fore I go all in on it.

Devv · Aug 6, 2014

JJJessee said:
That salsa style is sounds pretty much what my daughter turned me on to last year.
Yesterday, I made small batch of green when ripe toms, MoAs and the usual suspects then this morning canne it.
I want to see how the processing affects the flavor be fore I go all in on it.

Sounds good JJJ.

I haven't seen the canning operation affect the taste of the salsa we've been making so far. We've been adding the recommended amount of citric acid to each jar (per directions) before sealing it and placing in the canner pot. We do allow the mix to settle for a day in the fridge for tasting and tweaking before we can.

stickman · Aug 7, 2014

Devv said:
I haven't seen the canning operation affect the taste of the salsa we've been making so far. We've been adding the recommended amount of citric acid to each jar (per directions) before sealing it and placing in the canner pot. We do allow the mix to settle for a day in the fridge for tasting and tweaking before we can.

Interesting that you add citric acid to the salsa you've been making... is it for flavor or to preserve the color?