Operation Golden Garden 2014: Let's Get Started!

stickman · Jun 1, 2013

You'll love that smoker/grill Matt. I have a Brinkman like it that I've used for years. It's big enough to smoke a #16 Turkey. Use the water dish/deflector inside if you want to smoke chiles though... you'll burn them otherwise since the grate is directly over the burning charcoal.

stc3248 said:
the AK, such a crappy, P.O.S., cheap yet effective weapon that takes a lickin and keeps on tickin. 7.62X39, not the best to reach out with, but plenty o power. Hmmm no wonder its the "Preferred weapon of our enemy!"

You bet... I knew a SEAL that did 3 tours in 'Nam, and his first tour was as a waist gunner with an M60 in a Huey doing insertions and extractions. On one mission, they took ground fire from a guy with an AK, and he hosed down the guy shooting at them. They landed next to the body and found he'd put 2 rounds through the magazine and one into the receiver of the AK. They changed out the damaged magazine and it worked perfectly.

MGOLD86 · Jun 1, 2013

stc3248 said:
Smoke 'em if you got 'em! Benelli sure makes some mean shotguns! Good fire rate with low recoil! Weber too...top notch! Oh...and the AK, such a crappy, P.O.S., cheap yet effective weapon that takes a lickin and keeps on tickin. 7.62X39, not the best to reach out with, but plenty o power. Hmmm no wonder its the "Preferred weapon of our enemy!"

Now lets see them plants!!!

I know I know, you will get plenty of shots of the operation today.

I loved the Benelli and I actually love the AK. Super reliable, accurate enough, it always fun to go through a mag of 30 in like 5 seconds. I think my next long rifle is gonna be a SCAR Heavy. I found a place in Texas that gets them at LE/Mil pricing fairly regularly.

But back to the peppers, gonna get in the garden in a couple hours and plant all the seeds this afternoon.

Hey Pia! You know I will keep rambling!

stickman said:
You'll love that smoker/grill Matt. I have a Brinkman like it that I've used for years. It's big enough to smoke a #16 Turkey. Use the water dish/deflector inside if you want to smoke chiles though... you'll burn them otherwise since the grate is directly over the burning charcoal.

Yea last time I tried it I fried everything. I'm gonna give it a shot today to practice getting to temp before I cook on Monday. Do you have a recommendation on wood type?

stickman · Jun 1, 2013

MGOLD86 said:
Yea last time I tried it I fried everything. I'm gonna give it a shot today to practice getting to temp before I cook on Monday. Do you have a recommendation on wood type?

It kind of depends on your taste. Corncobs and Alder wood have the mildest smoke flavor, and Mesquite and Hickory have the strongest. Avoid green Oak because it smells like cat's piss, though seasoned oak is OK... I think Jack Daniels chips up their old Oak barrels for smoking with, and some wineries do likewise. The other hardwoods fall somewhere in between. My personal favorite blend for meat is 50/50 Maple and Mesquite because the Hickory has a somewhat sour aftertaste I don't like unless you smoke something sweet like pork. I like Apple wood for smoking chiles too.

stc3248 · Jun 1, 2013

I use maple, apple and mesquite...or some combination. A lot of folks use cherry too, but it's hard to find out here. I have also used oak with good results. An 80/20 mix of apple to mesquite is my go to. Have fun with it! Low and slow fo-sho with plenty of H2O!

RocketMan · Jun 1, 2013

I see smoked powders coming up soon

Benelli is nice but we never used shotguns, I wish they had kept the 1911 for a side arm. My favorite weapon though was the Mk-21 I had when I was a 19D, Cav Scout

Reach out and touch someo ne. :rofl:

Cant wait to see which one wins a place in the Garden Matt and to hear your reviews of some of those peppers that I haven't heard of before like that Cobra.

Devv · Jun 1, 2013

I use a lot of Mesquite and Hickory. My smoker made by "The Sausage Maker" has an electric heating element. It came with a stainless steel dish and I only smoke with damp saw dust which I get out of the dust collector in the shop or make with a chainsaw. It's great for "cool smoking" like when I make dried sausage. Soon it will be used for some peppers.

So where I'm going with this is perhaps you can maintain a small fire and put the damp wood in something to deflect the heat even more.

Good luck with your project.

MGOLD86 · Jun 1, 2013

Thanks all for the recommendations for smoking woods. I will see what I can find locally and let you know how that turns out.

Ok, I promised some pepper pics, and here is evidence I didn't kill everything! I am hoping to film a quick walkthrough later on this evening, it was just a bit too hot for a video this afternoon. The peppers are still getting used to the sun so they are a bit worked during the late morning and mid afternoon. But other than that, there is a lot of new growth beginning to show up and the good news is it is all green! I lost a few leaves here and there when I transplanted in the days that followed, but it looks like all that jazz has stopped and we are now on to the lets grow phase.

Bhut Jolokia Yellow

Naga Morich

7 Pot

TSMB Yellow

Cobra Chili

Aji Colorado.

Black Krim Mater

And the whole lot

Oh....and I was right in the middle of planting all my seeds and the mail came...

Just in time Vincent! I decided to sow a few Yellow BB Doughlahs and 7 Pot Chiguanas. I did a soil review video (uploading to YouTube now) and I will post it here and a write up at some point soon. We are entertaining some friends later, so it depends on how :drunk:

we get whether or not I will be able to type properly...

:Cheers:

Devv · Jun 1, 2013

Plants are looking great and will start to really kick next week.

Nice score on the seeds!

Outa likes for now

WalkGood · Jun 1, 2013

Plants look healthy, interesting to see the Aji Colorado's flower, keep up dat great grow!

MGOLD86 · Jun 1, 2013

Devv said:
Plants are looking great and will start to really kick next week.

Nice score on the seeds!

Outa likes for now

Yea, I was like, HELL YEA!! I guess I am planting more!

WalkGood said:
Plants look healthy, interesting to see the Aji Colorado's flower, keep up dat great grow!

Yea, I usually pull them, but I figured what the heck, Ill let it be! Also, it has a great flower.

RocketMan · Jun 1, 2013

Looking good Matt, and great to see some close ups of the babies. i picked my first Black Krim today but it had been hit by BER, which I was told was a Calcium issue so, make sure you hit the with a little Cal/Mag. Have you had a chance to crack open a Kool Yule yet, curious to hear what you thought of it. I know it's not everyones cup of tea, :rofl:

though.

MGOLD86 · Jun 1, 2013

So I finished up sowing all my seeds this afternoon and I used both the PROMIX and Dr Earth soils. I could tell about two pots in that I prefer the PROMIX based on its makeup. It is WAY more light, it has much less debris and the extras are much smaller and more...bendy...than the Dr Earth. Anyways, I used them both, planted everything and we shall see!

Here is a review of the two soils.

RocketMan said:
Looking good Matt, and great to see some close ups of the babies. i picked my first Black Krim today but it had been hit by BER, which I was told was a Calcium issue so, make sure you hit the with a little Cal/Mag. Have you had a chance to crack open a Kool Yule yet, curious to hear what you thought of it. I know it's not everyones cup of tea, though.

I saw your GLog and saw the BER, sucks. I had some mater issues a few seasons back and I pretty much just gave up on em. I am looking forward to give them another shot and hopefully this time I can spend the time researching and practicing. Yea, I tried the booze, and it is good stuff man. I am always into the different stuff, you got a niche for puttin stuff in bottles man, that is for sure!

stc3248 · Jun 1, 2013

There ya go Matt! They're settling in nicely just like their pops! As I was posting this you posted your vid...tried watching it, but mama yelled at me because she's watching the tube, gonna find some headphones and come back later!

Fremp · Jun 1, 2013

I think I slept on a Sandy Cloud once in college? Is that what you're talking about?

DocNrock · Jun 2, 2013

Matt, awesome to see you back in the grow. The in-grounds look great. I had one of those Weber smokers. They work great. Like Rick said, I would definitely use the water pan while smoking the chiles. I even used it when smoking a bird. Works like a charm.

Regarding the woods, all of those mentioned: Alder, Cherry, Apple -- are all really good. My favorite though is Pecan. Nice mild smoke flavor. One thing I learned by error is that the strongest smoke woods (hickory, mesquite) can be overpowering if you use the smoked peppers to make a sauce. My sauce came out like liquid smoke!

So much fun to experiment and try the different woods. Enjoy!

Devv · Jun 2, 2013

DocNrock said:
One thing I learned by error is that the strongest smoke woods (hickory, mesquite) can be overpowering if you use the smoked peppers to make a sauce. My sauce came out like liquid smoke!

One of my first attempts at smoking sausage left them so smoky even the dogs wouldn't eat them!

I use Mesquite a lot, if it's aged 2 years or so, it's a lot milder. And I go by the color.

newhoppyguy · Jun 2, 2013

Just wanted to give kudos for the great looking garden

Jamison · Jun 2, 2013

Matt, Glad you got back safe man! You didn't waste any time getting that garden up and running! Loved all the vids and i'm looking forward to this glog my friend! Great work! Thanks for keeping us safe!

MGOLD86 · Jun 2, 2013

stc3248 said:
There ya go Matt! They're settling in nicely just like their pops! As I was posting this you posted your vid...tried watching it, but mama yelled at me because she's watching the tube, gonna find some headphones and come back later!

Thanks Shane. I know EXACTLY what you are talking about! :rofl:

Fremp said:
I think I slept on a Sandy Cloud once in college? Is that what you're talking about?

Yes. That is what I am talking about. lol!!

DocNrock said:
Matt, awesome to see you back in the grow. The in-grounds look great. I had one of those Weber smokers. They work great. Like Rick said, I would definitely use the water pan while smoking the chiles. I even used it when smoking a bird. Works like a charm.

Regarding the woods, all of those mentioned: Alder, Cherry, Apple -- are all really good. My favorite though is Pecan. Nice mild smoke flavor. One thing I learned by error is that the strongest smoke woods (hickory, mesquite) can be overpowering if you use the smoked peppers to make a sauce. My sauce came out like liquid smoke!

So much fun to experiment and try the different woods. Enjoy!

Yea, I have been watching a ton of videos and did my research before I went ahead and grabbed it. I gave it a trial run this afternoon with a gallon of Bhuts (pics below) and it held really nicely at 225-240, so that should be great for tomorrows game day. I picked up some hickory and applewood chunks at Wal Mart because aside from mesquite they were the only ones that were available here. It drives me absolutely freakin crazy that Lowes sells charcoal smokers and wood chips. They say on the bag 'for electric smokers', which THEY DONT FRIGGEN SELL. It would be nice to get some chunks that would go with the stuff they sell...anyways, rant over. Yea, I am gonna probably order a bunch of stuff off the web to see what I like the best. But tomorrow's all pork, so the hickory and apple should do just fine.

Devv said:
One of my first attempts at smoking sausage left them so smoky even the dogs wouldn't eat them!

I use Mesquite a lot, if it's aged 2 years or so, it's a lot milder. And I go by the color.

I have always heard mesquite is pretty heavy, so I would be interested to give what you are talking about a shot. Thanks!

newhoppyguy said:
Just wanted to give kudos for the great looking garden

Thanks for stoppin in!

Jamison said:
Matt, Glad you got back safe man! You didn't waste any time getting that garden up and running! Loved all the vids and i'm looking forward to this glog my friend! Great work! Thanks for keeping us safe!

Hell no, had to get it done as soon as possible! Once the plants go in the ground, it is mostly in ma nature's hands. Now, she can sometimes be that one eyed b$%ch in the sky, but she has been kind to me in the past couple years. So I did a little nature dance and put everything in the ground!

I am cookin up some pig tomorrow on my new toy, so in order to dial in my technique and temp control I gave it a trial run today. What is better for a trial run than a gallon of Bhuts???

And then into dehydrator for another day or so to get them nice and crispy! I didn't have any wood chunks, so I used the chips that I had on hand. It was a blend of a bunch of stuff and I threw a few handfulls in to get a bit of smoke. They went for about 3 hours at 225 and then into the dehydrator.

Tomorrow's fun

Jamison · Jun 2, 2013

Def getting her seasoned the right way! Smokers are endless fun man. I'll have to PM you my pork rub recipe!