Recent content by Russ Sylvester

Wow, my post in this thread was six years ago. It's funny to think back to then and remember that I thought I knew everything there was to know about BBQ. Well, it's a half dozen years later and I'm STILL learning how. Don't compete anymore, don't judge anymore, but I still LUV to throw a big...

Thanks all. Yeah, I spun it around and now I'm wearing out the other side. I'll stop by this weekend and get some SS bolts and fender washers. Like said, I really want to keep this guy going.

My Craigslist refugee which is a blue 18 platinum that I got for $15 is dying. I've done so many offset fires in it that the outside coating on the one side is flaking off. Is there anything that I can do with it? The other problem is that the lid where the handle attaches has rusted through...

The butter supposedly adds a silky texture onto your tongue when you eat the ribs. It's an old competition trick. Try adding different things to your foil basting 'sauce' and see what you like. You can add most anything. I've seen pineapple juice, tiger sauce, apple jelly, etc. Every competitor...

I never let the WSM temp get over about 140 when drying out jerky. I've got a fan on the WSM so I crank that all the way up and pile maybe 3 or 4 briqs on the bottom with a small piece of smoke wood. That creates just enough heat to get the wood smoking but not enough to heat the WSM...

Late to the party, sorry. You can make lardons, which are just small cubes (or small strips) of essentially bacon that you can use for flavoring all sorts of different dishes without having to use whole bacon strips. I usually will save all the cutoff pieces and smoke those right along with the...

I'm right there with you. Back when I first started out, I was OCD to the absolute max. I had to research and know every little detail long before I would actually do a cook. Temperature control was a total obsession and I would stress completely out if the temperature moved 10 degrees. Then I...

Plowboy's Bovine Bold for the beef, my own for the pork (modified BRITU) Russ

In the last several months I have been growing progressively hotter peppers and I'm now up to Trinidad Butch T Scorpions. Got a nice crop too. Thought I would mince one up to add to my 'Burn you out, Cure what ails ya' chili. I even wore gloves while mincing. But of course after mincing I took...

I just use Diamond Strike-A-Fire sticks. Buy them at most any grocery store. Basically it's just sawdust held together with a small amount of paraffin. Can buy them on Amazon and help Chris out! I'll use a whole stick for a full chimney or break one in half for a half chimney. Russ

Seems like every time I go to HD or Lowes, I see somebody looking over one of those el cheapo gas grills that are lined in front of the store. I have to force myself to not go over there and tell them to just go buy a Weber and stop throwing money away on garbage. I've had so many neighbors buy...

Garnish is NOT allowed in FBA. The only thing allowed in the box is the meat. No toothpicks, foil, greens, and sauce cannot be in any type of container (yes, it has happened). There is no pooling rule. One other item that may be useful, rib meat MUST be on the bone. Russ

I LOVE my little Estes Proto X quad. I fly that thing all over the house and have even chased the neighbors cat with it. My next one will be full telemetry w/streaming video. I also want to try an R/C plane with telemetry and video. I had bought a R/C helicopter a couple of years ago and almost...

Wow, I had completely forgotten about Andy's Gang. There was a vignette about an Indian kid, can't remember the name. Going back.... Lancelot Link Secret Chimp, The Thunderbirds (not the Air Force flying team), early Johnny Quest, and of course the original SPAAAAAAACE Ghost! Russ

Uh, I still do those things 50+ years later. My dad would give us a pretty good smack if we didn't say sir/ma'am. Wow, riding my bike to the gas station and filling up the lawn mower gas can with the $0.50 my dad would give me and felt like I was getting away with murder for getting to keep the...