Smoking In the Winter

Have you ever fired up your smoker in the middle of January???

There was a really nice streak of nice weather that rolled through our area. So @outrayjs and his amazing family, @leesmoketree, and I recently got together and decided to BBQ some burgers. Once a list of things we needed for the BBQ was noted (after rummaging through every cabinet and cupboard and taring through the fridge and freezer), @outrayjs and @leesmoketree ran to the store and acquired what we noted and of course, a lot more just to go that much further on these outstanding burgers. Meanwhile, I stayed behind and lit up a simple "A-Frame" structured fire in a barrel type wood fire box. Which I will admit it was fairly easy.

This is my smoker I acquired from my recent ex-girlfriend, as a Christmas present. I personally love the smoker, I instantly fell for the wheels and the handles, this smoker has produced some of the best food I've ever eaten in my entire life. In the background you can see snow on the ground from a few days ago, the storm included ice and snow and many people weren't ready for the bad weather, what I mean by this, they refused to drive slower and take more time transporting from place to place, by not being stocked up to make it through the aftermath of the storm, instead they choose to squeeze through just the storm itself. In my opinion, this is a fail in managing your life. But now that the storm has passed and the sun is out I'm not going to miss this on this beautiful 60*F weather were being blessed with, this is a true luxury. In the middle of January, nonetheless. Wow, I still can't believe how beautiful it is, this kind of weather is unheard of this time of year for us. So why not take the opportunity and get outside in the middle of the "hibernation period". I'm loving this.

Well, the smoker has a great bed of coals and a nice fresh stock of local wood and wet smoking chips. Normally I pour 1/2 of my bag of applewood chips in a bucket of water to allow the wood to soak up the water and thus allows the wood to smoke(off-gas) longer. Exactly what you are looking for when you smoke your meat. Long and Slow, is the only way to go. Here we go, these seasoned beauts will soon be encased in smoke for the next hr and a half. As a last touch, I added the stuffed sweet peppers, with Colby Jack cheese and Baby Bella mushrooms. While I'm outside enjoying this lovely weather, @leesmoketree and @outrayjs were inside slicing up the lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pulling out the mayo, ketchup, mustard, and horseradishes, and pickles. Fyi, @outrayjs makes the best guacamole on this planet. So, of course, we had to put some of that on the burgers and to me now that is a new standard in my book lol. When it was all said and done this is what we ended up with.

What do you think? How much would you pay for this masterpiece?