Ah, home improvement season approaches

With the coming of the farming "off-season" quickly (I hope) approaching, it is once again home improvement season.

This winter is going to be a BIG project -- the kitchen. New cabinets throughout. New countertops throughout. New floor. New sink. Pretty much gonna gut the room down to the drywall and redo everything (except the appliances, and one of them is moving across the room.)

Well, first things first. My fall harvest is running late. It should normally be done or nearly done by now and it hasn't even really started yet. So I decided to get a jump start on the kitchen project.

Today I replaced the big kitchen window. The old one was one that couldn't be opened. I hate that. But, guess what -- the opening is 56"W x 36"H. That's right...it's horizontal. No standard replacement windows for that sucker. And a custom made one was almost $1000! So I bought a 36x54 (which is a standard size) and made it fit....sideways. Yeah, I know it's not supposed to be put in like that, but $135 is a lot better than $1000. Plus, our climate is pretty dry...it'll probably last a good long time. (The previous owner did this with the big window in the living room a long time ago and it still works great.)

The window is in and sealed. I'll have to trim the stucco back from the outside and trim around the exterior at some point. And I need to put jam extensions and case the interior opening. I'll do that when I'm finishing up the wood and trim for the rest of the remodel.

Anyway, here's pics.

Before

Ready to put new window in.
(Note the spacers to modify rough opening to standard size.)

After
yeah, I know I still need to trim off the shims and expandafoam :P

Getting ready for winter

So, how does a year-round BBQer get ready for winter? By scrounging up wood, of course. The stores here put away their charcoal and wood about the time they set up there Halloween displays. So I scored a lot of charcoal briquettes from Walmart a few weeks ago. It's normally $4.90-something per bag and they marked it down to $4, then $3, then $2.50. I bought some at each price and have like 10 bags in the shed! Winter of '06/'07 I ran out and didn't want to run out again.

It was a nice day today, so I decided to split a tub full from my apricot/cherry pile. It's still pretty wet inside, but the outside layer of logs splits up dry. I've used maybe 20% of this pile....haven't even gotten to the best stuff yet ;)

Oh yeah, I scored some new wood too.


Doesn't look like much, but hey, I'm from Kansas -- I ain't gonna complain about seasoned apple wood! My Mom & Dad were visiting my sister in Kentucky a couple weeks ago and I guess her landlord or neighbor or something had cut down an apple tree and hadn't picked up the logs. So they tossed a vew in their van and brought them home. I haven't split them yet....if they are dry enough I'll use them for the Thanksgiving turkey next month!

I should split some more oak too....maybe another day. It's like axing iron and I'm pooped....

Chicken

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OK, so yes I admit that for the most part I'm a beef guy. Pork is a close second. But man my chicken might make me rethink that order.

This past Saturday I smoked two chickens. I can do up to 6 at once in my pit, but we just had 2 this time. Note the water pan in the pit. Putting one in there is my normal practice unless I'm using all three grill grates, in which case I put in another makeshift drip pan.

The chickens were skinned this time, brined, injected with marinade, and then put on the pit. I mopped it once after the first hour, once after the second hour, and then every 20 minutes until it was done. I'll cover brining and my marinade, and mop in future posts.

After starting the fire with one chimney full of briquettes, as is my custom, the wood was about half apricot and half red oak with one stick of mesquite per hour. You can see my wood chunks in the picture above with oak on the right and apricot on the left. Cooking time was about 3.5 hours.

At one time, I regarded poultry as probably the most difficult meat to smoke to a satisfactorily juicy and flavorful result. However, it is not. It has actually become the most consistent of my BBQ styles and I'm thinking of entering my chicken in one of the area BBQ contests next summer. Turkey, by it's nature, is somewhat more difficult than chicken, but I prepare and cook both practically the same.