On 6/22/2013 8:28 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 6/22/13 8:06 PM, Califbill wrote:
"Earl" wrote in message
...

wrote:
On Fri, 21 Jun 2013 08:46:37 -0700, "Califbill"
wrote:

We bbq mostly chicken, pork and fish. If you have a wood burning
grill,
then you will get more flavor. Gas, you might as well use the
broiler. We
have an electric skillet with a broiler lid, so not even a lot of
mess to
clean up.
That is why I throw hickory chips in there.
I have a spare "floater" from my spa that I drop in a bucket of water
with a handful of chips and let them soak an hour or so and they smoke
up real good.
For chicken or ribs I sometimes use charcoal. Put the charcoal in,
fire up the gas and when the charcoal is good and hot, turn off the
gas. Just be sure to use pure charcoal, not that chemical laced "match
light" stuff.
I use my smoker about once a month. There is no need to soak the
smoking wood. It's actually better to get as much early smoke as
possible. When the meat is "sealed" from the heat it can't absorb much
more smoke. I learned this many years ago but started with the same
theory as you - to provide constant smoke by soaking the wood.
-------

Not soaking the chips get flames and little smoke in my experience.



I remember reading some connection between smokers and carcinogens, so I
googled it...lots of hits. Here's one:

The carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) is mainly benzo[a]pyrene
(structure is shown), though other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) and heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are present and can cause cancer,
too. PAHs are in smoke from incomplete combustion, so if you can taste
smoke on your food, expect it contains those chemicals. Most of the PAHs
are associated with smoke or char, so you can scrape them off of your
food and reduce your risk from them (though that kind of defeats the
point of a toasted marshmallow). HCAs, on the other hand, are produced
by a chemical reaction between meat and high or prolonged heat. You'll
find these chemicals in fried meat as well as barbeque. You can't cut or
scrape away this class of carcinogens, but you can limit the amount that
is produced by cooking your meat just until it's done, not blackening it
into oblivion.

Just how dangerous are these chemicals? The truth is, it's very hard to
quantify the risk. There is no established 'this amount will cause
cancer' limit because the genetic damage that leads to cancer is complex
and affected by many other factors. For example, if you drink alcohol
with your char, you further increase your risk, since alcohol, though it
doesn't cause cancer, acts as a promoter. This means it increases the
likelihood a carcinogen will be able to induce cancer. Similarly, other
foods may lessen your risk. What is known is PAH's and HCA's
definitively cause cancer in humans, but they are also a part of
everyday life, so your body has mechanisms for detoxifying them. What
you want to do is try to limit your exposure. I guess that means you
should take the time to toast the perfect marshmallow rather than go for
the quick sugary fireball, but that's just so hard...


http://chemistry.about.com/b/2013/05...arcinogens.htm

Eat up, boys, and pass around those beers!

Yesseree Harry. With your breathing disorders, you shouldn't get within
10 feet of a barbeque grill.

On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 17:06:55 -0700, "Califbill" wrote:

"Earl" wrote in message
...

wrote:
On Fri, 21 Jun 2013 08:46:37 -0700, "Califbill"
wrote:

We bbq mostly chicken, pork and fish. If you have a wood burning grill,
then you will get more flavor. Gas, you might as well use the broiler.
We
have an electric skillet with a broiler lid, so not even a lot of mess to
clean up.
That is why I throw hickory chips in there.
I have a spare "floater" from my spa that I drop in a bucket of water
with a handful of chips and let them soak an hour or so and they smoke
up real good.
For chicken or ribs I sometimes use charcoal. Put the charcoal in,
fire up the gas and when the charcoal is good and hot, turn off the
gas. Just be sure to use pure charcoal, not that chemical laced "match
light" stuff.
I use my smoker about once a month. There is no need to soak the
smoking wood. It's actually better to get as much early smoke as
possible. When the meat is "sealed" from the heat it can't absorb much
more smoke. I learned this many years ago but started with the same
theory as you - to provide constant smoke by soaking the wood.
-------

Not soaking the chips get flames and little smoke in my experience.

My smoker is electric, so I never get flames - just smoldering. I got rid of the charcoal smoker
many years ago. Too much trouble when smoking a turkey.

John H.
--

Hope you're having a great day!

On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 20:28:19 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 6/22/13 8:06 PM, Califbill wrote:
"Earl" wrote in message
...

wrote:
On Fri, 21 Jun 2013 08:46:37 -0700, "Califbill"
wrote:

We bbq mostly chicken, pork and fish. If you have a wood burning grill,
then you will get more flavor. Gas, you might as well use the
broiler. We
have an electric skillet with a broiler lid, so not even a lot of
mess to
clean up.
That is why I throw hickory chips in there.
I have a spare "floater" from my spa that I drop in a bucket of water
with a handful of chips and let them soak an hour or so and they smoke
up real good.
For chicken or ribs I sometimes use charcoal. Put the charcoal in,
fire up the gas and when the charcoal is good and hot, turn off the
gas. Just be sure to use pure charcoal, not that chemical laced "match
light" stuff.
I use my smoker about once a month. There is no need to soak the
smoking wood. It's actually better to get as much early smoke as
possible. When the meat is "sealed" from the heat it can't absorb much
more smoke. I learned this many years ago but started with the same
theory as you - to provide constant smoke by soaking the wood.
-------

Not soaking the chips get flames and little smoke in my experience.



I remember reading some connection between smokers and carcinogens, so I
googled it...lots of hits. Here's one:

The carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) is mainly benzo[a]pyrene
(structure is shown), though other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) and heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are present and can cause cancer,
too. PAHs are in smoke from incomplete combustion, so if you can taste
smoke on your food, expect it contains those chemicals. Most of the PAHs
are associated with smoke or char, so you can scrape them off of your
food and reduce your risk from them (though that kind of defeats the
point of a toasted marshmallow). HCAs, on the other hand, are produced
by a chemical reaction between meat and high or prolonged heat. You'll
find these chemicals in fried meat as well as barbeque. You can't cut or
scrape away this class of carcinogens, but you can limit the amount that
is produced by cooking your meat just until it's done, not blackening it
into oblivion.

Just how dangerous are these chemicals? The truth is, it's very hard to
quantify the risk. There is no established 'this amount will cause
cancer' limit because the genetic damage that leads to cancer is complex
and affected by many other factors. For example, if you drink alcohol
with your char, you further increase your risk, since alcohol, though it
doesn't cause cancer, acts as a promoter. This means it increases the
likelihood a carcinogen will be able to induce cancer. Similarly, other
foods may lessen your risk. What is known is PAH's and HCA's
definitively cause cancer in humans, but they are also a part of
everyday life, so your body has mechanisms for detoxifying them. What
you want to do is try to limit your exposure. I guess that means you
should take the time to toast the perfect marshmallow rather than go for
the quick sugary fireball, but that's just so hard...


http://chemistry.about.com/b/2013/05...arcinogens.htm

Eat up, boys, and pass around those beers!

Kool Aid's a bitch too.

John H.
--

Hope you're having a great day!

On Sun, 23 Jun 2013 11:43:33 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 23 Jun 2013 07:34:51 -0400, John H
wrote:


My smoker is electric, so I never get flames - just smoldering. I got rid of the charcoal smoker
many years ago. Too much trouble when smoking a turkey.

John H.


I have a Brinkman electric smoker (one of 3 we got for free from
Gander Mountain) but the burner is way too hot. I ended up using a
control from a stove burner to tame it a bit. Now I can really slow
cook things.

The thermometer on the Brinkman shows the temp right close to the red zone. I've got another
thermometer, but have not installed it yet. How did you do the stove control?

John (Gun Nut) H.
--

Hope you're having a great day!

On Mon, 24 Jun 2013 01:08:25 -0400, wrote:

This is just a pulse width controller from a stove burner that pulses
the power.

===

I think I'm hearing the electrical noise from that up here on my SSB
radio. :-)

On Mon, 24 Jun 2013 07:34:48 -0400, Wayne.B wrote:

On Mon, 24 Jun 2013 01:08:25 -0400, wrote:

This is just a pulse width controller from a stove burner that pulses
the power.

===

I think I'm hearing the electrical noise from that up here on my SSB
radio. :-)

Actually, if you know the secret, it's pretty simple:

http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/SecretsOfArduinoPWM

Eisboch's probably got a couple of these out back in the shed. Just hook it up to the old Brinkman
and away you go:

http://tinyurl.com/mxcp93p

John (Gun Nut) H.
--

Hope you're having a great day!

In article ,
says...

On Sun, 23 Jun 2013 11:43:33 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 23 Jun 2013 07:34:51 -0400, John H
wrote:


My smoker is electric, so I never get flames - just smoldering. I got rid of the charcoal smoker
many years ago. Too much trouble when smoking a turkey.

John H.


I have a Brinkman electric smoker (one of 3 we got for free from
Gander Mountain) but the burner is way too hot. I ended up using a
control from a stove burner to tame it a bit. Now I can really slow
cook things.

The thermometer on the Brinkman shows the temp right close to the red zone. I've got another
thermometer, but have not installed it yet. How did you do the stove control?

John (Gun Nut) H.

If y'all are going to cook with gas, why not do it on your stove?

"John H" wrote in message
...

On Mon, 24 Jun 2013 07:34:48 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Mon, 24 Jun 2013 01:08:25 -0400, wrote:

This is just a pulse width controller from a stove burner that
pulses
the power.

===

I think I'm hearing the electrical noise from that up here on my SSB
radio. :-)

Actually, if you know the secret, it's pretty simple:

http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/SecretsOfArduinoPWM

Eisboch's probably got a couple of these out back in the shed. Just
hook it up to the old Brinkman
and away you go:

http://tinyurl.com/mxcp93p

John (Gun Nut) H.

-------------------------------------------------

Being the nerd I am, I have to comment:

Pulse width modulation is how the "Super Audio" CD's were made and are
vastly superior to conventional CD's in terms of fidelity, dynamic
range and sound reproduction. Don't hear about them much anymore due
to the general interest in quantity over quality in music
reproduction and storage. I still have a super cd player hooked up
to a fairly decent sound system. "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits
never sounded so good. It really shines if you get in the mood for a
little "hi brow" classical music as well.

The sputter system? Yep. We built many of them over the years for
various commercial, military and R&D purposes. Applications included
the production of CDs, heart/artery stents, automotive components,
and sputtered thin film gauges on jet engine turbine blades. The
automatic rain detectors used in the windshields of GM cars were
developed in one of our sputter systems.

Memories.

On 6/24/13 8:30 AM, Eisboch wrote:


"John H" wrote in message
...

On Mon, 24 Jun 2013 07:34:48 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Mon, 24 Jun 2013 01:08:25 -0400, wrote:

This is just a pulse width controller from a stove burner that pulses
the power.

===

I think I'm hearing the electrical noise from that up here on my SSB
radio. :-)

Actually, if you know the secret, it's pretty simple:

http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/SecretsOfArduinoPWM

Eisboch's probably got a couple of these out back in the shed. Just hook
it up to the old Brinkman
and away you go:

http://tinyurl.com/mxcp93p

John (Gun Nut) H.

-------------------------------------------------

Being the nerd I am, I have to comment:

Pulse width modulation is how the "Super Audio" CD's were made and are
vastly superior to conventional CD's in terms of fidelity, dynamic range
and sound reproduction. Don't hear about them much anymore due to the
general interest in quantity over quality in music reproduction and
storage. I still have a super cd player hooked up to a fairly decent
sound system. "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits never sounded so
good. It really shines if you get in the mood for a little "hi brow"
classical music as well.





Hmm. I've got the "Brothers in Arms" super audio CD somewhere. Sounds great.

"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
news
On 6/24/13 8:30 AM, Eisboch wrote:


"John H" wrote in message
...

On Mon, 24 Jun 2013 07:34:48 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Mon, 24 Jun 2013 01:08:25 -0400, wrote:

This is just a pulse width controller from a stove burner that
pulses
the power.

===

I think I'm hearing the electrical noise from that up here on my
SSB
radio. :-)

Actually, if you know the secret, it's pretty simple:

http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/SecretsOfArduinoPWM

Eisboch's probably got a couple of these out back in the shed. Just
hook
it up to the old Brinkman
and away you go:

http://tinyurl.com/mxcp93p

John (Gun Nut) H.

-------------------------------------------------

Being the nerd I am, I have to comment:

Pulse width modulation is how the "Super Audio" CD's were made and
are
vastly superior to conventional CD's in terms of fidelity, dynamic
range
and sound reproduction. Don't hear about them much anymore due to
the
general interest in quantity over quality in music reproduction and
storage. I still have a super cd player hooked up to a fairly
decent
sound system. "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits never sounded so
good. It really shines if you get in the mood for a little "hi
brow"
classical music as well.





Hmm. I've got the "Brothers in Arms" super audio CD somewhere. Sounds
great.

-----------------------------------------------

Only if you play it on a super cd player. I am not sure (can't
remember) if a conventional CD player will play super cds. I know a
super cd player will play both. The super cd players were (are?)
unique to Sony, I believe.