Oh, CHOW HALL! I used to love me some midnight chow. SOS on two pieces of toast, ham cheese and mushroom omelet and two sausage links. Oh and a cup of coffee. Those were the days. I’ve heard tell that they don’t serve SOS in chow halls (well Air Force ones) any more.

LOL, when we had no money and wanted to eat at a restaurant we would go to an Airforce Chowhall. Wy better food and they had tableside service. They finally figured out we weren't TDY and shut us down so we just went to another one on the same airforce base.

Haha, gotta love government redundancy!

Speaking of, when I got sent TDY to help oversee getting Homestead AFB back up and running for aircraft operations following Hurricane Andrew’s destruction the Army was overrunning our portable chow hall volume wise and food allocation. Finally the commanding General of the 82 Airborne issued a directive that all army personnel would ONLY utilize their dining facilities. He was actually a pretty nice guy who I knew from Pope/Ft Bragg. He always called me Bitt.

One time our NCOIC of Airfield management/Base Operations was trying to “dress me down” for something she thought I was doing wrong. Well the General was quietly waiting behind her and when she was finished and turned around was she surprised. Then when the General (3 star) started asking me things instead of her boy did her attitude change. Oh and he did address me at Bitt, not Sgt. she was nice to me after that until I retired a year later. IT WAS GLORIOUS!

I was unofficially told she had it out for me because she wasn’t allowed to read my full commendation from my previous base because she only had a TS clearance, plus the fact I was the only one in the office that was allowed to read a couple reports/directives for the same reason. I mean I was only a lowly Tsgt whereas she had a line number for Senior Master Sgt.

Good morning Yard. I hope everyone is doing well today.

Well as can be expected. Sinuses draining just like every morning. I remember my Dad had the same problem every morning. But his was so bad it would make him gag.

Morning Yard!

A little bit of snow this morning. Otherwise not near as bad as it could have been.

I am smoking a pork shoulder today. I'm using a smoker blanket for the first time. It seems to be working really well so far. It's 35F here and the smoker is running about 5 degrees higher than I set it for. So I'll take it.

Going to have the runt and her significant other over for some pulled pork tonight.

Hey MB, Patty said something about maybe looking into a smoker. Now remember we only used our grill maybe 6 times in the last two years. So, what would be a good entry level smoker for a complete novice without having to sell my other kidney.

Good afternoon, Yard.

Trust the Army boys to find the best places to eat.

I guess I would have to ask what our Budget is?

I started with upright barrel charcoal which I paid about 60 or 70 bucks for. But it didn't last long. Maybe two years before it started falling apart. I have a propane Cabinet smoker that has lasted a while even though I have replaced the burner a couple of times. Those run around $150 to 200.

I recommend the Traeger Pro 22. It's smaller and doesn't have all the whizzBang whizzy gizzets some of the really expensive ones have. But at the price point, it's hard to beat. On sale, they run about $450 and outright $500 bucks.

For reference. I used my upright barrel and Cabinet smoker 3 maybe 4 times year. I got my Traeger in May and have probably used it 30 to 35 times already this year. Upfront is pricey but you can use it as a grill, smoker, and even an oven. It holds temperature well. If you have a remote meat thermometer you never have to open the smoker until the meat has had the temp you want. It truly is set it and forget it. I put in pellets set the temp put the meat on. Put a temp probe in it and I don't have to look at it until it hits temperature or the time I wanted to cook it is up. I'm doing a 6 hour cook today. I opened it up to put the meat on. at 3 hours I wrapped it in foil and after a few more hours I will take it out to rest for an hour before we pull it. Most of the time I just open it up once to put the meat in and another to take it off. Thats it. I get credit for an extravagant meal and in reality, it's easier than frying eggs most of the time.

Thank you MB. I’ll give different ones a look see and then let Patty what I found out.

Only ones I’d really heard of before are master built. But there is one made within an hour of here. Ole Hickory Pits. But I think they start at about 3 grand. We know a guy that has one (propane) and it IS good. But WAY out of our price range.