the smoker

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My Caleb finished his smoker last weekend. It is really quite impressive. He designed the whole thing and made all of the components himself--grates, handles, doors to direct air flow and such. He finished it on Friday and we tried it out. A dry run of sorts to make sure it sealed and to burn off anything icky before we started cooking. Caleb has been reading Steven Raichlen’s Barbecue Bible to get inspired, so he had a recipe all picked out and a pork shoulder in the freezer. He decided to try his pork shoulder recipe first thing, so we invited his folks over for supper the next night and mixed up the rub.
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Saturday turned out to be a very rainy and rather chilly day, but he wasn’t deterred. After all, it might rain on vacation, and you’d still want to grill for supper! Greta rode on his back in the Ergo for most of the afternoon while they tended the smoker and cleaned the garage. :) The smoke from the hickory chips went nicely with the smoke from our woodstove chimney. It smelled good, like a day at the north woods cabin.
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Supper ended up being late in the evening, but it was well worth the wait. Caleb’s family helped put everything on when the pork was ready. Caleb mixed up a vinegar sauce for the meat and there were baked beans. It was delicious!