Native Texan in Los Angeles checking in...
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 1:19 am
Greetings,
Los Angeles resident here - an honor to join the forum! As a quick narrative, I am a native South Texan from San Antonio (6th generation), military vet of 11 years, and while I might be a permanent Angeleno now, there is a strain of appreciation for Live Oak-smoked brisket in my DNA that needs to be fulfilled. Was lucky to grow up around 2 grandfathers who were competition-level BBQ hands and had all the wood they needed on their property, but for some reason, the talent completely skipped my father, and I kind of have to learn on my own. I consider it a duty....
I can make good BBQ - but I need some years of practice and wisdom to make it as great as my ancestors. I have a pretty simple offset smoker at the moment that I endlessly tinker with and customize to get right, but I think that's part of the learning curve. Additionally, out in California, I gotta say it is a very different world of meat cuts, woods and other ingredients, so I might be the weirdo out here who occasionally talks about his Tri-Tip smoked over wine-barrel staves (not as good as it sounds). Definitely going to delve into some Pacific seafood BBQ, as I live about 20 minutes from a massive seafood market.
Again, really excited to learn here, and to share my mistakes with anyone else reading!
Paul_in_PVE
Los Angeles resident here - an honor to join the forum! As a quick narrative, I am a native South Texan from San Antonio (6th generation), military vet of 11 years, and while I might be a permanent Angeleno now, there is a strain of appreciation for Live Oak-smoked brisket in my DNA that needs to be fulfilled. Was lucky to grow up around 2 grandfathers who were competition-level BBQ hands and had all the wood they needed on their property, but for some reason, the talent completely skipped my father, and I kind of have to learn on my own. I consider it a duty....
I can make good BBQ - but I need some years of practice and wisdom to make it as great as my ancestors. I have a pretty simple offset smoker at the moment that I endlessly tinker with and customize to get right, but I think that's part of the learning curve. Additionally, out in California, I gotta say it is a very different world of meat cuts, woods and other ingredients, so I might be the weirdo out here who occasionally talks about his Tri-Tip smoked over wine-barrel staves (not as good as it sounds). Definitely going to delve into some Pacific seafood BBQ, as I live about 20 minutes from a massive seafood market.
Again, really excited to learn here, and to share my mistakes with anyone else reading!
Paul_in_PVE
The ONLY PROBLEM that we might have concerning the Wine-Barrel Staves would be "what did you do with the Wine?" 
AND as far as anything that swims in Saltwater "Bring It On". 
