Lurk— Couldn’t agree more about the walleye, it is so good, probably the best fresh water fish I’ve ever had the pleasure to enjoy. While traditionally as you said it’s a deep water fresh water lake fish. That said, Alan has both Carter’s Lake and Lake Lanier that he fishes regularly from his home in Jasper, Ga. He has learned walleye is a very healthy fish in both locations and he has had some luck catching them. Again as you said, outstanding table fare! And yes they are great off of the grill too.
I am sure that the walleye from Georgia taste great, but the further north you go the better walleye tastes. Same thing with trout: The colder the water the better it tastes. I remember eating some caught in Reelfoot Lake that were good, but also eating some caught in the UP of Michigan that were unbelievable. But if you ever go to Door County in Wisconsin do not go to a fish boil. It should be a crime what they do. Imagine eating boiled fish laced with lighter fluid. Just terrible. It ain't like a Louisiana crawfish boil except that both have a lot of beer.
Weather topic again......my friend posted this on Facebook this morning. I saw his post after I made the decision to forgo my beach bike ride after my morning work was done, because the AC just felt too good to return outside....and didn't feel so bad. Went to the Inlet this morning for a surf and it was really hot. How hot you say? I took my laser thermometer down to the waters edge and the water temp was 87.2 degrees and the temp of the sand was 96, that was the wet sand in the middle of the beach. I went back to my truck and put my white rash guard on and grabbed my board and walked down to the water (It was low tide) and as I was in ankle deep water a couple of sharks came swimming by. No big deal. I put my board in the water and paddled out through the slew, the water was pretty cloudy, so you are thinking, wonder if my hand looks like a fish to a shark? When I got out passed the shore break I caught a few little waves knee high or bigger in pretty quick order. When I was paddling back out I punched through a wave and got my hair wet which felt good for a second until I sat up on my board. The wind was slightly onshore and I noticed that my normally cool rash guard was warmer than the air temp even with the wind blowing on it. Its usually much cooler because because of evaporative cooling but not today! I caught a wave in and was done. It was too Damn Hot. Gonna go sit in the AC and record some guitar.
Smoking a 5.5 lbs pork shoulder and it is lagging, I thought it would be ready to pull after an hour of rest around 6 EDT, but that is not going to happen. Carolina style slaw is made and great.
Lurk— We must’ve been thinking along the same lines—You’ve just beat me by one day—we are planning on firing the Egg up at 5:00am for a couple of Boston Butts ourselves tomorrow. I’m sure yours will be great. Here tonight it’s homemade hamburger vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Rained all day here so it’s rain on the tin roof with adult libations. Life is good in Gator Nation!
It is getting near 7 EDT and it is still not ready to pull. Just over 5 pounds and I started it at 9:30 AM. You have to do these by temp and not times.
Copy that—I usually try to settle my Egg at 235*—240* and 1.5 hr cooking time per pound usually works for me. I shoot for 195* internal temp to rest and pull like I like it to be.
This day started early as I put 2 butts on the Egg at 5:30am. The neighborhood is already smelling good.... Sides will be Ms. Jan’s homemade Mac & Cheese, BBQ baked beans, fresh steamed cabbage, deviled eggs, and yeast rolls. Our neighbor (whose grass I cut) is baking some “Blondies” for desert. It’s hot, humid/muggy and partly cloudy here today so the ice cold longnecks and chilled wine will do just fine. Life is good in Gator Nation!
I took a while, but we finally had dinner last night without the usual amount of rest because everyone was ravenous. Leftovers tonight and not a bad thing. And the lesson is that you cook by meat temperature and not by time. 1.5 hours per pound is an estimate for smoking a pork shoulder. I have had ones done in less than one hour per pound and last night I had one done at over two hours per pound and both smoked at the same temperature. Every cut of meat is unique. I am in awe of the old timers that can judge by feel. They press their thumb into the meat and know. I instead bought a Thermopen instant read thermometer.
Lurk— You so right, the ol’timers are amazing folks! But don’t worry about last night—you were just enforcing the #1 rule of being a good cook “Half starve’em before you feed them—that way everything you put on the table is good”
