Consistent BBQ

Consistency....

There is a lot to be said for consistency.  The Braves have been in the post-season 16 of the last 22 years, Cal Ripken started in 2,632 consecutive games, the politicians in Washington DC get it wrong 99.9% of the time.  You get the idea.

But as much as we seek the comfort of consistency, it is an elusive if not unattainable goal.

Everything changes.

I try to duplicate past success every time I throw meat on the smoker, and sometimes I surprise myself.  Cooking is a curious mixture of art and science.  Each pig is slightly different, the smaller limbs of a hickory tree may hold less moisture than the larger ones and the wind may affect my smoker today more than yesterday. 

There are a lot of factors which can vary and create a slightly different BBQ as a result.

The fun part for me is trying to figure out what happened and how to recreate that in the future.

After all, Cal showed up for all those games but he never quit tinkering with his swing.  I’m always talking to other BBQ folks to learn new techniques.  I don’t make any radical changes to my dry rub, but I have tried a number of marinades and injections.  I’ve never been able to tell much difference.

Of course on the other hand Bobby Cox never got along with an umpire.  Perhaps I should just stick with what I know has worked.  

Nah!  What fun would that be?