Oh no, there it is again, a weather forecast of another snowstorm hitting the northeast over the weekend and affecting the Monday morning commute. I know, I know, I live in New England, but when the estimate of snowfall is in feet, not inches, spring can’t get here fast enough. And, under the circumstances, there’s only one thing to do, go grocery shopping of course. After all, I must get the bread and milk!

As I made my way to the meat section of the grocery store, I came across about 25 racks of St. Louis style ribs. I immediately thought, I can’t wait to smoke some ribs. Spring must be around the corner.

Those ribs had me reminiscing of sitting in the backyard, soaking up the sun and drinking an ice cold Slumbrew Flagraiser IPA, with the wonderful aroma of hickory smoke wafting through the air. In case you’re thinking, sure, I’d like to give smoking a try, you’re probably wondering where to begin. I would recommend going to www.grandpas-backyard-fun.com (click on Backyard Barbeque under the Cooking section) for more information on the different types of smokers available.

Once you decide which smoker will meet your needs, there is one more piece of equipment that I highly recommend, it’s called a two in one oven and roasting digital thermometer and timer. The good news about this thermometer is it can be used not just in your smoker, but your grill and indoor oven too. The probe is inserted into the meat and registers the temperature within the meat and the surrounding air temperature. The plus side is you don’t have to open the smoker, grill or oven, which result in loss of valuable heat. This will keep the heat source constant.

Finally, the most important part of cooking, handling food, barbecuing or smoking anything is food safety. The most important numbers to remember are the range of 40-140 degrees; this is referred to as the danger zone. Please read the information at www.fsis.usda.gov (under search, type in “food safety temperatures” this will give you a bunch of information including easy to follow charts about food safety.

I must also mention, smoking your own meats takes time and planning. Search online for recipes or pickup a cookbook for beginners. Some recipes call for dry rubbing the meat and letting it sit in the refrigerator overnight. If you decide to smoke your own bacon it will take at least a week to cure plus cooking time. But I can assure you, once you figure out what works best for you, it’s well worth the time you put into it. Happy smoking.