Raquel is Home!!

Welcome home Raquel. The newest member of Pigheaded BBQ is Raquel, our Stumps Stretch Smoker. In the midst of a cold rain, a large 18 wheeler pulled up in front of the house. I rushed out to greet the driver and oversee the delivery. There, tucked in the farthest corner, sat the 800lb crate that was Raquel's temporary home. The driver muscled the crate with a pallet jack to the back door and out onto the lift gate. I almost had a heart attack when the front wheels of the pallet jack rode off the end of the lift gate and I instinctivley reached up to prevent it from falling off the back of the truck. Oh yea, I can just see the headlines: BBQ'er crushed by smoker. Maybe Norma, my wife could just curl my cold, lifeless body into a fetal position and stuff me into the smoker for burial. Can't you see the irony in that?

Enough with the negative thoughts, it's time to get to work. With the help of the driver, we got the crate into my garage and he helped me uncrate her. Raquel was free!! After a careful inspection, I signed the adoption papers,OK OK, the delivery paperwork and she was officially mine. Ron v2.0 and Mike showed up shortly afterward and helped me install the wheels on her. We had 2 extra racks, a slam latch and a Guru adaptor added to her to customize her to our specs. She weighs in at a svelt 575lbs without the crate and is as solid as a tank. She is truely built to last.

Tomorrow, I will season her. I will liberally spray her with Pam, add the charcoal and get her up to at least 350 degrees for 3-4 hours. It would be a shame to waste the charcoal and time, so I might as well throw on some meat while I'm at it. I haven't decided on just what kind of meat, but over the next 2 weeks, she will get a lot of use. You see, I only have 'till April 16th to learn her charastics before our first competition of the year. Salisbury, MD has over 125 teams signed up and we must be ready. Stay tuned for more updates and pics sure to follow in the very near future.