Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

I usually wind up seeing one and capturing none.
This year I was able to see 5 really nice examples and captured 2.
This was a 15 second shot and the light pollution is pretty evident at my Bortle 8 location.
This is the best of the two and it's not the best but I wasn't shut out.
Hope everyone is ready for Thanksgiving.
Jim

(Download)

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Woo-Hoo Jim!
Good shootin!

I found the magic key to clear skies!
Any night I have to get up 3-4 AM, I can count on the sky being crystal clear.
Any night there is no early runs, I sit and watch TV under smoked and crap skies.

bastro

Nice!
I haven't caught one yet. Good job?

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Thank you 🙏
I usually have to post pictures of clouds whenever there’s a meteor shower.
I tried not to over lighten it due to the amount of light pollution I have.
I can pull more of the meteor but with it comes noise.

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Thank you Sonny.
I also found magic by having to work. When I get off the clouds like to welcome me back.
I don’t suppose you are still gnoshing on your smoked fish?
I picked up a large pellet grill to smoke with and love it.

bastro

I thought Albuquerque had dark skies? Maybe way out of town?

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

I live near the middle of the grey blob. This is supposed to be a Bortle 9 but I use a pretty nice app to monitor view ability that sets me as a Bortle eight. You have to get about 10 miles away to get a decent view but we are surrounded by Indian reservations making it difficult to stay close.
The mountains close us off to the east.

(Download)

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Actually, I keep a nice stock now of meat to work with.
I've taken a good liking to making Jerky from Pork Loin (much cheaper than beef).
And I discovered a recipe for smoked baked beans that it seems is very liked. Betty had me make some for the Family get together today.
I wound up with 6 quarts! I only know that because the two half-sized steamer pans I baked and smoked them in just fit in her big Crock Pot. (Makes it easier. Just plug it in on warm, and it holds for the party.)
Very surprising she is endorsing them, there is Jalapeno's in it. But I use about 1/2 so the heat is subtle. Slips it past the Tammi tender tongues of the Familia.
Ha, Ha, Betty is going to Hawaii for a week to visit the relatives there, and see the cousins new Baby Girl. Sonny is staying home with his old dog, and we are going to bbq A BUNCH.
And I have 4 slabs of home cured Bacon to smoke. They should be ready for the smoker just before she leaves. And ready to slice about when she gets back.
I'm getting to be a real BBQ Bubbah - Smoker Sonny

Nice you got you a big Pellet grill. They are nice!

Listen though, this is a very important safety issue!
It is important to have an ice chest nearby when bar-b-queing.
It needs to have iced down beers in it in case of an accidental burn.
If a burn occurs, the cold can of beer needs to be applied to the affected area to cool it.
If by some odd chance the beer evaporates, it should be replaced with another ice cold beer.
An ice cold beer should be on hand at all times while tending your BBQ.
It is not a "man" thing, it is a Safety item. Beer can quell the pain of a burn by cooling it from the outside, and anesthetize it from the inside.
Don't let your wife talk you out of this safety item for your BBQ.

You can also set your fire extinguisher beside your cooler full of cold beer.

DickC Loc: NE Washington state

Good job!!

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Thanks Sonny but beer is not a reactive but a proactive commodity.
One must always start with a 2 beer minimum loading dose.

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Thank you very much.
Jim

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

I prefer to think of it as "buzz maintenance"...

I came to the realization that part of my Home Cured and Smoked Bacon, it would be resting after smoking, naked, on racks in a refrigerated environment.
That is to allow it to mature while the smoke evened out through the bacon. A kind of dry aging.
Well, I of course couldn't stink up the house fridge while this miracle of dry aging occurred.
So I did some quick shopping and discovered my local Lowe's had an ideal sized, no freezer, 4.3 Cu Ft, Whirpool refer on sale >through that day only< at a 40% reduction.
What could I do? Well, I globbed onto one and hid it under my smoker. (Two birds with one stone, a curing/aging refrigerator, and now my smoker is at a comfortable height for loading/unloading.)
So I could continue to process my bacon post smoking, without stinking up the house fridge.
Now, there was a bonus to this. It has room for beer AND the bacon in progress. And Bacon scented beer cans as an anomaly of the co-habitation.
So after an appropriate aging period, I sliced up and packaged the bacon for freezing, and began another slab for the ~month long process.

Pork Belly Bacon:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/attachments/20181202_123507-jpg.381824/

Buckboard Bacon: (Made from Pork Shoulder, Or AKA: Boston Butt.)
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/attachments/20181202_123343-jpg.381825/

Apple Wood Smoked. The trimmings go for Smoked Baked Beans.

So by the time I might have some favorable skies again (It's raining cats and dogs right now), my freezers should be filled with larder.
And me with beans. Some might say I'm already fulla beans...

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Or smoked bologna....