Isa's Homestead Happenings and Hangout

[KayisforKale]

My brother and I want to go halfsies on a smoker for our house. I agreed, and THEN he told me that the one he thinks we should invest in was well over $1,000.


I think I should look into buying my own smoker, and just letting him use it if he wants to. That way I can choose one that will not make my bank account cry.

 

[azurbanclucker]

Yes! We got home stupidly late, so it threw off the insulin schedule. We are trying to do the carb counting and insulin adjustments, and last night I inadvertently gave her too much (I did not know that I was supposed to under-dose her). But I had thought to ask the ICU doctors about what to do if that happens (I tend to over-count, and I need to stop that), and they told us how to treat it. We are keeping records of everything we do, when we do it, and how we do it, so they can guide us in the right direction at her follow-up. They did say it is a learning thing, though, and they do not expect perfection right away. But keeping records will show them that we are trying to do it correctly.

She laughed at me when I kept her meal paper yesterday, but it came in handy this morning when she was eating the same number of carbs, and I had remembered the dose they used for that. Then all I had to do was add a single unit for correction for her high BG.

I be getting smarterer.

Does She have a glucosometer? That's the best way to manage insulin. And yeah, precise dosing is pretty important, so practice. ;p

 

[azurbanclucker]

My brother and I want to go halfsies on a smoker for our house. I agreed, and THEN he told me that the one he thinks we should invest in was well over $1,000.


I think I should look into buying my own smoker, and just letting him use it if he wants to. That way I can choose one that will not make my bank account cry.

Smokers are very much "you get what you pay for". Can you find them on the cheap? Yes. Will they last or be as easy to manage? Probably not. Figure out what you want to do with it on the regular, find a model that will work for that, and then save a bit more and go one step up in volume.

 

[KayisforKale]

Does She have a glucosometer? That's the best way to manage insulin. And yeah, precise dosing is pretty important, so practice. ;p

She needs a scanner thingy that insurance pays for (her phone does not accept the app, and a new phone is not an option at the moment). It is going to be prescribed by her new PCP, who she should be meeting within a few weeks.

This morning I got it right, though! She herself kind of messed up last night. I had her make her plate so I could keep count of the carbs, and then I told her the number of units she needed and she took her shot, then she refused to eat the carb part of the meal! But the total of the carbs was 48, so I thought it was add an extra unit since it went over 45, but no. I should have told her to add 3 units, not 4 (she is going by multiples of 15grams of carbs).

Maths sucks.

 

[Brooks_]

Figure out what you want to do with it on the regular,

I vote for ribs.

 

[azurbanclucker]

I vote for ribs.

offset vertical for the win.

 

[KayisforKale]

Smokers are very much "you get what you pay for". Can you find them on the cheap? Yes. Will they last or be as easy to manage? Probably not. Figure out what you want to do with it on the regular, find a model that will work for that, and then save a bit more and go one step up in volume.

I found one that I LOVE for $800. It has 5 stars with thousands of reviews, it does what it should and has some helpful bells-and-whistles. But I do not even know where he found a smoker for ~$1,700. I keep looking, and all I am seeing is $800 at the highest. I sent him a text asking him what exactly he wants his smoker to do/have. Like, does he want it to tell him the weather and play Netflix!? I just want something that will work properly, cook my meat, tell me crucial information like the temperature inside and stuff like that. $1,700 is a LOT of money. I can do $800 ($400 if he will go halfsies), but in all reality if I pay for the whole thing I will get one that is no more than $500 because I do not need super fancy, just functional. I just want to make some brisket, man.

I really do want to lay eyes on the one brother found, though.

 

[KayisforKale]

I vote for ribs.

Ribs are amazing! I want to make a bunch of things. And the Simpsons got me thinking to try to smoke a carrot.

 

[azurbanclucker]

I found one that I LOVE for $800. It has 5 stars with thousands of reviews, it does what it should and has some helpful bells-and-whistles. But I do not even know where he found a smoker for ~$1,700. I keep looking, and all I am seeing is $800 at the highest. I sent him a text asking him what exactly he wants his smoker to do/have. Like, does he want it to tell him the weather and play Netflix!? I just want something that will work properly, cook my meat, tell me crucial information like the temperature inside and stuff like that. $1,700 is a LOT of money. I can do $800 ($400 if he will go halfsies), but in all reality if I pay for the whole thing I will get one that is no more than $500 because I do not need super fancy, just functional. I just want to make some brisket, man.

I really do want to lay eyes on the one brother found, though.

Prolly a Traeger. They're spendy. Pellet grill/smoker combos. Kamado grills are pricey too but everything I've read/heard is that they're super worth it.

Watch out for poor fit and finish and poor build quality on cheap units. You want a fire box that is heavy duty and well insulated to control temps, and you want a smoke chamber that seals and has adjustable venting to control the heat and smoke. If all the magic smoke escapes, you're not cooking, and if you can't control the temp, you're going to get inconsistent results.

 

[Brooks_]

Had a stowaway today.