ShencoSmoke
is Blowin Smoke!
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2013
- Location
- The...
In the 1830's a large iron ore deposit was discovered in the cedar creek valley which is located in the northern tip of the county I was born and raised, Shenandoah. By the 1840's there were multiple mines operating in the valley including Van Buren Furnace which was located at the base of Capola Mountain and owned and operated by the Siberts. Van Buren Furnace was later purchased by Dr. Frank King of New York State and some time around 1880 he built a home at base of the mountain, the Capola House.
Photo of the house (date unknown)
Photo of the furnace which is intact today
For the last 3 generations the Capola House has been owned by my friends, our grandfathers used to hang out here just as we do today.
Every March the boys head over the mountain to watch the NCAA tourney and enjoy the scenery, great food, and most importantly- fellowship. We arrived on Thursday set up the TV's and my new whole hog pit- the Virginia Spinner.
The pit was designed and built by Brethren. Thank all of you you who assisted me with the design, especially Dave (dwfisk) who answered ongoing questions I had, and Garrett who built it for me down in NC. This was its first cook, we heated it up, scrubbed it, and seasoned it with oil.
The temp outside dropped quick and we knew rain was coming in so we hung some tarps and set up some canopies to be prepared for a friday barbecue. We went ahead and injected on thursday evening as I knew that I wouldn't have much help the next morning at 6 am. The live weight on the hog was 158 pds, I'm guessing 120 dressed.
I woke up early the next morning to find this. I freak snow storm blew through and dropped 3-4 inches of HEAVY snow. It had been in the 60's all week.
We were not phased by the mother nature curve ball. I got the burn barrel cranking and seasoned the flesh side with my pork rub and the skin side with salt. The burn barrel worked perfectly.
We shoveled out coals and loaded them in each end of the pit. We supplemented at the beginning with a little charcoal to build the coal base.
It was a beautiful mornings in the Cedar Creek Valley.
It ain't a party unless someone passes out on the deck
I'm going to shut up now and give you what you want. I started flesh down and flipped around the halfway point to crisp up the skin. We then kept the cavity moist with my 1752 Barbecue Virginia Red Sauce.
I have good news and bad news. Bad news is the payoff pron is farking awful. My new (used) camera was outside and when I brought it in the fogged up kitchen with 20+ men I couldn't see a thing through the lens. By the time I got my camera phone out they had destroyed it like a pack of wild animals. But here is what I have.
Now to the good news. A friend of mine brought his new toy out this year and made a video of the weekend. There are some live hog shots in here as well as some BAD ARSE aerial footage of the property. There is also a drunken foot race between two of my friends.
Enjoy and remember: BBQ IS BETTER WITH FRIENDS!
[FONT="][ame]http://youtu.be/5ep-xQZ4kOI[/ame][/FONT]
Photo of the house (date unknown)
Photo of the furnace which is intact today
For the last 3 generations the Capola House has been owned by my friends, our grandfathers used to hang out here just as we do today.
Every March the boys head over the mountain to watch the NCAA tourney and enjoy the scenery, great food, and most importantly- fellowship. We arrived on Thursday set up the TV's and my new whole hog pit- the Virginia Spinner.
The pit was designed and built by Brethren. Thank all of you you who assisted me with the design, especially Dave (dwfisk) who answered ongoing questions I had, and Garrett who built it for me down in NC. This was its first cook, we heated it up, scrubbed it, and seasoned it with oil.
The temp outside dropped quick and we knew rain was coming in so we hung some tarps and set up some canopies to be prepared for a friday barbecue. We went ahead and injected on thursday evening as I knew that I wouldn't have much help the next morning at 6 am. The live weight on the hog was 158 pds, I'm guessing 120 dressed.
I woke up early the next morning to find this. I freak snow storm blew through and dropped 3-4 inches of HEAVY snow. It had been in the 60's all week.
We were not phased by the mother nature curve ball. I got the burn barrel cranking and seasoned the flesh side with my pork rub and the skin side with salt. The burn barrel worked perfectly.
We shoveled out coals and loaded them in each end of the pit. We supplemented at the beginning with a little charcoal to build the coal base.
It was a beautiful mornings in the Cedar Creek Valley.
It ain't a party unless someone passes out on the deck
I'm going to shut up now and give you what you want. I started flesh down and flipped around the halfway point to crisp up the skin. We then kept the cavity moist with my 1752 Barbecue Virginia Red Sauce.
I have good news and bad news. Bad news is the payoff pron is farking awful. My new (used) camera was outside and when I brought it in the fogged up kitchen with 20+ men I couldn't see a thing through the lens. By the time I got my camera phone out they had destroyed it like a pack of wild animals. But here is what I have.
Now to the good news. A friend of mine brought his new toy out this year and made a video of the weekend. There are some live hog shots in here as well as some BAD ARSE aerial footage of the property. There is also a drunken foot race between two of my friends.
Enjoy and remember: BBQ IS BETTER WITH FRIENDS!
[FONT="][ame]http://youtu.be/5ep-xQZ4kOI[/ame][/FONT]