THE GADSDEN FLAG

Origin In the fall of 1775 Colonel William Moultrie was commissioned by the Revolutionary "Council Of Safety" (which had unseated the torry govenor Lord William Campbell) to design a flag for South Carolina. He chose a field of blue that matched the South Carolina troops' uniforms and added a crescent that resembled the silver emblem that the soldiers had on their hats. It was this flag that was flown over Ft.Sullivan (later renamed Ft. Moultrie) during the battle that was to be the first decisive victory in the American Revolution.

The Battle Of Ft. Sullivan Ah brisket! This was my original inspiration when I bought a smoker. I wanted to make the perfect brisket. I had already burned one up in Jeff's smoker. Forgive me. I was completely ignorant of the smoker assembly at that time. I put the brisket just above the coals with the water pan at the top. Duhh, with a cranium density of that proporation I guess I was lucky I didn't burn my fingers trying to light the matches. (On second thought I think I did. Hey Moe! Bwoop, bwoop,bwoop) The very heart of the brisket was fine but the outside, down to about an inch deep was like Kingsford's finest. With The Fire Marshal things were quite the opposite. Before I made the mods to TFM (see hardware) I spent over 6 hours cooking the beast and flinging charcoal (one briquet at a time) in the dark through the little door to try to get some more heat out of the sucker. I wound up with some shoe leather on my plate. On my next attempt I had done my homework and made TFM a bit more practical. At this time I had discovered the internet for tapping into the secret brotherhood of secret barbecue secrets. Shhh, it's secret! I had read up on the mystique of brisquet. I learned that it was the toughest part of meat in the strangest place on the dumbest animal in the barnyard. Well ... while I was discovering that I had not eliminated The Fire Marshal's fatal flaw (see hardware) I found out that brisket requires many hours (like 10 or 12 or more) of 210 degree heat to break down the collagen that turns the meat into a tasty treat. So this time I spent much longer cooking the beast. I had found a decent butcher (I love Hyvee's meat counter in Belton) and I purchased a packer's cut, untrimmed, of Choice, not Select, beef brisket. Hoping that TFM would now be hot enough, I set to smoking for 12 hours and I even finished it up in the oven for the final hour just to be sure. End result: still too tough. Edible but still much less than perfect. TFM just does not get hot enough. Stay tuned. I'll let you know how the Pot Smoker 2000 does. LINKS HISTORY OF GADSEN FLAG FORT MOULTRIE AND THE BATTLE OF SULLIVANS ISLAND FT MOULTRIE AT THE START OF THE CIVIL WAR HOME