There's a new pit in town!

By Bill Wight, cbbqa Director
Posted October 17, 2002 
 

I pull into a gravel parking area, bigger than most residential lots in Los Angeles, get out and stretch my legs.  My host, Dan Cannon, comes over to meet me and I shake his hand.  Dan is busy, tells me to feel at home and walks away. I move toward a red painted trailer and my jaw drops.  What do I see perched upon this trailer--a Playboy Playmate (to be gender fair: a handsome hunk in a G-string)? No, something more sexy, more alluring, something that sets my blood on fire.  For on this trailer sits an object so beautiful, it takes my breath away (in addition to dropping my jaw).

I am in deep, heartfelt love (or more accurately, in deep, heartfelt lust).  The Green-Eyed Monster of jealousy and envy makes me want to back up my truck, hitch up this fantastic beauty and drive away with it while Dan is in the house.  Then I sadly remember, I have my wife's station wagon and not my truck--no hitch.  The wife, damn, there'd be hell to pay if I brought this looker home with me.  Who cares!  I back the station wagon up to the trailer's tongue. I hop out, grab some shiny-new chain I find nearby and begin to tie the rig to the rear axle and back bumper of the station wagon.  The red trailer weights over 5,000 pounds, about twice the weight of the wife's wagon, who cares? I'll be miles down the road before the transmission craps out and I can call for a tow.  From out of nowwhere, Dan appears.  Brows wrinkle, eyes darken. Oh, hi Dan. Just seeing what it's look like behind the wagon.  You know, checking out how your red paint goes with the red on the wagon. Just joking, Dan.  Really. No need to set the dogs on me. Just joking!

Under Dan's watchful eyes, I undo the chains and move the wagon back to the acre-sized parking area. I then take a look around his place.  I see a nice house, a big garage and two beady-eyed beagles giving me the once-over.  Over here, a grill or two.  Over there a small smoker, and there a Black Diamond, just like my one and only smoker. Across the way sit a bunch of Weber Smokey Mountain smokers. What's that out there in the back? I see a nice Klose pit on a trailer, next to it a custom-made off-set pit on a trailer.  What's the smoker count, Dan? Six, seven, eight? 

I turn back to the red trailer and wipe the drool off my chin with my sleeve.  This time, Dan has outdone himself. For what sits so pretty on the trailer is an Ole Hickory EL smoker, a beauty in stainless steel, a work of smok'n art.  AND I WANT IT!

I can tell, this pit is made for traveling, for catering, for competition, for just plain show. It's got everything, including the kitchen sink.   AND I WANT IT!

Despite my attempted pitnapping, Dan still extended the invitation to be among the privileged first to give this new beauty a real workout. We loaded up "Big Ole Red" with what seemed like two hundred pounds of meat, two small logs of seasoned oak and let it rip. Two hours later, we were eating some of the best smoked sausage I have ever put in my mouth. The pit's internal temperature was so rock steady, I was sure the thermometer dial was stuck on 250F.  The only problem all day was that Big Ole Red ate Gary's nuts (but that's the subject of an entire article).

That evening, we feasted on smoked prime rib, smoked chicken, smoked baby back ribs, Dan's Five-Star BBQ beans and finished the meal with Rick Streiff's world-famous and prize-winning miniature apple pies. 

Later, in the dark, I drove back down the dusty driveway, with the terrible pain of separation stabbing my heart.

That's Dan, working at the big prep table.  Anybody wishing more information on this very nice rig, and how you can have it delivered to your place for a cater or just to see what Dan looks like from the front, check out his web page. BBQDan.com

PS  Those ARE NOT propane bottles at the front of the rig. Those are liquid nitrogen bottles that Dan uses in his secret meat tenderizing process.  BBQ Dan would NEVER use propane in a smoker!