Cheater Pastrami and Getting Stuff Done

Thanks for the Cheater BBQ plug, Joel. We too are avid fans of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and we pretty much stick to rye! Yes, I see the connection between furniture building and cooking. Throw out the perfectionism, get a few good tools, and get your hands dirty. You are so right...manageable bits.

Thanks for the fantastic post. I love woodworking and I love cooking and I look for ways to bring those two together (I've made a lot of pizza peels :) )

I'm going to have try this. Thanks!

Great advice, Joel. And that sandwich looks nice.......

Joel, I could not have said it better myself! I teach woodworking classes and am amazed by the folks who think you need every tool before you start making something. I had a gentleman who owned several thousand dollars of Lie Nielsen tools, plus other first rate gear, and could not bring himself to use them to make furniture. He handed me his handplane and asked me to "use it." I did and it broke the ice for him and he is now on his way to making things. I tell other folks it is just a matter of getting your hands dirty. practice sawing, practice chiseling, practice drilling and pretty soon you will want to make something and your on your way.
thanks for the great blogs! I always enjoy your thoughts and ideas!

You ought to look at Artisan Breads Everyday, http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Reinharts-Artisan-Breads-Every/dp/1580089984/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
for the step up from a nailed together box to your first dovetailed box. I started with Five Minutes a Day much like I started with an old stanely no. 5 and set of Marples chisels. Thanks for the Cheater Bar-b-que tip ;)

Excellent! Regardless of skill level we always come across a challenge that a better/newer tool would help us. (If we did not have these challenges then why bother!?!) Problem solving and a determination/willingness to do it quite often will do a good job.

BTW, I agree on the coriander tip!

Brad

PS - I will have to start following the Cheater site and pick up the Artisan Bread book... I'm responsible for the three squares in my house too!

Joel,
Awesome! I received the bread book you mentioned for xmas and am excited to try it. I am really psyched about the indian website. We love indian food but have not made it at home and also received some indian spices for xmas. Very timely. I also appreciate the advice about just building something. I am occasionally paralyzed by wanting to make things perfectly the first time and have been transitioning to hand tools. Excellent advice and post. Thanks a million.
Josh

My husband tried to smoke pastrami on the grill once ... I'll have to point him to your recipe. Every night he cooks is more woodworking time for me.

And I'd love to hear what your idea is of those "half dozen tools". I'm still in the "use the dining room table with a bench hook" stage of woodworking, so my curiousity has a reason.

Finally, for other novice woodworkers, may I refer you to the "I Can Do That" projects over at the Popular Woodworking site? Some are kind of silly, but others are quite nice, teach real woodworking skills, and can be made with hand tools.

Liz,
It doesn't matter which 1/2 dozen tools you have - build what you have tools for. Don't buy tools until you actually need them for a specific task. Slowly a full shop will develop.

If you read the the "Joiner and Cabinet Maker" you can see that the actual number of tools that are used for the projects are tiny. Even in a fully equipped shop - molding planes, and other less used tools belonged to the master and the journeymen and apprentices had very very few tools.

As I continue to learn to use tools I find myself using fewer and fewer of them but the fewer I do use are used more skillfully and are working better than when I started. (I actually own pretty much everything ever invented) Where the fully stocked toolbox comes in is for specialized operations that one does infrequently. For the day in and day out work the actual toolkit is pretty small. I'm starting to write a bunch of how to blogs which specially try to avoid using lot of specialized tools and rely on practice to get good results. So stay tuned.

I most certainly know about the "I can do that" series in pop wood - it's a great series.
I have a huge library and I am still constantly learning new stuff on the web, in books, and in new sources that come to light (Although sometimes what I am learning is that not every NEW IDEA is a better idea). In addition to study the great partner in teaching is practice, and practice makes perfect. And remember to go out and look at as much great furniture in your area as you can find.

Great article and I'm a decent example of it.
I've been woodworking off and on for 15 years or so and started in MS/HS shop classes. It's only been the last 4-5 years that I've really learned anything, but more importantly I spent the last 10-15 years saying 'I need this power tool, I need that power tool - I really can't do much with what I've got' but of course, money was always an issue. Well, the last few years I think a replacement Dremel is the only powered tool I've gotten - and nearly everything else was old/used hand tools. BUT, and more importantly - I learned how to use what I have and it's rare for me to use a power tool now - and I've finished a lot more projects the last 2-3 years than I did the entire 40 years of my life prior to that :D

That's not to say I don't salivate over the lovely new tools (specifically hand tools) that are adorning various sites/retailers, etc.) and money isn't getting any better so my poor old blue handles, and that #5 with half the jappaning gone will likely remain my babies for a while and I dont' have many complaints!
Now if only I could get my technique in stone :P

My six tools:

Ax(e);
Drawknife;
Knife;
Gouge;
Chisel;
Mallet.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who finds similarities between cooking and woodworking. Maybe that's because I started working wood on the floor of my kitchen while in grad school. I eventually built a tiny bench that doubled as a kitchen island, and worked exclusively with a few hand tools and lumber from a nearby home center. My first projects were simple, perhaps even crude, but I learned a lot. I still do most of my woodworking by hand, when I'm not in the kitchen cooking dinner.

Joel,

Right on the mark! To all woodworkers-in-waiting: make something! The point is to make it so that it has meaning to you - however modest the project, however sparse your tool set, and however limited your skills.

Joel, if I made add a few thoughts on this topic, here they are:
www.rpwoodwork.com/blog/2009/02/24/build-it/

www.rpwoodwork.com/blog/2010/02/23/how-to-develop-and-practice-woodworking-skills/

Thanks.

Rob

Well put Joel.
Thanks,
Eric

I am considering wood turning, and was browsing for info, when I came across your site. Not only am I intrigued by your pastrami, (I do have a smoker, but never thought of smoking corned beef) but was pleased with your mention of Artisan Bread in 5. I am currently baking through Healthy bread in 5, and Rye is our current project, which will post on the 15th. http://oldpopsblog.blogspot.com/ Connections are funny.

I tried your cheater recipe on the weekend - ended up with cheater Montreal smoked meat! Sorry, I just couldn't resist. I have smoked corned beef on the grill and it takes babysitting all day. Your's still takes all day but no sitting and it is indoors. That makes a serious difference when the beer keeps freezing while you watch the grill. If you have one of those reciprocating electric knives (talk about unnecessary but for once useful tools), you can actually get thin slices of hot beef.
Thanks for your referral of the cheater website.

The two opposing forces are difficult to balance. The drive for perfection versus the drive to production. I've struggled cutting dovetails for the past several weeks, but have resigned to building a different project that, while still benefiting from the practice put in, won't have the dovetails front and center (or corner and corner as the case may be).

A book that freed me to try many impossible cooking tasks is "Ratio: The simple codes behind everyday cooking" by Ruhlman. Best cookbook I ever got.