It’s no surprise that we LOVE us some BBQ over at FTHQ. We’ve also had our bout with smokers. Wood fueled, electric, even gas powered and they all fell short. Part of the problem is that we’re impatient and good ‘que is a patient wo(man)’d game. The key, any pit master will tell you, is in the consistency. Sure, the wood, the meat and the rub all are critical BUT without consistency it all falls apart. Specifically we’re talking about temperature. The uber fail of most amateur pit masters is the fluctuation in heat as it relates to time. A 12 hour smoked pork butt fluctuating 100 degrees is better used to feed the dog than serve the family. That’s why the Char-Broil Digital Electric Smoker with SmartChef™ Technology got us so jazzed up. The electric smoker communicates with your phone letting you know the internal temperature of the meat and the chamber. This means you can do “other stuff” while smoking but never miss when you need to add more water, wood chips or heat. This will be in our backyard all summer. If you’re thinking about getting into (or back into) the bbq game, this is the move.
More Gear Stuff

Condiment Gun
Youz talking to me? is what you say at your next picnic when asked to pass the ketchup. How do you not want a condiment gun? There’s not much about this one that needs explanation. Just make sure you keep it holstered when the kids are around.

The Cary Grant of backyard pizza ovens ships this March
It’s PIZZA WEEK here at FTHQ. This is one we have been jonezing for for quite a while. The Gozney Dome brings pro level operations and modernized old school aesthetics to your back yard. Their first move into this space was a few years back with the Roccbox. The Dome up levels what they achieved in Roccbox with more cooking space, a steam injector for baking, easy wood to gas fuel switching all while maintaining that near 1000 degree temperature. Plus, just staring at it when not in use is a gaping drool fest. You know we like beautiful things that are also super functional. No surprise we already belabored this point thrice. The price tag is a bit hefty but if you consider the $10,000+ pro oven cost you are staring down a bargain. Spring is around the corner. Vaccination availability seems to be picking up pace. There will be a group of backyard revelers stopping over sooner than you may think. Plus, we don’t have much to talk about these days as quarantine pretty much shut down all out good answers to “Hey, So, what’s up?” Think about the monologue you can go off on when this is propped up on a throne-like your backyard queen.

ColdSnap invents the Keurig of Ice Cream
It’s been a long week of zoom calls, home school disasters and Amazon delivery thefts. You go to reach for the corkscrew only to remember it’s still Dry January. A quick rummage through the panty is a reminder you finished the gummy bears and the Chips Ahoy went stale. A freezer burned teaspoon of Chunky Monkey sits lonely at the bottom of a dilapidated pint container. Worthless. For a second you think you remember how to make a cake. Then you also remember the time and effort even the quickest of Betty Crocker box mix entails. Enter the Keurig of ice cream to literally and figuratively cool your frantic, throttled up jets. Coldsnap is a countertop soft serve machine that takes meer minutes to produce a sweet, fresh, creamy antidote to your week of woes. Debuted at CES just weeks ago, the dessert gods have delivered everything but a link to purchase. Seems like it’s still in production. Coldsnap peeps made this cute little video to build the anticipation further. They say it should be shipping soon. Until then you’re stuck with Cookie Puss for a few more months.

Bakeys Edible Cutlery
You may think that here at FTHQ, we’re partial to utensils of the four-pronged variety, but we generally appreciate any and all cutlery that helps us deliver food into our perpetually hungry mouths. And although we’ve been known to nearly jump up-and-down in excitement about all kinds of eating instruments — knives, salad tongs, corn-on-the-cob holders, you name it — it’s been a while since tableware has gotten us as excited as these 100% edible and biodegradable utensils from Bakeys. With funding from a successful Kickstarter campaign and an aim to provide a viable alternative to the billions of plastic utensils thrown into landfills every year, Bakeys Edible Cutlery has it covered when it comes to usability and sustainability. Turns out sorghum, an environmentally-friendly crop you may have never heard of, seems to be the magic ingredient. Not only does sorghum allow Bakeys to produce 100 edible spoons with the same energy required to make a single plastic one, it also prevents the utensils from degrading in liquids — a particularly important fact for the environmentally-conscious ice cream enthusiasts among us.


