The trick is to smoke the meat and not make the meat smoke

FAQ: About This Site

  Date: October 17, 2014
  Info: I occasionally get people who are confused or curious about the nature of this site and my motivation for creating and maintaining it. Think of this page as an FAQ about the site. In these days where the goal seems to be to "monetize" everything people are sometimes suspicious when I suggest they visit the site. They figure I must have some angle or I am selling something. Nothing could be further from the truth. This site is purely a hobby for me and I have no plans to make any money from it.

Take a look at the FAQ's and hopefully they will make clear what this site is about (sharing BBQ knowledge) and isn't about (making money or collecting info about my visitors). Enjoy your time on the site!

  Viewing: CLICK on the Header Tabs below to reveal the answers to the questions…
Is This Site Sponsored?…
That is a resounding no. This site never has been, nor will it ever be sponsored. It is a labor of love that let’s me combine my hobbies of outdoor cooking and smoking. So if you are from a company looking to send me “free” or “valuable information” about how I can “monetize” the site, please don’t waste your time or my time.
Product Endorsements
To be complete, let me just say that any product I happen to write about on the site is something I have bought and paid for with my own hard earned money. Any product I have an opinion about is typically something I have used and paid for myself.

Once in a great while, a grill dealer or distributer may give me a sample of a product to try out of test for them. I give them my honest opinion good or bad. If I choose to write about it here, it means it was good enough that I have continued to use it and I am now paying for it out of my own pocket. I don’t expect this to change too in the future. Any time I review a sample product I have been given, I will clearly indicate that Company X gave me Product Y to try out.
Do You Track Your Visitors?
I do use Google Analytics to track visitors to the site. On my end, I do not share this information with anyone. It is more a matter of curiosity for me. I like to see where in the country or world people are coming to this site from. I also like to see what areas of the site are the most popular. I look at the results in a macro level not at the micro level of individual users. For example I added metric measurements to all of my blog posts, when I found out a surprising amount of my visitors were from outside the US.
Do You Send Out e-mails to Your Visitors?…
No. Not unless you send me a question via the Contact Form on the site. The only way I see people’s email address is if they send a comment or inquiry via the Contact Form. I do not share or use this information in any way. If you ask me a question, I will email a reply to your question. Other than that enjoy your visit, you will never hear from me or any other party as a result of your visiting this site.
Do You Sell Email Adresess of Your Visitors to 3rd Parties?…
Absolutely not!! I hate SPAM emails and I don’t know of anyone who does like them. This site is not about me making money off of it.
Do You Use Pop-Up Adds?…
Absolutely not!! I hate them myself. I have all of my browsers set to block tradition popup ads. If you are seeing a pop-up add it came from a site you visited before arriving at this site. A while ago I got several complaints about “my pop-up ads”. It turned out another site had linked to my site. They were serving up pop-up ads as you left their site. This way it looked like the next site you visited was annoying you with the pop-up adds.
Why Do You Do This Site?…
These days many people seem to not understand the concept of a hobby or a labor of love. When I was getting serious about my outdoor cooking back in 2003, there were many people, websites and message boards available to help me get started. I learned some really valuable tips that helped me get started and saved me lots of time and aggravation. When I started spending more time grilling and smoking, it meant less time for going put and doing nature photography trips. I realized if I switched to shooting my cooks I could still spend time with photography. This website gave me a way to share my love of outdoor cooking and photography. I also was able to post my learning experiences and give back a little for all of the help I was given along the way.

At New EGGlandfest 2014 I had two people look over and smile like they knew me. I had no idea who they were and I figured it must be someone else behind me. Turns out I was wrong. They had recognized me from my picture on the site and wanted to thank me for some of the blog entries I had written about learning the Big Green Egg. This was a great feeling. No not being recognized in public, but to know what I was writing was actually helping others.

As a hobby this site is something I can do for my enjoyment when the mood suits me. If it is fun I do it, if it is not fun I take some time off. If I was getting paid for any of this it would become a little more like a job and a lot less like a hobby. I would have obligations and still would need to do it even when it wasn’t fun. Bottom Line: This site is a way from me to get more enjoyment out of my two favorite hobbies and give a little back to others. Money would change everything, and for the worse.
Who Are You?…
I don’t find myself particularly interesting. If you should want to learn a little more about me here is a link where you can do so:

ABOUT ME
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