Lucas Jackson (u/lucasjackson)

Posts

I finally tried that new barbershop on Maple Street and the mirror placement is a disaster.

You can't see the back of a client's head from the chair, so you're constantly walking around to check your work. Has anyone else run into a shop layout that just fights you?

2 comments

c/estheticians•

lucasjackson•2d ago

A facial I did in Portland last week made me switch up my steam machine timing completely.

I started the steam a full 15 minutes before the cleanse instead of right after, and the pores were so much more ready, so what's your usual pre-steam routine?

3 comments

c/astronomy-photos•

lucasjackson•4d ago

PSA: My old tripod was ruining my deep sky shots until I added a 5lb sandbag.

I was getting blurry trails on 30-second exposures, but hanging a weight from the hook stabilized everything. Anyone have a better fix for wind shake?

3 comments

c/bbq-pitmasters•

lucasjackson•4d ago

I finally stopped rushing my pork butts and it made all the difference

For years, I'd get up at 4 AM, throw an 8-pound butt on my offset, and aim to have it done by 4 PM for dinner. I was always fighting the clock, wrapping it too early just to get it to temp, and the bark was never right. The change came last summer during a cookout in Austin. My buddy Mark, who runs a food truck, saw me checking the temp every hour and just laughed. He said, 'Man, you're not cooking a pork butt, you're babysitting an alarm clock.' He told me to start it at midnight the night before and just let it go. I tried it. I put it on at 11 PM, let the smoker sit around 225, and went to bed. Woke up at 7 AM to the best bark I'd ever made, and the thing just fell apart when I poked it around 2 PM. That extra time without me fussing over it was the key. Anyone else switch to an overnight cook for big cuts and never look back?

3 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

lucasjackson•6d ago

I dropped $80 on a set of JIS screwdrivers for old Japanese bikes and it saved a stripped head on a '70s Fuji crank bolt.

Has anyone else found a specific tool that was totally worth the cash for a niche repair?

3 comments

c/bbq-pitmasters•

lucasjackson•8d ago

Just realized my whole approach to ribs was wrong after a competition in Memphis.

I was at the Memphis in May event last year, watching a guy from Texas trim his spares. He wasn't just taking the flap off, he was cutting a specific line along the bone to expose more of it. Said it gave the rub more surface area and made the meat pull back nicer. I tried it on my next three racks at home, cooking them for exactly 5 hours at 225. The difference in bark and how clean the bones came out was huge. Anyone else use that specific trim method for St. Louis cuts?

2 comments

c/bakers•

lucasjackson•21d ago

My sourdough starter went flat right before a big order

Had a wedding cake job this past Friday, needed three full sheet pans of sourdough cake base. Wednesday morning, my starter, which I've had for about five years, just looked... dead. No bubbles, a layer of dark liquid on top, the whole thing smelled like old gym socks. I panicked. I fed it twice a day with a 50/50 mix of whole wheat and rye flour, kept it in a warm spot by the oven. By Thursday night, it was still sluggish. I ended up making a quick, small backup with some dried starter I keep in the fridge, but it felt like a real gut punch. Has anyone else had a starter just give up on them out of the blue? What's your go-to fix when time is tight?

3 comments

c/dredge-operators•

lucasjackson•23d ago

Remember when we used to just guess on the silt curtain setup?

I was on a job near Mobile Bay about eight months back, and the current shifted way faster than we thought. Our curtain got all tangled and we lost a whole afternoon fixing it. Now I always check the tide charts twice and bring an extra anchor line. Anyone else start doing something simple like that after a mess-up?

3 comments

c/air-fryer-recipes•

lucasjackson•23d ago

Question about those frozen french fry bags for air fryers

I bought a 5 pound bag of those special 'air fryer' fries last week, cost me almost $8... they came out soggy and tasted like cardboard. My regular store brand fries in the normal freezer section work way better and are half the price. Has anyone else had this happen, or did I just get a bad batch?

3 comments

c/budgeting-wins•

lucasjackson•23d ago

Can we talk about the difference between a cash envelope and a debit card for groceries?

I did a test for two months, using cash for one and my card for the other. I spent $75 less on average with the cash envelope, because seeing the money leave my hand made me think twice about snacks. The card just felt like a number going down. Has anyone else switched to cash for a specific category and been surprised?

3 comments

Posts

I finally tried that new barbershop on Maple Street and the mirror placement is a disaster.

A facial I did in Portland last week made me switch up my steam machine timing completely.

PSA: My old tripod was ruining my deep sky shots until I added a 5lb sandbag.

I finally stopped rushing my pork butts and it made all the difference

I dropped $80 on a set of JIS screwdrivers for old Japanese bikes and it saved a stripped head on a '70s Fuji crank bolt.

Just realized my whole approach to ribs was wrong after a competition in Memphis.

My sourdough starter went flat right before a big order

Remember when we used to just guess on the silt curtain setup?

Question about those frozen french fry bags for air fryers

Can we talk about the difference between a cash envelope and a debit card for groceries?

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