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bbq knowledge Vic Clevenger Chimney Cartel victor0568@gmail.com Knowledge is Power I recently took one of those strengths test which told me my top strengths (of course I paid extra to get the whole list, who wouldn’t). Some of which surprised me, but I understand it when I think about it for a minute. One that stood out to me is the “Learner” strength. The Clifton Strengths Finder defines it this way “People excep- tionally talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continu- ously improve. The process of learning, rather than the out- come, excites them.” That is totally me be- cause I really like the process of learning, especially if it’s of great interest to me. One of my mantras, which if you’re a reader of this page you’ve heard me say before, “A day without learning is a wasted day.” This saying is something I came up with long before I “knew” learning was one of my strengths. All this brings me back to the Saturday morning cartoon motto from when I was a kid, “Knowledge is Power.” But what is this power knowledge brings and how can I apply it to what I do and to cooking, of course? So, I am going to give you my brief list of what this power looks like and how you can apply it to the kitchen, espe- cially your outside kitchen. Information I love reading and al- ways have. I have all sorts of books which range from communi- cations (my degrees are in this) to leader- ship to biographies to...well just name it and I probably have a book on it. More than that, I’ve read practically every book in my library event the cookbooks. The in- formation I’ve gained, I’ve been able to apply, either in my personal life or have used to inspire others during a speaking engagement. Information gives you not only the “how to” about something but also satisfaction of learning something new. There was a time when I didn’t know how to trim a brisket but this drive to learn has allowed me to sit at the feet of some greats as I watched them on video or have even been welcomed into their cook site. Realizing there is something you don’t know feeds into the desire to learn. I want to learn how to cook better, so I seek out the information to do so. Sci- entist have an idea of where they want to be but don’t BarbecueNews.com - 28 OCTOBER 2019