Meet Scott Krisher: An Adventurous Home Cook

Scott Krisher once liked skydiving and dirt bike riding.

In his late 40s, he swapped his adventurous outdoor spirit for new adventures in the kitchen.

"Now I love to spend time with my family, relax with them, and cook a good meal," says Scott who cooks for his wife Juanita while she is busy working on her Masters to become a Nurse Practitioner and for his 14-year old daughter, Carly, whose extracurricular band activities at school keep them on their toes. They also have 3 other children: Sarah, 28; Christian, 26; and Caleb, 24.

Scott is not opposed to cooking up recipes that one would consider "labor intensive."

A favorite cooking adventure occurred Thanksgiving two years ago when he kept the smoker stoked for 14-hours nonstop to make sure the turkey was smoked just right.

But before he even smoked the fresh pasture-raised turkey, he brined his "monster-sized turkey" in a deep well ceramic kitchen sink for 48 hours.

He then pulled a culinary trick that rivals any original Paula Dean recipe -- he took a quart mason jar and filled half with real maple syrup and the other half with melted butter. He then used a syringe to inject the bird with this flavorful mixture and continued to baste the bird with the leftover maple sauce. He started at midnight and even went so far as to sleep on the couch on Thanksgiving eve to keep a close eye on his smoker as to maintain the right temperature and then finished by 2pm on Thanksgiving Day.

The end result?

"The turkey tasted soooo heavenly," he proudly says with a smile on his face.

Another culinary secret this meat aficionado is willing to share is how he imbues flavor by using Apple wood chunks, a dry rub and then sprays the meat (all except Turkey) with apple juice every half hour until the meat is done.

"The apple juice makes that dark bark that you see in the picture. It's not burnt. It's edible, sweet bark... and they (briskets) are so juicy! You'll be ready for the couch afterwards!"

Despite his love for cooking, Scott still manages to spend most of his time outside as he works full time in the Commercial and Industrial HVAC Service and Installation industry.

Often he will prepare a meal before work and uses the crockpot to his advantage, "Sometimes I am a foodie and then other times I just want to feed my family really good. Like I would call those maintenance meals."

After work, on a cold wintry day, his favorite meals include hearty beef pot roast with potatoes and carrots or chili.

Scott buys all of his grassfed beef in bulk from The Maker's Meadow, purchasing a big enough bundle at one time to stock up his family's freezer for a year.

His favorite beef cuts include grassfed Ribeye, Filet Mignon, Roasts, Briskets, and Ground Beef and he will happily grill outside during the winter. He adds not only Apple Wood Chips but also Cherry and Hickory Chips to his grill and smoker.

In the summer, Scott likes to add chicken to a dark green kale salad.

Lately he's been wanting to try a nice lamb roast.

He says that John Filbrun (co-owner and lead farmer at The Maker's Meadow) helped to convince him to try lamb again from our farm.

A bad grocery-store experience had Scott declaring he'd never eat lamb again.

But all that changed.

"I had a horrible experience with lamb chops from a local grocery store chain. It was nasty before I cooked it. It had a bad smell and it didn’t taste good at all. Went into the trash.

I told John this story and he educated me that the flavor depends on what part of the world the lamb is raised and what the lamb eats. I tried some from The Maker’s Meadow and it totally turned my attitude around about lamb chops. Oh my gosh, they are good! It’s one of those rare treats."

Another rare treat is when he pulls out some Filet Mignon from the freezer. For most, this might mean a beautiful steak served on a special occasion. But for Scott, that special occasion is when he is craving a delicious Philly Cheesesteak.

He will cut it into thin slices and into cubes, cook up the steak, and then separately cook green peppers, onion, mushroom and then top the filet mignon chunks with provolone in a cast iron skillet before topping the bread with it all.

Scott became a customer of The Maker's Meadow in 2018.

He met John who was working in a field across the fence from where Scott's family was living at the time.

One night, about a week before Christmas, Scott heard someone knocking on his door. He opened the door to find John smiling while handing him a homemade loaf of bread and wishing him a Merry Christmas. Scott apologized to John that he didn't have anything in return and John assured him, "That's not what the season is about."

That was the beginning of their friendship.

Now following a steady diet of grassfed meats over the past few years, Scott's tastebuds and his constitution have definitely changed.

"I used to love Rally’s and I got a hamburger and fries recently. It didn’t finish well and my gut didn’t like me after that. We don’t eat out much - we eat at home."

Even his family has noticed a big change from consistently eating whole foods and home cooked meals.

"We went over to my daughter's school for a band party and it was a spaghetti dinner with processed meat balls and I wanted to vomit after I ate it. It was disgusting. We didn’t feel good after eating that.

I just want to try to eat good as best as I can and do good for my health. It’s more expensive but you can’t take it with you. It tastes better."

While Scott seeks a healthier diet for he and his family, he seeks even more of a healthier relationship with the Lord.

And with that, he feels like there are some blessings he's experienced along the way and others will too.

"I firmly believe that God has his hand on that farm (The Maker's Meadow) and everybody that works there.

I think, honestly, every home that they deliver to gets touched by the hand of God."