Customer Spotlight: Skip Hammerman
Last week we got to sit down and hang out with frequent Old Station customer, Skip Hammerman, to talk about his early culinary influences, his penchant for non-traditional cuts of meat, and his philosophy on why we all need to be a little less serious when it comes to cooking.
Here are 10 QUESTIONS WITH SKIP:
1.Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Finland. I came to the United States in 1977 to get a college degree in hotel management from the University of Denver.
2. What is your occupation?
I’ve been retired for five years. Before retiring, I worked in hotels ever since graduating from the University of Denver. I’ve had many roles in the hotel industry, but ended my hotel career as a General Manager.
3. Where do you live?
Urbandale, Iowa
4. Tell us about your family.
I live with my wife (Tracy) and our one-year-old Great Dane (Pearl).
5. What are some of your hobbies or interests?
I own a 2015 Porsche 911 Targa and enjoy traveling with our Porsche club. I also really enjoy cooking.
6. When did you first get into cooking?
When I was going to college I lived with several roommates and we had an agreement that whoever did the cooking did not have to do any cleaning, so I decided to do the cooking. When I worked in the hotel industry, I had a lot of exposure to the food industry. I found myself gravitating to the kitchen area to see what the chefs were doing. I also really enjoy watching cooking shows.
7. What are some of your favorite products you get from Old Station Craft Meats?
I really like the non-traditional cuts like, picanha, beef short ribs, Denver steak, and tri-tip.
8. How do you like to prepare these items?
I really like experimenting. I rarely use recipes and typically never do anything the same way twice. I like to use different spices, seasonings, and binders. This is the fun part of cooking, not having to be exact.
9. Do you have any cooking tips or secrets that you’d like to share?
I really like using my pellet grill/smoker to do reverse searing. I like my steaks, what I call, “medium-rare plus.” This means done a little under medium-rare. Generally, when I reverse sear, I smoke the meat at 180 degrees until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 105 degrees. I then take the meat off the smoker and let it set on the counter as I bring the temperature of the grill up to 425 degrees. Then I sear the meat until it reaches and internal temperature of about 123 degrees. I make sure to let the meat rest for ten to thirty minutes until the internal temperature of the meat is a notch below 130 degrees.
10. Anything else you’d like to share with us?
I think that a lot of people who are interested in cooking take it too seriously. They get caught up in these rules of fat-side up, fat-side down, wrap, or don’t wrap. I think people should just cook and have fun with it by experimenting. I don’t think people should get stuck on the preferences of other people. They should just make it their own.
Pictured below are several of Skip’s cooks. (From Left to Right) Picanha, Pork Chop, Prime Rib, Rack of Lamb, Ribeye.
