# I pit DrDeth **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 28, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971 "2021-02-28T19:52:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 119
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2365 "2025-06-09T00:39:33Z")
Can we get back to the more important topic of how juvenile it is for a grown human to use the spelling “enuf”? ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2366 "2025-06-09T01:58:35Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I was a kid so I don’t remember the name but I saw a war movie where in the middle of a fierce battle most of the officers were killed so one of the few remaining pointed to a sergeant and said, “You! You’re a lieutenant now. Go take care of that bunker (or whatever was causing the most trouble)!” _The Longest Day_, about the Allied invasion of Normandy. Robert Mitchum is the general, Jeffrey Hunter (Captain Pike from _Star Trek_) is the young sergeant promoted to lieutenant five minutes before being killed. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2367 "2025-06-09T02:01:13Z")
Personally, I was amazed to find out how old he claims to be based on his choice of handle as “DrDeth”. It sounds like something an edgy teenager would choose as his XBox handle, perhaps with the flourish of xXxDrDethxXx. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2368 "2025-06-09T02:03:36Z")
DrDeth69420 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2369 "2025-06-09T04:28:06Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > > [@DesertDog](#): > > > > I was a kid so I don’t remember the name but I saw a war movie where in the middle of a fierce battle most of the officers were killed so one of the few remaining pointed to a sergeant and said, “You! You’re a lieutenant now. Go take care of that bunker (or whatever was causing the most trouble)!” > > _The Longest Day_, about the Allied invasion of Normandy. Robert Mitchum is the general, Jeffrey Hunter (Captain Pike from _Star Trek_) is the young sergeant promoted to lieutenant five minutes before being killed. Damn you beat me to it. The character Hunter played was fictional. Mitchum played real life badass Norman Cota. Hunter was later breveted to the rank of Christ. Just to be pedantic I will point out that referring to a rank as E4 etc didn’t happen until the Career Compensation Act of 1949 so nobody had the rank of E4 in World War 2. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2370 "2025-06-09T04:30:33Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Hunter was later breveted to the rank of Christ. The old-fashioned expression as I heard of it was “promoted to Glory.” Is that a newer version? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2371 "2025-06-09T04:32:31Z")
In the “Things that infuriate you” thread, a poster points out that environmentally unfriendly refillable pepper grinders at Trader Joe’s are so cheap that he’s better off buying a new one than getting peppercorns alone. > So it actually costs more to do the environmentally friendly thing and reuse the grinder I have, than to throw out the grinder and buy a new one. DD replies: > [@](#): > > Well, just if you only shop at Trader Joes. > > You can get five pounds of Black Pepper from Amazon for about $50, or $10/lb. > > But 2oz of pepper with grinder is about $4. > > I am sure you can do that math. Does he actually think someone would get _5 pounds_ of peppercorns??? Or that they’d be any good in 2050 when they’re still only halfway used up??? Or am I missing something here? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2372 "2025-06-09T04:37:34Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The old-fashioned expression as I heard of it was “promoted to Glory.” Is that a newer version? Jeffery Hunter also played Jesus in _King of Kings_. (The 1961 version, not the Cecil B. DeMille version.) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2373 "2025-06-09T06:21:05Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Or that they’d be any good in 2050 when they’re still only halfway used up??? If kept dry in a sealed container, they will probably be fine. Peppercorns (properly stored) can stay good for decades. The corns, while intact, will keep the flavor and potency pretty well until crushed. You’ll see some sources claim they only last 4 years before losing their potency, but I’ve read testimonials of people who’ve had black peppercorns last many years and they are still fine when used. (Green peppercorns are not quite as hardy.) My guess is that as long as you are keeping those things in a sealed bag in a pantry, in 2050 they might not be as spicy as they’d be today, but they’d be acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2374 "2025-06-09T06:39:01Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Can we get back to the more important topic of how juvenile it is for a grown human to use the spelling “enuf”? Thank you. I think he does it for the explicit purpose of being annoying. For some reason, being annoying gives the good Doctor a great deal of satisfaction. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2375 "2025-06-09T07:05:27Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > so nobody had the rank of E4 in World War 2. What were corporals, then, or PO3s in the navy? ---
**Author:** ![DETXL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/detxl/32/19366_2.png) [@DETXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DETXL)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2376 "2025-06-09T07:49:27Z")
Corporals were 5th grade (equivalent after the technician was created to T/5, [Technician 5th Grade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technician_fifth_grade)). You can find an archived overview of this evolution [here](https://web.archive.org/web/20071015223553/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Rank_page/History_of_Enlisted_Ranks.htm). TM 20-205 (page 125, if [this link](https://archive.org/details/TM20-205-nsia/page/n133/mode/2up) doesn’t go there directly) puts that as equivalent to Seaman, 1st Class with PO3 being a 4th-grade rank. (As Loach notes the use of E-n/O-n is a [postwar creation of the 1949 Career Compensation Act](https://www.navycs.com/public-law/pl-81-351.html), although the archived history from the Pentagon above implies that this wasn’t formalized until Army Regulation 615-15 took effect in 1955, at least for the Army) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2377 "2025-06-09T08:19:18Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Does he actually think someone would get _5 pounds_ of peppercorns??? Or that they’d be any good in 2050 when they’re still only halfway used up??? FWIW I go through a **lot** of peppercorns in my cooking. I don’t have reason to keep five pounds of them on hand but if I did I’d definitely use them within the aforementioned four years. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2378 "2025-06-09T10:15:54Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Or am I missing something here? Yes. This … > [@Things that infuriate you well beyond their actual importance](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1750): > > > [@Things that infuriate you well beyond their actual importance](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1747): > > > > Well, Trader Joe’s and Target are the two closest stores to my house, so that is where I to the vast majority of my shopping (Target is where more expensive no grinder peppercorns are). I don’t really want to go to a more distant store just for pepper. And I admit I didn’t didn’t think of checking Amazon, but I feel like buying such a large quantity at once wouldn’t be a good idea, since it would lose their freshness long before I could get through that much pepper. > > A reasonable point. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2379 "2025-06-09T11:55:31Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > Or that they’d be any good in 2050 when they’re still only halfway used up??? > > If kept dry in a sealed container, they will probably be fine. Peppercorns (properly stored) can stay good for decades. The corns, while intact, will keep the flavor and potency pretty well until crushed. You’ll see some sources claim they only last 4 years before losing their potency, but I’ve read testimonials of people who’ve had black peppercorns last many years and they are still fine when used. (Green peppercorns are not quite as hardy.) > > My guess is that as long as you are keeping those things in a sealed bag in a pantry, in 2050 they might not be as spicy as they’d be today, but they’d be acceptable. And i typically buy half a pound to a pound of peppercorns at a time. I’ve never had a problem with them tasting stale. I keep a big bottle of them in a dark cupboard, and use it to refill the peppermills from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2380 "2025-06-09T14:05:28Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > For some reason, being annoying gives the good Doctor a great deal of satisfaction. The shithead continues to double down on the claim that France and Russia were responsible for starting WWI, something he evidently picked up from a Nazi coloring book. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2381 "2025-06-09T14:09:41Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > If kept dry in a sealed container, they will probably be fine. Peppercorns (properly stored) can stay good for decades. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’ve never had a problem with them tasting stale. Having worked for years for a gourmet spice/peppercorn importer that went to great lengths to get the highest quality berries, I have to tell you that there is a big difference in the quality of peppercorns when they’re very fresh and the quality even a year later. Much more flavor, more aromatic, more complex. Similar to coffee beans roasted this week vs coffee beans a year later. The trick is finding the freshest ones at the store or Amazon. Try India Tree or Penzeys (I’ve never had Penzeys pepper, but I’m guessing they’re good). And expect to pay more for the good ones. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2382 "2025-06-09T14:15:33Z")
Mmmm! Goddamn, Jimmie! This is some serious gourmet pepper! Usually, me and Vince would be happy with Badia or some McCormick right, but he springs this serious GOURMET shit on us! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2383 "2025-06-09T14:33:09Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Try India Tree or Penzeys (I’ve never had Penzeys pepper, but I’m guessing they’re good). And expect to pay more for the good ones. I buy penzey’s telicherry peppercorns, and they are excellent. Much better than other peppercorns I’ve purchased. I usually buy the large bag (13.2 oz) and use it over a year or so. At any rate, that’s a spice i buy pretty regularly. And… They are out of stock‽ WTF? I wonder if that’s a tariff thing. How the hell do you let yourself get out of stock of a staple like that? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2384 "2025-06-09T16:34:01Z")
> [@DETXL](#): > > Corporals were 5th grade (equivalent after the technician was created to T/5 Ah, interesting. I knew there were only seven enlisted ranks during WWII but I didn’t know the army counted them backwards much the same as the navy does yet today,\* a Petty Officer first class being a higher rank than PO third class. And the navy doesn’t mess around with this “technician but but not a leader” stuff. Probably since a ship is the ultimate crew-served weapon they’re _all_ technicians carrying out the skipper’s will. Maybe that’s why they include an [insignia indicating what their job is](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Navy_ratings) ( sometimes vaguely) on their dress uniforms. \* The navy: two hundred years of tradition unhampered by progress. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971.md?page=118) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971.md?page=120)