I'm not new to smoking. But I have been "serious" about smoking for about 10 years. I've been receiving Jeff's newsletter for some years now. I was partial to propane smokers until about five years ago when I landed an old US madeTraeger 075 that a family friend was hauling to the dump-because "it didn't work". Our friend arranged for someone to bring it to our place and gave me a bag of pellets too. She had been using heating stove pellets in the darn thing! I cleaned all the old gummy pellets out, put some good smoker pellets in the hopper and it worked great. I tried to give it back to her but she wouldn't hear of it, and she refused my offer to buy it from her too. So we ended up with a nice smoker for nothing. That's the kind of stuff that happens to other folks, not me. I recently upgraded the temperature controller and thermocoupler and I couldn't be happier. I am fairly accomplished at pork shoulder, ribs, tri-tip (a family favorite) and can do a pretty decent brisket too, although we don't often see the whopper sized briskets here that you folks in TX, OK are accustomed to working with, just like you guys don't often see tri tip. I am a "sauce on the side" guy and I have never done "wet" BBQ. Friends have encouraged me to compete in BBQ contests but I am afraid that competing would change BBQ into work, and I'd rather just enjoy sharing good food with friends and family.
