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freaky

Newbie
Original poster
Feb 7, 2011
9
10
Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and new to smoking. This past week I've smoked about 12 lbs of pork cushion meat and an 8 lb pork butt. They turned out good, but I want to work on perfection lol.

As for my setup, I really wanted to make a smoker. But since I didn't really know what I was doing I got the Masterbuilt XL propane model from BPS instead. I have to say in my limited experience that I love it. It went together easily, cooks well (minus a few problems) and was a great price to easily jump into smoking. I ended up finding this forum through google just looking for info on making this smoker better. After using the stock chip pan the first time and burning up a whole bag of chips, I swapped out ended up using a cast iron skillet sitting on top of the chip pan on the 2nd run. That didn't seem to make enough smoke so I took the stock water pan and used that sitting on the chip pan. Still not perfect, so I'm going to cut the bottom out of the chip pan so the flames will be closer to the cast iron.

Here's a few pics from my first two attempts:

After it was assembled.

b1f1c74d_smoker3.jpg


Fist smoking attempt. Held the heat well, stock therm sucked.

d008f5fb_smoker2.jpg


Food turned out well. Cooked until 160, but it didn't want to pull. Failed to realize that there are more steps to a good pulled pork.

bbcb0e40_smoker1.jpg


2nd try: Notice the foil water pan cast iron skillet. Got a better smoke ring this time, but the meat didn't pull once again because I didn't realize the final steps.

8d2dd88f_smoker.jpg


So anyway, that's my story. I'm looking forward to having a really successful 3rd try. This forum really looks like a place with an abundance of knowledge!
 
Welcome to SMF. There are a lot of very friendly & knowledgeable folks here to help you. I urge you to sign up for the free E-course. It will give you the basics, & even if you are an experienced smoker you may learn something new. Then start asking questions. Good luck & glad to have you aboard. Don't forget we all love Qview! Looks like your well on your way!
 
Welcome!!

Tons of help here.

 Have a great day!!

  Craig
 
Welcome to SMF freaky. There's tons of great info to be uncovered in the archives of this site.  And lots of knowledgeable people to help if you cant find what your looking for.

And remember low and slow is the key to great BBQ.I keep my smoker between 225/250 when cooking butts. I usually shoot for an internal temp of  200 for my pulled pork.
 
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Welcome to SMF glad you joined us. Congrats on the new smoker. You'll find lots of good info and some great recipes here. Have fun and happy smoking
 
Welcome aboard! Lots of knowledgeable folks around here. If I read correctly you are cooking your butts to 160? You need to get closer to the 200F mark for pulling. Keep at it, when you taste that perfect smoked meat you cooked it will all be worth it!
 
 

Welcome to SMF, Glad to have you with us.
 


This is the place to learn, lots of good info and helpful friendly Members.
 


For those of you new to Smoking, be sure to check out Jeff's 5 Day Smoking Basics eCourse.

Click Here it's "FREE" ... 5 Day eCourseE
 
Welcome and stick around and we will teach you, the info is free. With a few more smoke jobs you will learn that smoker and produce some awesome grub.
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Well it looks like your covered. Follow the steps in that link & you'll never look back. Also look in the wiki for soflaquers finishing sauce & you won't believe what it does for pulled pork:)
 
Welcome to SMF - Like Cheryl said, you need to take pork to 200 -205 then put in foil then wrap in towels and rest in a cooler with the towels for at least an hour
 
Hello, freaky! Welcome to our little collective cyber barbecue smoke meeting place. Keep on stepping up to the plate swinging. Looks like you've got a great start! It only gets better. Thanks for stopping in and sharing.
 
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