New Guy w/ Really Cool Grill/Smoker Looking for Wisdom

Hey everyone, it's really cool to see how active this website it and how much information there is on here. I ended up using my trailer over the weekend with a lot of success.

Saturday morning I found fresh wild Alaska salmon at the grocery store for $4.99 a pound, so I bought a full fillet (2.5 pounds). I cut the salmon into bite-size pieces and put the pieces into a lemon pepper marinade while I seasoned my smoker. I found out that my smoker is pretty easy to regulate, as it has 2 smokestacks with infinite adjustments and a butterfly vent on the side of the fire box. I got it to stay between 180 and 190, added a can of water to the fire box (to humidify), and put the salmon on the smoking racks. I bought an internal meat thermometer and a grill surface thermometer, so I could monitor those. I added apple wood every 20 to 30 minutes, which made for a very deep smokey flavor. The salmon spent 4 to 4 1/4 hours on the smoker, and YUM!! I was excited that I was able to successfully smoke something on my first attempt.

Sunday my parents invited me over to watch the Broncos game (The one where they embarrassed the Saints). I searched the forums for information on smoking hamburgers. I found enough information to make me feel comfortable doing it. I knew that if we got impatient we could finish them up quickly on the propane side of my trailer. I mixed 93% lean hamburger with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion flakes and hand-shaped 9 burgers. I cooked the burgers in the smoker with the temperature at 215 to 230 degrees, adding cherry wood chunks, and taking almost 2 full hours. For the last 20 to 30 minutes, I added cheese and onions, along with a few more handfuls of cherry wood chunks. I also toasted our buns on the propane side of the trailer during this time. My mom even hand-cut french fries, and we deep fried them on the swing-out propane burner on my trailer while the burgers were cooking.

Thanks to everyone for contributing to this website, and for helping me with my new addiction of grilling/smoking.

A few pictures from my extremely tasty weekend...