Hello my name is Donnie and I'm a newbie to the forum, I have however been receiving the Smoking Meat Newsletter for sometime. Lots of smoking in my past some good some not. The news letter has helped. I'm in Sherwood, AR, love to hunt and cook. I've purchased numerous smokers, mostly wood burners, and they don't seem to last, the metal is too thin. Years ago I borrowed a J.R. Enterprises 48 inch smoker from a friend and had outstanding results. I've looked for a reverse flow smoker that would hold water like the JR without much success. Naturally when I get to the point I could afford a JR they're no longer available. So to make a long story short I went to a very good welder with a design and had a reverse flow smoker built out of 1/4 inch steel. It holds about 10 gallons of water, 48 x 24 cooking area and weights about 1000Lbs (wasn't easy getting into my back yard). I'll send a picture when I figure out how. I've got lots of wood questions, I had about a 6 hour burn Saturday to season it and cooked for over 4 hours Sunday with 3 slabs of baby backs and a couple pounds of salmon. Family said it was great, I think it could have been better. That brings me back to the wood, I used hickory, last years, I'm looking forward to reading what other folks are using in their stick burners. Keeping in mind the fire box is like a fireplace, takes a lot of wood!
