Smoker Newbie

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hmsmike

Newbie
Original poster
Dec 27, 2013
21
10
Hello to everyone at SMF!! :grilling_smilie:

I wanted to introduce myself, my name is Mike and I live in Harrisburg, North Carolina right behind that big ol NASCAR speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway. I am born and raised here in the Carolina's and work in NASCAR for a pretty successful race team for the past 13 yrs as a purchase manager. I have an awesome wife that is helping pursue my outdoor cooking hobby and two boys that keep me busy, ages 5 & 10 that are into baseball and Cub Scouts. As far as Cub Scouts, I am currently a committee chair and a former Cubmaster, where outdoor cooking rules, even got me a Dutch Oven for a Christmas that I am looking forward to breaking in with some cobblers!!!!

Now let me tell ya my current cooking situation and/or experience. I have been doing some grilling on a gas grill over the years but nothing too challenging. I have had some experience with charcoal growing up but that was about it. I got a new smoker for Christmas, to what I think you guys call an ECB but it is a Brinkmann Smoke N Grill model. I know it needs some mods because I had a hard time keeping the temp up in the "ideal" range the two hours I had to season it yesterday. So any suggestions about mods I would greatly welcome. I think my first two mods will be holes in the charcoal pan because I believe lack of airflow snuffed out the coals and an actual temp gauge instead of this ideal gauge it came with.

I am also looking for suggestions to what to smoke first for a complete newbie and maybe some tips and advice on how to get started in this wonderful hobby!! I appreciate and thank you all for your help in advance. I hope that I too can become good enough to pay it forward to someone else like me in the future! I look forward to interacting, learning and story sharing with you all!!
 
Mike
welcome1.gif


Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions Post it
and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is because their
are so many different ways to make great Q We all have our own taste.

Happy smoken.

David
 
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Thanks David for the warm welcome!! Yea I have started off with the search bar and found some neat threads so far!

Glad to be apart of the SMF junkies!! :beercheer:
 
[h1]
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Hello and welcome from East Texas. This is a great site, lots of information and great people that are willing to throw in their two cents worth on about anything.   
[/h1][h1]  [/h1][h1]Gary[/h1]
 
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Chicken is a cheap place to start, although getting that skin right can be tough sometimes.  Pulled pork is a fun one also just takes some patience.

Here are a few good places to start with some of my favs.

Here are some links to start:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/127/5-day-smoking-basics-ecourse

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/175/fatties

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/49420/abts-atomic-buffalo-turds

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/50945/dutchs-wicked-baked-beans

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/93718/smoked-dried-beef-with-lots-of-qview
 
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Thanks for the replies!!

Little smokey - awesome links and advice!! I gotta make some of those ABT's - I had them one time at a Panthers Tailgate and they were the bomb!!
 
Thanks for the replies!!

Little smokey - awesome links and advice!! I gotta make some of those ABT's - I had them one time at a Panthers Tailgate and they were the bomb!!
Yeah my wife who always says "yeah that's good" and has litlle of whatever but not a whole lot tried these and bought supplies to make more the next day she loved them so much.
 
Haha that's what I am talking about!! :-)

Looking forward to it -- what is the basic makeup of a Fatty? I fell in love with the q-views of them!!
 
Sounds good!! I'm going for it tonight - my first fatty smokes!! :yahoo:

I'm doing a sausage with jalapeño, pepper jack & cheddar cheese fatty and a bacon cheese burger one with hamburger both wrapped in bacon ... On my top rack I am going to do some ABT's!!

Gotta finish my Mods on my ECB first though but I will try my best to have some q-views of my first smoke!!! Thanks again Smokey for your help!! Thumbs Up
 
Tonight was a SUCCESS!!! Both of my Fattys and the ABT's were good!! I didn't Bogart them either - had friends over to share my victory with. Typical ECB - I chased the temps all day long but it still was good and took only 3.5 hours.

Thanks again Little Smokie for your help!! Gonna do a q-view of tonight's action soon!! :)
 
It was good even the next day - I shared with my father-in-law and now I am taking orders!! Hahaha
 
Dude I love the fattties the next day with a over medium egg on top, and it is great camping food if you want to make them the day before.
 
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