- Aug 8, 2014
- 3
- 10
Hi Everyone! I have been wanting to get a smoker for a very long time. I finally got one, and being a completely and totally ignorant in smoking, I decided to get a MES 40. I just figured I needed to learn all the ins out outs of prep, before really worrying about trying to maintain the correct temperature (as much)...
Maybe once I get a little more experience, I can move up the difficulty level, and play with a "fire" smoker... but for now, this will do.
So being COMPLETELY new, any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Things I like:
Brisket - my absolute favorite
Chickens
Pork Ribs (and pork in general)
And like I said, I know so little about smoking, that I don't really even know what else I CAN smoke...
(I've heard people make mac and cheese in a smoker! sounds delish!)
So right now I have a pristine, brand new, never turned on 40in MES (the red one from QVC)... And I have a bag of mesquite wood chips. I would really like to do a chicken or two, and maybe a small brisket this weekend, but don't know what the steps to do that are (I think I need to brine the chicken first right?)
Any books - or blogs - or instructions on this site that you can point me to would be awesome! I already do 95% of the cooking in our house anyway, and I was hoping to take it up a notch with this smoker.
What do you think of this smoker as a "first" smoker? Any tips for this particular smoker? Anything to watch out for? or any general information at all!
Thanks! Glad to be here, and hopefully I don't drive you all nuts. But I do promise to share my progress, before and after pics, and contribute to the forums as much as I can.
Jason (Isellrivets)
DFW, Texas
Maybe once I get a little more experience, I can move up the difficulty level, and play with a "fire" smoker... but for now, this will do.
So being COMPLETELY new, any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Things I like:
Brisket - my absolute favorite
Chickens
Pork Ribs (and pork in general)
And like I said, I know so little about smoking, that I don't really even know what else I CAN smoke...
(I've heard people make mac and cheese in a smoker! sounds delish!)
So right now I have a pristine, brand new, never turned on 40in MES (the red one from QVC)... And I have a bag of mesquite wood chips. I would really like to do a chicken or two, and maybe a small brisket this weekend, but don't know what the steps to do that are (I think I need to brine the chicken first right?)
Any books - or blogs - or instructions on this site that you can point me to would be awesome! I already do 95% of the cooking in our house anyway, and I was hoping to take it up a notch with this smoker.
What do you think of this smoker as a "first" smoker? Any tips for this particular smoker? Anything to watch out for? or any general information at all!
Thanks! Glad to be here, and hopefully I don't drive you all nuts. But I do promise to share my progress, before and after pics, and contribute to the forums as much as I can.
Jason (Isellrivets)
DFW, Texas