I hail from the Tropics of Texas, AKA the Coastal Bend, where any form of outdoor cooking is a year-round event. I consider myself reasonably experienced at most kinds of grilling and smoking techniques and have the equipment graveyard to prove it. My current arsenal is a New Braunfels offset smoker/grill that admittedly I rarely use anymore, ever since my Mrs. got me a shiny new MES (the big one!) for my birthday. I consider myself old-school and at first scoffed at the idea of an electric smoker, which is considered to be sorcery by veteran Texas pitmasters, but the convenience and undeniably beautiful results made me a convert. I even admit to making heavy use of my propane grill now for beef and chicken fajitas, but I prefer my MES when possible.
I just ordered an ANMPS and a pound of hickory pellets that I'm going to use for my first attempt at belly bacon. I'm also waiting to hear back from my local Farmer's Market organizer to see if he can hook me up with a heritage hog belly; if not I'll just go with what my butcher sells. I'd never attempt this without all the great information I've already learned from lurking on this excellent forum, and I'm really looking forward to being part of this community. I hope I can contribute as much as I learn from you fine folks.
I just ordered an ANMPS and a pound of hickory pellets that I'm going to use for my first attempt at belly bacon. I'm also waiting to hear back from my local Farmer's Market organizer to see if he can hook me up with a heritage hog belly; if not I'll just go with what my butcher sells. I'd never attempt this without all the great information I've already learned from lurking on this excellent forum, and I'm really looking forward to being part of this community. I hope I can contribute as much as I learn from you fine folks.
