Hi, I'm Chip and I live in McKinney, Texas.
I am fairly new to smoking and have been lurking on this forum for a few weeks and decided I needed to sign up.
I am originally from Louisiana and am the black sheep of my family as the other men in my family (cousins and brother-in-laws) are all incredible cooks. I am trying to redeem myself.
This past weekend I dusted off a Brinkman Gourmet Electric Smoker that used to belong to my step father (another terrific cook). I tried a variation of Jeff Phillips maples glazed ribs on a couple of racks of baby back ribs. But in a tip of the hat to my brother in law, I substituted his rub for Jeff's and homemade cane syrup made by my brother in law's Ag students.
The smoker is in rough shape, the bottom is rusted out and had trouble maintaining a constant 225 degrees; instead it varied between 190 & 250 depending on if I had recently added more woodchips (Pecan & Cherry with some Hickory chucks). So my version of the 2/2/1 ended up more like 2.5/2/0.5.
But the end result was worthy and got the seal of approval from both my wife & daughter. Both of whose support is critical if I am going to step out on this slippery slope.
I have already decided that the Brinkman Smoker is not long for this world, it is pretty badly rusted and I know that I will want space to cook more than a couple of racks of baby back ribs. So I am in the market for an entry level smoker.
I have been pouring over the forum to determine what smoker(s) would be good candidates for my "first" smoker.
Currently I am leaning towards the Weber Smokey Mountain 22" or the Old Country BBQ Pits Pecos, both available locally for $400.
I am also watching Craigslist to see if a good candidate pops up between now and the time I finally pull the trigger (probably after the 1st of the year).
Finally I am also considering whether I should be prudent and get the Oklahoma Joe Highland which I can get for $270.
I know that the Pecos, Highland and any Craigslist find would require some tweaking but I think that would be part of the fun. Heck, there are even some interesting mods for the WSM.
I am looking forward to being a part of the group.
-Chip
I am fairly new to smoking and have been lurking on this forum for a few weeks and decided I needed to sign up.
I am originally from Louisiana and am the black sheep of my family as the other men in my family (cousins and brother-in-laws) are all incredible cooks. I am trying to redeem myself.
This past weekend I dusted off a Brinkman Gourmet Electric Smoker that used to belong to my step father (another terrific cook). I tried a variation of Jeff Phillips maples glazed ribs on a couple of racks of baby back ribs. But in a tip of the hat to my brother in law, I substituted his rub for Jeff's and homemade cane syrup made by my brother in law's Ag students.
The smoker is in rough shape, the bottom is rusted out and had trouble maintaining a constant 225 degrees; instead it varied between 190 & 250 depending on if I had recently added more woodchips (Pecan & Cherry with some Hickory chucks). So my version of the 2/2/1 ended up more like 2.5/2/0.5.
But the end result was worthy and got the seal of approval from both my wife & daughter. Both of whose support is critical if I am going to step out on this slippery slope.
I have already decided that the Brinkman Smoker is not long for this world, it is pretty badly rusted and I know that I will want space to cook more than a couple of racks of baby back ribs. So I am in the market for an entry level smoker.
I have been pouring over the forum to determine what smoker(s) would be good candidates for my "first" smoker.
Currently I am leaning towards the Weber Smokey Mountain 22" or the Old Country BBQ Pits Pecos, both available locally for $400.
I am also watching Craigslist to see if a good candidate pops up between now and the time I finally pull the trigger (probably after the 1st of the year).
Finally I am also considering whether I should be prudent and get the Oklahoma Joe Highland which I can get for $270.
I know that the Pecos, Highland and any Craigslist find would require some tweaking but I think that would be part of the fun. Heck, there are even some interesting mods for the WSM.
I am looking forward to being a part of the group.
-Chip
