Hi all!

Hi all!  I'm brand new to smoking meat and I was happy to find this resource for lots of great and tasty advice.  I started out with a small weber grill and smoked a pork butt and a flat brisket and I enjoyed it so much I just built a vertical smoker.  Here's a few pics...







I'd like to create a thread about the build but I'm not sure what category it would go in?  After a few test fires I made some ribs which turned out really good and now I've bought a 17.5 pound Choice Angus brisket to smoke starting this Tuesday night to serve for dinner on Wednesday.  I'm going to allow 18 hours for the cook, with hopefully a couple hours resting in a cooler in the end.  I'm nervous!  Hope it works out as I hope.  Here's a picture of the brisket...



I've trimmed the fat cap down but I'm not sure if I should cut into this behemoth any further or just smoke it all together.  I feel like for my first whole brisket I want to just cook it all together and not alter it so I can see how it turns out and compare it with the next time.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to being a part of these forums!  Nice to meet you!