Greetings! Long time lurker, and somewhat experienced smoker. Finally decided to officially join the club.
I started smoking about 20 years ago, when I first moved to Alaska (career Army), because there was no place to get good barbeque. I'm a Missouri boy, born and raised, and learned to eat barbeque at Bryants in KC-the original shop. Still make it a point to eat there whenever I'm in, or near the city. Anyway, couldn't find anything like that, and my kids (8 and 3 at the time) thought some par-boiled, sauce-slathered mess at a soul-food place was "good." The Bible says "train up a child in the way they should go, and when they get older they won't depart from it." I didn't want my kids trained improperly, so I set out, bought a Brinkman Smok'n Pit, and began learning how to make good babybacks. Also got pretty good at smoking salmon, and started doing the Thanksgiving turkeys on it.
Moved that pit all over as the Army kept reassigning me, then took it back to Alaska when I retired. When I left AK again, it needed an overhaul, so I left it with a buddy, thinking, "I'll just buy another one." That's when I discovered that they don't make them like they used to...
After a lot of research on here, and other sites (primarily HERE!), I bought an Old Country Pecos from Academy in TX, and had it shipped to WA. Even with shipping, it was still a better smoker, at a better price, than what I could find locally (at least, for under $1k). I've got about 4 or 5 smokes out of her, and overall I'm happy with her, and continuing to tweak to get so I can really make her perform.
Other than that, I'm married, kids are grown and on their own, I like playing with Mustangs, helping people, and enjoying life.
Not sure I have much to contribute to this place-- You guys have taught me much, and I am still a novice. But thanks for all the help you didn't even know you were giving me!
Greg
I started smoking about 20 years ago, when I first moved to Alaska (career Army), because there was no place to get good barbeque. I'm a Missouri boy, born and raised, and learned to eat barbeque at Bryants in KC-the original shop. Still make it a point to eat there whenever I'm in, or near the city. Anyway, couldn't find anything like that, and my kids (8 and 3 at the time) thought some par-boiled, sauce-slathered mess at a soul-food place was "good." The Bible says "train up a child in the way they should go, and when they get older they won't depart from it." I didn't want my kids trained improperly, so I set out, bought a Brinkman Smok'n Pit, and began learning how to make good babybacks. Also got pretty good at smoking salmon, and started doing the Thanksgiving turkeys on it.
Moved that pit all over as the Army kept reassigning me, then took it back to Alaska when I retired. When I left AK again, it needed an overhaul, so I left it with a buddy, thinking, "I'll just buy another one." That's when I discovered that they don't make them like they used to...
After a lot of research on here, and other sites (primarily HERE!), I bought an Old Country Pecos from Academy in TX, and had it shipped to WA. Even with shipping, it was still a better smoker, at a better price, than what I could find locally (at least, for under $1k). I've got about 4 or 5 smokes out of her, and overall I'm happy with her, and continuing to tweak to get so I can really make her perform.
Other than that, I'm married, kids are grown and on their own, I like playing with Mustangs, helping people, and enjoying life.
Not sure I have much to contribute to this place-- You guys have taught me much, and I am still a novice. But thanks for all the help you didn't even know you were giving me!
Greg
