Buying My First Smoker- What Else Do I Need In My Shopping Cart?

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Only got the cyberq and adapter.  I put it in a medium sized clear tote to keep water away (electronics, would probably be ok but I feel better about it)  I love the set and forget and being able to acess from my bed in the middle of the night from my phone to check on it.
 
For smoking, I start a few briquettes by setting it over the burner on my propane cooker. I only start maybe 6-8 pieces, and they are ready in less than 5 minutes, and a little longer if I am doing a half or full chimney for grilling. I only start a handful of briquettes that I pour on top of a full basket of unburnt coals and wood chunks minion method style. In that amount of time, I have already placed the meat on the racks in the body of the smoker and installed my probes. I set the loaded smoker body on with the bottom vents closed and the top vent open,and start the Party-q, then walk away. I am usually at cruising temps from cold in less than 15 or 20 minutes. I am usually cooking other things in the kitchen or socializing etc. The Party-q hasn't failed me yet! But you do need to keep a supply of AA batteries for when it starts to peter out.

The only thing to watch for is when you snuff out the coals with the guru installed or when changing batteries etc.. If you close all vents and turn off the guru, smoke and heat will backflow (reverse) through the blower- Not good!
 
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Packer on the Smoke N Grill ECB

I trimmed 2 of the 19 inches off the flat to put it on. I could have put a can under the center of the brisket for a while to draw the ends in off the edges of the smoker body,until it shrank up.. I didn't know that at the time. I would go with a 22.5 if I could..

Made brisket burger with the meat grinder.
 
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I bought the Cajun Bandit stainless doors for my WSMs ($50 a pop!) and found they work much better and will probably last at least as long as the bullet itself.  I also bought the gasket kit which I'm using on the top seal but opted not to use it on the door.  The doors fits real tight and although there is a small amount of smoke leak, I consider it minor. 

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/weber_smokey_mountain_setup.html
 
Geat a cheap heat gin from harbor freight if you don’t mind using an extension cord. Fastest way to light charcoal known to man.
 
Gloves: heavy duty all leather work gloves, no need for anything crazy or super expensive (I weld for a living, plenty of hot stuff there). grill brush, plain old wire hand brush, if it's super nasty good old aluminum foil works like a charm crumpled up. Fire starters are for campers... use newspaper or your local merchandiser (it's free). The 2 meat probes i use came from walmart, they aren't blue tooth or anything, but prove accurate and were $20 each. Smoking doesn't have to be complicated, along your journey you'll come to find this to be a truism. Spend money on quality meat, it doesn't have to be wagu or anything, just not bottom of the line. Keep it simple, profect your cooking, enjoy it and have cookouts and maybe a back up in-case while on the journey things don't go as planned. Keep a log, meat made, temp cooking at weather conditions, these will help you figure things out along the way. Like it was cold and rainy and was hard to keep a decent temp.
 
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