Well, got 'er done!
I was super impressed with the smokehouse; we're having 30-40mph winds here today and, by facing it towards the porch, the flame is steady with no flicker at all inside, no drafts (other than the draft I want, lol!) - nothing; you wouldn't even know the wind was blowing. My fear was that the flame would blow out or be bothered but not in the least! I adjusted it down with the needle valve to 238°-240° degrees and it held well, lowered the flame about ¼ of it's height (¾ of it left) and held perfect at that temp, outside is from 32° at 8:30 am to 51° at 3 pm. Smoked until it reached 148° to 150° internal, and both the thinnest and the thickest were within 1° of each other; heating is even throughout the smokehouse.
Used hickory with some occasional mesquite tossed in (love that flavor!).
Here's some pics after removing from bacon hangers and sliced up a bit:
All 5 pieces, a little distant and dark:
2 on the right:
3 on the left:
one of some sliced:
another in different lighting, no flash this time:
The flavor and tenderness (FAT) was wonderful!
Thanks for looking in on my first bbbacon smoke in the new smokehouse! I'll be doing the Easter ham next weekend!
Yes, it has a lot of capacity; I'm inspired by Pineywoods' bundle of bellies he's doing and his previous great smokes and wanted to have the capacity to do as much as we could possibly use!