Another Newb Smoker to be.

[grandmaster]

Hello All. I am Louis, from Austin, Tx. I am a complete newb to smokin'. Actually I do not even own a smoker...yet. I decided about a month ago, over some Q at Rudy's(local q restaurant), that I would like to get a smoker, and make my own. So I did what I always do...googled smoking meat, and I landed here. I have been lurking here for a while, and decided that if i am going to get serious about this I might as well register and get the ball a rollin'. I have been very impressed with this board and, aside from the raging debates over wood vs. propane, all the contributors seem to be very friendly and get along well! It is a nice change from most other boards I have been to.

At any rate I am thrilled to be a member here and just wanted to make my introduction. I will save all of my questions for the proper forums.

--Louis

 

[jlloyd99]

Howdy Louis. Glad to have you aboard. This is a wonderful place to learn the art of smoking, the people are freindly, the advice sound, and pictures will make you hungry long before you can take a lunch break. Hope you enjoy and looking forward to hearing from you in other posts.

PS- I'm a die hard Aggie so hope your not a longhorn fan ;)

 

[bob-bqn]

Howdy Louis, welcome aboard. Hope you find a smoker real soon. I've been through Austin a couple times .... that's got to be the loooongest bridge I've ever crossed (BTW, I'll never drive under it again.

).

 

[grandmaster]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

LOL! Nope, not a longhorns fan...not an aggie fan either though. :P I went to Tech so I am a Red Raider. Get your guns up! :P

 

[grandmaster]

Thanks for the welcome Bob. I hope I can make a decision on a smoker soon to. I think I have decided on a propane smoker...I just can't get that SWEET stainless smoker over at costco out of my mind...but I am not sure if I am ready to make that big of an investment. So I have been leaning towards the GOSM, but I have not found any place around here that carries the heavier duty version of it.

Hmm??? Which bridge are you talking about? I grew up on South Padre Island so I am used to long bridges...but I have not noticed any really long ones here. You must be referring to the upper and lower deck of I35 going through downtown.

-Louis

 

[bob-bqn]

I35, that's the one. The first time I went through town I was in the left lane (thinking it was the "fast" lane :oops: ). Down under the bridge there was no wind, rush hour traffic, it was hot & muggy, and smelled thick of exhaust fumes, not to mention all the traffic lights. So now I know ... stay up top!

GOSM smokers are getiing harder to find, I don't think CFM is doing a very good job with marketing. :( This place still carries them: http://shop.store.yahoo.com/epod2000/smokers.html .

I haven't seen the Stainless Steel Big Blocks like mine anywhere this year. They were at Sam's Club a couple years ago when I bought them.

Good luck on your quest. :D

 

[Dutch]

Louis- welcome to Smoking Meat Forums, we love it when lurkers decide to join our little family. This is a friendly, knowlegdable bunch of folks and we are always willing to help a newbie out. I have the GOSM widebody and love it and for back up I have a Brinkmann charcoal bullet smoker, though I am in the process of drawing up an off-set wood burning smoker.

If you haven't signed up for tulsajeff's Smoking Basics eCourse, you ought to look into it. It is an excellent primer for getting into the art of the Thin Blue Smoke.

 

[grandmaster]

LOL! Austin traffic sucks...no doubt.

There is a cabelas about 45 minutes south of me that I may go check out this weekend. These look a lot like the GOSM and they do not seem to be too terribly priced.

 

[grandmaster]

Thanks for the welcome Dutch. As a matter of fact I just signed up for the eCourse. Now if I could only pull the trigger on a smoker I will be ready to go! I will probably do little, ok probably a lot of window shopping this weekend...so hopefully in the next couple of weeks, the thin blue smoke will bellowing off my back porch! :D

-Louis

 

[bob-bqn]

Those do look a lot like GOSM's. I would be interested in knowing who is the manufacturer.

The main concern for me with a smoker like that is the size of the cooking grates. If you are going to cook brisket flats they'll fit just fine but whole packers are too long. When I had the smaller GOSM's I would lay the brisket fat-side up and cut through it about 3/4's of the way on the thin end, then fold the end under. This let the brisket fit on the shelf and "thickened" the tip of the flat a bit.

Likewise, whole slabs of ribs are too long for the 14" shelves so you must cut them in half before cooking.

I agree, the price is not too bad.

 

[texasbeachbum]

I picked up my GOSM at Target night before last. Put it together and seasoned it yesterday. Today I am cooking 2 Slabs of ribs. Should be ready in about 1 1/2 hours. I sure like the way it holds your temp at the right place.

 

[monty]

Welcome aboard, Louis! I am sure you will grow with our family! We have a lot of fun and good clean humor is always most welcome! I once visited Padre Island! It was in the 70's. My best memory was of a little eatery called The Shack and a huge heaping platter of steamed gulf shrimp accompanied by a Texas sized pitcher of Pearl Beer! Then there was my foray into a few dusty little villages across the border. But I did say good clean humor!
Glad to see you here!
Cheers!
Monty

 

[texasbeachbum]

Ribs are done and gone. We had company that my wife invited and all the ribs were eaten. I did get rave reviews on them though. I forgot to take pictures.

 

[grandmaster]

Bob - I did not get a chance to make it down to cabela's afterall, but I did go over to Lowes, and they have what I think might be a pretty nice smoker. I posted the specs and asked for opinions over in the propane smoker forum. Hopefully some seasoned veterans will have seen this particular smoker and will offer their opinions of it. It is a little narrow as well...hmm out of curiosity, on average how long is a packers brisket and a full slab of ribs?

TexasBeachBum - Hey thanks for the heads-up on target. I had looked at their website and did not see the GOSM listed so I did not even think to go by there. Is this the same version of the GOSM that Wal-Mart sells or the more coveted Big Block version? I will have to try and get by there and check it out! LOL! I am so jealous...I wanna be Q'in some ribs to. Oh well, I will be before too long! :D

Monty - HEHE! I was born in the 70's! I do not think I have ever heard of The Shack. Actually come to think of it, I think there may be one up on North Padre in Port Aransas, but that is 3 hours north of South Padre. But, my parents still live down there, and my mom, being the social butterfly that she is, knows many many shrimpers...so there is never a shortage of shrimp when I go home to visit! :D And of course growing up there, there were many forays to the other side of the border :twisted: ...but you are right...let's keep it clean!

Thanks
Louis

 

[bob-bqn]

The food racks in my Big Blocks are about 23" wide and I lose about an inch on each side for the rails that the rack slides into. A good sized brisket stretched out can reach from end to end on my shelves and touch the rails on both sides so I'd say they can be in the neighborhood of 20"-22", just guessing. A rack of ribs is shorter so I'll estimate around 18" or so. Keep in mind that I don't believe I've ever actually measured either so I may be a little off.

 

[bluefrog]

Louis welcome to Smoking Meat! I bought my GOSM big block on line. I can't remember the sight. I will try to find it. In the meantime you might do a search for it. If I can find the sight I will post.

Smoke if ya got em.

 

[bluefrog]

Louis, I ordered my GOSM big block from www.epod2000.com for $175.00 plus shipping and had it in less than a week.