Excited to have stumbled across this forum.

[billy k]

Hello

My name is MIke, and I am from a small town called Killarney in the province of Manitoba, way up in Canada. I got my very first smoker about five years ago. It was aChargriller, smokin pro. This is still my main smoker but I have since bought a stone pizza oven that also has a smoker compartment. I definately wish I had more time for smoking but I work out of town, usually two weeks out and one home. I always try to make sure I sneak a minimum of one smoked meal in there just to keep me sane. I stumbled across this website after watching some youtube videos.

I was trying to research the reverse flow smoker and I am now very interested in trying to build my own. I have not looked into design at all as of yet cause this all just literally happened this afternoon. I did read a post or two on here and saw the calculations link. Pretty much blew my mind. I had no idea it was that percice. I probably would have ended up being the mad scientist building a frankenstien of a smoker but I already know it is going to be 10 times better now. I will definately be coming on to do some research on this forum to see what works and what doesn't.

Thanks for letting me in and I look forward to learning lots.

Regards

Mike

 

[s2k9k]

Hi Mike! 

 to SMF!! Glad you found us! There are a lot of great people here more than willing to share what they know. A lot also who have built their own smokers so I know there is a lot of experience there you can benefit from. Sounds like you have some good experiences to share also.

Would you please do us a favor and update your location in your profile, it really helps people give advice when they know where you are, Thanks!

Happy Smoking!

 

[smokinhusker]

Good evening and welcome to SMF! Glad you found us and sounds like you have some experience to share. 

Although I only have an MES 40, there are lots of info and helpful people to aid in your interest of building your own.

Hope to see some q-view of the smoked goodies!

 

[southernsausage]

Husker...Please tell me about your MES 40...Specifically, what are a few things you really like about it? What have you found it's best for? I've never considered an electric unit. I grew-up on charcoal, oak, hickory and some gas units like TEC and Holland. I've never made bacon and want to do that asap. I can successfully smoke on wood or charcoal but am looking for a change!
 

 

[smokinhusker]

Husker...Please tell me about your MES 40...Specifically, what are a few things you really like about it? I like the set and forget it, especially when paired with the A-MAZE-N Smokers for cold smoking or long (overnight) smokes. Once you have the temp dialed in, it's pretty much a no brainer and I have the remote which is great for monitoring the temp. What have you found it's best for? I've cold smoked bacon, cheese, salt, (again great with the AMAZEN Smokers) and hot smoked ribs, butts, ham, turkey, chicken, brisket, bacon, Canadian Bacon, etc. I've never considered an electric unit. I grew-up on charcoal, oak, hickory and some gas units like TEC and Holland. I've never made bacon and want to do that asap. I can successfully smoke on wood or charcoal but am looking for a change! It's much less work than the charcoal/wood/propane smokers, which is great for me. So far the biggest downfall to it is the highest temp it will go to is 275*. It's also notorious for being off on cabinet temps so a good accurate thermometer is a must. Mine is off, depending on what temps I'm smoking at, anywhere from 8* to 20*. I've found it to be excellent for jerky, snack sticks, and sausage, of course after some experimenting on my part with the length of time etc. I can now smoke jerky, snack sticks, summer sausage and butts without referring to my notes!

There are sub forums for the various types of smokers, so you might want to check them out for more info.
 

 

[scarbelly]

Hello Mike and 

to SMF - love to see some pics of your Pizza Oven - I just built one myself 

Here is a link to my build 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/116910/pizza-oven-progress-with-new-pics-3-6-2012-finally-done

 

[billy k]

Thanks everyone.

I think I have already spent most of my day checking out all of the interesting builds and picked up tons of tricks and tips already and I have only begun to try and figure out what I want.

Scarbelly

I only wish I had a built one like yours. I would love to try and attempt a work of art like yours some day in the future but for now I just have this bought unit.

The top rack is the compartment that has smoke in it and the middle one is the pizza oven. The smoke rises in the side walls and enters the top compartment. The temperature gage on the front door is not acurate at all as I learned on my first pizza cook. They had told me to get it up to 300 or 400 degress for pizza. I did that and the pizza burnt in about 5 to 10 seconds on the bottom. I am guessing the stone temp was closer to 600 degrees or so. Since then I have got it tamed down and can get some pretty tasty thin crusts out of it. Nothing beats home made pizza.

 

[rtbbq2]

Welcome to SMF....Cools smoker too..............

 

[jrod62]

:welcome1:

 

[shoneyboy]

Billy K, Welcome to SMF from Louisiana.....