Greetings and Salutations

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zardnok

Meat Mopper
Original poster
OTBS Member
Aug 21, 2006
157
10
Shreveport La
Greetings and Salutations fellow meat smokers. I am Zardnok. I have recently found your forums and would like to join the party!

I would like to start by thanking the members herein for the knowledge I have gained by perusing these forums. In the past, I had a Weber smoker. It was cheap, but I enjoyed the flavors it imparted on my meat. I experimented. I failed. I succeeded. I learned. I smoked many a turkey/ham for Thanksgiving. I always used the same old same old Ham over turkey dripping down to baste set up, and I always had positive results. The key was for me to sit up all night drinking beer and add coals when the fire got low. Easy for me, but the results were enjoyable.

My most recent meat experience has been mostly direct/indirect cooking in a smallish (15"diameter" grill with the coals 4-6" from the meat. I have cooked LOTS of steaks, LOTS of Tuna, LOTS of chicken, LOTS of veggies, LOTS of sausage, and various amounts of chicken, burgers, chops. I have "smoked" a few briskets in previous Weber Kettles using indirect heat and "smoke packs" using wood chips. I have never had a problem finding folks to eat my meat.

I offer myself up to the forums tonight with a new toy. I recently inherited a smoker. My uncle is a welder and he built my father a smoker. The fire box is 3'X4', there is a 6" diameter X 9" long pipe connecting the firebox to the smoke chamber. The smoke chamber is 3' diameter by about 5' tall with 4 round swivel racks. There is a diffuser plate at the bottom to insure there are no hot-spots at the bottom.

I have recently picked my "dragon" up from repair and am looking forward to feeding mass quantities of folks with my meat. Currently, I am taking a break from "curing" the grill before a big cook tomorrow at the Saints vs Cowboys tailgate party prior to Monday Night Football.

I rubbed the firebox, grates, and smoke chamber down with olive oil and dropped a 20lb sack of Kingsford in and fired it up. I am about to head back outside and play with the intakes to adjust the heat.

I have 10 slabs of ribs and 2 large briskets to cook for tomorrow. I will update in a few with the marinade/rubs I am using.

Again, I want to thank all here for the information I have learned and look forward to dicussing LOTS of good food!!
 
Welcome to SMF. And hope everything goes well with that. Can we get a pic of your homemade smoker?
 
Welcome Zardnok!! I second the motion for a picture of the smoker! Sounds like a good tailgate tonight. Are you going to Shreveport for the game? Wish I could be there, looks like some folks will be gettin' fat on some good Q. Take pictures of the party, and the ribs to share with all of us! Have FUN!! Welcome!
 
I will try to post some pics once they get developped. My girlfriend got one of those little Kodak disposable camera's, so hopefully I will be able to get a photo CD when she develops it.

I will post my experiences in the forum for "large gatherings" along with a few lessons learned!
 
Welcome, grab a cold one. As you get the hang of your "dragon" you will invest in an inexpensive digital camera. that way you can smoke some meat, rush into the house grab the camera and rush outside to get pics of the meat on the grates, and all the steps to the table.
 
Zardnok, I'd like to add my Welcome to SMF. Looks like you'll be learning some new lessons in the Art of the Thin Blue. Since you have learned a lot from these forums, remember that we'll be here to cheer your successes and help you figure out what went wrong with your not-so-successful smokes (and may they be far and few between).

Looking forward to your participation here at SMF.

Enjoy!
 
Welcome aboard...with your subject line I'd like to say that you were military at some point in your life...Sounds like a great Monday night tailgate...Can't wait until we get Sunday football going around here, already tried a pulled pork tryout for the masses and it was a great success. You're very brave trying a large cook for the first time using your dragon! Good luck to you!
 
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