Hi from Ohio

[jeepnmatt]

My name is Matt. Not necessarily new to slow cooking, new to the equipment more or less and also new to the meats such as roasts, briskets, sausage, etc. I have been slow cooking on webber kettle grills since i was 13 and I am told i can whip up some mean chicken. Just bought a brinkmann vertical smoker and already have some modifications to make such as drilling holes in the charcoal pan or replacing it with a mesh basket to let the coals breathe. that's just one i can see. Two main questions to ask: any one know any more mods I could do and what is a good meat to begin with (please say pork shoulder, I love pulled pork). Thanks and I am happy to be here!! I can't wait to start making my own sauces and experimenting this summer.

 

[pineywoods]

Welcome to SMF glad you joined us. Congrats on the new smoker and yes a pork butt is an excellent choice to start with as it's a very forgiving smoke. You'll find lots of info and some great recipes here. Have fun and happy smoking

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Welcome Matt!

A big yes to pork butts as well...if you get 'em up over 195* I/T (preferably 200*) wrap in foil and towels to rest for a few hours, you're in PP heaven.

You're on the right track with getting some air to the charcoal fire. Also, the ash build-up is a typical killer of the fire in stock vertical smokers, so be sure there's room for ash fall-out as well.

Here's a quick search for brinkmann vertical smoker mods...lots of hits, but tons of info.

IMO, the charcoal pan mod is the first step. A partially elevated grate will allow for ash fall-out, then if you're getting air to the fire, you'll have it pretty well nailed down. I have the gourmet, and even with the factory fire-pan being improved, mods were still necessary to keep a fire burning more than a couple hours. I look at it as just another challenge, and another skill to master.

Good luck and have fun smokin' on that new rig!

Eric

 

[roller]

Welcome !!!1

 

[scarbelly]

Welcome to SMF - glad to have you here

 

[coloradosmoker]

I lived in Toledo Ohio till I was 14 then my dad worked for Johns Manville

we ended up in NJ. he worked in NY. city at Johns Manville.  Then to their Denver office here in Colorado.  I have cousins in Celina, Ohio--Giesiges--Greg Giesige was an auditor for Celina.  There are 10 of them and each one has 5 or 6 kids.  Also have some relatives in New Bavaria, Ohio, who are farmers. 

   Later---Ken Giesige

 

[werdwolf]

Welcome and enjoy the forum

 

[beer-b-q]

Welcome to SMF, Glad to have you with us.
 

This is the place to learn, lots of good info and helpful friendly Members.
 

For those of you new to Smoking, be sure to check out Jeff's 5 Day Smoking Basics eCourse.

Click Here it's "FREE" ... 5 Day eCourseE



Also for those of you new to smoking,  Get a good Probe Thermometer as we smoke by Temperature NOT TIME.



A good choice for a remote dual probe thermometer is the Maverick ET-732

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to SMF, Matt. Glad to have you aboard the smoke train!

 

[jeepnmatt]

Thanks for the great welcome guys, I am about to go visit the butcher today to pick up some pork.

 

[mballi3011]

First off welcome Matt to SMF. Congrats on the new smoker. You'll like it here cause there are alot of really good folks that would just love to help you with anything to do with smoking. Now we like having new folks here to give a new prospective on some of the ways we do things around here. Now if you are really new then I would suggest that you sign up fir the 5-day E-course it free and it will give you the basics on smoking and a few recipes too. Here's a link to it:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/list/127

then you will have a method to your newly found madness and believe me it will be a madness. Then when you start smoking things you will have to learn how to post the pictures / Qview 

here. So here's a link to a tutorial on how to post your Qview so we can see what your doing.

 http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/82034/how-to-post-qview-to-smf

Now the next thing you have to do is run out and get something to smoke. Then just smoke it and if you have any questions just post  them here and we will answer all your questions that you might have. Oh yea there's no stupid questions we were all there in the beginning and we just really like to help others enjoy the fabulous smoked foods that we do. So again

Welcome to Your New Addiction  

Go GATORS  

 

[realtorterry]

Welcome aboard

 

[fourashleys]

:welcome1: to SMF! Enjoy the PP but don't forget the Q-view.:grilling_smilie:

 

[Fife]

Matt

 

[porked]

 Man, glad to have ya.

 

[meateater]

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge. Looking forward to your first qview.