Hi!

[mrshotrod]

Hello smoking meat forum! I am very new to smoking. Actually tried it for the first time yesterday. My husband got me a traditional charcoal smoker. We are avid fishers, and my husband is a Hunter. I'm very excited about smoking our catches.

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to SMF!

Glad to have you aboard!

Al

 

[mrshotrod]

Well, thank you!

I was pointed to this site by a friend of mine, after posting on Facebook about how my first attempt at smoking was less than stellar. My husband picked up a used Grill Master 16 traditional charcoal smoker. I googled the assembly instructions, and kinda winged it from there. I got my smoker up to 250 - 270, threw some hickory chips on, added water and some Modelo beer to the water pan, and threw on a small chuck roast (didn't want to spend a lot on my first try). After about 20 minutes, I went out and there was no smoke, and the temp was down to 100. I was never able to maintain a higher temp after that. I had put almost a full 11 lb bag of coals in, and they were hot, the water was steaming, but the temp never went to where I needed it to be. I had tried to adjust different things, like opening/closing vents, more/less water, and moving the meat around. Just can't figure out where I went wrong...

 

[mike5051]

Welcome to SMF!  I'm not familiar with that smoker, but 11 lbs of charcoal should have lasted a while and if they burned up after 20 minutes, the temp should have been very high.  How long did it take to get up to temp before putting the chuckie in?  anyway, glad you joined us.

Mike