Howdy from Wyoming.

[sigmo]

I'm fairly new to smoking.

I got an inexpensive Brinkmann basic unit a few years ago and have had a lot of fun with it.

Pardon the cell phone photo, and note the cheesy wind deflector - necessary if you live around here!

The main problem with this unit is that it's obviously designed for use at sea level where the air is denser.  I get more combustion air flow by propping things up inside with chunks of concrete pavers.  That lets me get it up to a good temperature and the results with it have been excellent despite how inexpensive the unit is.

But the other day, I wanted to do a pork butt for some pulled pork.  But I felt lazy and didn't want to tend the thing constantly.  So I bought an electric smoker from Sam's Club and had at it.

Having questions, I found this forum and read a bit.  Now I know I will want to modify that unit, but let's face it:  Modifying stock equipment of any type is at least half of the fun in any hobby.

I do a lot of electronics and programming work for a living, and temperature controls and measurement systems are specialty of mine.  Hopefully I'll be able to contribute some to the forum to pay back for all of the great advice I'm already getting just by reading the fora and checking out the site.

 

[s2k9k]

 to SMF!!! You have come to the right place. There's a lot of great people here to help you out. Lot's of Brinkman and MES users here and many ways to mod them to make them work better for you.

Would you do us a favor and update your profile to include your location, Thanks!

 

[Dutch]

Sigmo-Welcome to SMF!! Your first photo is the exact same set up that I had 9 or 10 years ago right down to the cheesy wind screen.  Lots of folks here use the MES so you'll have plenty experts for when you have questions.

Enjoy the Smoke!

 

[smokinhusker]

Hello Sigmo and welcome to SMF! I totally understand the wind screen as I live in CO...I have an MES 40 and my boyfriend built me a cabinet to put it and all my other smoking tools in. Anyway, let us know how the butt came out. Be sure to check the actual cabinet temp to the set display temp as these are great for being off anywhere from 5*-25*. 

You also mentioned the difference you've had with smoking at a higher elevation...that does play a factor in the length of time it takes for foods to cook, including those on a smoker.

Good luck and congratulations on your new smoker!

 

[scarbelly]

Hello and 

to SMF - glad you joined us 

 

[oldschoolbbq]

, have fun and...

 

[sigmo]

Thanks for the welcome, everyone!

The pork butt turned out good, considering it's my first try at either a smoked pork butt and with this new smoker.  I didn't get as much smoke as I'd have liked, but that was mostly my fault because I only put wood chips in once at the very beginning of the cook time.  I'll probably be getting one of the aftermarket smoke generator gadgets for it, and before then, I'll put in a few more loads of chips during the smoking process.

I was actually just being very lazy and didn't tend the process at all except to wrap the meat in foil at about 8 hours into the cooking time.

My wife liked the level of smoke, while I tend to like it with more smoke, personally.  So there's always the subjective aspect of it all, too!