Well this is all out of order. Oh well.
Since I've been snooping & pooping around on here & will probably be stealing some recipes I thought I better hit this rollcall. I retired from the army back in Feb. I wouldn't buy/build a smoker while in the army because cleaning a simple grill for shipping to a new place every 24-38 months is a nightmare. I always just bought a new one & gave the old one to someone else when I left.
I spent some time with my mom & stepdad before I decided for sure what I was going to do. I seen some contraptions on the web & threw this Alien Smoker together, tack welded a sheetmetal bottom on it, cut a draft hole, added a baffle, moved the grate & water pan around & was able to do some ribs & Boston Butts. But I had to babysit that thing like a newborn infant, even after I wrapped an Army wool blanket around it in Alabama in the middle of July & august!
I finally decided to as Davey Crockett said "Y'all my go to Hell & I'll go to Texas! I got here, found a Rust Pit on clist & threw it in the truck for $60! All four legs a different length, full of leaves, fire grate gone, etc... Went to a longtime friend's house, raided his steel pile, used his welder, grinder, drunk his beer, had a good time & ended up with a rebuilt ready to smoke New Braunfels! We removed the frame, made a new one, put a handle on the smoke end just in case it needs to move while cooking so it's not so hot. Relocated the wheels to under the middle instead of the cooking chamber end, used the old bottom shelf for a cooking grate support, added a baffle, expanded metal in the fire box with a 1/2" flat strap support under that!
I've done 2 spares on it. Then did a 16 hr Boston Butt & threw some bacon wrapped chicken boobs on for the last 3 hrs. My Ole Lady of 13 yrs is a Native Texan, been to all the big que places, gave me approval & wants MORE! Her Brother runs a catering & couldn't keep his paws out of the pulled pork, ribs & chicken the whole weekend.
Sure this is probably long for a intro. OH, & not to foget there's a pic of the shop & smoking supervisor, she just kind of sits aorund, grunts, doesn't do much, but sure loves the scraps!!
