Greetings from Vegas.
Been smoking for several years now on a 10ish year-old Traegar, and also on a WSM as a kid growing up.
The addiction really started after a Thanksgiving, where the wife and I took on the challenge of hosting. I smoked a big 22lb bird and the positive feedback triggered something that I wanted to deep dive into it, kind of like snorkeling the first time.
Last year I did a bunch of work to the pellet smoker, upgrading the controller to a Savannah Stoker and replaced parts that were worn out and FUBAR. It smokes great but it's limited on rack space, and I felt the urge to go big...
But not for an offset. Don't have the yard space for it or the wood - well, the wife said we didn't...
So, I ended up with an absolute beauty of a smoker from Cascade Smokers, which finally arrived in December, and it makes me love smoking even more. It's amazing how it can take over a day, smoker going, few beers, cigar or two, maybe clean the yard/pool, perfect Saturday.
To christen it over the last couple of weekends, I've made some beef plate ribs and smoked 5lb of homemade sausage.
The real first meal though was New Year's Day, something I had planned for weeks.
A whole alligator (small one), and rabbit. Smoked with maple wood. It was delicious, almost all of it eaten that night with the rest going in chili the next day.
Anyways, rambling.
Just wanted to say thank you really to everyone on this forum, long before I registered even, it has been an invaluable resource and hopefully as I get to posting in the future, some of the things I've learned here can spark someone else.
-Brian
Been smoking for several years now on a 10ish year-old Traegar, and also on a WSM as a kid growing up.
The addiction really started after a Thanksgiving, where the wife and I took on the challenge of hosting. I smoked a big 22lb bird and the positive feedback triggered something that I wanted to deep dive into it, kind of like snorkeling the first time.
Last year I did a bunch of work to the pellet smoker, upgrading the controller to a Savannah Stoker and replaced parts that were worn out and FUBAR. It smokes great but it's limited on rack space, and I felt the urge to go big...
But not for an offset. Don't have the yard space for it or the wood - well, the wife said we didn't...
So, I ended up with an absolute beauty of a smoker from Cascade Smokers, which finally arrived in December, and it makes me love smoking even more. It's amazing how it can take over a day, smoker going, few beers, cigar or two, maybe clean the yard/pool, perfect Saturday.
To christen it over the last couple of weekends, I've made some beef plate ribs and smoked 5lb of homemade sausage.
The real first meal though was New Year's Day, something I had planned for weeks.
A whole alligator (small one), and rabbit. Smoked with maple wood. It was delicious, almost all of it eaten that night with the rest going in chili the next day.
Anyways, rambling.
Just wanted to say thank you really to everyone on this forum, long before I registered even, it has been an invaluable resource and hopefully as I get to posting in the future, some of the things I've learned here can spark someone else.
-Brian
