Hello all,
I'm double excited to have found this forum. First to find other people who love to smoke meat as much as I do. Actually, I've read some posts already and I've learned that I have only scratched the surface. Second, because I've never participated in a forum before. It seems like a great place to learn and share. Though I'm sure I'll do more learning than sharing.
I'll get started with a couple of questions right away. I first bought a traditional round ECB (El Cheap'o Brinkman) from Wal-Mart about 3 years ago. I pretty much wore it out smoking chickens. Although, there were a few racks of ribs, one turkey and a disaster of a brisket. So, I recently got an "upgrade" replacement which is the square ECB from Wal-Mart. It's still in the box because I've been second guessing the purchase. Partly because of some reviews I have read recently and partly because I just moved and I haven't had time to mess with it. So just yesterday, I see that Home Depot has a square ECB but it has two doors. One for the meat and one for the charcoal and water pans. Obviously that would help hold heat in the smoke chamber while adding water or minding the heat. So, finally to my questions. 1) will the extra door make enough difference to go through the hassle of exchanging my Wal-Mart ECB for the Home Depot ECB? 2) Is there any other smoker, say under a hundred bucks that you would recommend if I'm going to make an exchange anyway?
Thanks! I look forward to getting to know you.
Franklin
a.k.a Smoke_Chef
P.S. How do I add an avitar by my post???
I'm double excited to have found this forum. First to find other people who love to smoke meat as much as I do. Actually, I've read some posts already and I've learned that I have only scratched the surface. Second, because I've never participated in a forum before. It seems like a great place to learn and share. Though I'm sure I'll do more learning than sharing.
I'll get started with a couple of questions right away. I first bought a traditional round ECB (El Cheap'o Brinkman) from Wal-Mart about 3 years ago. I pretty much wore it out smoking chickens. Although, there were a few racks of ribs, one turkey and a disaster of a brisket. So, I recently got an "upgrade" replacement which is the square ECB from Wal-Mart. It's still in the box because I've been second guessing the purchase. Partly because of some reviews I have read recently and partly because I just moved and I haven't had time to mess with it. So just yesterday, I see that Home Depot has a square ECB but it has two doors. One for the meat and one for the charcoal and water pans. Obviously that would help hold heat in the smoke chamber while adding water or minding the heat. So, finally to my questions. 1) will the extra door make enough difference to go through the hassle of exchanging my Wal-Mart ECB for the Home Depot ECB? 2) Is there any other smoker, say under a hundred bucks that you would recommend if I'm going to make an exchange anyway?
Thanks! I look forward to getting to know you.
Franklin
a.k.a Smoke_Chef
P.S. How do I add an avitar by my post???