I'm Dan, live south of Atlanta, and have just taken up smoking. That gave my daughter a start until I explained what I meant by it. Decided (or my wife did) I need to stop spending so much money at Shane's Rib Shack so it'd be cheaper to do it myself.
I've been lurking here for a bit, gathering information and tidbits. Last week I purchased a Master Forge Charcoal smoker at Lowes. Was leaning towards the ECB, but liked the fact that some of the common brinkman mods were already handled in the Master Forge one. I did go ahead and add a vent to the top and a damper on the bottom, a grate in the charcoal pan for ash fallout, and a second thermometer at grill level.
Yesterday I did my first learning experience on it. It was a 3.5lbs pork shoulder. Since no one in my family was sick this morning, I'm calling it a success.
Obviously I have some learning to do still as it took a lot longer than it should (8.5 hours) and was only up to 171 internally...was aiming for the 190 area for pulling, but people were getting hungry. It still came out good - everyone like it, except the picky teen who took one look at it and made a Peanut Butter sandwich.
Some things I learned I did wrong:
1) I don't think I let the charcoal get ready enough in the chimney
2) The water I put in the pan should have been hotter
3) I don't think I used enough charcoal
I was having trouble getting the temperature up where it needed to be. Am not sure if it was the thermometer placement or general issues. Heated up some kingsford and added that which seemed to help...however I also took the thermometer and rested it on the grill so I could peak through the vent and read the temp. After all that, it stayed pretty good at 250 or so.
I am not a patient person, so this will be an exercise. The 164 plateau was a little nerve racking for me. Also, the idea of making changes and having to wait 15 minutes to see if they had an effect was not what I'm used to. Up til now, it has been a propane grill and that's it. I am chalking this all up to another newbie mistake - I had no beer on hand during the cook.
But all in all, it was a neat experience. I was happy to cut into the pork and see a nice smoke ring. I was proud of myself.
Now I just need to get going on creating my own rub and sauce, which is mainly what I'm in it for.
Though the picky teen is all keen on doing some sausage on it, so we'll see.
Thanks for all the posts out there - they really helped in getting going.
I've been lurking here for a bit, gathering information and tidbits. Last week I purchased a Master Forge Charcoal smoker at Lowes. Was leaning towards the ECB, but liked the fact that some of the common brinkman mods were already handled in the Master Forge one. I did go ahead and add a vent to the top and a damper on the bottom, a grate in the charcoal pan for ash fallout, and a second thermometer at grill level.
Yesterday I did my first learning experience on it. It was a 3.5lbs pork shoulder. Since no one in my family was sick this morning, I'm calling it a success.
Obviously I have some learning to do still as it took a lot longer than it should (8.5 hours) and was only up to 171 internally...was aiming for the 190 area for pulling, but people were getting hungry. It still came out good - everyone like it, except the picky teen who took one look at it and made a Peanut Butter sandwich.
Some things I learned I did wrong:
1) I don't think I let the charcoal get ready enough in the chimney
2) The water I put in the pan should have been hotter
3) I don't think I used enough charcoal
I was having trouble getting the temperature up where it needed to be. Am not sure if it was the thermometer placement or general issues. Heated up some kingsford and added that which seemed to help...however I also took the thermometer and rested it on the grill so I could peak through the vent and read the temp. After all that, it stayed pretty good at 250 or so.
I am not a patient person, so this will be an exercise. The 164 plateau was a little nerve racking for me. Also, the idea of making changes and having to wait 15 minutes to see if they had an effect was not what I'm used to. Up til now, it has been a propane grill and that's it. I am chalking this all up to another newbie mistake - I had no beer on hand during the cook.
But all in all, it was a neat experience. I was happy to cut into the pork and see a nice smoke ring. I was proud of myself.
Now I just need to get going on creating my own rub and sauce, which is mainly what I'm in it for.
Though the picky teen is all keen on doing some sausage on it, so we'll see.
Thanks for all the posts out there - they really helped in getting going.
