Ready to start smoking!

[bigtex2112]

Hello to all,

My name is Gary and I live in Houston,TX. I thoroughly enjoy most all smoked meats and have helped friends smoke plenty in the past. My wife and I just bought our first house this past year and now that we have a nice outdoor space I want my own smoker. I want to start making my own Q! I have been looking for a few months here and there. I found so much info on the ECB and have been digging into the ECB forums for the past two days. Being that I want to learn the smoking process and not break the bank this will be a great unit. I was very intrigued about all the mod options I found online and what really needed to be done and what could go without. I am very excited I found this forum as there is am extreme wealth of knowledge here. I hope to join the ranks and posts soon!

 

[gwschenk]

Welcome, Gary. I purchased a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker hoping to improve on my unmodified ECB, but that ECB makes absolutely the best smoked chicken ever.

Good luck with your smoking, you're going to really enjoy it.

 

[bigtex2112]

Thanks GW, you said your ECB is unmodified? Any lessons learned or tips to offer with the ECB to maximize efficiency?

 

[gwschenk]

bigtex, research the mods people make to their ECBs. The main problem is the charcoal gets smothered by the ash as the briquets burn. It's OK for chicken, as chicken cooks quickly, but for ribs, etc. you'll want to go low and slow and the unmodified ECB seems to like to go high and fast.

Good luck!