chief squeegy
Newbie
Hello, my name is Alan and I am 30 years old this May (prime smoking weather) from Cincinnati, OH. I've been cooking since I could reach the stove, and I've made it my job as well. After a hard day's work cooking other people's recipes I go to the grocery and begin the cathartic ritual of creating food for my wife and me - who also works managing in restaurants. I've cooked everything I could think of in my kitchen, and a new frontier I was looking into was smoking. I saw my neighbor recently purchased a gas smoker and refered me to this site, and so here I am, an ignorant novice to the world of smoking, hoping to get some advice on what type of smoker to invest in. Budget is an issue. I can go up to $200...$250 if there are some extremely good selling points.
As far as wood, gas, or electric, I am still undecided. My friend who was stationed in Aberdene, TX came back home with a healthy respect for wood burning smokers, but the ease with which it seems gas and el. smokers function may be more up my alley as a beginner. Another point I consider is size. I know I'm a novice, but this novice has a dream, and the star of that dream is a pig. A whole damn pig. I realize I should start much smaller, and get my method down before I head to the farm, and with my budget it may not be feasable to start with something that can handle a whole hog lickety split. I would, however, like to be able to do a good 15lbs brisket, and a concern I had with the 'tower style' gas/el. models was whether or not a brisket that size would fit. Could I take out the racks and hang it? Sorry for the long dissertation, but I've put a lot of thought into this and I really want to pull the trigger on buying a smoker to get going, but want to make as informed a decision as I can. Thank you very much!
Alan
As far as wood, gas, or electric, I am still undecided. My friend who was stationed in Aberdene, TX came back home with a healthy respect for wood burning smokers, but the ease with which it seems gas and el. smokers function may be more up my alley as a beginner. Another point I consider is size. I know I'm a novice, but this novice has a dream, and the star of that dream is a pig. A whole damn pig. I realize I should start much smaller, and get my method down before I head to the farm, and with my budget it may not be feasable to start with something that can handle a whole hog lickety split. I would, however, like to be able to do a good 15lbs brisket, and a concern I had with the 'tower style' gas/el. models was whether or not a brisket that size would fit. Could I take out the racks and hang it? Sorry for the long dissertation, but I've put a lot of thought into this and I really want to pull the trigger on buying a smoker to get going, but want to make as informed a decision as I can. Thank you very much!
Alan
