Stoked to start my smoke,

[tbonerick]

Hello all. My name is Rick (Tbone). I live in Green Bay Wisconsin. Have loved to cook and grill for all my life. I do 99% of the cooking for my Family. Haves tried smoking food on a grill with a side fire box with not great results. Couldn't maintain temperatures. FINALLY broke down and purchased a Masterbuilt electric smoker with a digital temperature thermostat and timer. I am stoked as today is its maiden voyage with a nice slab of baby back ribs. I did the curing process to the smoker yesterday. I am using some pear tree wood for smoke. 2 questions:

1. What is a good rule of thumb as to how often do I add wood for smoke? My wife does not like it too smoke flavored. I know that their is a thousand things to consider, but should I add every half hour, hour, minute!?!?! I realize this is something I will need to dial in over trail and error, but I just need a starting point.

2. What is the ONE THING I should positively without fail do or don't when smoking?

Thanks is advance fellow smokers. I am so excited to have found this site. I have aspirations of someday starting my own barbecue joint. This is my first step.

 

[themule69]

Rick

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions Post it
and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is because their
are so many different ways to make great Q We all have our own taste

As for smoke I'd start with say every 20 min add some chips for an hour. See how

that is as far as taste for next time.

What to do. Keep the door closed and be patient.

Remember to post a qview..

Happy smoken.

David

 

[seenred]

Welcome aboard Rick!  Glad you've joined the group.  The chip trays in those MES rigs are pretty small, so you can add chips about every half hour or so for as long as you want to add smoke flavor.  If your wife doesn't like a lot of smoke taste, you might want to only add chips about 2-3 times and see how it comes out.  That'll give you a baseline for future smokes.  I agree with David's advice to #2...keep the door closed and be patient.  Every time your smoker opens you lose heat and increase total cook time.  An old smokers adage:  If you're lookin', you ain't cookin".

Good luck!

Red

 

[kathrynn]

to SMF!  We are so glad you joined us! We like to share recipes here too!

We love to see pictures of what you are cooking (or what we call q-views here at SMF).  To "upload the q-views" just follow the directions here and it will be easier. If you are using a cell phone, an IPad or a kindle, go to the main SMF page and click the Mobile button. Will make the uploads a bit faster too.

If you didn't read the "Terms of Service" notes.....please do.  There are a few things that everyone should know about those pesky little rules before plunging into the forums and some guidelines of how to interact within the forums. Off site links are not allowed here at SMF per TulsaJeff. Not that you have done anything wrong....just a little bit of FYI for new members!

If you need any help roaming around the forums....just holler!  Happy to help out!

Kat

 

[gary s]

[h1]

Hello and welcome from East Texas. This is a great site, lots of information and great people that are willing to throw in their two cents worth on about anything.   Love my RF  ........[/h1][h1]  [/h1][h1]Gary[/h1]

 

[s2k9k]

:welcome1: to SMF!!! We're happy you joined us! We have over 50,000 members now who just love to share what they know. You've come to the best place on the net to learn and share everything Q!!!