What got you folks interested/started on smoking....

[inkjunkie]

Years ago I bought my Dad one of those Brinkman Water Pan style smokers. Took him a while to get the hang of things. He had 5 strokes just prior to me getting it for him. He only had the use of one hand so things were tough for him. He would not let anyone eat anything from it til he was satisfied. His ribs were the best I had ever had. He had me help him one year, he smoked our Thanksgiving gobbler in it. Meat literally fell off the bones. Had to put the entire tray that he used on the table. He went thru several of them thing. He accidentally got the deck smoldering a few times, he forgot to put the smoker back on the fire pad he had for it. I just recently became interested in it myself. I have had the BGE's for quite a while now, have no clue why it has taken me so long to get hooked.....

 

[oldschoolbbq]

I was raised in Texas and BBQ was a staple for my Dad. I built a Smoker from a barrel and started to make him some and using the tips he taught me   and I was on my way . I made all the Q we ate from then on... and hung out at a friends Q-Joint all the time...

Picked up a lot of good info. and heard some really tall tales from some of the customers.

We had good wood everywhere and I got the habit of using NO charcoal or lighter fluid , had a fire pit with coas to feed the smoker and let the Pit do it's majic . No thermometers , just a knack of knowing .

If left alone BBQ will take care of itself...

Have fun and . . .

 

[crankybuzzard]

I was dating a girl who's father was a competition smoker in 1984/85... He put me to work a few times and I fell in love! With the BBQ that is, kicked her to the curb after about a year, but still cooked with her father until he died 15 or so years later. There's a lot more to the story, but I'm on an iPad and typing sucks! :biggrin:

 

[noboundaries]

I've been cooking for others since I was 19 years old.  I always loved BBQ but didn't learn to make the distinction between grillin' and smoking until I was in the Navy stationed in Texas.  I absolutely fell in love with smoked brisket, ribs, chicken, and sausages.  Also fell in love with my wife and once we move away to the Hippie Coast we never found the taste and flavor we loved.  Friends with smokers all had complaints about their equipment so I was in no hurry to throw money down the drain chasing a flavor.

Zoom ahead 33 years and my wife buys me a Smokenator for my birthday to use in an old Weber Kettle.  We found the flavor we'd been missing for so long.  In less than 6 months a 22.5" WSM found its way under the Christmas tree, giving me the capacity, taste consistency, and ease of use I love when cooking.

 

[pc farmer]

I wanted smoked cheese and had a mes and google led me here.

All down hill from there.

 

[ssorllih]

That is an easy question. I do all of the cooking in my house and smoking is one of the many ways to cook food.

 

[tbrtt1]

In my early 20s I cooked in a restaurant and parlayed that experience into a lifelong culinary journey. I have embarked on many culinary pursuits and got really good at grilling over the years. I tinkered with adding smoke to the grilling but nothing major. I moved from Louisiana to Texas about 13 years ago and have eaten real BBQ a bunch since. Just decided I want to have BBQ when I want BBQ and started this culinary pursuit in earnest in march of this year. Little did I know that this pursuit dovetailed with and complemented  so many other culinary disciplines, like sausage making and cold smoking (gonna try some smoked lox real soon) . I'm in big trouble with this obsession! 

 

[ssorllih]

Tbrtt1

Don't let winter get away from you with smoking salmon. As you know temperatures above about 85° start cooking fish.

We are in generally cold weather here and cold smoked salmon   is on the menu.

 

[tbrtt1]

 
Tbrtt1

Don't let winter get away from you with smoking salmon. As you know temperatures above about 85° start cooking fish.

We are in generally cold weather here and cold smoked salmon   is on the menu.

I am gonna try it soon. Temps in the 70s right now. Me and the boy went to the range to hit balls in shorts this weekend. Broke a slight sweat. Jan and Feb are our coldest months. 

I have recently employed the use of the AMNPS and added dust to it for cold smoking. I think I can get a relatively good cold smoke if the temps will just go down a little. I am anxious to do some lox. I love em. 

 

[moikel]

I have always cooked .We had a farm back in the day,did all our own meat..Then when I saw Italians making salami etc I got interested in that skill set.

I already did a few preserving sorts of things & liked that old school traditional authentic of cookery.

One day I could no longer buy smoked beef tongue without pre ordering because" the young people  won't eat it mate, they only know fillet,chop,pre cut, pre sauced..." Trying to get decent smoked fish became a PIA as well.

So I figured I would buy a smoker & start learning to do the stuff that was disappearing thats a couple of thousand posts ago

.

I dont do that BBQ style brisket,butts ,ribs only because there is only 2 of us at the table most days. There are more American style BBQ things turning up here so I get the chance to eat it out.

 

[venture]

For me it was mostly an accidental journey aided by an old boy from Texas.

I fell into it by learning the wonders of indirect heat on the grill.

The guy from Texas lectured me on the difference between grilling and making BBQ. It is amazing to me that the friends we make along the way can have such a positive influence on our lives.  In my case?  Without even fully realizing it at the time?

Then came the old ECB water smoker.

My bank account has been all downhill from there.

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[retfr8flyr]

For me, my father was a pilot and way back in the early 60's he brought back a ceramic Kamado style grill from Japan. Back then no one had even heard of such a thing and it made  a big impression on me. We made some fantastic meals on that grill and I will always remember those times with my father.. After he passed, I had it for several years, until it was broken during a move. I have used other smokers and grills over the years but always wanted another ceramic Kamado type grill. With 4 kids to raise, I just never had the money to get one. Now I am retired and I still can't afford one. Then I found the Akorn, which I could afford and I have been enjoying it for a while now. It isn't as good as a ceramic grill but it does the job for me and I am enjoying smoking again.

 

[wolfman1955]

I started Smokin after I went to my first hog roast many moons ago, where the hole hog had been prepaired in a homemade smoker that some guy made out of an old 275 gallon fuel oil tank. I fell in love with the moist, smokey flavor and have been hooked ever sence.

 

[red dog]

My Grampa was a fisherman when I was a kid growing up near the lower Columbia river in Oregon. Back in the 60's salmon and sturgeon were plentiful and daily limits were commonplace for a boat full of people. He had a 4'x4'x7' plywood smoke house out by the garden fed by a outside firebox burning alder and vine maple. Brining was done in a 20gal crock. Most of the bright Spring fish went in the freezer and Fall fish were smoked and canned. I used to hang out and help keep the fire stoked. Best smoked fish ever!

MEGRANDADSALMON copyweb.jpg

• red dog
• Dec 1, 2014

Me and Gramps after a morning at the mouth of the Cowlitz river late 1980's

 

[medic92]

I bought a Brinkmann offset smoker in 2000 but never really used it as a smoker and never really learned the right way to use it.  Around 2010 I became a driver trainer for the company I drive for and one of the training classes was catered by a guy named Randy Twyford.  He had pulled pork sandwiches and I couldn't get enough of it.  I figured it was time I started using my smoker to learn how to get that taste and it's been a great time ever since.  Nowadays if I'm not on the road there's a grill going in the back yard.

 

[smoked alaskan]

I grew up fishing for salmon on the Kenai River in Alaska with my family.  Dad was an artist when it came to smoking our catch on two Little Chief smokers after every trip.  He is the biggest influence in my smoking history. Eventually I made my own custom smoker from a fridge using an electric  hotplate for the heat source.  Still never graduated to anything other than salmon until I left Alaska 2 years ago.  Had some pulled pork sandwich in Georgia that was out of this world.  I was hooked.  When I got to the next stop on my life's journey, here in S.E. Missouri I took employment with Lowes.  Worked in the dept. that sold grills, smokers etc..... and the rest is history ha.  Found this forum shortly after getting set up with my new smoker and life hasn't been the same since.  Fortunately, my girlfriend likes the smell of smoke on me, calls it my "man cologne" and puts up with my obsession very well. Of course, thanks to all I've learned here the stuff that's been coming out of my smoker has so far overall been amazing ! 

Good topic, interesting to read the stories.....

 

[GaryHibbert]

My niece and her husband had a smoker. When they split the sheets, the smoker went up for sale---cheap. So I bought it. It was just an cheapo, Wally World charcoal/wood smoker, but when you don't have any smoker, it was a great buy. Like most of you, my bank acct takes a licking, but it sure simplifies Christmas and Bday requests.

Gary

 

[dingo007]

Awesome stories!

For me...I grew up on a self sufficient sheep farm in Australia...My French/Algerian father always made Merguez...Many years later after his death...my wife and I moved to the US..i got into sausage...then salami and curing whole cuts...cold smoking cheese etc...which lead me to the US way of BBQ!....Did my first Turkey this year.....doing my first brisket this weekend. Wish me luck!

 

[docktoo]

An office coworker told me about how they had smoked a brisket the weekend before and it sparked my interest in the idea of smoking cheese, meats, etc.  I had done a bit on the family grill before with good results.  Always liked a bit of smoke when cooking.

I found this forum and started reading and researching the subject, types of smokers, etc.  I finally took the plunge and got an MES 30 Digital and have been very enthusiastic ever since.  The wife has been too.

Hats off to all those that are all too happy to help out us rookies.  It's been a great help and inspiration!

Best wishes for the coming year!

 

[ak1]

It's just what we always did. Smoked some stuff, sauteed some stuff, fried some stuff...Smoking was just one of the ways we cooked food.