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

[amlong88]

Grew up grilling every week on a Weber kettle with my dad. Always had a fascination of cooking with fire. Picked up my first smoker 2 years ago, a Masterbuilt 7 in 1. Used charcoal with it then propane and now have added a mes 30.

 

[welshrarebit]

My earliest memory of food, any food, was a huli huli chicken fundraiser and how amazing it was!!! I also don't have a choice because I have to do it as part of my job...

 

[daveomak]

I grew up in the 50's fishing with my dad... we caught lots of salmon... then I tasted Kippered salmon from the deli....... WOW.... it was good and it was expensive.... Learned how to kipper salmon.... That was all I did for years... then venison.... elk.... and now about everything...

 

[roller]

The taste the process and the look of smoked food.

 

[BandCollector]

My college best friend of 40 years introduced me to hunting, flyfishing, and flytying.  

The rest is history!!!  I started out with a used beat up Brinkman Water Smoker to smoke some trout. 

That eventually  led to a variety of smokers along the way and a wealth of knowledge (through trial and error)  accumulated from books, friends, and most of all the generous contributors here on our sight. 

I really miss that old Brinkman...Cut my smoking teeth on that thing.  Sometimes keeping it simple is the best way to go.

Smoke On Guys!  John 

 

[gary s]

My first recollection of Smoked Food (BBQ) I was not long out of diapers. We would travel from Dallas to Hot Springs, AR to see my Grandparents When we were close to their house, my parents said I would always say "I smell BBQ" McClards in Hot Springs. It has always been my favorite meat. When I was about 12, I started grilling and about 15 I started learning to smoke, really didn't serious until my 20's been hooked ever since. My theory is anything you can cook inside or on the grill it has to be better smoked.

Gary

 

[nptwnsmkr]

I got started smoking truly by chance at least ten years ago. There was a BBQ joint near one of my job sites we would frequent once a week or so. They had a "questionnaire" to fill out and were giving away a 18.5 WSM. The questionnaire was mainly to get your e-mail address so they could send you advertisements. Out of the six of us I was the only one to fill one out, they thought I was an idiot because they didn't want the junk mail. About a month after the project was completed I received a "junk" email to make arrangements to pick up the WSM I had won. I had know idea how to use it at the time and have enjoyed every moment trying to figure it out since! They may have a point about me being idiot because I now have an obsession but I think I prevailed. I love being on the same projects as some of those guys now when I bring my delicious leftovers for lunch! 

 

[dave17a]

No influence really. Bought a brinkman water smoker in '83. First smoke was jerkey, dog wouldn't even eat it. Then briskets. Thought they were supposed to be 3 times smaller when cooked. Cooked that way for along time through second brinkman. Tasted alright though. When I did ribs I used hedge forever since I got it all over the place.  Finally graduated to New Braunsfeld  with the firebox underneath.  A friend turned me onto and he knew smoking a little and gave me a few pointers after a pork loin sat in it for 2 hrs I thought was cooking, just as raw as when I put it in. Not enough fuel. Shoulda put whole bag in.  That was in '99 and things got better. Started using other woods, rubs and such. Got my first computer couple yrs. later and landed hear couple yrs. ago, got a WSM and wow. It is good.

 

[inkjunkie]

Been enjoying reading every ones posts...

 

[jirodriguez]

Been cooking since I was in JR high, once I got to college I got to grilling and always had memories of cooking steaks and chops with my dad over a hot bed of coals from our oak tree out back. Used Weber kettles for years and years, always wanted to try smoking but it was all a bit of "black magic" to me. Then about 5 or 6 years ago my boss got to helping of friend of his on a competition team - he talked me into getting into smoking and I still blame him to this day!

But by far this forum has been the absolute best tool for learning how to create greats smoked food!

 

[culpepersmoke]

When we moved from Texas to Virginia I couldn't find any good BBQ. My wife said why don't you just make your own. I've been addicted ever since. 

 

[brimcconnell]

Love all these stories.  

I saw a whole hog at an open house and thought to myself, I can do that.  Smoked a whole hog for my sons 16th birthday, then 18th birthday on a borrowed smoker.  Now I have my own that I am modifying. Just did whole hog for my daughters 18th.  I basically started to impress my kids.  now I'm loving it.

 

[bluewhisper]

I grew up watching my father grill on several different rigs, we finally settled on a big Weber. But only grilling, never smoking.

Then they got a Little Chief electric smoker, did a few rounds of fish but it never caught on with us.

(I should add that my mother HATED the smell of woodsmoke because it reminded her of being in displaced-persons camps after WW2)

In the 1990s I was watching a friend's property in rural Ohio, and behind the cabin was an abandoned little Weber with no legs - why no legs, I don't know, maybe some drunk fell on it. I put it in a steel wheel rim like a ball in a socket and used it for grilling in a sloped pine campground.

Then One Fine Day when I wanted to grill but didn't have enough charcoal, I was too cheap and lazy to drive into town to buy a bag, so I gathered some windfall maple around the campground. I made a fire in the Weber and choked it with the vents, and smoked some split chicken breasts.  HOOKED.

So I started smoking, but it was always direct and therefore usually halfway between smoking and grilling. Good stuff, but tricky not to over-cook. I lusted after offset rigs I saw in stores, and finally in May 2012 I found one for about $125. (That's the Masterbuilt in my sig.) I brought the Good Neighbor home, and I've been loving it ever since. It's fussy to run, like a steam locomotive but I can make some good food on it.

I was googling smoking meats and I found hits on this board. At first I thought, I don't dare run with these guys, they're serious. But then I thought what the heck, join in the fun. So here I am.

I love swapping information with the folks here, but AFAIK no one else is running a Masterbuilt offset like mine, although other smokers like some of the OK Joe models are very similar, essentially the same. I'm having a blast with it. 

After 2-1/2 years of use, nothing has rusted through or broken and it's still good to go. The paint would be in better shape if I could keep it indoors, but so it goes. I've made a few mods to improve it, and I still enjoy learning new tricks with it. The only thing I haven't done with it yet is run it like a huge charcoal grill to cook for ~20 people - just haven't had the opportunity.

 

[bdskelly]

I've always loved to grill.  My dad taught me how on an old red Weber Kettle. I can still taste his pineapple chicken. Growing up watching him on that old weber every Saturday, well, I guess it just seemed like the thing that a Dad was supposed to do. There was a time that I would grill every evening. (That is, when I wasn't on the road)

Over the years I had various smokers. Mostly given to me as gifts. All of my smokes were failures and the smoker eventually given away.

What got me back interested in Smoking was a combination of frequent travel to Memphis and my love of outdoor cooking  .  This site was instrumental in my smoking success ...with a dash of Irish determination! b