Hello, I am Ray and I have been smoking on and off for about a year now so I guess you could still consider me a newbie. I am originally from Sandwich Illinois but moved to Wahiawa Hawaii (the wonderful island of Oahu) about 6 months ago. While I lived in Illinois I kind of learned on an electric smoker and now I bought a Brinkman Smoke n' Grill Charcoal smoker. I love it so far. To date I have smoked pig, ribs, a spiral ham, the meatloaf recipe from this site (whole family loved it!), lobster, and my personal favorite, eggs. Im sure there are things I have left out but cant think of them at the moment. One thing I have always wanted to try is smoking cheese but unfortunately dont have the knowledge or space really to build a cold smoker. One thing I love about smoking in Hawaii is that I can use Kiawe wood which I was never able to try in Illinois and I love it now! Happy smoking all!!!