another ohio newbie

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kase

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 24, 2009
18
10
Columbus, OH
hey there, found this site earlier tonight looking for info on brinkmann smokers - was amused to see the 'ECB' acronym.

I was recently got a char-broil infrared turkey cooker as a birthday gift from my parents, but had no room in the car to get it back across the state from NE ohio to columbus. Thus, it had to be returned, with some sort of replacement when I got back home.

I was considering getting a regular turkey fryer instead, but i'm not sure how much use i would get out of it (or the infrare cooker, for that matter). Thus the idea to get a smoker came up. I checked out what Home Depot carried, as that is where I have a store credit, and saw an assortment of Brinkmann units - electric, charcoal and propane.

However, the WSM has caught my eye - even though the 18.5 would cost double what my credit is for, it seems worth it based on what i've read here. Gonna hang out here a bit and check out the 5 day course, and see if I can get the WSM in store (website says online only). Looking forward to adding the smoker out on the patio along with the gas grill.

Would love to have a home made unit from a 55 gallon drum, but don't really have the room for it at my current location (or the tools to make one). Maybe next year :(
 
Welcome to SMF glad you joined us. You'll find lots of good info and some great recipes here. Have fun and good luck with whatever you decide to get
 
Welcome to the forum. There's lots of information here so feel free to ask questions.
 
sigh, a setback in plans. I had a "Perfect Flame" brand grill, model SLG2008A...was a decent 3 burner gas grill sold at Lowes last summer....but then last week, I was cooking some chicken and the grill CAUGHT ON FIRE. Apparently this is a somewhat common occurrence with this grill, judging by all the comments left on consumer reports here and here.

Fortunately, I caught it before things got hot enough for the lid to catch fire, in which case there would have been burning magnesium and things would have gone downhill quick. That a company can make their grill using a magnesium alloy blows my mind...

In any case, it put me in a tough spot - I like the gas grill for the convenience, and wanted the charcoal smoker for when I wanted to tend to things and give more attention to the cooking process - I wasn't looking to get a charcoal grill with a smoker attachment.

I was tempted by the Char-Griller Duo (with smoker attachment), but after seeing it, it was a bit too big for an apartment patio. I ended up with a Brinkmann propane grill, and now I'm on the fence as far as a smoker goes. I still like the idea of the WSM, but not sure if I wanna drop $300 after buying a new grill as well. *sigh*
 
Hi there and welcome from another Buckeye. Glad to have ya.

If you don't want an ECB, may I recommend a Meco. They're available in charcoal or electric and imo are a step up from ecb. If you look on line-on you can find them for around $89. WSM is better,but cost 3 times as much.

Or check craigslist for smokers. Sometimes there are deals to be had there as well.

Good luck.
 
Don't know how much room you have, but the MES 30 is fairly compact and easy to maintain.
 
I bit the bullet and ordered the 18.5 WSM, it should be here Thursday....pretty excited, i've got the charcoal, chimney starter and some hickory, mesquite and apple wood chips awaiting the arrival, thanks to some home depot and lowes gift cards. Now I just gotta figure out what I'm gonna try first...

I've read some on here about lump charcoal...with the lump, do you still use wood chips, or do you get the smoke flavor from the charcoal itself?
 
Greetings. There is lots of info here, even some to help you modify the ECB to make it do it's job better. Lots of recipes too. Enjoy and welcome to our group.
 
BOOO Blue! I've gotta root for the bucks, being the hometown team and all. That, and Tressel coached at my college (Youngstown State, where he won 4 I-AA championships) before coming to OSU.

Anyhow, the Weber was delivered tonight, here's a pic of it sitting out on the patio. You can see my patio garden in the background, I posted a bunch of pics in the "Small Spaces" forum in the gardening subsection if ya care to check that out.
weber.jpg


And for kicks, here's the new gas grill, replacing the perfect flame grill that caught on fire.
brinkmann.jpg


Now I'm off to the store to find something to smoke this weekend!
 
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