- Aug 12, 2012
- 6
- 10
Hello and Thank you all for being here. I have already learner so much just from reading the forum. After much research ( a lot of it right here) I decided on the Master Forge Double Door Propane Smoker as being the best benefit for the price. I installed a graphite impregnated fiberglass rope gasket around both doors after assembly and allowed to cure for 24 hours before beginning my seasoning process yesterday afternoon.
To start I fired it up completely empty and held it a little over 300 for about three hours to take care of any leftovers manufacturing residues. Then I loaded up the woodbox with pecan, hickory,and apple chucks and a few handfuls of mesquite chips that I had soaked for about 20 minutes. There is no bare metal on this unit so I did not bother with any oil. As expected the stock thermometer is purely decorative. It was over 120*F low during initial burn in as compared to my new ET-732 (Thank you for that suggestion too!).
Now for some fun! Burner lit, regulator at about 1/3, top and bottom vents open. I could smell smoke by minute 15 and temp was going up above 200 quickly so I foaled the regulator back to its lowest setting and closed the bottom vents. Temp stabilized at 250 and stayed there for the next 45 minutes. At hour one I started getting thin smoke out the top vent and temp started climbing to 260 so I opened the bottom vent on the lee side. Temp dropped to 234 - 241 and stayed there for the next 2.5 hours. I think I achieved TBS! For most of that time with occasional wisps of slightly thicker white smoke.
All in all I was very pleased and today I am going to try a few chickens with apple and mesquite. Wish me luck and ill post pica later.
Stephan
To start I fired it up completely empty and held it a little over 300 for about three hours to take care of any leftovers manufacturing residues. Then I loaded up the woodbox with pecan, hickory,and apple chucks and a few handfuls of mesquite chips that I had soaked for about 20 minutes. There is no bare metal on this unit so I did not bother with any oil. As expected the stock thermometer is purely decorative. It was over 120*F low during initial burn in as compared to my new ET-732 (Thank you for that suggestion too!).
Now for some fun! Burner lit, regulator at about 1/3, top and bottom vents open. I could smell smoke by minute 15 and temp was going up above 200 quickly so I foaled the regulator back to its lowest setting and closed the bottom vents. Temp stabilized at 250 and stayed there for the next 45 minutes. At hour one I started getting thin smoke out the top vent and temp started climbing to 260 so I opened the bottom vent on the lee side. Temp dropped to 234 - 241 and stayed there for the next 2.5 hours. I think I achieved TBS! For most of that time with occasional wisps of slightly thicker white smoke.
All in all I was very pleased and today I am going to try a few chickens with apple and mesquite. Wish me luck and ill post pica later.
Stephan
