Greetings from Eastern Nebraska

[falmund]

WEll, my name is Rick. I have spent most of my college career refining the art of gas grilling. I have decided to expand and move up to smoking. I just bought myself a Brinkman vertical water smoker about 3 weeks ago. So far I have made a mildly ok pork shoulder, some pork brick...I mean chops, and I just popped off some pretty good wings. Even my wife liked em, so I must be doing something right.

I am a forums junkie, so you'll probably see me around quite a bit. I want to learn and learn fast. The first question I need to ask is: "Where on earth can I get good hardwood?!?" I live in a small town west of Lincoln, NE. I have no idea. THe big box stores of course only have hickory and mesquite. I have no problem with either, they are both fabulous. I just am one of those that likes to try anything and everything. Also, any tips on increasing temperature would be helpful. I have already drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom of the fire pan, and I know it's February.....But I cannot seem to get the temp much over 200, nor maintain it over 150.

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions, gripes complaints or just plain hello's welcome. I'm looking forward to meeting you all!

 

[fired up]

welcome aboard!

 

[sumosmoke]

Glad ya joined us. One recommendation on the wood supply is to check Craigslist or another town circular to find out who has firewood for free (preferrably) or for sale. Another option is ebay (do a search for "wood chunks").

If you're looking to jump into the art of smoking with both feed I'd suggest signing up for the free 5-day ecourse offered through the site. It's a great way to get started with the basic skills to turn out a good smoke!

 

[seenred]

Welcome to SMF, Rick! There are lots of helpful folks on this forum, all ready to assist any way they can. I second sumo's advice: check local ads and ebay for wood. There are lots of other on-line sources as well. Just do a google or yahoo search and you'll find lots of sites that'll ship it to you.

 

[bassman]

Welcome to the forum. This is the best smoking "college" around. Glad to have you aboard.

 

[slanted88]

Nice to have ya here.

 

[cowgirl]

Hello Rick, welcome to the forum!

 

[huskersmokeman]

Hey, welcome, Rick, I'm from Lincoln. There is a place East of Lincoln that sells chips, chunks, sticks, and logs of about any wood you can name. They sell smoking wood to Restaurants, too. I've never went there yet, but I hear you can get a trash bagf full of chips for little of nothing. I'll find out the name for you.

 

[drlouis]

Hi Rick!

nice to see more Nebraskans showing up. I'm from the Hastings area.

Huskersmokeman: I'm interested in the name of that place too, I get that way occasionally, and am always looking for wook chunks.

 

[falmund]

Awesomeness....I'm excited. If you find out the name of place, let me know. I know some other locals who would be very interested.

 

[cman95]

Welcome to SMF.

 

[irishteabear]

Welcome to SMF. This place is great for forum junkies! There's tons of info to read, hundreds of great people to meet, and a great free 5 day course to take. See you around!

 

[richoso1]

Rick, welcome to the SMF. I think you're going to like it here.

 

[rodbuilder]

Welcome to SMF... Lots of great folks here and good information... I lived in Omaha for a couple of years before I retired... Great folks but rotten weather most of the time... I'm glad to be back to Oregon where I can rust...

 

[jdt]

Look for capital patio there in Lincoln, I was only in there once a couple years ago but it seemed like a nice store, they had some cabinet style smokers in the store so they surely got supplies. Welcome to the SMF

 

[huskersmokeman]

Ok guys, the name of the place is Big Red Sawmill & Firewood, located in Palmyra, Nebraska(between Lincoln and Nebraska City, for those who might not know it). Phone # is (402)780-5678. They do not have a website that I know of. Also, as JDT mentioned, Capitol Patio/The Flame Shop on 56th and Old Cheney Road in Lincoln has a good selection of hardwoods, plus lots of smoking/grilling accessories and goodies like rubs,etc. I find them a little pricy, but use them sometimes.
Best of luck...let me see some of those smoked creations on the Q-View!!

 

[BandCollector]

Welcome from Pittsburgh, Pa

 

[falmund]

Thanks HSM, I'll check them out!

 

[vtanker]

Welcome Dude! you found the right place to learn from. Good luck!