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vertig07

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 30, 2008
1
10
Hello,

My name is Lance, and I've been lurking here on the forums for several months now. Having made my first ABT's last weekend, I thought it would be polite to introduce myself :)

I inadvertantly got into smoking last year when I was looking to replace my old grill. It was a rusty propane grill that I inherited along with my house which I used to line with foil and fill with charcoal (propane is only used for stove top cooking and frying turkeys in my household). Eventually it rusted beyond use and it was time to buy a new one.

I saw the Silver Smoker at Home Depot and it fit the bill nicely - charcoal, cheap, nice looking, and with a HUGE amount of real-estate for grilling. And I thought the ability to use it as a smoker was a nice perk too...

So a few months and several hot dog and hamburger sessions later, a hickory went down in my yard and I saved a few sections to use for grilling - which got me thinking about trying out the smoking capability of my new Silver Smoker...

When grilling, I generally grill up a whole mess of different things so that there will be enough leftovers to cover a few dinners during the week. So for my first smoking session I picked up a rack of spare ribs, a couple of filets of salmon, a beef roast, and a whole chicken. I whipped up my own rub (pretty much the same brown sugar/salt/spice based rub I've always used on salmon before grilling but with the addition of paprika) and gave everything a good coating while I waited for the smoker to heat up.

The entire process took about 6 hours and I did make a few mistakes. I had a lot of trouble managing my heat and I used too many wood chips. The beef roast was a bit tough, the resulting food was a bit too smokey overall, and the ribs in particular picked up a touch of charcoal fluid flavor... But everything was DELICIOUS anyway, and still better by far than anything I've ever had at a commercial restaurant. And I wasn't the only one impressed - everything I put out on the table disappeared instantly. I was hooked :)

I now smoke about as often as I grill (still gotta have my teriyaki marinated NY Strip steaks) and get better results on each and every smoke. I think I've gotten the hang of my Silver Smoker, and while I've seen the suggested mods for it I've managed to take advantage of its little quirks. I find that I can practically cold smoke on the cool far right (I put my fish there) while keeping my ribs in the sweet spot and giving my ABTs plenty of heat on the left.

And speaking of ABTs... I can't believe how amazing these are!!! I've never tasted something so deliciously complex and smokey. For my first ABT I searched the forums and tried to find the most basic and "core" recipe I could. I went with the one posted by low&slow:

Wonderful, I honestly don't know how they could have been any better :)

Now I'm dying to try a fattie...

-Lance
 
Welcome to SMF, Lance! Next time you smoke, don't forget the Qview. We all like to drool over our keyboards
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Welcome Lance to SMF..Check out the 5-Day Ecourse..and you mention having some charcoal lighter flavor???...invest in a charcoal chimney and use Lump charcoal or at least get the briq's going in the chimney before you put them in...I never use fluid..just my 0.02..good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions..they will get answered
 
We lance, welcome to the SMF. Charcoal chimney is the way to go, once you use it you'll never go any other way.
 
Welcome,Lance to SMF and yes grad a camera we do like the Qview,,,one dude told me if ya dont have pic it did not happer,,,lol
 
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