Hi everybody, I'm now officially a smoker! Thanks to everyone's help here, I found a deal at Cabella's on a SS Masterbuilt Electric that I couldn't pass up. It arrived today, a few days early--it was on backorder til the 10th but they must have received them earlier than expected.
Prior to this, my previous experience was only wood chips on gas grills. Mesquite changed my life about 20 years ago on a small tabletop gas grill... a T-bone steak if I remember correctly.
Just recently, I've been using cast iron smoker boxes on a Thermos (Charbroil made I think) SS 3-burner gas grill. Most recent success was a 5-6-hour spare ribs smoke on Labor Day weekend, using my own rub based on peppers I grow & dry. I did 2 racks on baking cooling racks placed over the grill grates, which raised the ribs an addition 3" or so above the grill grates, which worked pretty well using 2 or 3 of the burners on low. I used a mix of hickory & mesquite, plus some finer chips of Cameron's cherry I think. They turned into a 2-2-1 smoke instead of 3-2-1... they were at about 175 degrees internal at 5 hours. They almost fell apart when taking off the grill, some bones got left behind from falling out.
I also have experience using BBQr's Delight pellets--apple, sugar maple, hickory, mesquite, Jack Daniels, etc. I use their round cast iron box with the pellets. I'm still experimenting with smoking on the grill and ordered a stainless box in the hopes of getting smoke sooner than the wait with cast iron. It sucks having smoke start 5 minutes after your food is ready!
I went with the MES because of the good words about it here, plus Marvin's tips & tricks. Also because of overall operating costs--electricity was the cheapest way to go.
I spend much of my time taking care of my dying Mother who has diabetes & advanced Alzheimers, plus enjoy growing heirloom tomatoes & peppers, and other veggies. This past Saturday, I won three awards at the Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest 2008--Smallest Tomato, Largest Tomato (2lbs 2.2oz), and Best Tasting of All. There were 94 different tomato varieties to taste.
I also grow giant pumpkins, but took this year off and grew 24 different varieties of heirloom garlic in its space. I have a lot of physical problems (back, knee, now carpal tunnel & cubital tunnel, among other things) so the gardening, cooking/eating and the internet ease some of the pain & stuff going on right now.
Hope I can contribute as much as many of you here! Thanks for having me!
Prior to this, my previous experience was only wood chips on gas grills. Mesquite changed my life about 20 years ago on a small tabletop gas grill... a T-bone steak if I remember correctly.
Just recently, I've been using cast iron smoker boxes on a Thermos (Charbroil made I think) SS 3-burner gas grill. Most recent success was a 5-6-hour spare ribs smoke on Labor Day weekend, using my own rub based on peppers I grow & dry. I did 2 racks on baking cooling racks placed over the grill grates, which raised the ribs an addition 3" or so above the grill grates, which worked pretty well using 2 or 3 of the burners on low. I used a mix of hickory & mesquite, plus some finer chips of Cameron's cherry I think. They turned into a 2-2-1 smoke instead of 3-2-1... they were at about 175 degrees internal at 5 hours. They almost fell apart when taking off the grill, some bones got left behind from falling out.
I also have experience using BBQr's Delight pellets--apple, sugar maple, hickory, mesquite, Jack Daniels, etc. I use their round cast iron box with the pellets. I'm still experimenting with smoking on the grill and ordered a stainless box in the hopes of getting smoke sooner than the wait with cast iron. It sucks having smoke start 5 minutes after your food is ready!
I went with the MES because of the good words about it here, plus Marvin's tips & tricks. Also because of overall operating costs--electricity was the cheapest way to go.
I spend much of my time taking care of my dying Mother who has diabetes & advanced Alzheimers, plus enjoy growing heirloom tomatoes & peppers, and other veggies. This past Saturday, I won three awards at the Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest 2008--Smallest Tomato, Largest Tomato (2lbs 2.2oz), and Best Tasting of All. There were 94 different tomato varieties to taste.
I also grow giant pumpkins, but took this year off and grew 24 different varieties of heirloom garlic in its space. I have a lot of physical problems (back, knee, now carpal tunnel & cubital tunnel, among other things) so the gardening, cooking/eating and the internet ease some of the pain & stuff going on right now.
Hope I can contribute as much as many of you here! Thanks for having me!
