Hello, I'm Focus

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focus

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 29, 2016
14
10
Hello, all.  My name's Focus and I have been smoking off and on for around 15 years now.  I grew up in Georgia where I ate one helluva lot of BBQ pork in my formative years, but sadly didn't learn much about the craft.  I have been in the Air Force for 17 years and in that time, I've been stationed in CO, TX, UT, Korea, NC, and now in Massachusetts.  In the years since I left GA, I have picked up a lot of technique from the various places I've lived.

I currently have a Char Griller with side firebox, but it has taken a beating over 7 winters in New England.  Plus, I am just tired of building a fire from scratch every time and managing heat the old fashioned way.  I'm currently in the market for a quality electric smoker... that will be my first post.

I'm looking forward to becoming part of the SMF community, sharing and learning along the way.  I'll also be sure to share my experiences smoking "a la Cape Cod" which is a different beast from my days in TX, GA, and NC, to be sure.

Focus
 
 
Hello, all.  My name's Focus and I have been smoking off and on for around 15 years now.  I grew up in Georgia where I ate one helluva lot of BBQ pork in my formative years, but sadly didn't learn much about the craft.  I have been in the Air Force for 17 years and in that time, I've been stationed in CO, TX, UT, Korea, NC, and now in Massachusetts.  In the years since I left GA, I have picked up a lot of technique from the various places I've lived.

I currently have a Char Griller with side firebox, but it has taken a beating over 7 winters in New England.  Plus, I am just tired of building a fire from scratch every time and managing heat the old fashioned way.  I'm currently in the market for a quality electric smoker... that will be my first post.

I'm looking forward to becoming part of the SMF community, sharing and learning along the way.  I'll also be sure to share my experiences smoking "a la Cape Cod" which is a different beast from my days in TX, GA, and NC, to be sure.

Focus
Welcome to the Forum !

I hear ya about managing the heat, that is why I got the MES 30, so I could cook cooler and maybe look away a little more, and I am behind the times as I was not brining meats or doing dry rubs before cooking and smoking, and I had a real hankering for some Jerky ! so I wanted something I could use as a cold smoker and dehydrater, I too have a Char Griller with the side burner, on my second one, I keep a cover on it and it generally is not all that wet here, but I have re-painted it twice after treating the rust on the outside, just surface rust from the paint peeling, it is still in awesome shape and got about 5 years on this one, maybe more, memory is not what it used to be.

This Forum is nice, bunch of good helpful sharing folks here, I am new as well, surfed and took notes for 3 weeks then joined because it was the best Forum I found for Smoking and Curing.

I just bought my MES 30, did a rack mod on it, waiting for my other 3 racks and then I get to season and take it for a spin, gonna do a mess of Jerky, buying all this stuff was a bit painful for the budget, I have spices that are basic and primarily for jerky but many of them are basic brine ingredients, so after I get my feet wet with some Jerky, I will move on to some other feats of smokiness, I am also going to do some cooking in it of course, can't wait - like you said to experience the ease over the Char Grill, also can't wait to taste the difference brining makes, and I will only have to light the pellet smoker now instead of the hour or more prep to get the coals or fire right. 
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Masterbuilts seem to be the faves here, but I'm also hearing the good things about Bradleys, Smokin It, and Traeger. I will continue my research.

I want to do jerkey as well, so the cold smoke options are appealing. And I fancy that i might cold smoke some salmon one day, but thats not a major priority either. I have a Presto Dehydro and a Smoking Gun for those purposes.

Lastly for now, i will want a primer on seasoning my new electric... whenever I get it and... whatever version i do get. So please be kind in that respect.
 
Focus,

Welcome and just a note. My wife bought the big Masterbuilt for me and I found out real qick if you ever want cold smoke you will have to buy an add on of some kind. I dont get any smoke from mine till the temp gets over 200.

Charlie
 
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  Good morning and welcome to the forum, from another sunny and hot day here in East Texas, and the best site on the web. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary
 
Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm new here so i couldn't see exactly how to create a new thread. I'll go with my question and see if i need to move it to a new forum.

As mentioned, I am new to electric, but am making the change because I really want to smoke more often, but my lifestyle requires a more set-and-forget system.

So I started looking at Masterbuilts and Bradleys as cost effective options. I'd just about settled on a Masterbuilt 30 with cold smoke attachment + the AMNPS gadget. Seemed like that would be the best and most cost effective option for me. Then my buddy starts talking ti me about his Traeger Lil Tex Elite...

And suddenly I'm smitten, but at nearly twice my desired price point. #0.1, He tells me it's electric, but only in as much as the heat source for the pellets is electric. #2 From what I understand, you cannot get a smoke ring with the Masterbuilt. But he claims he can get a smoke ring every time. #3 It can get hot enough to sear steaks and cook pizza; the MES can only get to 240F or so. Being a Massachusetts resident, if I could have a smoker AND a outside oven, that would be huge (no a/c during the summer makes.cooking inside nearly impossible.) #4 I have had his Q and it has been spot on every time. Turkey and pork butt in particular, but i need few other samples to know it's the shit.

More research turned up Green mountain, Louisiana something or other , etc. I dont have unlimited resources but SWMBO might authorize a credit raise if its really worth it.

Any tboughts?
 
Some more follow up questions that I just remembered: Am I comparing apples to dumptrucks here? Put another way: is it logical to even compare the Traeger to a Masterbuilt? Is a Traeger even really considered an electric?
 
Allow me to introduce my GMG Daniel Boone (throws GMG gang signs)
 
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