Hello from California. I stumbled across SMF a couple of week ago when I started researching smokers and smoking meats. I have always been a fan of smoked meats and have always wanted to do it myself. So i bought a Brinkmann vertical charcoal smoker this weekend. I bought some Royal Oak lump charcoal, hickory, and some ribs on Sunday. For my first smoke, I think they came out pretty good. I may post the pics in the Pork section. I'm so glad I found this site, very informative and friendly place to be. And of course I made the usual mod to the vertical smoker by changing the charcoal pan. Got the BBQ wok from lowes.