Tired of my ecb want NEW

[davidmcg]

Fordman have another question for your situation. What kind of charcoal are you sing? Briquettes or lump? It makes a big difference between brands and types. Some brands burn too quick and don't put out much heat. Lump in my opinion is best. Just like many things in life, the best charcoal -- lump or briquettes -- is not the most expensive. Heck, I can do a better job with the Wal-Mart brand than I can with Kingsford. Another thing, what type of weather were you having with your bad experience? The metal on a ECB is awful thin, temp and wind can have a bad effect on them. Might want to take a look at trying sand in that water pan and not water. Thats one thing I have been thinking about trying. With my ECB it seems like no matter how careful I am when I lift it up off the burn pan I always end up tipping it just enough to dump water into the burn pan and ruin the charcoal and wood chunks. But keep with it. We have all had bad experiences and moments when we were smoking at one time or another. None of us woke up and made a perfect smoke the first and everytime thereafter. I can tell you some really bad stories.

 

[fordman]

Well started with lump then went to briq's then back to the lumps finished the bag . Did notice that got more heat off the lump royle oak than the briq's royal oak. But the smokw before this used kingford briq's and got good heat from them. But all would have been better if I would have tested my new meat probe out first. Since then fixed that and got a et-73 mav. dual probe on it's way. I know off topic but how do you all do Iowa chops or boneless loin 1 1/4 chops can't really probe them can you? (going to be next smoke)

 

[earache_my_eye]

I've done Iowa chops on my ecb, and yes, you can get a probe in them...I usually go by sight and touch tho.....if they look good, and don't feel tough or dried out, they're ready.....had several years in a restaurant that helped teach me that trick tho.

A 1 1/4" chop should give you enough to be able to slip a probe into....I wouldn't take them beyond about 150-155* though.....not a lot of fat actually IN a chop to help keep it moist.

L8r,
Eric

 

[norrell6]

Hey Fordman,

I agree with william. I have a GOSM and I love it. That being said, I seem to keep going back to my ECB. It is a gourmet and I have not made any mods. I have seen people say they use royal oak lump. Does this still look like charcoal briquettes? The lump charcoal that I use looks like hunks of wood. You can tell it came from a tree and it is not processed. I find that this kind of limp charcoal burns nice and hot in my ECB. I get a chimney full of lump going. I preheat the water for the pan. I put the hot water in when I put the first chimney of coals in. I start a second chimney of lump as soon as smoker is assembled and heating up. When the second load of lump is ready, I put it in, add some hickory chunks and put the meat on. My thermo in the lids is off also. I use an oven thremo in the smoker and a digital probe in the meat. After using an oven therm, I have learned what a good temp looks like using the crappy thermo in the lid. I like tending the fire. I think this is why I keep coming back to my ECB. I would imagine everyone does not really like constantly dealing with the heat. In that case, an electric or gas model would be ideal. I have never had an electric one and it seems like they can do a good job. However, it seems that you need to spend a good bit on an electric smoker to get a decent quality one. I only spent $150 on my GOSM wide body and I already had a gas grill so I already had a propane tank. The gas just made sense for me. Now I want a Chargriller Pro with a SFB. Good luck and dont give up.

 

[fordman]

Where I work I asked 3 people that I knew had smokers all said the smokey mountain gas. I stiil would keep my ecb but would like to get a gosm as well. But don't know what one to get. Wally world is out in my town but can get one online and ship it to the store. It is 16W 14D 34H for 99.94 the one linked in this treadModel (3405GW). Menards has a (3605g) witch is 16W 14D 36H for 149.99. But don't know what the difference is other than the 2 inches taller. The 3605g is 16,000 btu.

 

[workoutchamp]

IMHO, it is more important to get the extra shelves than the wide body. Now if all you do all Turkeys, wide is the way, but I tend to do flatter stuff, so the extra shelves rock. The narrow GOSM is wide enough for a turkey.

I simply called the manufacturer and they sent 3 of them to me.

Bottomline, the GOSM is the next natural progression from the ECB.

you ain't gonna go wrong.

Let us know what you do!

PS - check craig's list and ebay.

 

[flash]

after my mods. I can use alot less charcoal now

 

[flash]

Yes they do. Go online, order it and have it delivered, FREE to your local store.

 

[leebo60]

I'm new to the game. What exactly is a ET 73 ?

 

[walking dude]

here you go Lee


http://www.maverickhousewares.com/et73.htm

 

[leebo60]

Thanks walking dude.

 

[smokin nutz]

Hi FM, Welcome to the forum.
I was reading your posts and made a couple observances.
When refilling the water pan,Use hot water,it will hold your temps up.
I use the chimney starter also,with the electric probe from Walmart to start Hardwood,works well,I never use charcoal liter,the neighbor across the st.was useing starter fluid the other evening,had a north breeze,had to close windows for at least 1/2 hour till the stench burned off.
I seen at the Waterloo Walmart they have digital probes for $15,I use the ET-73 like others and really enjoy it.
just my 2 cents..Happy Smokin FM...........

 

[fordman]

Well took the plunge and bought a smoky mountain. But upon doing the seasoning part of the process and can't get temps below 265 with the top vent all the way open and the knob all the way down. Is there a needle that will help me adjust it lower or is the gauge is off?

 

[earache_my_eye]

It's entirely possible that the gauge is off. A lot of the thermos that come from the factory with smokers are off by a few to well over 100 deg.

Best bet is to check with a digital thermometer.

If it is running hot, there are a couple threads on here where someone added a needle valve to their GOSM to get the temps down....relatively cheap fix if I remember right.

L8r,
Eric

 

[norrell6]

I use a simple and cheap oven thermometer, actually two of them. I put one on the top shelf and one on the lowest shelf I am using. I have found that the door thermo seems to run high on my GOSM. If you are getting higher temps than 250F, you can turn the gas down further by slowly turning the valve to the propane tank down. This is a fine tuning process and will take a little time to figure out. I have used my GOSM at the edge of my garage on a rainy day and had trouble with high temps. I have never had trouble with high temps when using it on the back patio in the wide open. Keep trying and experimenting and you will get it dialed in.

 

[travcoman45]

Yer door gauge is more en likely off, mine read bout a 100* know.........sittin on the deck cold! Get yerself a good digi thermometer, one fer the box temp an one fer each meat yall gonna have in the smoker.

Always leave the top vent wide open! Keeps the air movin through the box so ya don't get stale smoke build up an possible some cresote. I added a stack ta the top a my rig, heps control draft an moves the smoke right along. Also heps protect the inside a the box durin rain er snow.