Hello from smokey Washington State

[snowave]

Literally!  From the forest fires to my Smoker... to my indoor grill that always sets off the smoke alarm.  

I'm a forest ranger, although, I'm stuck at the ranger station most of the time.... but love the mountains and the lifestyle. Someday, maybe sooner than later...a possible dream of mine is to move to Montana and open up a small BBQ stand. Luckily, my wife has a good day job.. heh.

I'm 40 y.o. Moved up here with my wife and 3 dogs from the mountains of Southern CA about 6 months ago. I'm originally from the midwest (St. Louis and Kansas City), but have also lived in Florida and Colorado, before CA and WA.

I've only been smoking for about 2 yrs... still have my first smoker, the little Brinkmann vertical gas , which honestly has been a great beginner unit, but I'm ready to move up a little, and am strongly considering the gas Smoke Vault.  I'm still what I'd consider to be a lower intermediate. I have made some great meat, but I've also screwed some stuff up, too... mainly due to laziness. I want to spend more time researching things and doing a better job with smoking, especially if I want to realistically cook meat for the public someday... if not for that, just for myself/family even.

I like to smoke all kinds of meat... from ribs and brisket... to chicken, trout and turkey. I'd have to say my best meal was last Thanksgiving, when I was cooking for 2 family's... My wife's for the first time... and I nailed my first shot at turkey.. did a kahlua apricot glaze and it was amazing.

I hope to become part of the community here and share with you all my experiences as well as gain from yours. I have already gotten alot of great info here by lurking and reading all the great info.

Happy smoking!

Snowave

 

[daveomak]

SW, evening and welcome to the forum....  Great forum, great members.... Great place to hang out and learn stuff....  

I saw you had fires lately.... We had a fire start about 4PM.... already over 1000 acres... I started about 2 miles from my place.... 40 MPH winds... no rain in almost 3 months...    I think this north wind might push the fires back your direction...   How's the smoke now...   Dave

 

[snowave]

HI Dave... Thanks for the welcome!

Hope that fire stays away from your place. The winds were pretty nasty today.

The smoke has been horrible the last 3 weeks, however the wind has helped scour it out a little the last 3 days, but the fires are also kicking up today, too thanks to the wind. Yes, we need rain so bad!
 

Sno

 

[roller]

Hello and welcome to SMF glad you have joined us !

 

[smokinhusker]

Hello and welcome to SMF! Thank you for your service as a fire fighter - it is much appreciated! Hope you all get some rain soon to put those fires down - I was lucky and made it through the Waldo Canyon Fire unscathed. 

The sauce you made for your Thanksgiving turkey sounds pretty good - wanna share it? LOL

I see you are interested in the Smoke Vault - also check out the Smoke Hollow 44" and the Masterbuilt XL (40" wide body) and they are coming out with a new one later this year that will have a thermostat. 

 

[s2k9k]

 to SMF!! We're happy you found us!

 

[scarbelly]

Hello and 

to SMF - glad you joined us 

Like Alesia mentioned that sauce sounds good 

 

[snowave]

Hello and welcome to SMF! Thank you for your service as a fire fighter - it is much appreciated! Hope you all get some rain soon to put those fires down - I was lucky and made it through the Waldo Canyon Fire unscathed. 

The sauce you made for your Thanksgiving turkey sounds pretty good - wanna share it? LOL

I see you are interested in the Smoke Vault - also check out the Smoke Hollow 44" and the Masterbuilt XL (40" wide body) and they are coming out with a new one later this year that will have a thermostat. 

Thanks for the welcome, SH.  Glad you made it thru Waldo Canyon.... that was a real nasty fire. I actually don't fight fire myself, but I do go to fires sometimes and help out with other logistical things.

As far as the smokers... yes, I've been debating between the Smoke Vault and the Smoke Hollow.  My research on reviews seems to show that the Smoke Hollow has just a few more complaints and issues, although not many. I like the idea of a separate door for the wood/water... but I also noticed the previous model at least, seemed to have alot of complaints about it spilling water everywhere and having to take the water pan out just to get to the chips.  The other issue is the shipping problems many have referred to, and slightly poorer quality in materials.. I really don't want to have to do any modifications to my unit, even though I know alot of smokers tend to enjoy that kinda thing.

I do like the size of the SMoke Hollow, even though it's way more than I need.. it could be a good smoker for doing larger quantities to get pepared for the idea I have of opening a BBQ shack.

I'll share that glaze for the turkey soon. It's more or less found online, but I did make a few minor modifications to the ingredients.

 

[mike johnson]

Welcome fellow Washingtonian. You have found the best site ever for learning anything you have ever wanted to know about MEAT. Dont forget the Q-VIEW when posting your food.

 

[ironchef smoke]

Welcome to SMF!