# New to Smoking from Chandler (PHX)



## azhic13 (Feb 16, 2010)

Hey all, a guy at work showed me this site so I decided to drop in. My dad's been doing some smoking lately, and my wife, daughter and I all really liked it, so we decided to give it a try. Picked up the Brinkmann Electric (red barrel) version at Depot yesterday, gonna cure it today. Thought his would be a good one to start because we have a pretty small courtyard area. Hopefully if we move later this year, we'll have room for a nicer one. But, figured with it only being the three of us, this would be a good first venture.  Probably going to try some chicken this weekend, any advice would be appreciated. 

Hope everyones having a good week!!


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## triplebq (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome to SMF , home of ECB , FATTIE , ECB < the great 5 Day eCourse , MES and all kinds of things . My name is Buddy and I live in Mesquite Texas and I am a SMOKEOLIC .... Just one smoke and I was hooked for life .


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## dave from mesa (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome AzHic13
There is a wealth of knowledge here. Ask and ye shall receive.
Good luck on your first smoke.
From another eastsider.


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## azhic13 (Feb 16, 2010)

Thanks guys, just got everything put together. With the help of my little one,  of course lol. Naturally one of the wooden handles was missing, yet they gave me about twice as many screws as the inventory list called for. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





, oh well, I'll give them a call later, I'm sure they'll just send one out. Worst case I'll spend the $1 on a run of dowel and cut a new handle. 
Smokers curing now, so we'll see how it goes.


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## scarbelly (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome to SMF - glad to have you here with us


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## mr mac (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome to the SMF!  Lotsa great people here willing to share the knowledge and experiences!


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## pit 4 brains (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome aboard!
What is your plan for the chicken? Probably the most important thing you need before you smoke is a game plan. This will help keep you on trak and lead to a successful smoke. 
Also what other equipment do you have, i.e. Thermometers, charcoal type, etc..?


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## richoso1 (Feb 16, 2010)

Good questions on helping you get an edge on that first smoke. Points on this one my friend.


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## acemakr (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome to the forum. I'm also pretty new and also started with the ECB (the gourmet charcoal model). It's a safe way to cut your teeth while getting involved in the hobby. If you don't like it you're not out much but if you do, you'll get plenty of advice on upgrading your gear.

You'll also find we just love pictures.  Hope you have a digital.


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## gene111 (Feb 16, 2010)

welcome to smf!!


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## azhic13 (Feb 16, 2010)

Right now I don't have much, still browsing through the site looking at reccomendations and recipes. Thinking i'll just start with some chicken breasts (boneless/skinless) because thats what I happen to have in the freezer. Still looking at thermos, want to get one to mount on the smoker itself, and then a digital to use for the meat inside. Do you have any reccomendations on these? Also, where would you reccommend grabbing them (seeing as though we're in the same area).

Thanks!


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## pineywoods (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome to SMF glad you decided to join us. Looks like your getting some good advice. I too would suggest a good thermometer or two if your smoker came with a thermometer its probably inaccurate and you'll need them to turn out safe consistent meats. You'll find most of us smoke by temperature and not time or looks on most things


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## jjwdiver (Feb 16, 2010)

Glad you joined us here on SMF!  Plenty to learn no matter what "level" of smoker you are. If you know of any tips or trick feel free to share and we all do the same!


John


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## irishteabear (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome to SMF.  Glad you joined us.


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## treegje (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome to the SMF, We are glad to have you onboard


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## smokingriley (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome to SMF! There is a lot of knowledge here. Don't be afraid to ask questions, someone is always willing be sure to help.


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## mballi3011 (Feb 16, 2010)

First off welcome Az Hic to *SMF*. It sounds like you are well on your way to be an outstanding new member of this fine site. You'll like it here cause there are abunch of good folks here that would just love to help you out with just about anything to do with smoking. We really like to have newbies here because they can bring in a new propective to how things are done. There's nothing like a new set of eyes to give and new way to make things that little differant to make things alittle better. So I hope you know about the *Qview* here. 
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=58920
Here's a link to photobucket it's free and easy to download pictures. Then if your really new to smoking Look up the E-course. 
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...play.php?f=127
It's also free and it will give you the basics of smoking. So after all of that you just need to go grab something to smoke and if you have any question just post them here and we will answer it quickly so you don't have any mishaps with your smoke. 
Welcome To Your New Addiction


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## meateater (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks here and knowledge. Looking forward to your first qview. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 One suggestion I have is go easy on the smoking wood until you get the hang of it, I would smoke easy for 1 hour, finish cooking to temp and see how it comes out.


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## etcher1 (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome 


to the *SMF* forum, You came to the right place. Good people and good info.


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## beer-b-q (Feb 17, 2010)

[font=&quot][/font]

[font=&quot]Welcome to SMF, Glad to have you with us. This is the place to learn, lots of good info and helpful friendly Members.[/font]

[font=&quot]For Those of you New to Smoking, be sure to check out *Jeff's 5 Day Smoking Basics eCourse*.[/font]
[font=&quot]Click Here it's *"FREE"* ... 5 Day eCourse[/font]

*[font=&quot]I Would Highly Suggest Reading these posts on Food Safety by bbally. [/font]*

[font=&quot]This thread will tell you basically everything you need to know and the man explaining it is[/font]
[font=&quot]both a *ServSafe Instructor *and a *HACCP Instructor*.[/font]
[font=&quot]http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...t=72852&page=2[/font]

[font=&quot]http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=86620[/font]

*[font=&quot]Here you can get the 2009 USDA Food Safety Guide from his site.[/font]*
[font=&quot]http://prochefblog.com/public_pics/f...09foodcode.pdf[/font]

*[font=&quot]How to post Qview to Forum:[/font]*

[font=&quot]When you uploading to Photobucket I always use the Large IMG setting, 640 x 480 it is a nice size...[/font]

[font=&quot]Everyone here enjoys seeing the Qview so be sure to post plenty of pics...[/font]

[font=&quot]Large ones that us old people with bad eyes can see.[/font]

[font=&quot][/font]

[font=&quot]For Step By Step Instructions On Posting Qview Check Out This Tutorial[/font]

[font=&quot]http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=82034[/font]


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## desertlites (Feb 17, 2010)

Welcome Hic & glad your friend sent u our way-A little south of you north of Tucson-yes you picked up a good first smoker-I started with 1 than recieved another and love them-than took that design and built a pretty cool UDS.As far as your question on chicken breasts,theres not much fat in them so they will tend to dry out easy-some will wrap them in bacon to help from happening,also cooking low and slow your skin will not crisp up as if Q-ing-if it's crisp skin u want than when almost to temp-throw on the grill for a bit.As others have said a couple good thermos will help Alot and make your new hobby more enjoyable.your built in is garbage-you can get a Char broil at Depot for $8 & change-as far as a probe alot like the ET's-newer 1's have dual probs for meat and smoker temps-theres a thread in here for therms.If you need anything feel free to PM me your questions.


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## rdknb (Feb 17, 2010)

welcome to smf, let us know how your chicken came out


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## seenred (Feb 17, 2010)

Welcome Aboard!  It's good to have you here.


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## mgwerks (Feb 18, 2010)

Howdy and welcome to SMF!  Chandler High is my alma mater - my how things change in 30 years!

You should be able to find answers to all your smoking questions from one or more of the great folks on this board.  Probably not me though, as sometimes it seems like I'm riding the short bus to BBQ school...


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## chefrob (Feb 18, 2010)

welcome from another east-sider. good info here ya just need to look around or ask. as others said you will need a thermo for temping food.......and it is pretty usless if ya don't know what foods need to be at what temps. there is a section here that deals with all of that fun stuff. take a look around, good luck and have fun.........................


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## chef jeff tx (Feb 18, 2010)

_*Howdy & welcome to  the SMF!!*_


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## azhic13 (Feb 18, 2010)

Thx, and, HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!


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## chefrob (Feb 19, 2010)

startin ta like ya already.........


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## azhic13 (Feb 28, 2010)

Tried some chicken breast last weekend and they came out great, smoked for 1 hour and finished on the grill. Great smoke flavor and really moist. Then got bored and rigged up a pan of smoking pellets and a soldering iron (yes a new one) and smoked a block of cheese.

On the block this tomorrow is a pork tenderloin. Gonna cut it up so it rolls out flat pack it with goat cheese, fresh basil, and sun dried tomatoes and smoke it up. =)


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## walle (Feb 28, 2010)

Welcome aboard, AZHic!
Sounds like you're already off to a good start...  Thanks for the mention of CHEESE!

This weekend is my two week mark.  Got so busy yesterday I forgot to test it!


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