# Hi from Sharon in Brooksville, Florida!



## lilwren (Apr 2, 2012)

I wanted to stop by and introduce myself and say thanks for such a great forum.  I haven’t noticed any women on the forum so was a little hesitant to post, but what the hell … I’m going for it. lol
 

I just bought a masterbuilt 40 (2011 model year) at sam’s club.  I’ve bugged my husband for years for a smoker and he always complained that cleaning it would be just another thing on his “honey do” list.  Well, after researching electric smokers and reading tons of posts on this forum I convinced him he would not regret it.  thanks to you guys I’ve got a new smoker and we both love it!

The next day after I seasoned it I cooked bone-in chicken breasts and a roll of sausage (I feel like too much of a newbie to call it a fattie … lol) and they were amazing.  I used my bbq flavored rub, traeger mesquite pellets, and hickory twigs … set the temp for 275 and 2 hours.  I’m in love with my smoker … the features are amazing and it worked perfectly!  I do notice that the temp spikes a lot when the pellets kick in, but will just learn my way around that … I turned it down a few times and then back up … the hickory twigs don’t spike at all.  I did call masterbuilt and have the smoker tray upgrade being shipped to me … thanks to the forum … and am hoping that will help with stabilizing the heat spike.

I’ve been using smoker boxes on my weber propane grill for about six years … cooking things at around 275 – 300 and have been really happy with it … other than the fact the smoker boxes only go for about an hour.  I use my own wood from my property … pignut hickory, mulberry, oak, orange and tangerine.  My husband bought the traeger pellets at the feed store …. he was curious … I have to say I like them so far.

I’m smoking a turkey (cut in half) on Friday … if I get the chance I will take pics.  After the turkey is going to be a batch of mullet … then cold smoked salmon ... i smoked wings for dinner tonight! :)   I am getting an amnps as soon as my husband is willing to spring for one!  Lol

Sorry for the long post.  here's some pics of my first smoke.

Sharon


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## scarbelly (Apr 2, 2012)

Hello Sharon and welcome to SMF. We have many fantastic ladies here and they are amazing smokers. Glad to add you to the group


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## pineywoods (Apr 2, 2012)

Sharon welcome to SMF glad you joined us. As Scarbelly said we do have a good number of female members. I'm actually from Crystal River tho I spend most of my time up near Tallahassee. Check out the N FL Gathering thread it's coming up in a couple weeks and should be a lot of fun. It's not a bad drive from down your way to here. Have fun and happy smoking


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## lilwren (Apr 2, 2012)

thanks scarbelly and pineywoods for the warm welcome.  i hadn't noticed women posting ... sorry.  when you assume .. you make an ass of yourself. :(  my bad. 

i will check out the north florida gathering thread ... thanks for the heads up!  i'm from tampa originally and moved to brooksville about seventeen years ago.  we go to homosassa and crystal river every chance we get to hit the seafood restaurants or go fishing. 

i really enjoy the forum ... and so glad to have the resource.


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## alblancher (Apr 3, 2012)

lilwren,

Welcome,  Looks like you have a great start with your new smoker. Hang around, post often, share some more Qview with us. We're glad to have you


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## frosty (Apr 3, 2012)

Welcome Sharon! 

From the looks of it you are already in good shape, and the results speak for themselves.  Great color and texture.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Good luck on the turkey, it should be delicious.  Smoked mullet, sounds EXCELLENT!


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## rtbbq2 (Apr 3, 2012)

Welcome to SMF Sharon
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





.....................Glad you decided to join our group.....


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## jrod62 (Apr 3, 2012)

:welcome1:


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## smokinhusker (Apr 3, 2012)

Hello Sharon and welcome to SMF! Looks like you are well on your way! That food sure looks great! I am a fellow female smoker with the MES 40 and I love it! I use the Smokehouse Pellets and don't notice the spikes in heat from them as opposed to the Traeger Pellets.


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## stovebolt (Apr 3, 2012)

Sharon, welcome to SMF.  You are off to a good start.  I have an MES40 with the AMNPS and it's a killer combo. The only time I ever tried pellets in my chip-pan they went up in flames for me too. Chips or chunks are far better until your AMNPS gets there.

 Chuck


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## alelover (Apr 3, 2012)

Sharon. Nice to have you. And as others have said we do have some awesome ladies on this forum. Nice to add you to the mix.


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## eman (Apr 3, 2012)

welcome to the family!

 Have been using the MES 40 for a few years and always used chips until i got the amns .

now i use dust and chips :0


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## sprky (Apr 3, 2012)

to SMF . You have come to the right place for smoking info. This site is loaded with great info just use the search bar at top of page to find what you are looking for. If you can't locate the answer just ask folks here are willing to share there knowledge. Check out  the 5 day e-course on smoking its chuck full of great info, and may help ya out. Smoking  5-Day e-Course  

[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]There are quite a few ladies here, I know some of them here cam smoke up a storm. Welcome.[/color]


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## JckDanls 07 (Apr 3, 2012)

Welcome to the forums...  The Treager pellets are "cooking" pellets...  Thats why the temp spikes... You can find flavored pellets that are 100% the wood you are using... In other words, the Treagers are a blend of (maybe) oak for heat and another wood for flavor..  am I making any sense ?  Read the bag of Traeger Pellets and see If it doesn't say a blend (ie. 70% oak, 30% mesquite)...


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## floridarandy (Apr 3, 2012)

Greetings from a fellow Floridian....look on the horizon for Florida smoke :).


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## scubadoo97 (Apr 4, 2012)

Welcome Sharon from a neighbor in the Tampa Bay area.    Not sure if you are old enough to remember the Mullet Inn on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. It was an institution for great smoked mullet for many years. The smoke row was fantastic.   

Never smoked with mulberry but my G'mother had a tree in her yard and would stuff the leaves. If you ever want to get rid of some young leaves LMK. 

Anyway, welcome to SMF. I have a MES 30 and use it often.  Lot of good knowledge here.  friendly and eager help is a keystroke away


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## russg (Apr 4, 2012)

Welcome aboard. U seem like a true
Smoking fanatic. Welcome to the club


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## lilwren (Apr 4, 2012)

thanks to you all for such a wonderful, warm, welcome. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   this forum is just so full of friendly folks and wonderful info ... i just love it.

sprky - yes i took the 5 day course a couple of weeks ago ... thanks for mentioning it. 

yes scubadoo i went to the mullet inn for years to get their mullet and dip.  i loved the mullet inn!  that's where my dad taught me how to eat smoked mullet ... i've eaten there hundreds of times.  too bad it's gone ... the entire causeway looks so totally different .. i barely recognize it when i'm over there.  i've been getting mullet from a roadside guy up in homosassa ... hopefully i won't have to anymore ... i can smoke my own. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





jckdanls07 - the bag of traegers i have says 100% mequite.  i think they burn hot because the smoker box is too small and all the pellets ignite at once ... not sure, but will be glad to get the bigger tray.  also, i think an amnps will help ... and i can't wait to try his pellets.

well thanks again to you all for the warm welcome .... made me feel right at home.


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## lilwren (Apr 4, 2012)

jckdanls07 - it doesn't really disclose the ingredients on the bag.  i just went and read all the fine print and it says '100% virgin hardwood' ... so they make you think if it says mesquite then it's 100% mesquite.  i will make sure to read the fine print in the future .. and research more about pellets on the forum ... actually i probably would have bought them anyway because the feed store was the only place locally that i could buy them ... i knew just enough to be dangerous. lol  now i know ... i live and learn.  i didn't realize there were differences in the food grade pellets.  i suppose they must produce some of the heat when you use them with a traeger smoker.  i learn something new everyday.  i'll check out the smokehouse pellets as smokinhusker suggested too.  thanks for straightening me out on the traeger pellets.

ups just dropped off my wood chip retro kit!  i guess i'll be replacing that and seasoning the smoker again before i do my turkey on friday.  some folks said it made a big difference ... i'll see on friday. 

thanks for the compliment on my Qview frosty!  those things tasted amazing ... my husband fell in love with the smoker as soon as he bit into one ... i couldn't get them plated fast enough. i had to snap a picture really fast because he was going after them. lol

i hope you all have a wonderful easter weekend!


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## ronrude (Apr 4, 2012)

Great looking food! you are off to a good start.

2 notes , I did some reading on the web and Traeger pellets are 70% ash or oak and the oerther 30% the wood named, except the hickory and mesquite that are all oak or ash with hickory or mesquite oil.  That said, if you like it, then it is fine.  Many here use blends of wood.

The other note, for ease of cleanup, i make a big foil pan to sit on the bottom shelf, so i don't have to scrub thebottom of my MES.


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## lilwren (Apr 4, 2012)

ronrude - thanks for that info on the traeger pellets ... i really appreciate it.  i actually do like the intense smoke flavor it gave my chicken ... but i like intense flavors ... many don't. 

i started to do that ... with big foil pan ... but then i thought it might interfere with smoke flow.  do you find that the smoke flows fine around it?


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