Just Joined Smoker Nation

[hugonian1]

I just pulled the trigger on a Masterbuilt 30" Electric Smoker.

The big "Cab" has them for $100.00 off thru Sunday.

I think it will be sufficient for the basics.

I keep reading the posts on all the smoked meats and drool on my keyboard.

Looking forward to putting some of the great information this site puts out to use.

[Leaky]

Congrats - I've going to do a couple racks of St louis cut ribs and some beans this weekend in the Masterbuilt.

[McGurk]

Nice! Now get to it and post some pix! Enjoy the new class of cooking and if I had one piece of advice for a rookie is not to use too much wood and keep the smoke down to less than you think you need. I was burping up smoke for 3 days after my first run.

[harvey lee]

Enjoy, you'll love the food off the smoker.

Questions about recipes, ask here as you will find many great tips.

[Leaky]

There is a TON of great info on this site to help you. I know it sure helped me. Also lots of great websites dedicated to smoking. Do some searches and you'll have it down in no time. McGurk was right on about the wood. Ruined my first one by trying to smoke the heck out of it.

If I could make one suggestion - Keep a journal of each of your cooks. Meat, smoker temp, outside temp, seasoning, length of time etc. Write what you really thought about how it tasted and maybe what you would do different next time if it wasn't just right. It's always nice to cook for friends or family who you can count on honest opinions.

I kept doing this to the point where I was convinced I couldn't do it any better and then just continued with that method and/or recipe. I kind of figured that when I hear 3 times that "these are the best ribs I've ever had", there's no need to keep trying to change it up. Then it goes into my personal cookbook. I did the same thing with Pork Butts. Going to starting doing some Brisket and Canadian Bacon and will go back to the journal again till I get it right.

[hugonian1]

Thanks for the advice.

Human nature says more is better so I probably would have been burping up smoke for a week.

I ordered the smoker online so I won't have it for a few days yet.

I think some baby backs will be up first.

Looking forward to learning the ropes and enjoying the great food.

[SkunkedAgain]

One thing that I did early on was made a log for smoking. It's nerdy but helps me figure out what works right and wrong a little faster. Enjoy.

[OnAFly]

That's an awesome smoker. I've been using mine regularly for about 3-4 years now. Lots of good meals and snacks have come out of that thing...and a few not-so-good ones too

[leechlake]

first smoke should be:

Ribs with ABT's for appetizers. You can find the ABT recipe on here our on line, they take a bit to make but are absolutely fantastic. I have your smoker and have run it for almost three years. Only one problem ever and that is it won't start when it's cold in the Winter. You'll need to run a blow dryer inside it for a minute or two and then the "error" message with kick off and it will fire up. A mere minor inconvenience.

[hoggs222]

Another must-try is a fattie.