New Guy

[Kirby]

Folks , I just found this sight the other day while reseaching smokers or as you guys call'em pits , I really like all the info that is posted here. Now for the questions, I have never smoked a thing , but I do love a good "Q" and looking forward to learning, so what do I need to get started ? what kind of pit should I start out with, please keep in mind I'v got two kids in braces so $$ kind of tight . I'm sure I'll have more questions later.

[Dirty Ron]

Kirby - how are you???? Glad to have you on the forum, especially being from Michigan - I need the support with all these "Southern Gentlemen" (& Carrie)..lol.

Quite honestly, there are many people from many backgrounds here. Most of us started on a smaller/inexpensive type pit or smoker. You can do a nice job even with a Weber Kettle, if that's what you have. But bottom line, It's "low & slow". Low temps & cooking for a long period of time. The cheaper smokers/pits will do an excellent job for you, but will require a little more tending/work than others that run a little more.

Good starting blocks are the Weber Smokey Mountain ($179) for a vertical smoker and I still like the Brinkmann Smoke N Pit for a cheap offset type (about $175 also).

I'm sure you will get a lot more info than you planned on from the others..wait & see. Again, welcome.

[Kirby]

Ron , thanks for the info , what do you mean by "offset" is that a pit with a side firebox , if it is, I think thats the direction I want to go. Where would I find info on a brinkmen? Also, the only thing I'm useing now is a gas grill to cook the same old stuff burgers, dogs, steaks.......BLAH BLAH BLAH! :cry:

[Buckeye]

Welcome Kirby......Ron gave ya sum pretty good "starter" grills/smokers ta choose from....although I've never used one of em' they seem ta have quite a followin an good reputation...my first pit was/is a Chargriller (Home Depot), then got tha side firebox later; once I learnt tha difference betwixt grillin' an smokin' :oops: .....warnin' here :!: .. this Q'n thing ain't no joke....it may cause ya ta go inta rehab :P . If it bites ya like it did me...one of yer chirrens is probablee gonna wonder why they teeth ain't as strate as they siblin's :shock: ...befer ya no it ya gonna want a big ***** pit and be thinkin of ways ta rob the kid's college fund with much rationale behind it......jus be careful.......These guys/ gals will help in any way they can, so come on in an git some smoke in yer eyes......one mo thing...if a guy name Texana post anything just disregard it...he's got serious issues and nobody really likes him much...if it weren't fer tha great personality of this forum they'da kicked him off long time ago.....Buckeye

[Qjunkie will]

hEY kIrBY wElCoME! i DONT kNOw If YoU HaVe A bBq gAlOrE nEaR yOU BUT THEY HAVE A REALLY gOoD OfFsEt CALLED A BARBCHEF fOr $200 i THINK ITS A LITTLE BETTER THAN SOME OF THE ONES YOU CAN GIT AT THE OTHER STORES! jUsT mY oPiNiOn!

[Grumpy Gator]

Kirby,

Don't dismiss the Weber Smokey Mountain without checking it out. You can do 10 racks of ribs in one, or 4 butts, or 2 briskets or 8 chickens.

And the dang thing is steady as a rock. No messing with the controls all the time. And no adding extra charcoal. I've had mine run 20 hours at 225* without doing anything except stirring the coals once or twice to shake off the ash.

And if you get it at Amazon before the end of the month, it is $154 with free shipping.

I guarantee you it is one purchase you will never regret.

[Texana]

Hey Kirby.

Welcome to the forum.

You have been give some great information. Keep asking and learning. You will be a pro in no time.

As you will find out quick this is the best forum on the net when it comes to "Q". Exceptin for Buckeye everyone is pretty normal.

Have fun.

[Qjunkie will]

Ya GoT ThAt RiGhT!

[Kirby]

Thanks guys for all the great advice , the question I have now is this , is the WSM the way to go and to learn from or is the pit with the fire box the way. I know that it is my choice but if you pros were just starten out and had to do it all over again what things would you have done diffrently and started off with. Just trying to cut the learning curve some. Like I said I will have alot of questions :D

[BBQDOUG]

Kirby

I have three wsm's and all I can say is they are a great cooker

It's my opinion to start small and work your way up

a wsm is great to learn on and you can't go wrong for $200.00

[Texana]

Kirby:

Doug is probably right. The only problem is by the time you work yourself up you could be to old to enjoy it. So having said that I say jump in and get the biggest pit you can afford. Go all the way. Start with an
offset and you will never look back.

Ok, now that I got that out of my system. You gotta do what you gotta do, and from all accounts the WSM is a well built smoking machine. It just gets next to me everytime Mr BBQMagoo brags about them little WSM's

Oh by the way WSM stands for Wimpy Smoking Machine!

8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[BBQDOUG]

Kirby you got to watch out for old Texana, that man will have you

in the poor house :shock: before you can say what the hell happend :?:

One thing you got to remember it's real easy for old Texana to

say go out and get the biggest stick burner you can find him being

one of them rich Texas oil men and all. :x Ok Texana i'm calling you

out my wsm against you stick burner at high noon one of these

weekends

[Mac]

If Doug wins does he get to pick from one of Texanas new sauce products? And what if Texana wins does he just get bragging rites?

:D :lol: :lol:

[Kirby]

Man you guys are killing me , Texana if I went out and bought the biggest one I could , it would have to be attached to a dog house because thats were I would have to live. O.K. time for a dumb question , How does the WSM work , do you just start a fire in it like you would a firebox or do you use charcoal and add chunks of wood , and also do you have to rotate the meat from top to bottom and vise versa . I told ya I didn't know a thing about this, but I am learning by your replys.

[BBQDOUG]

Here you go Kirby everything you would ever want to know about

the wsm or bullet or 2820 actually their all the same thing.

www.virtualweberbullet.com

just click and your off the world

of the little cooker that could enjoy my friend enjoy :wink:

[Texana]

Ye Old Dog House


It can get might lonely living there. Ask Doug. He stays there a lot!

[Buckeye]

I've done sum of my best Q'n next ta tha doghouse...nice an peaceful-like :D :D :D ....Buckeye

[ouija]

Ive got a new braunfels from walmart. I got the bandera it has a vertical stack and an off set firebox/grill. in all 992 sq. inch of space. it came with four racks, two rib racks, two bird hooks and a water/drip pan. i can fit larger pieces of wood in it than alot out there at the price $200, so i can get wood cheaper. So far it has been great, i have cooked a large brisket, four chickens, two racks of ribs, a pork shoulder, and some salmon, just in the stack. then while it all cooked for a while i was able to grill up a steak. its been great. it was packed full. but it all cooked well and i'm still eating leftovers. Just my opinion of course. Oh by the way bill, are you gonna be on that food network BBQ marathon. Just thought i would ask. hope it was some help on the smoker. :)

[Qjunkie will]

Kirby do whats right for you I grew up with an offset and I like cooking with straight wood I like to play, I have never liked the wsm type cookers or charcoal just me sorry Doug I know they are good and all just prefer the fun of burning and tending to a wood fire.

[farmboy]

Hello Kirby welcome to the family. These guys are a great bunch, with lots of great info. If you have a home depo near you go and check them out. I pickedup my offset there it is a good size, nothing like a gator pit but it still cooks my food and every one loves it(sorry rich I just could not afford my pit we talked about, it will have to wait.) I only paid 269.00 cnd for it so it is like 120 us for it. I still use the gas grill to do some Q but not as much as I use my new one. Colin

[Grumpy Gator]

I'm not gonna let Doug get picked on all by himself here...

I know when I do an overnight cook with my Wimpy Smoking Machine, I can still get a good night's sleep while the Wimpy Smoking Machine is chugging away holding steady.

The only thing I can't get on the WSM is a whole hog, but only because I don't know the proper way to fold it. :lol:

But then, you Texas folk do beef and you can't get a whole cow on most of your pits either.

I'm like Doug, I'll put my Wimpy Smoking Machine against one of those log eaters anytime...

Kirby, the most important thing about deciding on a smoker, is to get what you feel comfortable with and can enjoy. That's what's its really about... enjoying what you're doin'

[Qjunkie will]

Its all in fun not picking on you BBQ just Mr Magoo (Doug) By the way I saw Home Depot has a sale right now on smokers!

[BBQDOUG]

That's MR. BBQ MCGOO if you please :lol: :wink:

And your right BBQinFL if you don't mind staying up

all night babysitting that stick burner then that's the way to go

but if you want to get a good nights sleep during one of those

long cooks then my friend the old 2820 is the only way to fly :wink:

but it's all good no matter how you do it :D :D :D :D :D

[ouija]

i gotta agree. go with whatever style you are most comfy with. Also it takes times to learn your pit so when you do get whatever you get don't get discouraged if the first few times, you dont get perfect results or even close to perfect. for instance i've come to find that if i put chicken in my smoke chamber towards the bottom it cooks faster and browns quickly, but if i put it up at the top the birds take longer to cook and browning is almost non existant.

[Texana]

BBQ in FL is right. You just gotta do what you gotta do.

Hmmmmm..........Hey Ritch.........I will call you soon. BBBQinFL has given me a new idea. We need a pit to put the whole cow on :shock:

Now where do we start first .... hmmmmmm


(to be continuted)

[Texana]

By the way BBQinFL I have seen a couple of pits down here on 18 wheelers. Super huge rigs, but I think for for whole herd cooking not just a cow......

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[BBQ Rookie]

:D Kirby welcome, I'm new to this also and believe me these guys are a great help I would take there advice. BBQ Rookie

[SmokinButz]

8) 8) BBQ Rookie, where in Washington are y'all? I'm in Tri-Cities...... 8) 8)

[BBQ Rookie]

8) I'm in Port Orchard 5 miles from Bremerton. Ive been to Tri cities nice place. BBQ Rookie

[farmboy]

tex i saw one of those pits being pulled by a semi. that thing was sweet. I was thinking of all the good food that i could make on that. The wife started saying if iget something that big then she wants blah blah. i kinda tuned her out after i saw the pit. So not to sure what she was saying :) The guy was heading out to alberta Canada. Colin

[Woodman]

Kirby, you can get yourself a el cheapo Grand Mac smoker at Gander Mountain, or go over to Dundee and see what Cabela's has in the $ 40-60 range. Start with charcoal though. Electric has more parts that fail, and you'll get no feel for fire control. The problem is, the paint will peel and the thing will rust within a year,but you'll know if'n ya want to continue or not. Buckeye's right. The braces may have to wait. I started with a Grand Mac, had a Stainless Brinkmann in three weeks ($170) followed by a Klose 20 x 36" in two months (about $1400 inc. freight.) Most I've talked to say that the WSM is the best bullet. I wish I'da bought that as opposed to the Brinkmann. If you TRULY will not possibly be able to afford a $500 -$1000 offset for a number of years, I'd go the WSM route.It is difficult for me to offer help to you, being that your from"that state up north", but BBQ actually trancends age old football rivalries, (as well as age old civil war rivalries -right boys?) What city are you in? How bout you Dirty Ron?
I get all over that state. Ludington, to Detroit , to Muskegon. Go Buckeyes!

[Kirby]

O.K guys I made up my mind, and I'm going to start my learning on a WSM. So once I get the thing in I'll be posting more questions. I want to thank BBQDoug for all the help and info. Woodman I live by Marine City about 25 miles south of Port huron.

[Texana]

Kirby:

Good luck with the WSM. You will do fine. And as far as I am concerned BBQDoug is yer WSM expert. He wont lead you wrong. You also got BBQinFL to help out also.

Your in good hands.........

[Woodman]

Yep, I used to call on a guy over in New Baltimore. Keep us posted on your new adventure. Get the book "Smoke and Spice" for a learning tool. Try the Rosemary Smoked Walnuts. On your first cook, get some simple prepackaged Brats like Johnsonville or Bob Evans. Smoke em for about 1-2 hours. eat em on a bun. Man that's good. Another good intro is "Country , or Western style "ribs. These are just pork shoulders cut into little steaks. # hours at about 240 will have your taste buds dancin! I'l give you 4 months until I see you on the Gator and Klose sites!-woodman

[Grumpy Gator]

Wise choice, Kirby... :D

Even if you get one of those stick-eaters later on, you'll always keep the WSM around.

[Dirty Ron]

Hey Woodman...I'm in Saginaw. GO BLUE!!! Did I mantion I went to U/M???? Don't be spouting mr Ohio LOL. No, the WSM is a great smoker. One problem is if you have/want to cook multiple things at different temps...could be tricky. I think I tend to lean more towards the offsets...more versitile 8) 8)

[Qjunkie will]

Hey Texana maybee Ritch needs to build some Wsm type smokers but better ya know put that Gator touch on em!