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Welcome neighbor! Paul

Tim, There won't be any real difference in cooking temps between the 2 racks so I'd cook on the top as a matter of convenience. What cooking temp are you shooting for? If you use a water pan (even empty) it will act as a buffer and you shouldn't have worry about burning the skin. 2 full...

You're welcome! That site has a ton of solid advice and recipes. Paul

Your English is superior to mine and I'm a native speaker :confused:! If smoking, and smoking at a lower temp (<180), then cure #1 is needed. I generally smoke to an internal temp of 140. I then immediately cool the sausages down with cold running water to bring down the internal temp and...

Andreas, On your smoked sausage I would recommend smoking at a lower temperature. I've had better luck with keeping temps no higher than 170. Above 170 and the sausage renders too much fat and your finished product is too lean which yields an odd 'mouth feel'. Smoking at higher temps, your...

There's no firm setting for the vents due to many variables. Issues such as air moving in and out due to seals, amount of meat in smoker (cold meat acts as a heat sink), amount of lit coals, outside air temp, wind, etc. all will affect the vent settings. I use a reliable thermo and adjust to...

Ray, I've never tried the frying of cooked fish option; please post the results. If you do a quick hot fry I would think it should work well especially if the fish wasn't over-cooked to begin with. I store my fillets in a small amount of water (in zip locks) before freezing; this seems to...

You won't damage your smoker using lump; many of us use it regularly. Briquettes are easier to use which is beneficial for those just learing how to operate the WSM. As stated by the others, the irregular shape of lump causes an inconsistent burn (you may have large 'voids' or air pockets if...

Welcome Andreas, Here's my thoughts.. "The villagers here certainly knew nothing about nitrates, hot smoke and temps." Maybe they knew about the smoke and temps through trial and error. You're correct that they most likely didn't know of nitrates/nitrites; but after many years of stumbling...

Welcome Scott, I'd have 2 large bags of charcoal on hand just to be safe. There are a lot of variables to determine cook time; Rolf points out 2 of them. Foiling speeds up the cooking. Will you be cooking both the butt and the brisket at the same time? If so, it will take longer for your WSM...

Good to see you back Keri! Love black eyed peas in any form. Paul

John, how many depends on how much advance work you can put in. Most of your work will be done in advance. Cooking, pulling, bagging/containing, stagging your booth, icing down drinks, getting sauce in squirt containers or bowls, etc. You can pre-cook butts in advance, pull them and then...

Steve, A couple of thoughts...salting the tomatoes and letting them sit in a colander will draw out moisture. Choose a meaty variety of tomato. You want to minimize the amount of the 'jelly' (placental tissue) and maximize the meat. Think Roma versus stardard salad tomato. Instead of a top...

Price as mentioned, insulation and weight. The BGE is a ceramic cooker and is very heavy. That makes it less practical to move around if that is important to you. My brother owns a BGE and loves it. I on the other hand have the WSM and love it. We both put out good/great food. It's just a...

Another consideration is the ratio of a crispy bark to softer inner-meat. With the 1 lbers, you'll have a higher ratio. Paul

Ditto on the vacuum sealed bags and freezing. I thawed a partial brisket this week that I smoked about a month ago. There's a lot of suggestions on this site for what to do with leftover meats...enchiladas, abts, sammies, stuffed peppers, etc. Paul

They may not close completely, I've never really noticed. I do know that with a properly fitting door and all vents closed that coals will be extinguished in about 40 mins. The key here is the properly fitting door which tends to get out of shape. Are you just trying to put out your coals? Paul

John, Check out this rub by Kevin Kruger: http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?30937-Metamorphosis-Rub-(originally-titled-Need-a-new-rub-for-this-year-)&highlight=metamorphosis] Metamorphosis Paul

I line my bowl with foil and leave the grates as is until the next cook. Before firing up the smoker on the next cook I take a metal brush to the grates. The residue left on the grates keeps them from rusting. Paul

James, Your brief description indicates potential food poisoning which is most commonly caused by E. coli. Bacteria, germs, etc. can contaminate food that is mishandled, improperly stored (not cold enough), cross contaminated. Most food poisoning kicks in after several hours of eating the...