M Schneider
TVWBB Member
Hello, my name is Mike and I am a smoke-aholic...........let me tell you a little about myself. I am in my mid-50's and have been on the business end of an offset smoker since I left home nearly 40 years ago. I have owned and/or cooked on just about every brand of offset smoker there is, from the home improvement store cheapos to the custom-made, high-end (high-dollar), competition-grade gems everyone in the BBQ world covets. Everything from Langs and Yoders to custom rigs by Klose and even a Jambo. Okay........I made that last one up, sorry. I've never owned or even cooked on a Jambo, but I sure hope to someday. Anyway, you get the point. I do not recall even one time in all these years that I've loosely worn the title of PITMASTER (in my backyard anyway), that I ever smoked anything on any kind of smoker other than a traditional offset. And until recently I was that guy who gently poked fun at anybody who used anything else and still had the nerve to call it bbq. I was kind of a bbq snob if you know what I mean. I called myself a traditionalist, while others called me an elitist. Of course some even called me worse than that. Well, that all changed recently when I bought myself a Weber Smokey Mountain just a few weeks ago. Now friends, I am here to tell you that I am fairly well set in my ways, and I am the type of fellow who generally resists change. I didn't coin the phrase, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But you'd be hard-pressed to find somebody who has lived by that mantra for longer than me. Like most folks around here, I got a lot of great info from this forum before I made the monumental leap of faith required to spend my hard-earned money on something so strange and different from what I grew up with and cut my teeth on.........and I thank you all for that. I'm not really sure it qualifies as a spiritual awakening or anything of that sort, but............it was a very enlightening experience to say the least after tasting the delicious BBQ that came off that little $400 WSM the very first time I fired it up. I say little, but in reality it is the 22.5 inch model, which is pretty big actually. And I am from Texas after all, where everything is bigger, so you know I had no choice but to get the biggest one they make, right? To say that I am impressed would be a colossal understatement. Completely blown away is a more accurate way to word it I think. That's right folks, I am a changed man. I love my WSM and I am looking forward to turning out the best bbq of my life as I learn all the little nuances of my new smoker and dial things in a little better. Thank you all again, and I am eagerly looking forward to reading and learning even more from those of you who saw the light so much sooner than I did. I am living proof that an old dog can learn new tricks. That's it for now. Thanks for having me.
P.S. Sold my offset. Don't need it. Don't miss it. Can't believe I was so wrong for so long.
P.S. Sold my offset. Don't need it. Don't miss it. Can't believe I was so wrong for so long.
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