I assembled my new WSM yesterday and placed it beside my Performer. Now all I need is Saturday. I also ordered a Maverick ET-73 and some eyelets.
I got the WSM from Amazon (clicking through from this site--hope it made a few pennies on the deal). I have to say that more than anything else, vitualweberbullet convinced me to take the plunge. It's hard to overestimate the value of a site where the user forum contains six years of advice and information from experts!
The day before the WSM arrived, my local Kroger put a stack of their cryovac'ed spare ribs that had reached their sell-by date on a 1/2 price sale. (They're in my freezer now). Seems like kismet to me.
I've had the Performer for about 6 years and am still crazy about it. I grill every night I can. My next planned adventure on it is pizza.
I've also had a Char-Broil H2O electric smoker for about 2-1/2 years but have only used it a few times with indifferent results. I was tempted to think it is a piece of crap, but I suspect the truth is that it is unforgiving of people who don't know what they're doing. Maybe the analogy is that a professional guitarist can play passably well on a beginner's guitar, but a beginner can only learn to play well on a great guitar. I can see where the thing may still have some continued value to me for very short/small smokes, fish filets or whatever.
At any rate, I was amazed at the construction quality of the WSM compared to what I was used to. It's a tank! I can see how it might do a much better job of managing temperatures.
I plan to go through Wivott's 5-step course first and then begin experimenting with the information I've seen here.
Just wanted to give you all a shout-out first and thank you for building such a great resource for a beginner like me.
-Keith
I got the WSM from Amazon (clicking through from this site--hope it made a few pennies on the deal). I have to say that more than anything else, vitualweberbullet convinced me to take the plunge. It's hard to overestimate the value of a site where the user forum contains six years of advice and information from experts!
The day before the WSM arrived, my local Kroger put a stack of their cryovac'ed spare ribs that had reached their sell-by date on a 1/2 price sale. (They're in my freezer now). Seems like kismet to me.
I've had the Performer for about 6 years and am still crazy about it. I grill every night I can. My next planned adventure on it is pizza.
I've also had a Char-Broil H2O electric smoker for about 2-1/2 years but have only used it a few times with indifferent results. I was tempted to think it is a piece of crap, but I suspect the truth is that it is unforgiving of people who don't know what they're doing. Maybe the analogy is that a professional guitarist can play passably well on a beginner's guitar, but a beginner can only learn to play well on a great guitar. I can see where the thing may still have some continued value to me for very short/small smokes, fish filets or whatever.
At any rate, I was amazed at the construction quality of the WSM compared to what I was used to. It's a tank! I can see how it might do a much better job of managing temperatures.
I plan to go through Wivott's 5-step course first and then begin experimenting with the information I've seen here.
Just wanted to give you all a shout-out first and thank you for building such a great resource for a beginner like me.
-Keith
