Never smoked before......until this weekend!


 
B

Brian

New member
Good Afternoon,

I am completely new to smoking, besides eating and watching others on the television. However, with a purchase of a new home we finally have room for a smoker! I am very excited that tonight I will be purchasing the 18.5in weber smoker. However, the question I have: what else should I be purchasing as accessories?

I look forward to hearing from all of you!

Thanks
Brian
 
Congrats Brian! You are going to have a blast. Just some charcoal and meat is all you need to get going! :)

Seriously, though, I would purchase a Weber chimney starter, and a Maverick ET732 thermometer so you can monitor your smoker and meat temps. You can turn out top notch BBQ with just those items. Heck, you don't even really need the thermometer to turn out top notch BBQ, but that dome thermometer is never accurate on the WSM and when you are just learning to smoke, I find the thermometer is not only a good help, but a teaching tool.

Be sure to post pics of your first cook! Look forward to it. Best of luck.
 
Sounds good, I'm also on a slippery slope towards a 18.5 myself. Will be interesting to see your cooks and first time experiences
 
Yep, you'll need charcoal, a chimney, and a Maverick ET-732 (sometimes sold under the Redi-Check brand).

Do a pork butt first, they're hard to mess up. Briskets don't stand up well to the big temperature fluctuations you might introduce as you're learning the smoker.
 
That is the truth....all you need is a charcoal chimney to get started. The thermometer can wait. But it is something you'll want to have eventually . A good pair of tongs and a pair of stout work gloves or good oven mitts will save you some blisters.
A chicken is a great break in cook....pork shoulder is pretty easy. Me , I'd go buy a bunch of chicken legs and salt and pepper those bad boys and throw em on the smoker....get the hang of building the fire and controlling the heat with the vents. Have fun with it. And post some pictures!
 
Welcome Brian, for sure you need the charcoal chimney, I would also get some paraffin cubes to help start the charcoal. Of course be sure to get some wood chunks and I agree with a pair of tongs, I bet you could get a nice Weber BBQ tool set on sale right now, it would be a good time to get a pair of gloves also. The good thing about this time of year is that a lot of accessories will be on sale. I would start with beer can chicken and see how you like that.
 
And some heat resistant gloves(oven mitts). Lowering the bottom rack can be a challenge if not protected.
 
I would agree with the others. I am still relatively new with my 18.5". Just got my Maverick a couple weeks ago and have used it twice. Great tool. But you can definitely wait to get that. Done ribs a couple of time and chickens without it, and they all turned out great. Just get used to maintaining your temps first off and all will be good.
 
I think the previous posters have given you good advice and covered the basics to get going.

For what it's worth, and to give you suggestions of all the toys an accessories you can have (but don't necessary need) here are the things I have in my smoking pantry: chimney, charcoal, several varities of wood chunks, Naverick thermometer, Thermapen thermometer, gloves, tongs, rubs, spritzer bottle, bbq sauces, BBQ brush, mop brush, rib racks, mesh/preforated pans and baskets, big *** lighter w/flexiable neck, aMazing cold smoke tray, smoke wood dust, cooks butane torch, rotisierre set up...

Oh most important is a notebook with recipes and notes from cooking on success and mistakes and ideas, print outs from websites with recipes and methods..etc. :)
 
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Thanks everyone for the useful tips. I will have an update late Sunday, I have decide to do the pork butt...can't wait!

thanks again
Brian
 
Good Morning,

I think the first smoke was a success!!! There was two hour plus stall at 153, I did not think that it would ever get to 190! Thanks again for all your help!

Thanks
Brian


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Brian, this is a great first. Looks great. Have you happened to mod your wsm with a slot or grommet to run your probe wires? You'll like whichever you choose.

Nice Going.
 
Congrats on your first cook, Looks good! Yep...now you're hooked!! I added the grommets to run probes right off the bat. Am thinking about doing the slot mod now because I just purchased an ATC and can't run the pit probe thru the grommet since it has an alligator clip on the end (the food probe would fit though).. I wound up running the pit probe under the lid which resulted in having to foil around the lid because of air leaks.

Messing with probes thru holes can be a pain, and the slot mod looks pretty good to me right now. I'm not a friend to hand tools, well they don't like ME...so I'll try to get my handy brother over here to actually make this mod for me. He might pass on the request since he knows how I feel about my smoker though :)
 
Great looking cook.

I hope to break in my new 18.5 WSM this weekend.
Grommets on order, but now I'm thinking slots are the way to go.
 
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