What was your first smoker ?


 
So Richard was it worth it? I know mine was I drove about 140 miles round trip to pick it up down in Louisville. Best 160.00 I ever spent.
 
2008 18" WSM that I still use after researching for a year. Picked up a second one two years later. Two WSMs serve all my smoking needs.
 
So Richard was it worth it? I know mine was I drove about 140 miles round trip to pick it up down in Louisville. Best 160.00 I ever spent.

Kevin L: Yes, it was money well spent! Back in the year 2008 there were hardly any places that sold Weber Products but that has really changed in the last few years.

Last weekend I attended the 5th Annual Weber BBQ Fest here in Ticoland in which was well attended by many Costa Ricans. I have a Costa Rican friend who attended a BBQ Judge Class conducted by Weber here in Costa Rica. He was one of the Judges at the Weber BBQ Fest last weekend in which there were around fifteen(15) Costa Rican BBQ Teams in competition in preparing brisket(pecho de res), Chicken(pollo), Spareribs(costillas de cerdo).

Anyhow, in recent years I have added a Weber "Mastertouch" 22" Grill and Weber Smoky Joe to my BBQ Arsenal all bought here in Costa Rica. My principal accessories are a SlowNSear Plus, the "EasySpin" SS Grill and "Grill Grates" in which I remain a very Satisfied customer.

Weber Products cost much more here in Ticoland in comparison to the good old USA due to the high Import Tax(29%).
 
Richard, Costa Rica sounds like they see quality and embrace it. Glad to see you are using other cookers as well.
Love to see some of your cooks with your great back ground scenery.
 
My first smoker was an offset that my neighbor was literally throwing away. I was running about 5am one morning and saw it sitting by his mailbox waiting on the city to pick it up. I rolled it back down to my house and looked at it that afternoon. The bottom of the firebox was starting to go, but it was still good enough for me to mess around with. I cooked on it 3 or 4 times and learned a lot and then decided that thing used up waaaaayyyyy too much charcoal. I had been to this forum while I was first learning and a couple of years ago I got a 18.5 WSM and I love it.
 
My first smoker was an old Weber kettle with wood chips. It seemed perfect at the time.
 
Brinkmann Smoke N Grill for me.

Such a bad design. Had I purchased a Weber back then, I could have been the Harry Soo of the Mid-Atlantic by now. :p:eek:
 
I bought a Brinkman back in mid 80's , never figured it out, no internet to help.

Someone did me a favor and stole it off my patio.
 
I smoked my first rack of ribs on my Red Genesis 1000 with a Weber smoker box. I was hooked ! Soon after I got a WSM 18.5 and never looked back.
 
I started with a Brinkmann Gourmet smoker, which I heavily modified (added adjustable air vents, a charcoal grate so accumulating ashes would not cause the fire to die down, thermometer). And I cooked some pretty good bbq on it, but I would routinely have to dump out the ashes and add more charcoal after just a few hours. I finally saw the light and bought an 18" WSM (back when they were selling for $179) and I'm still using it some 20+ years later.

brinkmann_Gourment_charcoal_smoker_grill-589dc69a3df78c4758879963.jpg
 
The Smoke N Grill used to have a vent hole in the bottom, but my unit had no vent hole at all. Trying to keep temps up was fruitless at best.
 

 

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