New to EVERYTHING! :)

[ijusthvit]

Hey all, I am from Arizona and picked up my first smoker. I grill a lot and figured I should move on to smokin. No one in my family/friend circle grills or smokes so I am as green as it gets. I bought myself a vertical gas from Master Forge and promptly sealed the doors with silicone, leaky turd! Other than that I am smokin blind! Any help would be greatly appreciated! Such as simple first time items to perfect. Thnx guys!

[Hannibal]

[Zeeker]

Welcome ijusthvit, plenty of gasser's here. I'm sure you will find a lot of people to help you out...

[Richtee]

Hello IJust, Welcome to Smoked-Meat! I'm not much help with a gasser unit, sorry. But there's alot of folks here that are. One thing I can mention- bugs, crap, spiderwebs...all seem to LOVE making a home in the gas venturi/burner tube areas. Be on guard! Yellow flame, poor heat, difficulty maintaining flame...all possible symtoms of this. Enjoy!

[HawgHeaven]

Welcome to the island! Lots of fine folks around here that can help you out on your gasser, and tons of BBQ knowledge!

[Texas-Hunter]

Welcome aboard... Feel free to ask any questions if you are not sure.. We all started out the same way.. Not Knowing how to smoke.. Once you start getting it down, you will be the hit amongst your buddies and family...

You will be looked upon as a dork at first for taking pics of your food and smokes.. When this happens, just don't give them any food.. That will stop them..

[curious aardvark]

welcome to the forum.

Some easy things to start with: bacon/ham, fatties (once you get into it we'll have you making your own sausage, but to start with you can buy it :-)

Curing your own bacon is just about the simplest thing you can do. (rub on curing spice, put in ziploc, leave for a week, smoke)

Chicken wings - thousands of recipes for those.

CCR's (pork shoulder steaks or country style ribs) taste great, plenty succulent so difficult to cock up :-) Also useful for 'quick' pulled pork.

And of course ABT's :-)

At the end of the day it's all down to the right temperature and patience.

And you might want to grab some mad hunky rub. Goes with pretty much everything and last time I checked rich was still giving samples out to newbies

[WALLE]

Welcome aboard, IJ.

This is a very cool forum with lots of knowledge, so like Texas Hunter said, feel free to ask questions. Some one will be along shortly to help ya out.

I'm not a gasser, but know a guy who has a SmokeVault (look out for Bassman) and that baby is about as steady as they come. Looks like you have a fine machine for your first smoker.

If you're the first smoker in your circle, you're soon going to be the King of your circle! This shat is not only good, it is very addictive and addicting!

Good to have you.
Tracey

[Bassman]

Welcome to the club. I assume that since you know your smoker leaked that you already seasoned it. Leakage around the door is really no big deal on these. You still get plenty of smoke on the food. Tell us what you want to smoke and we'll be happy to walk you through it.

[BBQ Engineer]

good to have you aboard. The family is in for a treat.

Wood types make a big difference in what you will turn out. The most commonly available woods seem to be hickory or mesquite at the store...for long smokes these can be harsh (especially mesquite). Try to find a lighter wood to smoke with such as pecan, apple, or cherry too. Keep the smoke thin. It doesn't have to be billowing clouds of smoke for the food to take on a great flavor, in fact, that is probably the single biggest mistake when starting out...Over smoking the food.

Take some pics and ask lots of questions. I guarantee someone has been there and had the same questions starting out.

[DDave]

to the forum. If your totally new, relax, you're in the right place.

A little bit of leakage around the door or lid is not really a big deal. Be careful about sealing up your gasser air tight. Propane burners need some draft to keep them burning.

Gassers are nice. You can relax and concentrate on the cooking aspects and not stress so much about fire management. Lots of versatility in them too.

Have fun.

Dave

[Uncle-Honky]

Welcome to the forum! Glad to have ya a part of it!

[SmokinTim]

You will be looked upon as a dork at first for taking pics of your food and smokes.. When this happens, just don't give them any food.. That will stop them..

Wow, gotta drag me into this. Cut them off the smoked goodies...I like it!

Welcome aboard, I was in the same boat and started from scratch a year ago. This site will shorten your learning curve and give you plenty of inspiration.

I would turn out a couple pulled pork butts, maybe some ribs, wings, thighs and just jump right in.

[Whisky Fish]

When I started about a year ago I was impressed with the fatties. You might want to start there. Check out the two stickies at the top of the fatties forum list. You'll be an instant rock star with your family and friends. Good luck! and welcome aboard!

JT

[Meat Hunter]

Welcome to the site ijusthvit, GREAT to have you hear with us. Don't worry about being new, everyone here was new at one point or another. The important thing is you found us. Some of the very best smokers/meat curers/sausage makers reside here so you are in for a real treat.

As far as a first time item to start off with, I would say a Fatty. Look under the forum menu for some ideas.

Main thing to remember is ask questions on things you don't know or understand. Someone is always willing to jump in and assist if needed. AND, no such thing as a "Silly or Stupid" question. Like I said before, WE ALL had to start somewhere so ask away.

You have a good smoker there and there a many here who run gas units that can help you get that bad boy smokin . Look forward to seeing more of you here as well as some of your smokes. And take pics. We like pics. People will look at you oddly for taking pics of your food my family STILL does.
But they never have a problem eating what I smoke so it all works out.