Where I Was, Where I Am and Where I'll Be - Part 4

Where Am I Going?

So, where am I going from here? I have some experience. I've used some equipment. I've gathered some knowledge. And most importantly, I got a new smoker.

So, I seem to have been doing a lot of talking and haven't actually done anything with this new smoker. What gives?

Rain, Rain, Go Away.  Seriously. Just Go!

A few things. First, the weather. It's been raining here. More importantly, it's been raining at the wrong times (there's been nice and sunny moment over the weekend)

Friday night was fine for curing the smoker.  It was a short span of time and got done about 1am with that (I started late) Saturday was a bust. Rained all day and didn't let up.

Saturday night to Sunday morning would've been perfect! Except I had church in the morning and would be away for about 3 1/2 hours around the time to pull the meat. Plus my daughter heads back to church about 2pm for band practice, so there's a real small window of opportunity to actually sit together as a family to eat.

Sunday, for almost all day, was perfect weather. No rain. But even if I started when I got back from church, it wouldn't be ready until after midnight tonight.

And Sunday night the rain is supposed to start up again as well, and of course there's the whole gotta-go-to-work thing, Monday. (Overrated, in my opinion)

So yea, last weekend was a bust.

Sealing the Gap...

So I mentioned a few things, weather being one of them. The other is needing to tinker with the smoker some. Okay, okay, I *want* to tinker with it...

When I cured it Friday, I saw smoke escape along the seams where the unit's parts connect as well as along the door seam.

Escaping smoke means escaping flavor. Escaping smoke also means escaping heat, which means harder temperature regulating and possibly longer smoke times. If I'm going to be serious about this, I need to be serious about this. So off to Amazon for a few purchases. A few days later and voila! Mail call on Monday with my goodies!

...and the Chimney

First, the escaping smoke. I attacked this two-fold. One area escaping is where the firebox and main chamber connect with bolts only. I sealed where it connects with a high-temperature, food grade silicone. I also sealed where the chimney stack attaches

Next, I used a high temp smoke gasket for the door. This will also help keep smoke and heat from bleeding out.

Quick note about the gasket. I thought it was a rubber gasket when I ordered it. When I got it, it had a felt quality to it. But, after holding a piece to a lighter for about a minute, it never caught fire (or melted or anything) so I was satisfied it wouldn't cause problems with the heat from the smoker.

Getting Ready to Drill

Another tip I learned is the temperature gauge that comes with smokers are usually cheap, AND in the wrong place to accurately monitor your temperature. The thermometer should be close to the level your meat goes. High up top on the lid can have a real difference, and you want to be as accurate as possible with it.

So, I ordered a new temperature gauge and drilled a hole, closer to grill/meat level and attached.  Plus the color coding on the dial makes it infinitely easier to make a quick glance and see where you're at.

In addition to these purchases, I also got some butcher paper to wrap the meats in, and a grate lifting tool if I need to move them around or access underneath them while cooking.

All said, I believe my smoker is ready for its maiden voyage. Texas weather has been real funky lately with tons of rain. Right now it looks like Friday night might be the time to try my first smoke, but its still a few days away and anything can happen in Texas.

As they say, if you don't like Texas weather, wait 5 minutes.

So now you know my past, present and hints of my future.

My blog posts will probably start being less frequent as it would just chronicle each smoke I try, and as much as I'd love to, I won't be able to smoke every weekend.