Buying SM025 -- What to do while waiting?

Congratulations on your purchase. You are in for a good time learning to smoke. Just read in the forum as much as you can about new owner's. Read all of their miss-haps and mistakes! Then you will be better prepared when you make the same mistakes you have just read about! Believe me I know because of my beginning experiences.
There is plenty of wood to get you going when your unit comes in. Yes, I do think it is worthwhile to get wood from Cookshack. It is cut to their specs and very uniform in size. You can use other chunks,but I still like the cookshack wood best.
As some else on this forum has said, "Don't over think it" just relax and have fun.

That maverick is a nice theremometer have had mine for several years. Best one I ever owned.

I've got the ET-7, and it works great. Your price is a lot better than what I paid. For that price, I'd be a buyer.

Pork Butt is a great first meat to smoke. It's fatty, will cook longer than most other items, and will help season the smoker some more. It is also fairly mistake proof. Good eating.

Enjoy.

Other things you can do while waiting is buy a notebook for your smoking log, or make up a form on your computer, whichever you find easier. Then use it every time you smoke to document your experience. This will help you figure out, over time, what works for you and what doesn't.

I just use a plain notebook and take notes by hand. I record cut of meat, what grade if applicble, where purchased, when purchased, price per pound, total price paid, if I had frozen it, weight before trimming, weight after trimming (per piece if multiple pieces), what seasonings or rubs or marinades or brines I used, date and time when rubbed, for how long it rested with the rub, or was marinaded or brined. Any other special process information, if applicable. Then I record date and time I put it in the cooker, what cooker temp I set, what probe temperature I set, what type of wood I used and how much. I check the temp at approximately even intervals throughout cooking and note the smoker temp, probe temp, plus the temp on any extra probes I'm using. I note the time and quantity of wood if I add any during smoking. I note the time whenever I open the door. When the meat is done, I make general notes about appearance, texture, if I FTC'd it, and for how long, and finally the taste. Then if I have any ideas for adjustments or refinements for my next time to smoke that same type of meat, I'll record those as well.

Another thing you can do in the meantime is read the forum and make a list of items you want to try. Maybe save the URL of any recipes or techniques that interest you.

Check to see that you have pans and trays large enough to fit the cuts of meat you're going to smoke, and make sure they'll fit in your refrigerator, because in many cases you're going to rub or marinade or brine before you smoke, and you'll do this in your fridge. For example, what's called a "half sheet" pan is about 12 by 17 inches and is perfect for two racks of spares or three racks of loin backs or baby backs, and also for full-sized brisket packers. PBs fit well in a normal oven roasting pan.

Buy yourself some grill gloves if you don't already have some so you can handle the shelves and the wood box when it is hot. I have a very thick pair of leather grill gloves I used for handling the wood box, and a thick set of rubber food handling gloves (very thick and insulated) so I can pick the meat up off the racks by hand to transfer to a tray. This is much better than trying to move very tender PBs and briskets using tongs. But make sure you have some long handled heavy-duty tongs for things like ribs and chicken pieces.

Scope out the spot you're going to put the CS and make sure you have easily accessible power and some protection from the elements. You might consider a work table of some kind next to the smoker so you can easily transfer meat from trays to racks and vice versa. Take a look at the thread where people show their setups for ideas. You might want to think about putting the smoker up on a stand of some kind to make it easier to load and unload, clean up, etc.

Buy some heavy duty foil in wide rolls. You'll need to foil the bottom of your smoker and the top of the firebox cover every time you smoke.

Those are a few things that occur to me right now.

Welcome to the board.

Just wanted to give you a heads up that the SM025 comes with a meat thermometer. I ordered mine fron the Charcoal Store on the 25th and received it yesterday July 1. They didn't send an email when it shipped but you can go to thier website and track it. I haven't got to use it yet because it's been raining here in the Houston area for the last 2 days.`

I have a large collection of thermometers.... most of them in a box and have yet to be use.

But I have used an ET-7 for many years and it has been the most durable and accurate of any that I have used.

Only one caveat: the remote doesn't go very far, like 25 feet or so depending on your house construction, etc. So keep it close to a window and close to the smoker and you'll be ok.

SkipQ...great post.

quote:

Originally posted by MaxQue:
SkipQ...great post.

Thank you, MaxQue. As Smokin' and others continually admonish, keeping good notes is essential to improvement and to avoidance of repeat errors. And those other tips just help your smoking day go more smoothly.

And make sure you have a drip pan for the grease.