New Amerique

The AQ should have come with an instruction book and some wood. Follow the instructions.. You can generally toss the recipe book.

The AQ should take about 6-8 oz of wood.. 6-8 big chunks from what they sent you. Put it in the wood box. You can leave the racks out during seasoning.

The AQ is a bit more complicated than some of the other smokers so it's good to read the manual for setting the electronics.. but, basically you want to turn the on/off button to the ON position and set the cook temp 200º, close the door and let 'er rip for abou 4+ hours.

DO READ THE MANUAL to make sure you understan the controls and the difference between setting the temp for normal cooking vs probe cooking or holding.

Check out the thread at the top of the "open" forum, entitled "lessons for new users". A lot of them apply to all CS's.

Welcome to the forum.

The wheels with the locks go on the front of the Amerique.I have found the the Amerique will take longer to cook than the other smokers due to the larger size and low wattage heating element (750 watt). Just allow plenty of time and make use of the hold feature and you'll do just fine.

Way to go!! Welcome, and from a present AmeriQue owner I know you will love your new smoker. Listen to the members here and ask questions, you will learn much!!

Cookshack has a copy of the manual online.