Waiting for my SM050

Hi Caroline, welcome to the forum. I was like you, Cooking on a offset. It was alot of fun when I had the time to babysit it and add the wood, consumed lots of beers watching it. I do miss that part sometimes. But what I like better is putting on a Pork Butt at bedtime friday night, not worrying about it. lunch time saturday, ya got a perfect piece of meat ready to be pulled. Remember to season the smoker first. and dont get frustrated if your first couple cooks dont come out the way you like. You will love it, Its so easy it should be against the law.

Welcome to the gang.

I'd start with the following thread (it's at the top of the open forum)

Since you're familiar with an offset and Q the biggest this is not using nearly as much wood as you think. In a CS, the woods for flavor, not for heat.

Lessons for New Users

Hi SmokinOkie and popum2000, and thanks for the great suggestions and kind welcome.

I appreciate your advice, especially with regards to seasoning and wood quantities - I was still in that "using wood for heat" mindset.

Question for you though...I've heard that when you step away from lump charcoal, and its heat and smoke, that you lose the deep red smoke ring on the meat...Is this true?

Howdy Joe, welcome to the world of Cookshack.

Yes, it's true. With the Cookshack you won't get that deep red color. The red color is a function of the nitrites created in stick burners and charcoal burning units as a result of burning large quantities of the fuel. Since the Cookshack uses only a couple ounces of wood there's not a high enough concentration of nitrite to cause the smoke ring. On the plus side, the smoke ring is only an appearance item and has no effect on the flavor of the final product. In fact, I'm told that in MIM and KCBS competitions, smoke ring is not allowed to be considered by the judges when grading a sample.

If you add a couple pieces of charcoal to your wood box it will create somewhat of a smoke ring but not nearly as pronounced as in the conventional cookers.

Happy smoking, Joe.

Welcome to the forum. It's not the SR that's important. It is the taste of the finished product. I've smoked on an off-set pit for years and enjoy the switch over from pit to SC and ST. You want believe the enjoyment of smoking. We would like to welcome you to the family of the bbq forum and happy smok'n.


Smoky
Spring, Texas

Joe -- "Welcome to the Forum!"

Think of it this way. The SR is attractive and somewhat desirous in BBQ circles, but also think of the extra time you will have on your hands not having to tend the stick-burner! Tons of time to do whatever your heart desires!

You're gonna love your new CS!!!

Hey Smoky...Spring, Texas! Both my wife and I grew up there. She went to Spring High and I was a Klein Oak kid...

We haven't been there for a number of years, but we still consider it home! Her sister still lives out in the area, but a little closer to Houston...off Jones Road.

hi joe,
we have a friend who lives in toronto (oshaway). glad you are here.
smoke ring is a funny thing and can get some real funny things going. we have a 150 which is just a big 50. one thing some guys do is leave a little of the previous wood which is really charcoal and start the next smoke. helps with the ring if it is important to you. i think you will like the 50. i looked down my nose at peg's 150 since i have an fec. funny part is now i use it more than the fec. really versatile those sm's and fun to use to boot. glad you are here. it's a great bunch of people
jack

Hey prisonchef...

Toronto is one of my favorite cities here...reminds me a bit of Houston, where I grew up - spread out all over the place and anything you could ever possibly want is available somewhere in town.

Old habits die hard, so the smoke ring is more a part of my history and que-education than a necessity...after all, it really is about the flavor!!

I just got the email that UPS is on the way with my unit and I should get it sometime in the next few days...I'm starting to feel like a kid a few days before Christmas!!

Hello Joe,& welcome to the forum.I think that you will love the 050.the thing to remember is that,it doe's not take a lot of wood to get the smoke that you are looking for.I could not believe the little amount of wood that the CS takes to make a Q so good that it will make you slap your momma for not having it when you was a baby. (fun intended)

Richard

It arrived last night...I haven't had the chance to open it up yet (wife apparently had more important tasks for me ), but will be definitely tearing into it this afternoon when I get back to the house.

Wish me luck!

Well I got up first thing this morning and opened everything up, excited to get things started, and it looks like we are going to be sending it back for another one...Looks like something went wrong, really wrong, during shipping or packaging...

The whole thing is completely bent to the right, and the screw on the top right is stripped. The door has a big ol' dinger in it, the top hinge is bent and won't let the top latch shut, the bottom plate is bent and chipped. The gap along the edge between the door and side gets progressively larger as you go down the door.

Damn...I was so ready to start smoking...looks like we are going to have some decent weather this weekend...

Oh man! Bigtime Bummer! CS will take care of you! Top-notch customer service. CS = Cookshack - CS = Customer Service!!

Hang in there Joe

Oh, rats, sounds like UPS beat the dickens out of it. Call Karen or Terri at 1-800-423-0698 first thing Monday a.m. and they will take care of you right away. This doesn't happen often but when it does it just stinks.

Donna

Hey folks...thanks for the tips to get this fixed. I just love UPS...they have such a gentle touch. We stopped using them a while back for the business and went to regular postal service because of excessive returns and issues due to mishandling, not to mention their high costs.

I ordered the unit from the The West Coast Store, and so far they have been awesome! I called them on Saturday morning and they actually called me back within an hour of opening, and were completely helpful in getting everything ready for return and replacement.

I love, and really appreciate, good customer service!

Well I got word last night that my replacement SM050 is on the way!!!

I really appreciate the excellent customer service from both the folks at Cookshack and the folks at the The West Coast Store!

It never seems to amaze me just how many companies are out there that only focus on the dollar and not the customer. Both Cookshack and The West Coast Store have proved that they don't fit in the former category.

Thank you!

WHOO-HOO! I got my replacement SM50 yesterday, and all is good. The box still took a bit of a beating from UPS, but no major problems this time.

I am looking forward to seasoning it when I get back to the house this afternoon, and giving it a run this weekend.

I just wanted to take a second and say thanks to the good folks at the West Coast Store and at Cookshack for getting this taken care of for me. I really appreciate your prompt and courteous handling of this each and every step of the way. Thank you.

Boy, have I seen remarks all over the charts about WCS! Personally, I tried to order from them, but they didn't return my my calls. Seems if they got consistent with customer service, they might have a good thing going. Glad you were happy with your experience, Smoking Joe.

Joe,
Glad to see you finally got your smoker. You will truly enjoy it. Just wanted to let you know that I got the spices but haven't had the time to try them as of yet. I was going to do several chunks of meat this weekend but that is out of the question now. I will be repairing my Royal out-building and about half of my fence. We had,I think, a small tornado come through the neighborhood and did considerable damage to the Spring area. Let me know how the first smoke goes and I will let you know about the spices. I love the way they are packaged. Also, you have a marvelous website with a lot of handy info.

quote:

Originally posted by Smokin Joe Johnson:
WHOO-HOO! I got my replacement SM50 yesterday, and all is good. The box still took a bit of a beating from UPS, but no major problems this time.

I am looking forward to seasoning it when I get back to the house this afternoon, and giving it a run this weekend.

I just wanted to take a second and say thanks to the good folks at the West Coast Store and at Cookshack for getting this taken care of for me. I really appreciate your prompt and courteous handling of this each and every step of the way. Thank you.

Holy Smokes Smoky!!!

Sorry to hear about the big wind...man, that is one thing I don't miss. I hope you are all okay...and from the sounds of it, insured!!

I got an aunt and uncle just down the road from you so I will give them a call to check up and see how they faired...

Glad to hear the spices arrived. Let me know what you think, and all the best on your repairs.