Hello from Guildford

[PeteW]

Hey,

I'm Pete and I love food - I grow my own vegetables, make my own sausages, and dream of one day raising my own pigs!

I bought myself a Brinkmann Charcoal Smoke 'n' Grill a few months ago and have been trying to get to grips with it (with mixed success) since then! My first couple attempts didn't go too well, as it was difficult to maintain a decent temperature. Since then I've modded it by adding two proper thermometers, putting the legs on the outside and putting the fire pan on legs to improve access to the coals and have drilled holes and put a grate in the fire pan to improve airflow to the coals. I've just bought myself a remote thermometer alarm thingy which should help keep an eye on temperature fluctuations a bit better. I know the Brinkmann isn't the best smoker around, but it only cost £50 so seems a good place to start.

Since modding it, the temperature has been a lot easier to control, though I'm sure there's still room for improvement. So far I've only used it half a dozen times and have learnt a bit more each time and keep improving. I still need to improve a lot though! The pulled pork I've done has great flavour from the rub, smoke and finishing sauce but still isn't as perfectly cooked as I get it in my oven - it's not quite as fall-off-the-boney. The ribs I tried were quite dry, so I need to try that again. The brisket I did was lovely, really juicy. I did a chicken early on which wasn't very impressive as I didn't add nearly enough wood chips on that go and it wasn't very smokey. I guess one of the problems I'm having is finding excuses to fire up the smoker - it's not so economically viable to use a load of charcoal for dinner for two!

I'm also keen to try some cold-smoking since trying smoked butter at a restaurant a few weeks ago (it was amazing!) and I've found a good supply of free oak sawdust.

Looking forward to chatting to you guys more and picking up some tips!

Cheers

Pete

[Nick]

Weclome to the forum, Pete. Loads of experience and wisdom knocking about on here!

[keith157]

Welcome Pete there are a few topics on here (and on youtube & T' internet) on modding Brinkmans, glad you've put your location as it makes it easier should one of the more knowledgeable live near you they could offer more direct help

[Toby]

HI Pete,

Welcome to the forum, just up the road in Tongham!

[PeteW]

Thanks for the welcome chaps! Planning on doing a load of ribs this weekend, I'll let you know how I get on!

Pete