I just joined the Pitmaster Club a few minutes ago. I found the Amazing Ribs website while staying warm in Florida. I read with interest the article about the Pit Barrel Smoker. I was ready to order and electric smoker and switched to the PB, which I ordered today. I have been eating and enjoying BBQ for most of my life. I decided to start doing it myself instead of having the restaurants do it each time. My good friends enjoy BBQ also, but we all just grill. I decided to make the leap for our group. I live in Illinois, about 30 minutes from St. Louis. I retired from public education and travel, golf, and soon -smoke food. Any advise for this "newbie", on how to get started on this journey, would be greatly appreciated.
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Founding Member
- Jul 2014
- 9697
- Smiths Grove, Ky
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Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
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Welcome... You've already made a really giant step forward on your never ending journey of learning to smoke low and slow! Joining this group gives a vast amount of practical knowledge that will be at your finger tips. I don't have a pit barrel smoker but they are very popular with many of the members so they will walk you through how to use it. The next thing you need to buy is a really good digital thermometer or 2. I have the Thermapen and the Mavrick 733.
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Club Member
- Nov 2014
- 5104
- Summerfield FL, NE of The Villages
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Cookers:
SnS Kettle with SnS Deluxe, SS & Cast iron pans, elevated grate.
Grilla OG with upper shelf and pizza stone.
Weber Genesis SA-E-330 LP INDIGO with SS Grates, Weber Crafted frame kit, baking stone, griddle (2/3), all from Ace Hardware.
Everything Else:
SnS #3 I was their first customer.
Sous Vide equipment.
Instant read and leave-in thermometers.
Grill Grates.
Kingsford Blue Bag, Weber lighter cubes, Weber charcoal chimneys.
BBQr's Delight Hickory & Apple flavor pellets, propane torch, 12" smoke tube.
Grilla apple & hickory pellets, Royal Oak charcoal pellets.
Rubs with salt: Meat Church, Meathead's.
Rubs without salt: SnS Grills Rocky's Rub and Not Just for Beef.
Rubs home-mixed: None at this time.
Spices: Lots of 'em.
Welcome to the Pit mssmoker! You'll find tons of helpful folks & information here. I've been a member since Nov 2014 and went from zero to hero with my family. I've had some so-so meat, but that was my fault and I probably learned the most from 2 things---my mistakes and multiple cooks of the same item. Getting to know my grill (Big Green Egg) and how to achieve 225 and 325 has been a huge help too.
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Charter Member
- Dec 2014
- 1351
- Morrill, Nebraska
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Retired high school teacher and principal
Dr ROK - Rider of Kawasaki &/or rock and roll fan
Yoder 640 on Husker themed comp cart
Cookshack Smokette smoker
Antique refrigerator smoker
Weber 22 1/2" kettle w/ GrillGrates AND Slow and Sear
Rec Tec Mini Portable Tailgater w/ GrillGrates
Plenty of GrillGrates
Uuni wood pellet oven, first generation
Roccbox Pizza Oven
Meater Block
"Go Big Red" Thermopen instant read thermometer
Ultrafast instant read thermometer
CDN quick read thermometer
Maverick ET-732 thermometer
Maverick ET-735 thermometer
Tru-Temp wireless thermometer
Infrared thermometer (Mainly use for pizza on the Uuni and Roccbox)
Beverages - Is there really anything other than Guinness? Oh yeah, I forgot about tequila!
Welcome to the Pit! The website is a plethora of information, so dive into like you'd eat an elephant, one bite at a time. The seminars are excellent sources if you have the time to watch them. They are about an hour long each. The techniques tab is also a great place to start looking for articles that pertain to what you want to do.
As a side note, I am currently in my second year of retirement from public ed. Spent the last 21 years as a high school principal and did 9 years as a high school science teach to start out. Do a bit of subbing now and also work for Jostens (class rings/caps & gowns, etc.) so I still get to see my old ed buddies and work with kids.
Enjoy the journey, you'll find this is a great site and great group of bbq nuts
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Administrator
- May 2014
- 19896
- Clare, Michigan area
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Follow me on Instagram, huskeesbarbecue
Smokers / Grills- Yoder loaded Wichita offset smoker
- PBC
- Grilla Silverbac pellet grill
- Slow 'N Sear Deluxe Kamado (SnSK)
- Masterbuilt Gravity 560
- Masterbuilt Digital Charcoal Cabinet
- Weber 22" Original Kettle Premium (copper)
- Weber 26" Original Kettle Premium (light blue)
- Weber Jumbo Joe Gold (18.5")
- Weber Smokey Joe Silver (14.5")
- Brinkmann cabinet charcoal smoker (repurposed)
Thermometers- SnS 500 4-probe wireless
- (3) Maverick XR-50 4-probe Wireless Thermometers
- A few straggler Maverick ET-732s
- Maverick ET-735 Bluetooth (in box)
- Smoke X4 by ThermoWorks
- Thermapen MkII, orange & purple
- ThermoPop, yellow, plus a few more in a drawer for gifts
- ThermoWorks ChefAlarm (wife's)
- Morpilot 6-probe wireless
- ThermoWorks Infrared IRK2
- ThermoWorks fridge & freezer therms as well
Accessories- Instant Pot 6qt
- Anova Bluetooth SV
- Kitchen Aide mixer & meat grinder attachment
- Kindling Cracker King (XL)
- a couple BBQ Dragons
- Weber full & half chimneys, Char-Broil Half Time chimney
- Weber grill topper
- Slow 'N Sear Original, XL, and SnS Charcoal Basket (for Jumbo Joe)
- Drip 'N Griddle Pans, 22' Easy Spin Grate, and Elevated Cooking grate, by SnSGrills
- Pittsburgh Digital Moisture Meter
Beverages- Favorite summer beers: Leinenkugels Summer & Grapefruit Shandy, Hamm's, Michelob Ultra Pure Gold
- Fav other beers: Zombie Dust (an IPA by 3 Floyd's Brewing), Austin Bros IPA, DAB, Sam Adams regular, Third Shift amber or Coors Batch 19, Stella Artois
- Fav cheap beers: Pabst, High Life, Hamm's & Stroh's
- Most favorite beer: The one in your fridge
- Wine: Red- big, bold, tannic & peppery- Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauv, Sangiovese, Syrah, etc
- Whiskey: Buffalo Trace, E.H. Taylor, Blanton's, Old Forester 1870, Elijah Craig Toasted, Basil Hayden's. Neat please.
- Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About me
Real name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan- near Clare. (dead center of lower peninsula)
Occupation:- Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
Welcome to The Pit mssmoker ! Glad to have you here and thank you for the support. As the others above have said, you made a very wise choice. Your PBC will turn out great food, and I really think you'll like it better than an electric. Hard to beat charcoal and/or wood for authentic flavor.
Since this is your first post, please check out our homework assignment post for new members, it contains a few how-tos and please-dos.
Hope to hear & see more from you!
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Founding Member
- Jul 2014
- 446
- Pierre, SD
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1987 Weber Kettle (Still going!)
2004 Cookshack Smokette (The original!)
2012 Weber Genesis (Wonderful for steaks and chops!)
2014 Pit Barrel Cooker (Lovin it!)
Thermoworks Thermapen
Thermoworks Mini Handheld Thermocouple & Meat Needle Probe
Various other wireless remote thermometers
Beer...Bud Light (Timeless)
PBC advice. Go to the website and watch the videos on the type of meat you will be cooking. Follow the advice on the videos to a T. Learn how to cook on your PBC before you start changing it up. There is tons of advice on how to modify your cooking adventure on the PBC. But you will benefit greatly if you practice doing what it was designed to do which is set it and forget it cooking. Then you can start mixing it up. Food for thought.
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