elk_smoker
New member
My model 3 arrived last Friday! Assembled the cart and cleaned the smoker Friday night. Since the #3 cart casters are the same size as the #3 smoker casters, I installed all 4 locking casters on the cart. When they are all locked, that baby isn't going ANYWHERE!
I seasoned the smoker early Saturday morning using the the small hickory chunks included with the smoker. Was surprised to see hickory chunks instead of the dowels, but that is not a problem at all. Was also pleasantly surprised to find a recessed handle on each side of the #3. I wasn't aware that the smoker now included handles.
I did my first smoke Saturday afternoon - 2 sides of baby back ribs and some cajun sausage. I used 3.3 ounces of hickory and cooked at 225 degrees for 6.5 hours. I should have gone ahead and cooked at 235 degrees like the guide here on the forum says, but being my first smoke, I wanted to play it safe. The ribs came out tender and fairly juicy. I believe more experience with the smoker will produce an even better result!
The #3 created very nice smoke for about the first hour, then dropped off rapidly after that. (I did foil the chunks.) The baby backs didn't seem to absorb a lot of smoke flavor but were still quite edible. The cajun sausage got more smoke (located on the top rack) and was very good!
Overall, I am very impressed with the build quality and performance of the smoker and I look forward to putting a LOT of miles on this thing. Next weekend I am smoking a small turkey using apple chunks as a "dry run" for Thanksgiving!
Thanks to all who answered my pre-purchase questions and helped me to make what I believe was a very wise purchase. ;D
...and I forgot to include my questions before posting...awsome. As I have to get back to work now, I will post my questions another time... :
I seasoned the smoker early Saturday morning using the the small hickory chunks included with the smoker. Was surprised to see hickory chunks instead of the dowels, but that is not a problem at all. Was also pleasantly surprised to find a recessed handle on each side of the #3. I wasn't aware that the smoker now included handles.
I did my first smoke Saturday afternoon - 2 sides of baby back ribs and some cajun sausage. I used 3.3 ounces of hickory and cooked at 225 degrees for 6.5 hours. I should have gone ahead and cooked at 235 degrees like the guide here on the forum says, but being my first smoke, I wanted to play it safe. The ribs came out tender and fairly juicy. I believe more experience with the smoker will produce an even better result!
The #3 created very nice smoke for about the first hour, then dropped off rapidly after that. (I did foil the chunks.) The baby backs didn't seem to absorb a lot of smoke flavor but were still quite edible. The cajun sausage got more smoke (located on the top rack) and was very good!
Overall, I am very impressed with the build quality and performance of the smoker and I look forward to putting a LOT of miles on this thing. Next weekend I am smoking a small turkey using apple chunks as a "dry run" for Thanksgiving!
Thanks to all who answered my pre-purchase questions and helped me to make what I believe was a very wise purchase. ;D
...and I forgot to include my questions before posting...awsome. As I have to get back to work now, I will post my questions another time... :
