Allan aka RangerOne

[rangerone]

Hello everyone,

I am from Brantford, in Ontario, Canada.  I have been married to my lovely wife Susan for 14 years, and I spent over 25 years working as a coatings development chemist for BASF, Becker Acroma, and Sherwin Williams. I am retired and have 2 step-children and 3 grandchildren. Besides BBQ, I enjoy hiking, birding, photography, reading, music, TV and movies. 

Many years ago, I tried to learn about proper BBQ and smoking, but I had very poor results that turned me off the whole thing. The equipment I bought was not very well made (leaked air all over), too large for my needs, and too difficult to maintain proper temperatures. But it looked cool. It was a rather large, cheap, off-set smoker. A lot of food was ruined by that beast and I stopped using it years ago. It is now in the trash.

In April of 2014 I retired and told myself I was going to try the BBQ thing again. So I researched, asked questions, compared pricing, and determined my needs. The best fit for me was a Weber 22.5" kettle and the Smokenator. I added to this a Maverick ET-732 thermometer to monitor the grate and food temperature during my cooking. This setup allows me to grill or smoke and have great control over the process. I made my purchase in late June 2014 and Susan and I have been enjoying great BBQ for the last few months. I have done ribs, chickens, pork butts, beef roasts, meatloaf, corn, potatoes, and a few others. Still have not tackled a brisket yet. Maybe a little later. 

I am glad I found this forum, as it has a great deal of information to help beginners like me. And the other members are always here to help out with answering questions or giving advice. I have met some real nice people here so far, and hope to meet others as they join our little community. I encourage people to create an AVATAR (it is fun) and let people know what equipment you use and share any and all tips or experiences you may have.

Allan aka RangerOne

[pilfjd]

I'm just "down the road" from you! I'm in Rochester. Was this section always here, I never noticed the "Introduce Yourself" section.

[rangerone]

Sept 2, 2014 15:41:33 GMT -5 pilfjd said:

I'm just "down the road" from you! I'm in Rochester. Was this section always here, I never noticed the "Introduce Yourself" section.

You are close by. That means we will experience the same type of weather during our cooks!! That could be helpful if we share information.

You are correct, this is a brand new section and I hope people use it. It would be great to learn a little more about all the people who use the Smokenator forum. I hope you "Introduce Yourself" also.

[whiskeycharlie]

Friends,

Allan, thanks for the new section. Also, kudos for suggesting we do avatars. My handle on the board is Whiskey Charlie; when I learned the mneumonic alphabet (back when Christ was corporal) "W" was whiskey and "C" was Charlie. My given name is Charles, Charlie to my friends; and whiskey? Well, I'm not much of a drinker but WC appeals to my sense of humor. I'm in Sacramento, California and I've been smoking in Weber kettles on and off since 1980. I formerly used a side rail with an offset fire but had to tend the fire hourly adding charcoal and chips; with that setup if you were a little late, the charcoal burned away. Also, I don't think I ever got my heat down below 350. With the Smokenator, I load up that baffle and am good for hours, of course I still stir and add water hourly but I may go to a larger water pan, a la Tom, and try pushing that out to two hours.

Respectfully submitted,
WC

[rangerone]

I saw aquaski do this in his thread, and it seemed like a great idea. 

Here is my BBQ equipment.



This equipment does everything I need to cook for Susan and I. If I wanted to BBQ for 4 or more people, I might need to get another kettle...

[ncsmoker]

You would be surprise at what the Weber will do with the SN. I did 3 butts that fed 40 people. Figure on 5 spare ribs for 8 people with the Hover Grill. Plenty of room for chicken legs for 8-10 with the Hover Grill, a brisket can feed a bunch.

I once did a 13lb. brisket and an 8lb butt at the same time with the SN. The butt was done sooner than the brisket but both were excellent. I just had to rotate the meats every couple of hours and I didn't measure the time, but it might have added an extra 1/2 hr. or so.

Tom

[rangerone]

I do not currently own a Hover Grill Tom, but you are correct that there is plenty of room to do all the meat I need. The space starts to run out if I want to also do veggies or other side dishes at the same time for a larger group. My options include getting a Hover Grill, or a second kettle, or a WSM, or...
I have heard of people that have large collections of Weber Kettles in all sizes and colours. Thankfully I am good to go as is for now. Susan may not appreciate our back yard filled with kettles. 

[ncsmoker]

The group I fed labor day I cooked the brisket the day before and then smoked the beans the day of, plus some other goodies. No Deb like your Susan will not appreciate any more kettles on the porch either. LOL

Tom