[THEFERMANATOR]

I can't believe the difference taking that mailbox looking elbow off and going to the heater duct made. It now can hold any reasoneable temp no problem, heats up pretty quickly, and uses ALOT less wood. I used probably half the wood today VS what I did Wednesday, and held better more consistent temps. I didn't have to pack the firebox this time and keep the vent full open. I was cursing it thinking I needed a bigger chimney pipe for it, but it ended up being my own fault. Live and learn.

My impressions with cooking on it for the 1st real cook is it is an AWESOME cooker. It would have taken me 4-5 hours to cook ribs until they were done in my old BRINKMAN, but 2.5 hours in this one and they were already getting tender. I used VERY little wood after I fixxed the chimney problem, but I do have to remember to add another chunk every 30-45 minutes to keep the smoke going uniform(this is probably more to do with my wood not being really dry yet. It's 4 years old, and still damp after I cut it up). The water pan not being in direct contact with the heat worked out nicely. Even after 3.5 hours it still had a good deal of water left in the pan, but it stayed very humid inside the smoker. Only downside to this design isn't a deal breaker, but it does make it a bit uncomfortable. Having the firebox underneath the cooker sure helps to re-use the heat and keep it compact, but it does make it warm on my right leg when I go into the smoker. Alot of heat radiates off of the door when you have a good fire going in it. But all in all I'm VERY happy with my smoker, and like my unique design. Time to do some hams for Christmas.

Tonights grub.