What got you started in Q?

[LMAJ]

My mom bought my dad a brinkman smoker. He passed before he had a chance to use it, and as she was cleaning out the basement she was going to give it away... and I reminded her charity begins at home...
That started Big Al and me on the road to bigger cookers and great Q.

 

[smokeswirl]

I was always disappointed in almost every BBQ restaurant I went to (I live in NYC) and tired of over priced trash.

Two father's days ago, my wife got me one of those little stainless steel smokers with the wood chips for the grill. Things came out decently and I decided to I could make better Q. And I have

 

[PlanePilot]

I grew up cooking whole hogs with my dad. We had a big oil drum cooker. I was in charge of starting the coals when he needed more. The older I got (teen), I started cooking for my friends. I got to attend all the big parties because they wanted me to cook! Always had the bug but family life slowed down the passion for a while. Now the kids are getting older, I'm finding myself trying different meats and processes. The bug has really hit me harder this time. But the best experience is passing on the same experiences to my teenager:thumb:

 

[thunter]

This is a really good thread. I get to learn a few things about my Brethren! :clap2:

 

[Ironman77]

Pulled pork.

My mate went to the US on business and did a bit of a tor around the south and on his return wouldn't shut up about the BBQ joints and pulled pork which Id never tried at that point but it sounded awesome.

Being that we don't have any BQQ over here it was a case of buying a smoker and having a go and I haven't stopped since

 

[Richard_]

I am cheap bastard and hate paying for substandard bbq , so started making my own , made my 1st UDS in 2008 , now I have 9 cookers

 

[frognot]

Had a gasser but in 2004 bought this smoker called a New Braunfels Bandera at Home Depot then went online to find out how to use it. There was this group called Bandera Brethren that had some crazy foks that called themselves "farkers" and their leader was some guy from NeW Yark who was bad at speling.

Bandera Brethren changed their name to BBQ Something or Other because folks started showing up with other smokers.By then I decided that nobody was into BBQ in Texas and went back to my gasser. I've since become a vegan and stopped eating the flesh of innocent animals.

Not sure if that forum around or not. Probably not because how many folks are really that interested in cooking meat outside?

 

[woodsider]

For special family guests who had lots of time Dad used to use a Hibachi with make-shift cover or a low and slow Weber - plenty of time to party up before dinner was ready. In college started charcoal Weber grilling indirect heat with wood chunks - we used to buy tri tip for just a little more than hamburger and BBQ weekends. Then inexpensive electric smokers for all the fish we caught. Then Weber gas grills with indirect heat from firebox burner with sticks and rotisserie (really hard to maintain temps but if tended carefully low and slow + lots of smoke + rotisserie = excellent smoked roasts and chicken). Now an FEC 120 on order - CAN'T WAIT.

 

[YetiDave]

I've always liked the idea of food smoking, and I first heard about pulled pork years before Man Vs Food and alike turned up on TV over here. Once that happened and my parents bought me a Cameron's stovetop smoker for my birthday one year, I was hooked! They opened a gateway into yet another expensive culinary hobby. And now here I am with a stovetop smoker, bullet smoker, UDS, cold smoker, vacuum sealer bought specifically for smoked food, a couple of expensive thermometers and a stockpile of over 100lbs of wood. Thanks, mum and dad! :mrgreen:

 

[ShadowDriver]

What a fantastic thread!

I'm a NC Tarheel... grew up in Eastern NC, the NC Mountains, and Charlotte... so I'm all kinds of messed-up when it comes to what barbecue is good! I started grilling during college, but German locals watched in horror as I grilled all sorts of meat in all sorts of terrible weather from 2002-2005, and I really started to experiment with the low & slow method in about 2006 on a Weber gasser.

I moved to the little village of Wicken, East Cambridgeshire in the UK in 2009 and a good friend taught me how to smoke brisket (he's a good old Texas boy with serious skills). I had a couple of bites and was hooked... even gave me his smoker when he left England, and I've never looked back.

I try to generally be true to my North Carolina roots, but I also thoroughly enjoy a well smoked brisket, pork ribs, and some well grilled chicken wings!

I generally blame the rest of you buggers for introducing me to pork sausage fatties (and all that entails)...

Keep the great ideas, thoughts, and new recipes coming!

Kind regards,
SD

 

[DaveAlvarado]

I'm the first in my family to get into cooking outdoors in a big way. I grew up thinking a BBQ was a pile of Kingsford, a bottle of lighter fluid, and some burgers and hot dogs.

I've always liked BBQ, and reading a BBQ thread on another forum is really what got me interested. In 2012 I got myself a Weber Performer, followed shortly by a 22" WSM and it was all downhill from there. I've found I love cooking with fire and I love cooking for people. It doesn't hurt that I'm apparently pretty good at it too.

 

[peeps]

I've since become a vegan and stopped eating the flesh of innocent animals.

I don't buy it one bit!!! Unless vegans don't consider SPAM the flesh of animals :wink:

 

[reflynn]

Well what a loaded question, I have been grilling for years. I am the one when there is an outing and grilling is involved I get volunteered. Which was OK by me I always enjoyed cooking, and am a quite good open fire cook as well.
Smoking for me started about Thanksgiving 3 yrs ago, My gas grill had already burned out and turned into charcoal grill. This was one of those high dollar all S/S grills 5 burner etc. well the year pryor I had cooked the best Thanksgiving turkey I ever cooked before. so i had to top that one. Hince I turned my Gas/ Charcoal grill into a smoker.
Gutted out everything, used the lower tank cabinet as a fire box, sealed all holes, and smoked my first 21 lbTurkey, (WOW) my wife, being a little scepticle, had a back up plan for a ham to be cooked in oven. By the time she gotten around to putting ham into oven, it was too late her back up had now been put on smoker as well HAHAHHAHA, It turned out to be the most tender, and tasty turkey Ive ate, and the back up ham well she dont oven cook them anymore. So from that time on I have been hooked on smoking, have made numerouse smoking recipes, now have my own sauce and catering small outings, mostly camps, churches, and reunions.
Now looking to go larger and expand my cooking to satisfy others.

 

[EvilSwine]

Moved to Iowa from SC. You would think the pork capital of the world would have good BBQ but they'd rather deep fry it so I bought a book and an offset. I'm finding NC to be very disappointing also.

 

[ITBFQ]

Growing up, my dad had one of the aforementioned gassers with the lava rocks and glass window. He burned up plenty of burgers and cheap steaks - we weren't exactly poor, but by no means wealthy.

Then, as a middle school kid, I went to Indiana with my grandparents and some family. We ate some slow cooked beef that was cooked underground by a group of Mennonites, I believe. It was the best thing I had ever tasted.

Fast forward a few years, I had a small charcoal grill in college and would cook for my roommates - burgers, chicken legs, etc.

A few years later yet, I went to a hog roast... that was the magic bullet. All of those things came together and told me I had to start cooking BBQ. I also research the crap out of everything I do and did a lot of reading about ribs because that was what I wanted to cook.

Now, I am the proud owner of a WSM, a UDS (emphasis on the U) and, like most of us, many outdoor cooking related necessities. I've cooked in competitions and have had some success (2nd place rib call at first comp didn't help me lose any enthusiasm). I found the Brethren while researching smokers. I've made some great friends through this forum, and I look forward to what the BBQ future has in store!

I'm still trying to find where I had that delicious in ground pit cooked beef. Sadly, my grandfather is no longer with us (lung cancer - don't smoke!) and my grandmother doesn't remember going there.

 

[execoll]

It started like a typical southern boy and watching my dad grill/smoke from day one. Later he decided I had to start helping with dinners but there was no way he would let me touch his grill, his smoker, or anything else he set on fire so I was relegated to learning to cook side dishes (inside....audible gasp here). I got pretty good at that whole cooking indoors thing (or so I thought) then I married a chef. Damn it, you know she wasnt going to allow me to cook on HER stove or use her fancy cooking stuff (pots and pans come in a wide varity of sizes and style and all have fancy names on them, who knew?) So I got banished from the kitchen.

Being a guy I have the competive gene. So since I wasn't allowed to compete with cooking in the kitchen (really no contest, I lose) I had to find a way to win. It's the genes fault, I have to win. So I started grilling then smoking. I'm still learning, but having a blast doing it. I don't have anything fancy just a smoker from lowes with some holes drilled here and there but it gets the job done. The food I see here puts me to shame but I listen, I learn, I practice and I get better.

Most important, my son helps me with it all. Can't think of a better thing for a dad and son to do than cook outside and sit back and chat for hours at a time. No TV, no computer, no Xbox, just two guys chillin. Food needs improving still but as far as Im concerned, I WIN!!!

 

[moubike1]

Buddy's dad had a big stick burner and he competed. So, naturally I started tagging along in the early 90's. I love to compete and I started, get ready, my high school BBQ team. That's right, high school BBQ team! Believe it or not there was a lot of competition here in Central Texas. Senior year we wnt to state cookoff with my ribs and brisket, but I graduated early and couldn't go. Been hooked ever since.

 

[javajaws]

I live in Texas so I guess you could say I started at birth. :-D

 

[Terry The Toad]

It's kind of odd when I think about it. I am from the south, but no one in my family ever smoked BBQ. We ate it, but only at restaurants (and not really that often.)

I have always enjoyed eating BBQ, so as an adult I would seek out BBQ restaurants. Problem was, there just weren't that many that had great (or even good) BBQ.

Finally, it dawned on me that I could make my own. :doh: I started with a cheapo offset, and got hooked. I upgraded to a Lang and have never looked back!

 

[Smoking Pill Doc]

For me, my whole start into smoking food starts off quite different. June 10, 2013, I sat down to watch TV. "The Glades" was on and what ever his name is was trying to solve the murder of the BBQ King. The whole episode (season 4 episode 3) all he did was eat ribs and talk about the cooking process. The next day I got a smoker that a friend of my dad's left behind when he moved and I have been smoking food ever since.