YANG! (Yet Another New Guy)

Been grilling (Weber gasser) for years and smoking (electric) for a couple, and recently became an Egger when my bro gifted me an LBGE for Christmas. To be honest, I initially suggested he hang on to that receipt, but after browsing these forums a bit and watching some videos, I decided to give it a try, and so glad I did. It's already opening my mind to new possibilities.

My first cook was a single rack of ribs that taught me to not be shy about piling on the lump. I figured I'd do a long first burn to get the gasket sealed and add the ribs towards the end, so I started about 5 hours before dinner time. The ribs went on a couple of hours before dinner, after the stink of melting plastic had subsided, along with a small chunk of hickory which I dropped between the PS and the side. By the time I'd figured that the temp had dropped due to all the lump burning out and not just because I opened it to add the ribs, it was close to dinnertime and I was cursing this archaic cooking device as I was forced to remove ribs, grate, and PS just to replenish the lump. Anyway, about halfway through dinner, which was fortunately just with family, we finally got to sample the ribs, and it was nice to finally see a smoke ring, since that's not something I get with the electric.

Assuming I figure out how to upload the pictures correctly, they'll show my first (paltry) gift to the lump gods, and the eventual result.

Since that first time, the egg's managed to cheer me up a bit with a decent short rib and NY strip cook, as well as my first ever attempt to at spatched chicken, which my guests loved (despite the skin not being very crisp). I've been a bit hesitant to push the egg up to really high temps (notice the lack of sear on the strip), but that'll change soon. Oh, and the leftover short rib made for a great breakfast sandwich on some Costco pretzel buns.

I enjoy seeing everyone else's photos, so I'll probably post a bit more of those than really necessary. This one is of a 7.5lb packer I had to bend to fit into my tiny Smokin-It electric smoker, just because I'm so looking forward to trying a big boy brisket soon.

My first major addition will likely be one of those adjustable rigs, as soon as I figure out how to make sense of that ceramic grill store site, and I'm already eying a stoker for eventual purchase, once I've mastered the basics.

Must say I'm really impressed with the level of activity and helpfulness on here - this forum was definitely a factor in deciding to give egging a try, and while I'm pretty much just soaking up info and bookmarking posts, I look forward to eventually contributing as well.