New guy with lessons learned

[Jon B]

I just purchased my first real smoker (ST 1400) with advice from my man Billy B, a member here. I was very excited to start out immediately with a Boston butt which came out great. Then, I stepped right up to a brisket that I found at Costco, it was angus prime and was 21lbs. After watching video after video on youtube and reading everyone's recipes on here and some coaching from billy, I dove right in. The brisket came out of the smoker at 195 degrees and was done perfectly, the bark was amazing and I couldn't wait to dive in. After a few hours rest, I cut into it and started eating and it was that moment that I realized a little bit of wood chunks goes a LONG way!
Can't wait to try my next cook (pork loin) which is going to get one chunk of wood! Like everything else, it'll take me a few tries before it'll be perfect but I'll get there.
Thanks for all the help from this site, keep it up.

[lonzinomaker]

No pictures; didn't really happen

I weighed my wood for many smokes, using 3-6 oz. Weighing kept me from using too much wood.

[Jon B]

Fine, be that way!

Here it was going in


Here it was finished and sliced

[lonzinomaker]

Looks good, thanks for the pics

[bigwalleye]

Remember also, chunks give more smoke for longer than chips. Oversmoking is easy. Start with an ounce or two and cook something. If you want more smoke, do the next one with more wood. Undersmoked is still edible, oversmoked can turn you off. Keep a log of results, both successes and failures. It’s as important to know what you don’t like as well as what you do like.

And welcome to the forum!