In last week’s food thread I said this- “As a follow up to the 9/10 thread I’m finally going to break in my smoker tomorrow! I did clean/prep/burn off the smoker a while ago but have still been a bit intimidated. I’m definitely healed enough to get into it and what the hey, Aldi had sides of salmon for 50% off- and they weren’t even expired! Hopefully next week’s thread is a success story, I’ll take some pictures for sure.”

I am beyond thrilled to report that it was a full-on success! It was really easy to keep the smoker at a steady temperature, I was always within about 7° from 225°. After starting the coals I realized the only hardwood I had was an oak log for the firepit so I cut off a couple of chunks of that. It provided sufficient smoke flavor and I’m going to make sure to have some fruitwood on hand for the next episode.
What should I try next?

Every Thanksgiving I cook a turkey on the grill over indirect heat which ends up producing a nicely smoked bird. I want to do something else on the smoker this year too, maybe it will be salmon!