New Digital Smoker ($100 off at CTire)

[perfik]

The big question is what do I do first? What gives the best results for an inexperienced smoker and a new unit on the first few tries? I was hoping to cold smoke some beef and make some burgers after I season the unit. Also, is an hour like they say in the manual enough to season the unit before first use?
Is there any benefit to putting something other than water in the drip tray, does it impart any flavour if you use beer or juice?
Thanks!
;D

[Mark in Ottawa]

Hey Perfik - Welcome to the forum!

I think most of us start with ribs as the first thing to try - there's a great photo tutorial on the site by Tenpoint5 on how to make the best ribs you've ever had here: http://tinyurl.com/c9oqejf

Yes, just follow the manual to season...worked for me perfectly.

I don't see any benefit in putting anything but water in the bottom - it's just there to extinguish the bisquettes and haven't seen/heard anyone who got any real flavour benefit out of using anything else. The only other tip is that for big smokes, replace the small bowl with a larger foil roasting tray so it will hold more spent bisquettes.

Happy smoking, and be sure to post pics!

Mark (in Ottawa)

[Quarlow]

Welcome to the forum. 1 hour is plenty to season a smoker for the initial time. If you are talking about cold smoking ground beef RED ALERT I don't think you will get much encouragement for smoking ground meat. If you are going to smoke some beef then grind it you are way safer with this. Some folks do use flavours in there water bowl. Apple Juice or beer or what not. I myself don't have very discerning taste buds so the benefit is lost on me.

[STLstyle]

Go for ribs or pork butt for the first smoke.

I am one of those who will put beer / juice in the pan.  Does it matter or make a difference?  I don't know for sure, but it sure doesn't hurt! :) To each is own...

Lots of good info here.  Welcome, have fun, and take pics!

[perfik]

Unfortunately the ground beef was all I had on hand. However Sobeys has ribs on sale today for 2.99/lb and so I will be doing 4 racks for a dinner party for the wife's birthday today. Thanks to Mark In Ottawa for the ribs guide, I will be following that for my first real smoke.
I am planning to use maple, and to use pineapple juice in one rack, apple juice in the other and some different rubs. It's only going to hit 10 degrees so I will probably have to run them a little long but hopefully they will come out great.