What was your first grill or smoker?

Brinkman that my brother picked up on a Sunday morning coming in from Saturday night , he also had a couple of whole chickens. Needless to say I had to cook em!
 
The first I remember (50+ years ago) was a hibachi, kind of what Lodge sells now-about an 8"X16" oval cast iron when was a kid in K-Bay MCAS, Hawaii. Either that or just a hole in the ground lined with lava rocks & banana leaves.
 
Not mine but one like this. Circa 1970
hibatchi.jpg
 
My first Smoker

My first Smoker was a New Braunfelds Black Diamond. The second was a Bandera which would change my life. I found the Bandera Brethren ( to become the BBQ Brethren) and souped up both smokers. In our second competition we came in 5th amongst the best in New England at Lyme Rock, CT. Some of the teams we competed against were competing nationally with good results. I stayed up all night and put charcoal in each and every hour, and went through a microburst. After turn in a number of teams asked if we wanted to upgrade to one of their fancy cookers. When the awards came out we got 2nd in Chicken (second highest score for NEBS that year),
Third in Brisket and 4th in Beef Ribs. They said...keep doing what your doing!

That was 2007 and I went on to cook with Nancee and Greg of Purple Turtles at the American Royal Invitational and Open. IQue got 1st in Brisket at the Open...

I still think I cooked best on those back yard Smokers.

Yours in BBQ,

Cliff
 
My first grill was (IIRC) a hibachi similar to one someone already posted. For a wedding present in '74 we got an 18" Weber kettle which we still use. My first purpose built smoker was an 18" WSM. My most recent smoker is a New Braunfels Black Diamond.
 
My first grill was a Smokey Joe knock off in 1999. Grilled many a good pork chops, burgers, brats, steaks, sweet corn and hot dogs on there all through college. I even grilled ribs before I knew what the heck I was doing. Bought my first gas grill when my ex and I lived together in an apartment - an Aussie gasser that I cooked on until it rusted away. Now my CharBroil Commercial gasser, Thermos kettle, UDS (my favorite, by far), ECB, Thermos mini kettle and Coleman RoadTrip LX (that I won from Crisco) pretty much serve any need I have for cooking outside.

Its fun reading about everyone's first grills!
 
Last edited:
I cooked over wood embers on a grate, forever.
First thing I smoked on was a weber kettle, but my first and only " smoker" is my kamado style BigSteelKeg.
Yes, we are still in love.
 
First grill was a little gasser from the drugstore about the same size as a WGA. First smoker was a Kingsford offset cheapo that im still using today.
 

Attachments

  • 20130316_150222.jpg
    20130316_150222.jpg
    72.8 KB · Views: 48
My first was/is a ProQ Excel 20 (aka Napoleon Apollo) only had her 10 months or so and I'm hooked. Next will be either a Weber OTP or a UDS build
 
Last edited:
First grill was a Weber 22 1/2'' kettle that I received from my brother-in-law for a wedding present. Come to think of it, that is the only good thing I can say about him!:biggrin: First smoker was the New Braunsfell Bandera which led me to a web site that was then called the Bandera Brethren prior to the current name change.
 
My first grill/smoker was a Thermos kettle that I picked up at Sears 6 or 7 years ago after reading a recipe for pulled pork in a Cooks Illustrated cookbook. I used it once a year for our annual 4th-of-July picnic.

Last year I joined the Brethren and actually learned something about bbq. I built an ECB, picked up a Cajun Bandit for a new Performer and have been smoking/grilling a couple of times a week since.

Somehow I see the kids more often now. :grin:
 
First grill was/is a SJS. That was many (14-15?) years ago, I still have it, and it still goes with me to every competition. It's even on my packing checklist. I cook my Friday night dinner on it. Sort of become a tradition.

First smoker was/is a WSM 18 about 5 years ago. It's in the backyard (retired from competition) and I still use it most every weekend. I've turned out some really good dinners cooking on it.

Russ
 
Weber Kettle was the 1st grill I ever owned and my first official smoker was a Brinkman Smoke King Deluxe which I also won my first ribbon with.
 
My first grill was a cheap cast iron hibachi that my wife and I bought to cook steaks on the balcony of our second apartment. I had a heck of a time getting the charcoal started but we did some surprisingly good steaks considering neither of us knew anything about cooking over open flame. Next (circa 1976) came a cheap ($20) aluminum rectangular grill that I am still using to do steaks and burgers. First smoker was a NBBD that I bought at a church garage sale for $25. Sometime afterwards, I found the BBQ Brethren and started making mods. By the time I sold it for $25, it was a much more usable unit, but I was moving up to a $1000 offset that I use now.
 
Last edited:
My parents had some really old charcoal grill that I barely remember. Then gassers. Mostly a Holland, which they still use today.

I got some blue light special gas grill that I used in my apartment for 6 or 7 years. It literally rusted through and I bought the WEber Q200. Then when we moved I bought the Genesis.

Last year I got my WSM and love it. Now I'm drooling over BGE's or some sort of komodo . . .
 
My first true smoke experience was in a pit we dug about 4 ft deep in the ground and covered it with sheet metal. That was a lot of fun but we ended up filling the hole back in after the big bbq. My first backyard unit was a POS Royal Oak that I would offset the coals. The metal was so thin and had so many leaks that airflow management worked in reverse. I quickly upgraded to BGE and have been totally hooked ever since.
 
Brinkman electric gourmet smoker (the red one with the plug-in).

made a Pork butt - it was actually delicious. It's not a bad setup for the occasional user, the problem lies in with control.

I used it for a few months, and sold it. Bought a Masterbuilt Electric and didn't miss it. NOW, I have about 5 different charcoal grills and smokers but I still like my MES!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
First brisket on my Brazos offset was not a success.
2
Replies
23
Views
1K
Bald-Headed John
B
T
Buying a new smoker/grill. Which one?
Replies
1
Views
672
bschoen
B
W
New to The PK
Replies
16
Views
531
WeberWho
W
Headgear
Your favorite charcoal for Kamados???
Replies
6
Views
426
Headgear
Headgear
L
Happy Phriday Pharkers,what's Smoking this Weekend?
Replies
19
Views
1K
SmokinAussie
SmokinAussie
Back
Top