What a Christmas SURPRISE!!!!

[TC Smoke & Que]

My wife surprised me with a Weber Smoky Mountain Smoker 22" for Christmas, I was floored to say the least.
Yes, I did drop some "hints", but did not expect it because I said to keep Christmas small this year.
I am so Blessed to have such a Wonderful Wife!
BTW today is her Birthday so she got a Disney "Cell" from Lion King.

I hope Everyone has a Blessed Christmas!

[Big George's BBQ]

Very nice. Congrats and enjoy

[ronbrad62]

Very cool!! Congrats and enjoy (and keep the wife:wink:)

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

Awesome wife and smoker! You should definitely reward her with heavenly Q off of the smoker! Congratulations.

[BillN]

Congratulations.

[Stingerhook]

Congrats Rick.

[Titch]

My wife surprised me with a Weber Smoky Mountain Smoker 22" for Christmas, I was floored to say the least.
Yes, I did drop some "hints", but did not expect it because I said to keep Christmas small this year.
I am so Blessed to have such a Wonderful Wife!
BTW today is her Birthday so she got a Disney "Cell" from Lion King.

I hope Everyone has a Blessed Christmas!

Nice prezzie but whats a Cell?

[TC Smoke & Que]

Very cool!! Congrats and enjoy (and keep the wife:wink:)

Oh Yes, she is my missing Rib!

[TC Smoke & Que]

Awesome wife and smoker! You should definitely reward her with heavenly Q off of the smoker! Congratulations.

She loves smoked food, Ribs, Brisket, Pulled Pork are her favorites, so yes, she Blessed me, I will Bless Her!!

[TC Smoke & Que]

Nice prezzie but whats a Cell?

Tich, a "Cell" is an original frame from when they produced the movie, almost like a negative but in color. We are both Disney fans so it really was a no-brainer. They are just getting harder to find.

[Sid Post]

Cells are getting hard to find with all the digitalization of newer movies. Drawing cells is really becoming a lost art in Hollywood.

Woodblock printing in Japan (木版画, mokuhanga) is another 'art form' I particularly like. The Matsuri Festival in Phoenix always had block prints from books from the 18th century that fascinated me. Absolutely beautiful.

[Michigan BBQ Fan]

Congrats on the great present and happy smokin'

[Norm]

Sounds like you have a very special wife!

My late wife and I collected cells, this one is my favorite.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3dqPjVj/0/099ff7b3/XL/i-3dqPjVj-XL.jpg

[TC Smoke & Que]

Sounds like you have a very special wife!

My late wife and I collected cells, this one is my favorite.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3dqPjVj/0/099ff7b3/XL/i-3dqPjVj-XL.jpg

Norm, That is one incredible Cell!!! Absolutely Beautiful!!


The animators of their day were of the absolute best. They would capture such depth and meaning of the story being told. We have collected a few, but they are getting so hard to find and the best ones will not be sold.
In actuality I got her two, one for Christmas, which was from "Lady and the Tramp" and the other was Simba, as a cub, from "Lion King". I was very fortunate to get them at the price I did, the guy had been trying to sell them for years and gave me quite a deal. If not, I could only have afforded the "Lion King" one. Of course I will thank him with some ribs.

[Happy Hapgood]

Congratulations on a fine smoker! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your Lovely Bride!

[Smoking Piney]

TC, your wife needs a great big group hug from all of us for taking care of you. :-D

[TC Smoke & Que]

TC, your wife needs a great big group hug from all of us for taking care of you. :-D

Dont worry, I will gladly take care of that for you, but I understand the sentiment. GREAT WOMEN (especially those who LOVE BBQ) are hard to find!! :biggrin1:

[bigdexxx]

Congrats on the smoker and post some photos, once you start using it!

[TC Smoke & Que]

Congrats on the smoker and post some photos, once you start using it!

I have some modifications to do, SS door, Larger water Pan, Lid Hinge, but once I get it seasoned there is a lot of "catching up" to do!!!
I am sure there is a learning curve from my ECB to the WSM, but I am looking forward to it.
At some point you guys will want me stop posting pictures of my cooks. LOL

[Sid Post]

I have some modifications to do, SS door, Larger water Pan, Lid Hinge, but once I get it seasoned there is a lot of "catching up" to do!!!
I am sure there is a learning curve from my ECB to the WSM, but I am looking forward to it.
At some point you guys will want me stop posting pictures of my cooks. LOL


Like motorcycles, you can 'farkle' them significantly but, IMHO a stock WSM works really well. I thought about the SS door to but honestly, my four WSMs don't need one. The hinged lid isn't something I personally care about but, I could see how it would be beneficial to some people and their WSM cook location. Minor 'leaks' to me are generally a don't care but, a little fiddling generally fixes those with little to almost no effort.

I'd say break it in first and then modify it. I've seen people with new motorcycles start swapping stuff and adding things without ever really understanding what they were getting for their money. Often times they would take stuff off because it didn't work the way they thought it would.

In my case, I rode my 2007 Kawasaki KLX-250S stock for about 6 months. Everyone said the gas tank was too small. Really, I was getting roughly 100 MPG so, how often do I ride further than 200 miles between gas stations? The stock suspension is really nice and smooth (i.e. soft on rough roads).

Well, the soft suspension was fine puttering around on country roads. However, I learned really quickly in Urban riding the front forks would compress, transfer weight forward and, lift the rear off the ground. No, I wasn't intentionally doing 'stoppies' for YouTube and Instagram fame. I also bottomed the forks out on Forestry Service roads at reasonable velocities too. When I put up-weighted springs in the front forks, I knew why I needed them and exactly what they did to the handling and safety (and yes, an asphalt road with the new front springs was not as 'plush' as before). There are many other things I changed over time but, only after I personally understood why I needed to change them.

So, please don't farkle your WSM first. Use it! Then 'fix' whatever deficiency you personally find.

[TC Smoke & Que]

Like motorcycles, you can 'farkle' them significantly but, IMHO a stock WSM works really well. I thought about the SS door to but honestly, my four WSMs don't need one. The hinged lid isn't something I personally care about but, I could see how it would be beneficial to some people and their WSM cook location. Minor 'leaks' to me are generally a don't care but, a little fiddling generally fixes those with little to almost no effort.

I'd say break it in first and then modify it. I've seen people with new motorcycles start swapping stuff and adding things without ever really understanding what they were getting for their money. Often times they would take stuff off because it didn't work the way they thought it would.

In my case, I rode my 2007 Kawasaki KLX-250S stock for about 6 months. Everyone said the gas tank was too small. Really, I was getting roughly 100 MPG so, how often do I ride further than 200 miles between gas stations? The stock suspension is really nice and smooth (i.e. soft on rough roads).

Well, the soft suspension was fine puttering around on country roads. However, I learned really quickly in Urban riding the front forks would compress, transfer weight forward and, lift the rear off the ground. No, I wasn't intentionally doing 'stoppies' for YouTube and Instagram fame. I also bottomed the forks out on Forestry Service roads at reasonable velocities too. When I put up-weighted springs in the front forks, I knew why I needed them and exactly what they did to the handling and safety (and yes, an asphalt road with the new front springs was not as 'plush' as before). There are many other things I changed over time but, only after I personally understood why I needed to change them.

So, please don't farkle your WSM first. Use it! Then 'fix' whatever deficiency you personally find.

Thank You for the advice, and I understand you anology completely. I am anxious to get started learning and smoking. Sometimes you get so much advice from different sources, it gets confusing.
But it is better to "know" what you need, than assume that you "need" it because....

[Sid Post]

Thank You for the advice, and I understand you anology completely. I am anxious to get started learning and smoking. Sometimes you get so much advice from different sources, it gets confusing.
But it is better to "know" what you need, than assume that you "need" it because....

Exactly! A lot of people do mods to things for their personal uses that may, or generally don't, apply to other people with different needs and issues.

I personally don't want a ~$20K Harley Davidson with ~$40K worth of new chrome. You can do a world of mods to a WSM but, to what end? I should note, that I did end up with a double-decker WSM and Vortex basket as one of my 'herd' but, by then I was really into the 'deep end' of the WSM 'pool'! :laugh:

[TC Smoke & Que]

Exactly! A lot of people do mods to things for their personal uses that may, or generally don't, apply to other people with different needs and issues.

I personally don't want a ~$20K Harley Davidson with ~$40K worth of new chrome. You can do a world of mods to a WSM but, to what end? I should note, that I did end up with a double-decker WSM and Vortex basket as one of my 'herd' but, by then I was really into the 'deep end' of the WSM 'pool'! :laugh:

Well, this is my first WSM and I do want to do it right, but at the same time dont want to go crazy; just enough to be effective in the cook.
Having smoked on a ECB for so many years, and having made the mods as I went, helped, but I was tired of the work it became. Almost to the point it took the fun out of the cook.

Don't know if I will get to "herd" status, but I am excited to learn it and become good with it. I love the Smoke / Cook art.

In reality, I still dream about a Meadowcreek BX50, but it was un-affordable right now, so after some studying and assesing my "cook", I felt this was the best possible alternative. I have always like the "water cook / smoke".

Again, thanks for the guidance.