New Toy

Helmsey wrote:
You are not doing good things for my bank account :)
I have been debating on one of these for a while but have yet to pull the trigger. I need to just get one and get it over with.

I wouldn't have pulled the trigger if it wasn't for the fact that they were on sale and I had half the sale price in gift cards from Christmas gifts.

I'll be waiting for pics of it's goods in production:cool:.

magnusfide wrote:
SD: I see in the Green Mountain specs that the lowest temp is 150 F. Is that cool enough to cold smoke cheese?

No... Cold smoking cheese is done with NO heat. Cheese starts to melts around 80*

You can however, get the A-maz-N tube and use that in any grill, or even a cardboard
Box to cold smoke cheese. But be aware, the tube will produce some heat, so make sure the ambient temperature is low enough to keep the smoke chamber under 80*. You can place trays of ice in the chamber to keep things cool.

I have one of these and have been using it for a couple years now during my full time life. Absolutely love it. I consider it to basically be a wood fired stove/smoker.

Here's a tip: The one maintenance thing that needs to be done periodically is to pull the grills and grates and clean ash out of that 'tuna can' burner assembly and surrounding area. The individual pellets only leave a tiny amount of ash but it does build up over time. The GMG shut down procedure does blow most of the ash out of the tuna can but it will still build up (this is one reason to never just unplug it when done cooking - always push the button to turn off the grill and let it go thru it's own shut down procedure). A shop vac works great.

When to clean it ? Obviously this is based on usage. I was told to watch for when the grill seems to have a little trouble holding the chosen cook temp. I have also noticed that mine will start taking longer to get to the initial temp upon start-up - might be because that burner rod that sticks into the tuna can starts getting covered by the accumulated ash.

There is lots of discussion about which brand of pellets to use. Pelletheads.com might get you started.

Looking forward to your posts.

** GMG makes two nice covers for these and I have both. One is a cover to use when it's sitting outside. The other is a zippered travel 'bag'. Fold up the legs and sit the grill inside the bag, then zip it closed. It has two heavy duty carry straps, but it's still real awkward (and heavy) to carry.

We have a Davey Crockett and love it. We are full timers and it fits on out sliding tray in the basement storage of our 5th wheel with ease. We smoke meat in bulk and then freeze using our FoodSaver. The smoked meat tastes almost as good as if it came right off the smoker. Great for a quick and easy meal on travel days or on rainy days. We had ribeye steaks on the smoker last night. We are big mesquite fans and use those pellets almost exclusively.

My #1 - Mesquite pellets

My #2 - Hickory pellets

Got a free bag of pellets with the purchase and chose the Texas blend which is Hickory, Oak and Mesquite.

Super_Dave wrote:
Got a free bag of pellets with the purchase and chose the Texas blend which is Hickory, Oak and Mesquite.

I would really like to try that blend - just have to find a local place that carries GMG pellets.

FWIW, I keep my pellets in heavy duty 5 gallon buckets. Got them from Baytec Containers. They have a screw on 'Life Latch' lid with a rubber sealing gasket. My idea is to keep the humidity at bay. A 3-pack is $40, includes shipping. PN is NG005PK.

We used to carry a wide variety of pellets but now only carry mesquite. We found a stackable storage container and 20 lb bag of pellets will fit so we have 2 containers with 20 lbs apiece. We have a plastic strainer utensil to scoop out the pellets. There is some pellet dust in the bags so the strainer eliminates the dust when filling the smoker.

Good for you!! I didn't get any cards with cash.