Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome.
@Mark: I didn't even know we had an Ikea... Boy, would I love to have a ceramic cooker!
@azkitch After looking at some designs, we decided to go with a UDS and are searching for the barrel now. I started with one of those little bullet smokers maybe ten years back and then graduated to an offset New Braunfels. However, I was disappointed by the lack of heat stability in either unit and that concern led to my intention to build a much more insulated unit so I'm not dealing with everything being chaotic while developing recipes. But I found some pretty convincing evidence that a drum-based unit was inexpensive, easy to build and stable heat-wise, so we're going that route now. I'm by the PV mall, so not far from you at all and my buddy is around 43rd & Union Hills. A beer, perhaps, to make introductions?
@azchef1 Thanks! It's going to be an interesting career. They won't let me do my externship in BBQ, but I'm going to break out anyway. Just need to find the right bunch of folks! Thanks for the suggestion--I'll look him up and PM him today.
@mrbent50 Thank you. I'm sure I will make myself known with some questions here and there. And, as I said, I want to start or join a team, so I'll probably make noise about that. Hey, I'm also interested in volunteer events when I can fit them in, so let me know, folks!
