New Masterbuilt Gas Smoker

So I've been wanting to try my hand at smoking some meats.  I love to grill and cook anything outside and it seemed that this was the one thing missing from my arsenal.  After looking around and trying to stay in a lower price range until I see how it turns out, I decided on the Masterbuilt Vertical Gas Smoker with Dual Door. (Model # 2051311)

Yesterday I unpacked the box and started with the assembly.  As far as the owners manual and ease of assembly go, I would have to give them an 8 on a scale of 10 (10 being good). I had the job completed in about 45 minutes. Unfortunately the rain yesterday postponed curing the grill until today.

So I come home from work today (2.5 hours later than usual) and I'm all set to cure the grill.  Following the instructions, the process was simple.  I fired it up and brought the temperature up for 30 minutes, sold something I had on Craigslist, shut it off and let it cool down. So I could repeat the process.  What impressed me was how it cooled down.  Faster than any other grill I own.  Now I realize that this means it is not holding the heat but with the smoker lit, I had no problem holding it at a certain temperature.  I could have put a cover on it in 10 minutes.  It was cool to the touch.

So now I'm ready to cook.  Now I'm planning my Saturday, making my grocery list and looking forward to some wonderful meats this weekend.  I'll let you know how it turns out.