One of my earliest posts here was some thoughts on gear. While my general thoughts on that have not changed (You can prepare great tasting BBQ with some simple tools and a bit of creativity), I have definitely come to appreciate having good tools. Two things made me realize this.
We took a great vacation a few weeks ago with my brother in law and his family and my sister in law and her step daughter. I brought a pair of our good spring loaded tongs along, knowing that I'm always searching for spring loaded tongs in any cottage I'm in. Turns out they got left there and I couldn't find either of our other two pair. I still have no idea where they are. The day before I was going to suck it up and buy another pair (I figured as soon as I bought another pair the others would magically appear), my sister in law sent us another pair, simply because I whined a little I suppose. Whatever the reason, I'm eternally grateful. Good tongs are a must. This was recent incident number one that made me appreciate good gear.
The second event that made me really appreciate good gear was tasting the ribs I pulled off the smoker not too long ago. They were delicious. I thought I made pretty good ribs before. I probably did if I'm going to believe my friends, neighbors and family, but this latest batch is just amazing. It's the first batch I did in the smoker. I'll of course have to do others just to make sure it is not a fluke, but these are just great. They are tender, juicy and are just starting to pull away from the bone. They come off clean but aren't done to the point where they are falling off the bone at the slightest touch. The other food I've done on it has been really good, but these are just so much better than any other ribs I've cooked, ever. I now regret not having an honest to goodness smoker sooner.
Generally speaking when people get interested in a craft they tend to get the best tools they can. I've been slowly collecting gear and books for years now. I strongly suggest doing this if you are serious about your Q. One thing I will not change my opinion about, however, is that the equipment needs to be expensive or top of the line. It just isn't true. People win awards on drum smokers. I built mine for about 100 bucks. As far as cost goes for a smoker, that is dirt cheap. You can spend several hundred or even thousands on a commercial rig if you like. I won't stop you.
Tips abound for preparation techniques, which cuts of meat to use, how to spice things up, the temperature you should cook at, the fuel you should use and just about every aspect of preparing barbecue (or any other food, in my experience) but good advice and tips on good gear are relatively hard to come by. And they can make a very big difference. So get good gear. Take care of it and it will keep you well fed for a long time to come.
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