One of the initial skills to learn about smoking is how to setup the smoker. For this section I will be referring to a bullet shaped smoker like a Weber Smokey Mountain. Setting up the smoker to last for the duration of the smoke requires thinking about the amount and type of fuel, desired temperature range, smoking time, outside temperature, charcoal arrangement and the initial amount of charcoals used to start the smoker.

This section will take you through a general setup which I have tried and tested for the British climate. We will start with seasoning your Smoker, take a look at the pro's and con's of the different charcoal arrangements and discover how to control the temperature.