A new smoker. Well, almost new because I have had it for about a month. There was a test run a few weeks ago, and there was some commentary on the amount of hot stuff the alphageek uses to cook food. Today, we debut simply filling up the smoker, posting one picture, and running with the ideas.

I am going to make this easy. Let's walk down from the top to the bottom.

The top shelf contains a pork butt. This recipe came Mr. Alton Brown. I like this one because you just brine the pork with some salt (duh, but people ask) and molasses. You can check out this simple recipe at this site.

The next shelf is another pork butt. I decided to go with a rub with a sweeter rub. Paprika and sugar make up most of the rub. You can read the whole thing right here.

Third down is a brisket. I used this rub from Emeril.

Finally, I have another brisket. This does not have much of a recipe. I used some left over rub from the previous effort. It has a lot of heat, and extra salt and pepper.

Some other little things.

Over on the door, you can see the seal I added that helps keep the smoke in.

On the lower door at the bottom of the picture, you can see where some of the seal goo got on the door. I have no idea how that happened.

You can see I have an external thermometer that I use to monitor temperature. It reacts very quickly, compared to the door thermometer.

Finally, you can see the gas bottle, which indicates that this is a gas smoker.

Stay tuned to this channel for any new information.

Why not share some of your research with us? How about leaving a comment in the comment section below. Even better, why not use one of the links here on the page to follow us and all things food? The twitter feed gets everything at Follow @ageekfood , or you can try our facebook page.

June 30, 2013. Fredericksburg, VA. This is a great little place, in an out of the way location. You should go ahead and make that trip.

Since wrting obout the out of the way location, Mason-Dixon Cafe & Baking Co. has moved. Mason-Dixon Cafe & Baking Co. is still serving the same great food and has the same great following. The location information has been updated to reflect the new location. Also, the hours have been edited for the new location.

We read about this place on urbanspoon. When Mrs alphageek told me it was in an industrial park, and had some unusual hours, I knew this would be a restaurant to end up on this web site. Mason-Dixon Cafe & Baking Co. has a strong online presence, so we were able to take a look at the pictures of the menu items before we went. That kind of thinking ahead gets some alphageek points right there. The menu was straightforward and simple, which is a great start. They are now open Monday-Thursday 8am-9pm, Friday and Saturday 8am-10pm, with Saturday brunch 8am-12noon and Sunday brunch 9am-2pm. Better yet, make sure you just search online for their web site. We stopped posting links when we figured out nobody is clicking on the links anyway. Enough about links, on to the food!

I ordered a waffle, as shown below. It had just the right level of crisp and the strawberries were super fresh. Simple, the way simple is meant to be. I think the whipped cream was not even from a can, which made it a little more dense, but well worth enjoying*

Mrs alphageek ordered the eggs Benedict Many places over or under cook eggs, but these were just right. The potatoes were amazing as well. The dish is about as good as eggs Benedict can get. We even observed that the Hollandaise sauce was being made in a blender, and that extra attention to detail came through in the taste.

We liked this place so much, we have been there several other times. Sorry, there are no pictures because the pictures do not meet our standards for quality. Stop laughing, we have standards around here.

We tried several of the sandwiches, and they were simply amazing. It is not everyday that you can get someone to make the sandwich from scratch for you, so you really should stop in and try a sandwich.

On another occasion, I got the breakfast burrito. When the menu says big, that is not an exaggeration. It has just about everything I could want in a breakfast, all wrapped up into one meal. The menu lists: Stuffed with Egg, Bacon, Sausage, Ham, Cheese Sauce, Home Fries, Onions, Peppers, Sour Cream and Chipotle Sauce. All this for $7, and it filled me up until dinner.

This restaurant rates high on the alphageek scale. Free wifi means you can sit and enjoy online benefits, if that is your thing. They also serve good coffee, which makes for another point on the alphageek scale. They offer some amazing specials, including the rumored chicken and waffles that the alphageek wants to try sometime. We are still working that scale thing out, so stay with us on this one.

This restaurant is hightly recommended. Get down there today.

Why not share some of your research with us? You can follow our twitter feed to stay up to date with the alphageek, and also on facebook. As always, you can leave a comment here. If you want to subscribe, use the RSS feed below.