My New Smoker Has Arrived!!

[TwoElkhounds]

For many, many years I have wanted to do real BBQ, but never got around to it. I puddered with Walmart grills and smokers here and there, but never found the energy and time to do the real thing. I approached the boss (wife) a couple weeks ago and told her I wanted a real smoker, one I could drink beer and tend to all day while I cooked dinner. I told her I would not only cook the dinner, but I would clean up afterwards. I cook, I clean was the mantra. She agreed!!!!

Today, I took delivery of a Horizon 20" Classic Smoker weighing in at 400+ pounds. The unit is 100% American made, 1/4" American steel construction manufactured in Oklahoma. She is a tank, a serious piece of equipment.

This is my new hobby, drinking beer and whiskey while cooking spectacular food filled with fat and flavor!!!! Nobody can top my new hobby.

DAN

 

[Houndbb]

Congrats, Dan! That’s a beast. Do you have an injector? Very helpful to inject herb infused liquid into the meat to keep it moist for the long, slow cook.
N

 

[tfdcc]

Looks nice! I believe Horizon took the place of Oklahoma Joe's when they quit making smokers. You will love smoking on it. Very easy to control the temperature with the 1/4 steel. I've had mine for 18 years and still cooks great. Enjoy!!

Chris

 

[Billman]

Very nice. I have a similar one. Brisket and pulled pork are my favorite smokes using pecan wood when I have it. Doing a pork shoulder tomorrow. Currently sitting in marinade.

 

[TwoElkhounds]

Congrats, Dan! That’s a beast. Do you have an injector? Very helpful to inject herb infused liquid into the meat to keep it moist for the long, slow cook.
N

I do not, but will look into getting one. Any suggestions or are they all pretty much the same?

DAN

 

[TwoElkhounds]

Another gadget I got with my smoker was a Weber IGrill2, man what a great gadget. It is a temperature monitor that can accept up to four probes, I have two meat probes and two ambient probes. It is Bluetooth enabled, so all the temperatures display on your phone. You can set ranges and targets for each probe and the app will alert you when the temperatures fall out of range. It has graphs that show the trends over time. I played with it last night while seasoning my smoker and it was simply awesome, I could see exactly what was going on. I learned a lot about fire management just by watching the trends, first lesson learned was do not put a lot of wood on the fire!! Highly recommended, it is really well built and easy to use. At $66 for the base unit, it makes for a great Christmas gift.

DAN

 

[Houndbb]

I do not, but will look into getting one. Any suggestions or are they all pretty much the same?

DAN

It’s a popular stainless steel one with two injector needles (one with holes in the shaft, one with just the end opening). Looked at it this morning, but name isn’t on it. I’ll investigate further and get back to you. On those Weber probes-take care to use them on leaner meats. We had an unseen flare-up burn up two of our probes.
N

It was dark this morning. Name’s etched right on the darn thing: Grill Beast. Very heavy stainless, and came with extra o-rings. I wash it well, leave it out to dry, then put it away DIS-assembled. When I want to use it, I spray the rings with PAM, otherwise, it’s a bear to get moving.

 

[MidwestCamper]

For many, many years I have wanted to do real BBQ, but never got around to it. I puddered with Walmart grills and smokers here and there, but never found the energy and time to do the real thing. I approached the boss (wife) a couple weeks ago and told her I wanted a real smoker, one I could drink beer and tend to all day while I cooked dinner. I told her I would not only cook the dinner, but I would clean up afterwards. I cook, I clean was the mantra. She agreed!!!!

Today, I took delivery of a Horizon 20" Classic Smoker weighing in at 400+ pounds. The unit is 100% American made, 1/4" American steel construction manufactured in Oklahoma. She is a tank, a serious piece of equipment.

This is my new hobby, drinking beer and whiskey while cooking spectacular food filled with fat and flavor!!!! Nobody can top my new hobby.

DAN

View attachment 16764 View attachment 16765 View attachment 16766

Saawwweeeet!! Smoked turkey is amazing. Then again everything would be amazing in this smoker.

 

[Gyro Gearloose]

Congratulations on the smoker! Looks good and Sounds heavy duty.

I won a small Traeger smoker at the NorCal rally, so that my RV smoker.

My real smoker is a Cookshack FEC100.

You probably already know this stuff, but thought I would through it out there, because I remember when I started....

This is my favorite smoking tool, accurate and fast, it gets used almost daily for all kinds of stuff:https://www.thermoworks.com/Thermapen-Mk4 Used on the pro smoking circuit allot.

I ordered one of these for the RV for Christmas: https://www.thermoworks.com/Smoke Hmmm, they were on sale

If you want my rub recipe for what I use on pork I would be glad to pass it on.

Amazing Ribs is great site learning recipes and is my goto. You should try a Spatchcock Turkey (or Chicken), injected with unsalted butter, with Simon and Garfunkel spices (parsley, sage rosemary and thyme) between the meat and skin. 16 lb. bird in a 1.5 hours and very moist. Cooks pretty evenly. Everything you wanted to know about cooking a turkey but were afraid to ask: https://amazingribs.com/tested-reci...recipe-ultimate-turkey-easily-adapted-cooking

Now I'm getting hungry... Have Fun.... PM me if you have any questions, I may be able to help. Note that I use pellet smokers so if its about managing your fire, can't help.

Pat

 

[Chiefblueman]

Dang it! You guys are almost forcing me to take up a new hobby.

Just another way this forum is costing me money.

Dan, that looks like a smoking BEAST!

 

[Gyro Gearloose]

Just another way this forum is costing me money.

And you thought this forum was only gonna cost you $12 a year

 

[MidwestCamper]

I have a propane stainless water smoker from Cabela's and it has worked very well, but the bottom section has corroded away due to the poor grade of stainless. Its still useable but sort of a disappointment where I need to someday re-fabricate the bottom section. The wood burning smoker by the OP is the caddy.

 

[TwoElkhounds]

It was dark this morning. Name’s etched right on the darn thing: Grill Beast. Very heavy stainless, and came with extra o-rings. I wash it well, leave it out to dry, then put it away DIS-assembled. When I want to use it, I spray the rings with PAM, otherwise, it’s a bear to get moving.

That is a nice looking injector. Thanks for the recommendation!!! I will be purchasing one and will use on our Christmas Turkey.

DAN

 

[TwoElkhounds]

Dang it! You guys are almost forcing me to take up a new hobby.

Just another way this forum is costing me money.

Dan, that looks like a smoking BEAST!

Well, if you go over to Bass Pro Shop's website, you can buy one for yourself. They will ship it to your front door for $300 and split the bill into 6 equal monthly installments billed directly to your credit card. It is really that easy, you can do this!!!!

DAN

 

[Chiefblueman]

Well, if you go over to Bass Pro Shop's website, you can buy one for yourself. They will ship it to your front door for $300 and split the bill into 6 equal monthly installments billed directly to your credit card. It is really that easy, you can do this!!!!

DAN

Ohhh.….. Troublemaker, eh? Why I oughtta…...

 

[TwoElkhounds]

Congratulations on the smoker! Looks good and Sounds heavy duty.

I won a small Traeger smoker at the NorCal rally, so that my RV smoker.

My real smoker is a Cookshack FEC100.

You probably already know this stuff, but thought I would through it out there, because I remember when I started....

This is my favorite smoking tool, accurate and fast, it gets used almost daily for all kinds of stuff:https://www.thermoworks.com/Thermapen-Mk4 Used on the pro smoking circuit allot.

I ordered one of these for the RV for Christmas: https://www.thermoworks.com/Smoke Hmmm, they were on sale

If you want my rub recipe for what I use on pork I would be glad to pass it on.

Amazing Ribs is great site learning recipes and is my goto. You should try a Spatchcock Turkey (or Chicken), injected with unsalted butter, with Simon and Garfunkel spices (parsley, sage rosemary and thyme) between the meat and skin. 16 lb. bird in a 1.5 hours and very moist. Cooks pretty evenly. Everything you wanted to know about cooking a turkey but were afraid to ask: https://amazingribs.com/tested-reci...recipe-ultimate-turkey-easily-adapted-cooking

Now I'm getting hungry... Have Fun.... PM me if you have any questions, I may be able to help. Note that I use pellet smokers so if its about managing your fire, can't help.

Pat

That is a real nice smoker! I debated getting a pellet smoker, but decided to go offset as I want to tinker and tend to it. Spend the day lovingly tending to the fire until the ultimate climax in the evening when the ribs, roast, or whatever are pulled off the grill!! I wanted a relationship with my smoker. I will eventually add a pellet smoker as you can't beat the convenience.

Thanks for all the great links, will check them out. And yes, please pass on your rub recipe!!

DAN

 

[TwoElkhounds]

Ohhh.….. Troublemaker, eh? Why I oughtta…...

Just providing a public service to the fine members of this forum.

BTW - I see you are from Duvall, WA. I grew up in Bellevue, my family still lives there. I actually got my Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Washington. Had to leave the area as it just got way too expensive once the tech boom got into full gear, eventually landed here in New York. Land is way less expensive, but the taxes, oh the taxes, there seems to be no end to the taxes. I guess you have to pick your poison.

DAN

 

[Aridon]

I've had a rec tec for 3 years now. Love it.

 

[Gyro Gearloose]

And yes, please pass on your rub recipe!!

DAN

Hi Dan,

Here is the recipe. Its a takeoff of "Squeal Like a Pig BBQ" YouTube video I saw. Changed it up some and cut the quantities because I'm not trying to make it for a competition, but it still makes a lot. BTW: You will end up going through a lot of it. Adjust as needed to your tastes. Makes about 22-23 oz., 1 large spice bottle, Costco size.

I put it on fairly heavily. Watch some videos, to get an idea how much and your taste buds.

I use it for Ribs and Pork Butt/Shoulder mostly.

My wife and I typically don't use sauces because the rub is good enough. Hope you like it.

I like to use an equal amount Cherry, Apple, Pecan wood mix for pork, oak doesn't hurt also in the mix.

Let me know what you think.

Pat

Pats Pork Rub	takeoff	from	Squeal Like a Pig BBQ
Sugar	0.5	Cup
Brown Sugar	0.5	Cup
Kosher Salt	0.5	Cup
Durkee 6 Pepper	0.5	Cup	Or Black Pepper
Chili Powder	0.25	Cup
Paprika	0.25	Cup
Turmeric	3	Tbsp.
Garlic Powder	2	Tbsp.
Onion Powder	2	Tbsp.
Cayenne Pepper	2	Tbsp.
Cinnamon	0.25	tsp	Maybe try without this at first, some don't like the Cinnamon

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[Steve7]

Congrats on your our new smoker. I’ve had a RecTec for the past four years. My BBQ recently died, and I’ve been looking at Weber models. I found one I liked for $699, but have been waiting for one of their rare sales, or hoped to find one that had a dent or something on the floor so I could get a deal.

Two hours ago I was at Home Depot, picking up project supplies with my wife. Prior to checking out she suggested we check the BBQ section for any deals, etc. Just prior to reaching the section my wife notices a big expensive Weber sitting in the main isle. An employee who turned out to be the manager called to her and said it was on a great sale. It listed for $1,599. It was a Genesis two, four burner stainless. Much more than what I was looking at. It was discounted to $960 as the last one they had. My great wife, knowing I really wanted one, told her we could afford $750, but that’s it. Manager come back at $800. Wife explained how much we’ve bought at their store since moving to this area and remodeling our house. Manager says...OKAY. I was amazed. I didn’t even say a word the whole time! Wife looks at me and says...Merry Christmas. Im a happy camper.