Competition grade smoker rookie

[JPWinOK]

I have been lurking for a couple of months and playing around with my Weber while I mull over what smoker I want to buy. Now I have a very large competition level Horizon trailer smoker sitting in my driveway courtesy of my employer. We apparently bought it years ago and it sat unused in a warehouse so now we want to use it for employee events and we are using it for local, cookouts as a very large grill.

I have no idea how to get started on something this big but I have time, patience and determination.

Can someone point me in the right direction on how to use this thing correctly? Here is the link to the smoker and if that one in the picture is not ours then it is a twin.

http://www.horizonbbqsmokers.com/trailer-smokers/24-double-door-smoker-trailer

[Nate]

Welcome from Indiana.

what exactly do you want to know

[JPWinOK]

Best tips for maintaining heat, I’m not sure of the volume of fuel I would need for something this big

[Nate]

Some guys maintain heat via the intake, others the exhaust, and some use both.

I recommend you set either the exhaust or intake to a certain opening or all the way open and use the opposite to control the airflow and ultimately heat (at least while you learn the Cooker). This way you are only adjusting one thing and learning how the unit responds...

You want a small hot fire and not a roaring one that takes up the entire firebox.

Every cooker has a learning curve, it’s own quarks, and temps it likes to settle in at. On true stick burners I like a minimum of 250-275 degree cook chamber temp but that is me.

You need to build a fire and establish a nice bed of coals... If you are going to burn sticks then plan on adding a new one every 30 minutes to an hour depending on variable like ambient temp, cook chamber temp, wood moisture, etc... obviously these same factors are going to have an impact on the quantity of wood you will need as well... better to have left over sticks than not enough. With time and practice you will start to get a good feel for her.

I’m a little jealous as those are supposed to be some nice rigs.

[treesmacker]

Indeed a very nice rig!

[Mr. Bones]

Howdy from Kansas Territory, Welcome to Th Pit!
Glad to have ya here, lookin forward to yer adventures with that big ol honkin Horizon cooker!

I have a Horizon 20" Classic, so slightly less than half th size of yer trailer rig...

Hope yall got a sizeable pile of seasoned smoker wood!

[FireMan]

Wow are you in for a treat. You have a toy that someone says "here have at it" & you got a group of peeps salivating over coaching you in its use. Barrels of fun! Lots of hot dogs, he he. (It is hot dog month). Welcome aboard, eat good and have fun!

[Fire Art]

I was thinking rodeo

[FireMan]

That’s it, there is a consensus. The new guy brings the grill to the rodeo. Now , who’s gonna tell him? ecowper or Fire Art?

[ecowper]

Yay for the FNG

[scottranda]

You may need a bigger fire for something that size. Small, hot fire yes! But you need to get the temp up in your pit to 225-275. The only way you’ll know is by experimenting.

Will you use it for grilling (directly), or as an offset smoker? Looks like it can do both.

[JPWinOK]

We have been using it as a grill only and to my knowledge that has been the only way it was ever used. I am trying to figure out the offset smoking portion of this beast

[Frozen Smoke]

Always nice to see someone continuing the stick burner tradition. For the most part it's learning fire management. You will need more fire in the begining and less in the end. Once you get all the steel heated up if it's sealed and vented properly you won't need much more than a small base of coals to keep things going.

My exhaust is always wide open and then I control everything from the intake. Generally I start with everything wide open and usually end up with the intake about half. Dependent on weather conditions as well of course.

I have splits of all sizes available. From quarter splits down to 2" wide splits and everything in between. I look at splits in terms of temp. Like briquettes in dutch oven cooking. Each briquette represents 5 degrees of heat. I apply something similar to splits. I usually split my wood as I go along as needed.

Dry run it a few times. Don't cook just play with fire management. You don't need to spend a lot of money on electronic temp monitors unless you are a gadget guy and have the money. Just buy a couple oven therms and place them in different places in the chamber and watch how things heat up.

Does it have tuning plates? How is it baffled from the fire box to the smoke chamber? What kind of wood is available to you? Lots to consider. Stay at it and don't get frustrated. Ask questions from your experiences somebody here will help.

[JPWinOK]

No tuning plates or the convection plates that Horizon has available but I may be ordering one soon. It essentially has charcoal grates throughout, beneath the cooking grates which I would use for catch pans/water. I have access to pecan, apple, hickory, pretty much any wood as it seems all of SW Oklahoma uses these year round.

[JGo37]

Put a coat of oil on the oven therms so you can clean off the smoke more easily.

[Fire Art]

Awesome and welcome

[Keiferr]

Welcome from southeast Michigan! I also just got access to a high quality, high capacity smoker yesterday. More on that later.

[jgreen]

Wow. Nice unit. I would also suggest you read Aaron Franklin’s book as he talks a lot about maintaining temp in a big smoker. You need a real good thermometer and do several dry runs to help figure it out. Lots of help here when you have specific questions.

[Huskee]

Do dry runs, and get a digital leave-in thermometer, don't trust the lid thermometers!

My personal way to run mine is to leave the intake open all the way and keep a HOT fire at all times. Regulate the flow, and therefore the temp at the far (chimney) end, by using the chimney cap/damper. Open increases overall flow which will increase the temp at that end.

If your temp is too high in the cook chamber, reduce the size of your fire, NOT the air intake. Reducing air intake can lead to thick billowing cloudy smoke, which is not good for the food, at least not for very long.

If your temp is too low, increase the size of your fire.

Use splits, thin. Halves and full limbs wont do so well.

You don't (typically) need full bonfire-sized logs.

Resist the urge to overbuild your fire, you're not powering a steamship across the Atlantic, you're shooting for a 225-250 air temp in a horizontal barrel.

Often only small dry logs is all that's necessary once you're up to temp. I find 1/4 and better yet 1/8 splits work well. In my smoker, which is a bit smaller than yours, a 10-12" length is all that's needed. Couple at a time. Reload about every 20-40 minutes depending on weather and wood type.

A Kindling Kracker and a 4lb sledge is a great tool to have with a stickburner, better than an axe or splitting maul IMO.

Start your fire a good hour, preferably 90 min, before you need to have the meat on.

And worthy of repeating is keep what fire you do have HOT. Hot fires make the best smoke. Thin smoke is what you want to shoot for, even clear is good but harder to maintain. If the fire seems too hot, make it smaller but keep it hot.

[JPWinOK]

When I pulled the unit out to to a power wash (water only) it had been sitting and was drying out. I have been seasoning the unit based and keeping temps about 250 for a few hours but one thing I did notice was that a fine coat of ash would cover the grill. It is very windy in Oklahoma so I moved it to reduce the direct wind (pictures later). Any tips on the ash reduction?

[Huskee]

JPWinOK No, not really. I would however use the wind to your advantage and let it blow in the firebox to keep that fire stoked as it should be.

[RonB]

First, welcome to The Pit.

You are going to have to do something we have always been told, (except here), is a bad idea - play with fire.

First, you are going to have to find a source of seasoned wood. Oak, hickory, and fruit woods are traditional, but other woods will work. Assuming your company is going to buy the wood, buy a pickup load or so. You will need a place to stack it - maybe at work? It will probably need to be split unless it is limbs. Until you know what size pieces of wood you will need, don't split too much.

Next you need to learn your cooker. Build a fire in the firebox. Many start with a chimney of lit charcoal dumped in the firebox and then place a split on it. Use @Frozen Smokes suggestions and monitor the temp. I highly suggest getting a leave in thermometer. Most dial thermometers are not very accurate, and even if they are, they are usually not in the right spot. Play with the size and number of splits you add as well as when you add them until you can keep the temp between maybe 200* and 300* with 225* to 275* being the goal. You could also throw a butt on while you experiment - they are very forgiving. You are looking for almost invisible smoke - called blue smoke. White billowing smoke is not good smoke.

Next you will need to learn how to cook whatever meats you want to cook. That means cooking them - maybe your company will buy if you take the cooked meats to work for review.

Good luck, and remember that we are here to help - just ask.

Edit to add - after a few days, print this thread and show it to your boss so (s)he will have an idea what this project entails.

[JPWinOK]

Fortunately he is very supportive of the idea. If we do the whole hog then we are all paying for the supplies personally. I have access to seasoned pecan and hickory and have four cords already in the house that I use for the fireplace. Fruit woods are available with hundreds of bags at the local grocery.

[Donw]

Welcome from Maryland. I can’t add anything of value here, but I sure would like to be there to learn on something like this. Good luck and I know you will do well with it.

[JPWinOK]

It is exciting and intimidating at the same time

[kbremer]

experiment...…...also get a stay in temp probe...…..Maverick has a new 4 probe one that is good......you will have a blast!

[JPWinOK]

It’s been fired up since early this morning and holding steady at 250 with surprisingly little effort so far. Initially got it to 290 and then adjusted the damper to get it to hold at temp. I have an internal probe in there as well to monitor.