Mother's Day Butt Smoke in Horizon with Q View

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ambucher

Fire Starter
Original poster
Aug 22, 2012
50
16
Central Illinois
Hello Everyone,

This is my first post on the forum.  I have been on for quite a while soaking up all of the useful info on the site.  A big thank you to everyone who contributes to this awesome site.

A little background info....I smoked in an MES 30 for 2 years and recently picked up this Horizon 16" classic.  It's been a great investment, despite the learning curve. 




I have smoked several racks of ribs and a brisket on the new pit with great success.  I figured today was a good day to make some Mother's Day pulled pork!  After toying with the Horizon for a few test burns, I manufactured my own convection plate and added a water pan, which enabled me to maintain temps within 5-10 degrees from end to end.  I have two Maverick thermos to monitor pit temps.  Anyone who doesn't have one (or more) of these....GET YA SOME!!!! 

It's about 2:30 a.m. (My wife thinks I am crazy...she doesn't get it!).  I fired the pit up at about 1:45.  Once the temps have stabilized, I will throw the butts on.  I have two 8.5 pound bone-in butts that I picked up at Costco yesterday.  Overall, I am pretty pleased at the quality, and at 99 cents a pound, who can complain?  I injected them with a white grape juice, apple cider vinegar, wocestershire sauce, honey, pork rub injection.  I followed up with a sweet and spicy rib run that I have come up with that has produced great results in the past.  I am smoking with apple and cherry.  I am still undecided if I will foil or not.  I will make the decision when the time comes.

That's it for now.  Time to get things going.  I will keep updating as I go. 

Thanks again to everyone for such a great site!!!!
 
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Hello Everyone,

This is my first post on the forum.  I have been on for quite a while soaking up all of the useful info on the site.  A big thank you to everyone who contributes to this awesome site.

A little background info....I smoked in an MES 30 for 2 years and recently picked up this 1 year old Horizon 16" classic for $300.  It's been a great investment, despite the learning curve. 




I have smoked several racks of ribs and a brisket on the new pit with great success.  I figured today was a good day to make some Mother's Day pulled pork!  After toying with the Horizon for a few test burns, I manufactured my own convection plate and added a water pan, which enabled me to maintain temps within 5-10 degrees from end to end.  I have two Maverick thermos to monitor pit temps.  Anyone who doesn't have one (or more) of these....GET YA SOME!!!! 

It's about 2:30 a.m. (My wife thinks I am crazy...she doesn't get it!).  I fired the pit up at about 1:45.  Once the temps have stabilized, I will throw the butts on.  I have two 8.5 pound bone-in butts that I picked up at Costco yesterday.  Overall, I am pretty pleased at the quality, and at 99 cents a pound, who can complain?  I injected them with a white grape juice, apple cider vinegar, wocestershire sauce, honey, pork rub injection.  I followed up with a sweet and spicy rib run that I have come up with that has produced great results in the past.  I am smoking with apple and cherry.  I am still undecided if I will foil or not.  I will make the decision when the time comes.

That's it for now.  Time to get things going.  I will keep updating as I go. 

Thanks again to everyone for such a great site!!!!
Sounds like you are all set.   Looking forward to some good pics of the finished product.   BTW< love your charcoal starter    :)
 
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They're on
icon_smile.gif


I like the starter too!  I picked it up yesterday at Harbor Freight for 30 bucks.  Let me tell ya, it is much quicker and easier than a chimney.  Plus, it gives me another cool tool to play with.  Who doesn't like to play with something that shoots fire!  I am sure the neighbors are thinking, "What the hell is this guy doing at 2 in the morning in his yard with a flame thrower?"  Like I always say...it ain't a party til the cops show up!

I'll post some picks in a few hours when I check on my babies. 
 
They're on
icon_smile.gif


I like the starter too!  I picked it up yesterday at Harbor Freight for 30 bucks.  Let me tell ya, it is much quicker and easier than a chimney.  Plus, it gives me another cool tool to play with.  Who doesn't like to play with something that shoots fire!  I am sure the neighbors are thinking, "What the hell is this guy doing at 2 in the morning in his yard with a flame thrower?"  Like I always say...it ain't a party til the cops show up!

I'll post some picks in a few hours when I check on my babies. 
Hahaha, that's hilarious.  Might have to run by HF and pick one of those up.   :)
 
Here are the final results....



Man, this stuff turned out great.  It smoked for a total of 11 hours.  I was running an average pit temp of 250-275 degrees.  I pulled it off the pit at an IT of 200, wrapped in foil with some Blues Hog Tennessee Red Sauce, wrapped in some towels and put it in the cooler for an hour.  It pulled great!  We topped it off with some Blues Hog BBQ Sauce and 3 sandwiches later.....I am stuffed and ready for a nap.  Needless to say, the wife doesn't think I'm crazy any more :)

Thanks for taking a peak.  Happy smoking!!!!
 
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 Looks good. Smoke well done!   BTW.. it's not a GOOD party unless the cops show up!  (BTDT)

   Mike
 
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Looks Great! I have the same Horizon smoker and love it. I have a flame thrower too I got from Home Depot. Also, I had a MES for 2 years that I learned how to smoke on. I loved the ease of use of the MES but was not satisfied with the flavor I was getting. Can you show a picture of your convection plate? I have a convection plate in mine that I ordered from the Horizon Factory. Also, to prevent it from rusting I have sprayed the outside of the smoker with Pam or a similar product and it keeps it shiny and like new. Costco has a great deal with 2 16 ounce cans for like $7.00. Thanks for posting.
 
 
Here are the final results....


Man, this stuff turned out great.  It smoked for a total of 11 hours.  I was running an average pit temp of 250-275 degrees.  I pulled it off the pit at an IT of 200, wrapped in foil with some Blues Hog Tennessee Red Sauce, wrapped in some towels and put it in the cooler for an hour.  It pulled great!  We topped it off with some Blues Hog BBQ Sauce and 3 sandwiches later.....I am stuffed and ready for a nap.  Needless to say, the wife doesn't think I'm crazy any more :)

Thanks for taking a peak.  Happy smoking!!!!
That's a good looking money shot there! Nice job on the smoke!
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Thanks everyone for the comments!  I owe a lot of my success to this site!!!!

DJ - It sounds like you and I have almost followed identical paths in our smoking hobby :)  Regarding the convection plate, I don't have any pics at the moment.  Basically, I found some 16 gauge sheet metal that I was able to cut to match the design of the Horizon plate.  I can't remember where I found the dimensions, but I was able to drill holes following the same design.  So, I am basically using a thinner version of the Horizon plate.  I didn't figure it would be as efficient, and at first I had some troubles getting it right.  What I found (after getting some advice from another post on here) is that if I moved the plate about an inch from the end of the wall near the fire box, it worked MUCH better.  As you can see from my thermo pics above, there is usually only about a 5 degree difference from one end of the pit to the other. 

I love the Horizon so far.  I am adding a small 2nd slide in rack this weekend specifically to add room for a couple more racks of ribs.  Eventually, I will probably move up to a larger smoker, but I don't see myself getting rid of the Horizon.  It is perfect for cooking some grub for me and the boys while havin a few!  I also liked the ease of the MES.  However, the taste of the Que that comes off of the MES doesn't come close to what I can get on the Horizon.  Not that the food from the MES isn't good, as a matter of fact, I thought I produced some of the best barbecue I had ever tasted before the Horizon came along.  I received a lot of compliments from MES products.  But, the Horizon just seems much better to me and the few others that have had both.  Plus, I enjoy tending the fire.  It gives me a chance to use cool toys like flame throwers
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Thanks again for the comments!  Happy smokin!
 
I had contacted Horizon about the best place to put the convection plate and they said the same thing, to move it back about one inch from the end of the wall near the fire box. You would think it would let more hot air in on the end, but I guess it balances the temps out. Also, I enjoy tending the fire also. I do not do any all night cooks with the Horizon either. I will put a Brisket or Pork Butt on for about 8 hours then refrigerate, then put in oven wrapped in foil the next day for 3 or 4 hours to get to the proper internal temperature and then put in cooler for a couple of hours. The flavor is just as good as if you cooked all night and is more tender. I start with charcoal and then use Hickory Logs.
 
 
I have a question about the horizontal smoker.  I have been smoking with the only smoker I've owned which is a propane GOSM.  Did the that first batch of charcoal last the whole time or did you have to add some more.  I'm looking at getting a Brinkmann horizontal smoker and was wondering if I would need to add more at some point for a long smoke or if one batch will last a while.  Thanks.
 
 
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