Kansas city Missouri new stick burner here!

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

kcmoribguy

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 26, 2015
3
10
Hi Justin here 27, turning 27 actually tomorrow! I live in Kansas City Missouri the bbq state to be exact!! I have been smoking for awhile just on my weber with a smokenator. I just went Saturday and picked up my first offset smoker, a horizon 20x44 I drove to get in Des Moines Iowa! I purchased this smoker from a fella for $450. It would be nice to meet some local kcmo cookers here to hang with. I have some questions, one is the gap around the fire box door is it a big deal and if so what's the fix? I plan on doing a tuning plate, and drilling for another thermometer on the lower right of the door. Should I do a gasket kit if so which one is best? Anymore cool accessories or mods please help me out thanks guys.

Justin
^
The gap photo
 
texas.gif
  Good morning and welcome to the forum, from a rainy and stormy day here in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary
 
Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...
Happy smoken.
David
 
Justin,

I don't know if it's just me or what, but I prefer cooking with an offset stick burner. I use just enough charcoal to get the wood started (about 1/3 of a starter can) then wood only. It seems to impart just the right amount of smoke flavor, considering the type of wood you use; some wood being mild, some strong.

I have a smoker similar to your Horizon and did several mods: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/166840/rivergrille-farmers-grill-and-smoker

They definitely allowed me to reach higher temps with less fuel use. I bought the gasket material on e-bay, it was 1/4 X 1" flat wood stove door gasket. I really like the cam locks. I wouldn't worry too much about the door gap on the fire box as far as it causing a smoker problem (the fire has got to have air) as long as no coals fall out and catch something else on fire. Mostly, you are going to control your heat in these thin steel smokers with the size of your fire more than with the vents anyway. I almost always have at least the main fire box vent wide open all the time.

The primary thing you will have to master is thin blue smoke. Your fire should always be burning, not smoldering. When burning wood for fuel, it doesn't take long for creosote to form if you close down your fire too much, and you end up with brown residue all over your meat and inside your smoker. I've tried it and it don't taste good.

Good luck with it,

Monkey
a38.gif
 
Welcome to SMF! :welcome:
We're glad to have you here. The search bar at the top is your best friend. This forum has been around for over ten years, so there is a good chance that any questions you may have, have already been answered (they may have 10 different answers, but you'll get an instant response non the less).
Please be sure to post your smokes along with your process and recipes. We will be glad to help you along the way and we may also learn something new ourselves in the process. Also, don't forget the very important Q view! (We're mad for pics on here [emoji]128513[/emoji])
Always remember to have fun because it's not fun if you have to work at it. Thanks for joining,
- Ryan
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky