# Just got my first smoker!



## JustinLoos (Jul 24, 2020)

Hi!

Just got my first smoker. I went with Horizon’s 20” offset smoker. I did a 4 hour seasoning cook. Going to smoke chicken this weekend. I’m excited!








America!


----------



## JLeonard (Jul 24, 2020)

Nice! Welcome aboard.


----------



## flatbroke (Jul 24, 2020)

Looks very nice. Congratulations


----------



## uncle eddie (Jul 24, 2020)

Pictures...take lots of picture!


----------



## BaxtersBBQ (Jul 24, 2020)

Can’t wait to see what you smoke.  Keep us updated!!!


----------



## SKade (Jul 24, 2020)

Congratulations. I see lots of good food in your future. I used two offsets until they had nothing more to give. Some great times.


----------



## BuckeyeSteve (Jul 24, 2020)

Congratulations on your smoker, and welcome to the forum.


----------



## jcam222 (Jul 24, 2020)

Congrats and welcome from Ohio.


----------



## Alphonse (Jul 25, 2020)

Nice looking pit - congrats!  

Consider getting yourself a "kindling cracker".  It is a game changer for a stick burner.


----------



## SmokinAl (Jul 25, 2020)

Nice rig!
Congrats on the new smoker!
Now we all want to see it in action!
And I must say that chicken is a perfect first smoke, cheap & easy!
Al


----------



## JustinLoos (Jul 26, 2020)

jcam222 said:


> Congrats and welcome from Ohio.





Alphonse said:


> Nice looking pit - congrats!
> 
> Consider getting yourself a "kindling cracker".  It is a game changer for a stick burner.



Thanks, just bought the XL


----------



## lowslowmac (Oct 12, 2020)

congrats, welcome.  look forward to seeing more from your experiences.  good luck this is a great place to build knowledge


----------



## yankee2bbq (Oct 13, 2020)

Congratulations! Can’t wait for the first smoke!!


----------



## tallbm (Oct 13, 2020)

JustinLoos said:


> Hi!
> 
> Just got my first smoker. I went with Horizon’s 20” offset smoker. I did a 4 hour seasoning cook. Going to smoke chicken this weekend. I’m excited!
> 
> ...


Hi there welcome, and congrats!

Chicken is great to practice with and as Al mentioned cheap.

Just an FYI with some SUPER IMPORTANT info about chicken skin.  If you smoke any poultry that has skin on it the skin will come out tough and rubbery unless cooked at like 325F smoker temp.  So get that smoker temp up for the skin on chicken and you won't have a disappointing first chicken smoke :)

Secondly, to avoid dry chicken if you do whole chickens or chicken breast it does WONDERS if you brine in salt + water over night or like 24 hours is even better.  The simplest brine in the world is water + salt.
The amount of salt is easy to calculate.  Take the weight of the water + weight of the salt in grams or ounces (never pounds) and multiply by .02 and that will be how many grams or ounces of salt you need to dissolve in the water ( I use the blender to dissolve).  
Throw your whole chickens or chicken breast in that and over night or 24hrs you will have chicken that shouldn't dry out on you.  This is not needed for dark meat.

Finally, if you want the simplest hassle free chicken smoke ever so you can learn how your smoker behaves and not worry about how the meat will come out... Boneless skinless chicken thighs are hard to mess up.  Just pull them out of the packaging, season, throw on the smoker, smoke at any smoker temp, and when they hit 180F degrees Internal Temp (IT) they will be done and not squishy.  Simple!

Let us know how it comes out! :)
Anyhow good luck with your first chicken smoke


----------

