# My new Horizon



## rickw (May 2, 2009)

I received my new Horizon smoker just yesterday afternoon. After it was unloaded from the truck my neighbor and I had to wrestle it off the two pallets it was loaded on. The one wheel and one leg had busted through and I had to completely take the pallets apart to get it free. Once freed from the pallets we rolled it up hill on my gravel driveway, that was a chore. I finally got it in place, got the therms installed put a charcoal basket in and went to seasoning it. I used a bag of RO lump with some hickory and oak.

 One thing is for sure. The build quality between this and the RO unit I was looking at is like night and day. This thing is built like a darn tank, heavy is an understatement. Anyone that hasn't checked out a real "heavy duty" smoker really should at least take a look at one.

 I am very glad I went this route instead of buying from one of the big box stores.

 Ok, here are some pics.










Here's the rod to the adjustable convection plate.







Here are the two therms after a couple of hours into the seasoning. There was very little difference in temps from one side to the other.

This is the one furthest away from the firebox.



Here's the one on the firebox side.




I'm going to do a test burn tommorrw and a cook on Sunday.


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## bigsteve (May 2, 2009)

Congrats!  Glad you finally got it.


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## cowgirl (May 2, 2009)

Wow...that looks great Rick! Congratulations!


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## rickw (May 2, 2009)

Thanks guys.

 I forgot a pic, here's the top grate from the firebox.


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## travcoman45 (May 2, 2009)

Nice lookin rig yall got there!


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## smokebuzz (May 2, 2009)

You'll like it alot, i got it's older sister.


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## azrocker (May 2, 2009)

Does that baffle slide or pivot or something?


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## smokebuzz (May 2, 2009)

Slides, the handle on the slide pull out/push in


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## pineywoods (May 2, 2009)

Looks great congrats


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## bmudd14474 (May 2, 2009)

Congrats Rick.


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## azrocker (May 2, 2009)

Hmmm interesting concept!


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## cajunsmoke13 (May 2, 2009)

Nice smoker Rick.


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## smokebuzz (May 2, 2009)

Mine has the plate, not the handle attached to it, it would be handy at times, i just use a fire poker and go thru the fire box with mine if i think it needs moved. Mine will probly get this mod along with the top great and 2nd thermo.Just gotta find time, been saying for 2 years i was gonna do it.


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## ddave (May 2, 2009)

Looks great, Rick.

Can't wait to see it in action.

Dave


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## rickw (May 2, 2009)

Thanks everyone. I hope to have it running with some product in it tomorrow. 

 The plate does indeed slide with the handle in the pic. I had only ordered the drop in plate but the folks at Horizon made a "mistake" and made  this one with the handle plus the second therm was installed at no cost to me. I wasn't to awful upset they made these "mistakes" on it.

 The folks I talked to Angie, Mark and Roger at Horizon were all very, very nice folks to deal with. I would recommend them in a heartbeat.


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## rickw (May 3, 2009)

I did a test burn on her today and things went quite well. I used mostly oak started by a chimney of charcoal. It ran pretty steady at around 250 all day. We had a fairly good wind today and she still ran well. Actually I am quite surprised on how easy it is to keep temps up, with clean smoke to boot.

 Another thing I am surprised by is the amount of fuel it needs to keep temps at 250 or so. What I mean is; it takes only a couple of sticks to keep her up to temps.

 We'll see how she runs with a little product cooking. Tomorrow will be the big test, chicken and sausage is on the menu for dinner. I wanted to keep it nice and simple.


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## pineywoods (May 3, 2009)

Rick glad you had a good day with it and your right its surprising how little wood the heavy steel smokers use to maintain the heat. I look forward to some Qview of the smoke tomorrow


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## rickw (May 3, 2009)

I was able to get the smoker going today with some product in it. I started by putting in a chimney of bricks and let them get good and hot. Once really going I started with the wood, oak and cherry. I was able to keep the temps up around 260 to 270 for the entire smoke, around 4 hours.  For the most part it was all tbs. A couple times I just kept open the fire box door to really let the log get to burning real good.

Here's a pic of the tbs I had.







 As you can see, if ya look real hard, it was a good burning fire. I was very pleased with the quality of smoke coming from this unit.







 Once the temps were up I put in a whole chicken. I wanted to keep it simple, short and easy. We also put on some sausages half way through. I'll post a separate Qview for that. I was really expecting a heavy smoke flavor seeing that was my fuel, didn't happen. As matter of fact it was a lighter taste than what I was getting from the usd.


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## billbo (May 4, 2009)

Beautiful rig rick! I'm glad it is all you wanted. Next on my wish list is a heavy duty offset too. Great TBS too, very nice!


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## pinkmeat (May 4, 2009)

Great looking TBS, well done! Just add food!


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## the iceman (Jun 14, 2009)

Hey* RickW*, I'm itchin' to pull the trigger on ordering a 16" Classic from Horizon. Do you think it is worth it by adding the convection plate?


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## rickw (Jun 14, 2009)

From my talks with the folks at Horizon and my own experience I would have to say yes it's well worth the extra cost. I can get a pretty even temp reading across the entire smoker using the convection plate.


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## old poi dog (Jun 14, 2009)

Congratulations on your new smoker....Its a Beaut...If ever I move to an off set smoker...I will look into a custom shop model such as yours :>)


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## mgnorcal (Jun 14, 2009)

Great looking unit, thanks for posting the pics.
Sliding baffle is a nice idea.

Aren't these therm pics are the same though, both from the left side?


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## rickw (Jun 14, 2009)

Ya know what; I think I did screw that up, I think you're right. I'll get some pics of the therms today.I'll get it right this time. I did end up replacing the Horizon therms though. I went to Tel Tru  therms as I didn't find the Horizon therms to be accurate at all.  That would be one thing that I would change, I can't recommend their therms.


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## rickw (Jun 14, 2009)

Lets try this.



 I'll still try and post a pic of the new therms today.


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## rickw (Jun 14, 2009)

Here is another pic of the temp differences from one side to another with the Tel Tru therms.





 I am sure this has to do with the convection plate installed.


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## mgnorcal (Jun 19, 2009)

Wow - that's awesome for temps identical like that!


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## rickw (Jun 19, 2009)

The built in convection plate is without a doubt the reason it can be dialed in so well.


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## the iceman (Jun 19, 2009)

Do you make use of the feature that lets you slide it back & forth or do you pretty much leave it in one position?


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## rickw (Jun 19, 2009)

I do use the sliding feature to dial things in. One other advantage is; you can run the firebox side hotter if you want. That's good if you're cooking two different types of meat that require different temps, say chicken and pork. 

Here's a pic of the sliding plate.



 It's a great feature.


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## the iceman (Jun 20, 2009)

Thanks Rick.

Just curios, I see another rail just above the one that the plate rides on. What is that for?


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## rickw (Jun 20, 2009)

Those are for the lower cooking rack.


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## the iceman (Jun 20, 2009)

Thanks.








 I should have seen that one.


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