My first time smoking meat was on a tiktok bullet smoker

I have always wanted to try smoking my own bbq but I assumed that to do it would require good equipment and lots of trial and error, but when I received a tiktok store bullet smoker as a gift I thought I might as well make an attempt. I watched a few yt videos and read various posts and went for it.

We had a 6 pack of skin on boneless chicken thighs and I read that suggested time was 2 hrs below 250 but to be carful to not dry them out.

My dry rub was primarily onion and garlic powder 60% volume and brown sugar about 20%. The remaining 20% was various spices in the rack like salt, black pepper, ginger, cumin, paprika, bayou blend, chili powder and even a little birria blend. While I didnt follow anyones recipe and didnt have a game plan for this part I am comfortable eyeballing spices for most meals I cook. I put on a heavy coat and let open in the fridge for 2 hrs.

Because the grilling season was done my options at he store were limited for fuel so I was left with kingsford briquettes and bear mountain applewood pellets. I loaded the bottom with a full chimney starter that mostly filled the bowl but added a couple of handfulls of briquets to top it off. I added the other stages including the water tray and waited till the temp read 245. The access door is barely big enough to fit a hand and had to use a folded paper plate to scoop in a couple handfuls of the pellets at this time. I will use a gardening trowel in the future.

Smoke was coming out the only vent on this cheap smoker as well as every seam so I put the chicken on the top grill and closed it right back up. The next two hours were a struggle. One load of the chimney starter seemed to default to around 190 . every 10 minutes or so I would add a few briquets and a handful or so of pellets. In the beginning I would try opening the doors or closing the top vent to try to get the heat up but I would alternate between fanning in some air or using a torch to ignite the new fuel.

After an hour internal temp was only 133 so I added a bunch of briquettes and set them alight with the torch which shot me to 275 for 5 minutes because I closed the top vent till it went to 220 before reopening again. Went back to a steady 190.

At 2 hours i reached 150 internal so I coated with a apple bourbon bbq sauce that I had thinned with apple cider vinegar. I randomly decided to do 10 minutes under smoke and then transferred them to the oven on broiler high for 8 minutes. I had an internal of 170 and the sauce had caramelized well.

When I got to plating I cut into strips and was pleased to see moist meat and juices running. Everyone complimented the bold smokey flavor.

A lot of this was luck and I was very prepared to order takeout. I really would like a pid controlled smoker with some wireless probes for internals to take away the guesswork. Even with my first step a success I am still worried for future attempts but I am leaning toward pork ribs with a 12 hr sous vide and a 2hr 190 smoke. I do recommend chicken thighs for first attempts. Thank you to everyone who added to the wealth of knowledge that let my first try work out well.