Hi…My name is Neil and I live in southern New Jersey, and I am now obsessed!! Just got a WSM 22.5 and did my first smoke. I did 2 whole chickens about 4- 4.5 lbs each. I applied a nice rub and used the Minion method…one chimney of original Kingsford briquettes, then 3/4 chimney of lit Kingsford and 3 chunks of apple wood. I also filled the water pan with one gallon of water. I wanted to smoke at 275, but I couldn't get the smoker past 255- 260 max. My vents were 100% open. I didn't peek until the 2 hour mark and was nicely surprised that the birds were nice and mahogany color…temp. of the birds at breast was 156 degrees. I let it go another 1/2 hour. The temp was now 165 degrees so I took them out and tented them for about 20 minutes than ate! Very moist and tender meat…I give it a 9 out of 10. It seems that the smoke flavor is a bit strong…I am not sure if is too much wood or it is the briquettes giving off a funny smoke (binders in coal??)…Should I have used hardwood charcoal? I would appreciate any thoughts, tips, etc. I am going to try a dry water pan next time to see if the temp gets higher. Thanks!