You've learned the most important first WSM lesson, how to make a clean, non-smoldering fire in the WSM.

In the 2nd step you are going to cook brined/air-dried chicken in almost exactly the same way, but this time you are going to close two of the bottom vents 1/3 of the way half-way (45 minutes) through the cook so you can see how the vents affect the WSM grate temp. This is not all that important for chicken, but will become important later on with more temperature-sensitive meats.

• Two whole chickens, backs cut out and saved for soup, then split into two halves, and legs twisted to disjoint (not cut)

• 2/3 cup kosher salt

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 2 1-gallon Ziploc bags

Plus: everything shown on the What You Need page

• To each 1-gallon ziploc bag, add 1/3-cup kosher salt and 1/4-cup brown sugar. Add some warm water and shake to dissolve.

• Add 2 chicken halves and fill with water.

• Leave in a bowl (just in case it leaks) in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning:

• Remove chicken from bags, rinse, pat dry, and place on rack on a cookie sheet in fridge to air dry skin. Air drying chicken skin will increase your chance of the skin being crispy, even at low and slow smoker temperatures.

Two hours before dinner:

• Empty the old coals out of the cooker. (You should always start with fresh charcoal for an even and predictable cook.)

• Brush chicken with olive oil and season.

• Start WSM fire utilizing Wiviott KISS Method, exactly as with Dinner 1 (unless you felt Dinner 1 was too smoky-tasting; if so, decrease the amount of hardwood by one piece at each level). Once again, you will only be utilizing the top cooking grate of the WSM.

• Ring chicken halves, skin-up, breast side in, around the cooking grate, exactly as with Dinner 1. Place chicken as close to the middle, without crowding, as possible. The outside inch of the cooking grate is hotter due to air flow coming up around the waterpan. This is also why you place the chicken breast side-in on the grate. Chicken breast is more susceptible to drying out than the leg/thigh.

Put the lid on (top vent open) and cook for 1-1/2 hours without peeking--except once:

Place an oven thermometer in the middle of the cooking grate, check temperature at 45-minute mark and again when you check chicken for doneness at the 1-1/2 hour mark. This is simply for informational purposes only.

Also at the 45-minute mark, when you check the oven thermometer, close two lower vents by 1/3. This is simply to start to see how the WSM vents affect cooking grate temperature. Always leave the top (dome) vent open.

At the 1-1/2 hour mark check the chicken; the easiest way is to puncture it and see if the juices are running clear, or if they're still pinkish. Again, I don't recommend using an instant read thermometer for the first couple of cooks; focusing on temperature, either the WSM's or the internal temp of the chicken, simply leads to mistakes when you let the numbers overrule your instincts. However, if you must do it by the numbers, the breast is done when it reads 155 degrees F and the thigh when it reads 165.

If it's not done yet, spray with Pam or olive oil or similar, turn the pieces over, then check again every 15 minutes. Also refill the water pan to 1" from the top if needed, pouring carefully down the center so as not to splash on the coals.

Option: Make a simple compound butter and gently push under chicken skin before cooking.

Another option: Instead of adding water to the brine, once you've dissolved the salt and sugar in some warm water, fill each bag with half of a quart bottle of buttermilk. (You may have to top off with water once the chicken is in the buttermilk brine.) Some folks, including me, like the mild buttermilk tartness that results.