Help needed with new pit

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DATsBBQ

Head Chef
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
1,763
Location
Galveston TX
Click the www button under this post. Hundreds of pits. You should get some idears there. :D
And it's FREE :shock:

Looks a little to shallow to build a fire in it for smoking, but would make a damn good grill. I think you need an offset fire box. Don't know squat about welding. The bigger the exhaust the more air flow, the more heat possible. I'd put that stack high enough as to prevent smoke in the eyes syndrome.

You'll also need to drill a hole for grease drippings or else a big boom could happen when you open the lid.

Just a thought, forget the smoking application and turn it into a charcoal grill. Buy an egg to smoke with :D
 
A chargriller side fire box would mount to that pretty easy.

Personally, I would convert your stainless box to a gas grill for your outdoor kitchen and buy a WSM for BBQ. :shock:

Just my .02 worth.
 
Cliff wrote:
Personally, I would convert your stainless box to a gas grill for your outdoor kitchen and buy a WSM for BBQ. Shocked

Forget the gasser please :shock: It would make fine charcoal grill.

WSMs work good, perhaps great but fly away in the wind. Get an Egg. :D
 
Save the hassle, take the family out to eat at the local BBQ joint... I'll give you $20 for the box..... maybe $25

Seriously tho, do a seperate firebox about 1/3 the size of your cooking area. If you can put the firebox as low as you can compared to the cooker. Don't forget a sizeable amount of air inlet that you can regulate it, and at least 2 exhausts that you can regulate also.... both intakes and exhaust can never be TOO BIG in my eyes.... if you make them adjustable, you can always close them....once built, it's tough to make em' bigger.

Should make a fine cooker if you take your time. Keep us all posted with progress pics! Don't forget the food porn when ya get it smokin'!


OK OK...... $30 and that's my final offer! ;)


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I had a smoker that the firebox was too small. It did a good job, just had to have smaller wood for it. I like a big firebox. And as stated above, you cant go wrong with a large exhaust opening. Not sure about the kind of mount you are thinking about. There are some great desings on Dats site. Check them out. ;)
 
Think if I owned this fine hunk o stuff and was determined to make a smoker out of it I would cut a hole in the bottom of it flange the hole and set it up on top of an upright 55 gal barrell with maybe a few few sheet metal screws to attach the flange to the barrell to add stability to keep it from falling off etc. Make your feed door..fire grate (raised above the bottom of the barrell) and air intakes on the barrell. You could even line the bottom of the barrell with firebricks to give it more thermal mass and more stability. Might even consider using two of the smaller (30 gal?) barrells if the diameter of the big barrell kept it from mating up properly. Might consider two grates inside the barrell(s) for an optional water pan. Rig up some type of raised flat baffle's on the floor of the cookchamber to disperse the heat as it enters the cook chamber. That should work and be a low cost solution. Have seen all kinds of similar set ups at various bbq cookoffs. You could even paint the barrell(s) some gaudy color to please your warden. Just thinking out loud here of course.

bigwheel
 
If you put the firebox UNDER the cooker, be sure to make some sort of diverter or difuser for the heat/smoke entering the cooker and the grease from food..... a water pan the size of bottom would work well and also give great benefits and options when cooking.

Just BE SURE if you put the firebox any way UNDER the cooker, make sure there is some way of stopping/blocking grease drippings from working their way into firebox....a grease fire 5 hours into slow cooking a couple $100 worth of meat doesn't go for a good day.

I'd do my best to keep the firebox offset somehow... if not off to the side, then you could always go offset below and behind it.... kinda like I did with mine. There are pics of mine under "Massachusetts" in that WWW link mentioned above. Iv'e seen a whole pig 90% cooked be over 1/2 thrown away because of a grease fire near end of cook....sure smelled good, but it wasn't a good day for Bill at all.

I definately agree the firebox can be too small... but never too big. Like the air inlet and exhaust...... if the firebox is too small, you're in for long time of slow cooking and grief.... if it's too big... you can always just build a smaller fire... just cause it holds a cord of wood, doesn't mean it needs a cord at a time....LOL
 
Well I think that grease hitting the fire is where the flavor is at and burning it up gradually is great way to get rid of it. Proximity of the meat to the fire and the amount of air intake you let it have is the key factors in my book. For instance on Fred I normally cook about 36" above the fire and limit the air intakes. I aint never had no steenken grease fire in that configuration. Only big grease fire I ever had was in the offset mode cooking on my slanted driveway. I tried to level it out but apparently not enough to keep the grease from draining toward the firebox end instead of the end with the grease drain hole. Once it had pooled up enough grease and got hot enough adjacent to the firebox it bursted into flames. I had 10 briskets on there and when I looked up it had pegged out the 750 degree gauge and was huffing black smoke like a freight train. I just shut off the air and started praying. Wound up having to chunk one brisket cuz it was too crispy. Prayer works huh?

bigwheel
 
Well I do glance at the newspaper occasionally but only to find out whut the commie liberals is plotting. Being forewarned is being forearmed like some famous person say one time ya know? Thanks for the info. Just glad to hear it aint bacon and Marlboros which is the root of the Big C problemo:)

bigwheel
 
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