Any cooks out there?

[GrayStangGT]

Is there a reason that the fire box needs to be lower than the main pit or would it work ok if you just took one pipe and sectioned off one end for the fire box? I realize heat raises etc, but does it really affect how it will cook?

The reason I ask is because I got a partially built pit for free and that's the way the previous person started it. I'm not sure if I should continue with their design or cut it apart and build it like they are traditionally done.

[BajaBob]

Is there a reason that the fire box needs to be lower than the main pit or would it work ok if you just took one pipe and sectioned off one end for the fire box? I realize heat raises etc, but does it really affect how it will cook?

The reason I ask is because I got a partially built pit for free and that's the way the previous person started it. I'm not sure if I should continue with their design or cut it apart and build it like they are traditionally done.

Good info here... http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_...t_smokers.html

Don't know if it answers your question though. Might have to do with O2 meeting the coals, and not being choked by the smoke.

[OrangeChevyII]

The smoke seasons it.

[kingjason]

You dont have to cook anything for 24 hours, the longer you cook it, the more smokey it taste. Hickory or Apple Tree wood is the best flavor of wood. I really dont know all the physics to make it hold a temperature. It just does.

You can cook several kinds of meat at once, you'll have to move it around from time to time depending on the hot spots.

Pecan rocks but mainly it just depends on what you are smoking. Smoking meats longer at a lower temp just makes them a litlle more tender and juicy of course there are limitations to this. Also and last but not least, most meat will retain all the flavor it is going to get from smoking in the first two to three hours. I have done a few tests and used the smoker for 2 hours and finished off in the oven, and using the smoker for the full cook. Same taste. Now that I have an electric smoker I just add chips for the first two to three hours and then just let it finish off like a regular oven. I am no expert by any stretch but I have smoked for years on and off.

Oh and good job on the smoker it looks nice.

[GrayStangGT]

Good info here... http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_...t_smokers.html

Don't know if it answers your question though. Might have to do with O2 meeting the coals, and not being choked by the smoke.

Lots of good information in there. I think I may continue with the single pipe design and build the baffle across the bottom of the cooking section. I hate to see this thing go to waste, because it is one thick piece of steel. Currently its just the pipe with legs and the top half of one end cut off for the fire box section, yet I can still barely pick up one end of it.

[mstng86]

Hey guys.... there is a food forum that happens to talk about all this.

http://www.dfwmustangs.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12304

[kingjason]

Hey guys.... there is a food forum that happens to talk about all this.

http://www.dfwmustangs.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=12304

Ehhh so we derailed the thread just a little bit.

[mstng86]

Ehhh so we derailed the thread just a little bit.

It's a rare occassion but it does happen from time to time on this site.

[Trick Pony]

Can't see from the pics but does the exhaust go down to grill level? I've found in my horizontal offset smoker that the heat makes a bee line from the fire box to the exhaust. I put in a diffuser plate and extended my stack down to grill level and it has much more even temps across it and vertically that way.

[OrangeChevyII]

That makes alot sense actually, thanks for the tip. Right now it's just tacked on top, no hole yet.

[8mpg]

I bet it sucked cutting all that 1/4" steel

[Silverback]

the stack definately needs to be shorter with a flap or adjustable lid on it, so you can control the amount of smoke that stays in the pit, as well as the temp.

More air flow thru a smoker increases the temp inside, more oxygen, more fire. The best way to maintain a steady temp is to have an exhaust that is adjustable and an intake at the firebox that is adjustable. This way you can meter the air coming in and the smoke leaving the meat chamber.

As for the offset style smoker box, this is mainly to keep from having a wide variance in temps from one side of the grill to the other, also the smoke hole is higher than the fire, so that fresh air and oxygen enter low, and smoke exits high.

[Silverback]

Can't see from the pics but does the exhaust go down to grill level? I've found in my horizontal offset smoker that the heat makes a bee line from the fire box to the exhaust. I put in a diffuser plate and extended my stack down to grill level and it has much more even temps across it and vertically that way.

The only problem I've heard of with a setup like that is on longer cooks, you don't cycle your smoke, meaning you get "stale" smoke in the pit, until you open the lid.

[OrangeChevyII]

I bet it sucked cutting all that 1/4" steel

I guessed at that, it's actually 7/16 thick.

[Trick Pony]

The only problem I've heard of with a setup like that is on longer cooks, you don't cycle your smoke, meaning you get "stale" smoke in the pit, until you open the lid.

Never heard that before but I haven't noticed any negative effect on flavor after doing it. It seems to be considered a standard mod on horizontal offset cookers. I would think as long as there is enough flow from the exhaust then regardless of its location it will pull the smoke through from the whole smoker. Main thing is to never have the exhaust more choked off than the intake.