It had to be done, so it has been started

[bbally]

The time came that it had to be done!  The scraps and pieces laying about..... a perfectly good welder with some time... and the dream would reshape the iron into something WONDERFUL!

A picture abstract of a bbally design!





The first weld seam.... when the arc comes to the metal the beast that was laying in pieces starts to take shape!










Slowly it becomes recognized as something to put fire to food!















Stay tuned in..... she leaves for the powder coater next week and I begin the trailer she will rest on... complete with dutch oven clam shell and all the trimmings!

'til we talk again, do a project the temperature is perfect!

Chef Bob Ballantyne
The Cowboy and The Rose Catering
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA

[love2"Q"]

very nice

[pacanis]

That makes me wish I worked in a sheetmetal shop again.... almost ;^)
I do miss my projects though.

Very nice!

[Maverick2272]

Very nice job! Wish I had that kind of talent!

[Dave Hutchins]

I envy you. Lucky Lucky you

[Paymaster]

Hey now that things gonna be nice!!!!!!!! Congrats!

[Uncle Bob]

Interesting design... the fire box and "smoke stack" on the same end. Lets us know how it cooks!

Fun!

[Jeekinz]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

Interesting design... the fire box and "smoke stack" on the same end. Lets us know how it cooks!

Fun!

I saw that too. Although I have seen designs with stacks on either end.....both ends that is.


Either way, nice project.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Jeekinz

I saw that too. Although I have seen designs with stacks on either end.....both ends that is.


Either way, nice project.

Both ends with a center fire box...Yes... "Smoke Stacks' on Both ends with a single fire box mounted either to the left or to the right???? Please share your souce (magazines, books, websites, etc) where you have seen this design....This is interesting to me!

Thanks In Advance!!!

[Jeekinz]

Probobly was a center mount. It wouldn't be difficult to move that stack over.

[MJK]

I'm curious. The firebox looks like a piece of gas transmission line pipe. What was the smoke chamber originally intended to be? Please don't answer if you violate your 5th amendment rights. That is one "smokin" barbeque / grill / smoker though. I am envious.

[JohnL]

bbally,
Totally cool cooker! Plus going out for powdercoat to boot!!
Are you going lay fire brick on top of that bottom baffle to help maintain and distribute an even temp across the length of the cooker? Sure is impressive..

[Michael in FtW]

I share Uncle Bob's concern about how this will cook with the stack right next to the firebox. IMHO - the majority of the heat and smoke will never cross the meat - it's just going to go up the stack and the food on the far end is going to be cold and lacking in smoke compared to the food on the firebox end. Move the stack to the far end away from the firebox and the heat and smoke will be drawn all the way through the smoker ... and be more even - both smoke and temp.

Otherwise - it looks like lovely workmanship!

[JohnL]

From what I see in the pics, it looks like pic #3 shows a flat baffle with small v-cut outs on the edge. Pic #7 shows the firebox hung at approx the 1/3 bottom level of the cooker. There also appears to be heat marks from welding along the bottom 1/3 of the cooker. So if bbally attached his fire box to the right side of his cooker and positioned the opening below the baffle, and then left a gap in the baffle at the left side of the cooker, the the heat would travel from the fire box on the right, under the baffle (distributing the heat evenly from right to left), the smoke would then enter the cooking chamber from the gap on the left side of the baffle and travel across the cooking chamber to the chimney mounted on the right side of the cooker.
I know I'm not explaining this very well, but just take a close look at the pics.

[jminion]

It's called a reverse flow unit, the heat and smoke is moved from firebox to the other end of the pit and then released into the main chamber and back the firebox end of the cooker and out the stack. The advantage is said to be even temps in the cooking chamber.

Jim

[Michael in FtW]

Thanks for the info, Jim.

[Jeekinz]

Originally Posted by jminion

It's called a reverse flow unit, the heat and smoke is moved from firebox to the other end of the pit and then released into the main chamber and back the firebox end of the cooker and out the stack. The advantage is said to be even temps in the cooking chamber.

Jim

So the cooking chamber consists of an upper section and lower section? The lower section feeding the smoke/heat evenly through the "V" notches?

[bbally]

Originally Posted by MJK

I'm curious. The firebox looks like a piece of gas transmission line pipe. What was the smoke chamber originally intended to be? Please don't answer if you violate your 5th amendment rights. That is one "smokin" barbeque / grill / smoker though. I am envious.

The fire box is a 28 inch gas main line. We are doing the testing of a lot of the high pressure lines in Colorado. So this unused piece gave its life in the name of smoked meats!

[bbally]

Originally Posted by Jeekinz

So the cooking chamber consists of an upper section and lower section? The lower section feeding the smoke/heat evenly through the "V" notches?

The cooking chamber has a baffle all the way across the cook chamber, the heat flows from the firebox across the chamber heating the plate, the infrared is then passed onto the meat from the baffle plate. There is a 14 inch gap at the far (non stack) end of the chamber to allow the smoke to roll up and over the meat to the stack.

Inside the stack has a depth adjustment, allowing me to control the smoke depth in the cooking chamber by raising and lowering the excape stack placement. This allows me to control hard smoke to light smoke while still maintaining temperature at optimal maillard reaction temperatures.

[bbally]

Originally Posted by Michael in FtW

I share Uncle Bob's concern about how this will cook with the stack right next to the firebox.

I think if you read Unclebobs post he says the stack on the same side as the firebox lets him know how it cooks.

Meaning reverse flow indirect heat method.