Knotty Pine Smoker Build

[barnstormer]

I just finished my smoker build but have not used it yet. I am planning on it this afternoon. I posted a few pics of it in my new member thread but I will include a few here as well. I have a 1650 watt, 2 burner electric hot plate and a 2 burner camp stove to use for heat. I think I will try the camp stove first. There is a 3" air intake on the bottom of one side with a damper and a 3" chimney on the other side at the top also with a damper. Is there a method that works fest to figure out the best setting for the dampers? Thanks!

 

[bigwheel]

Hope you are getting enough air to it to run the camp stove. It makes me nervous when the propane gizmos start whooshing for air when the door is opened. How hot are you expecting to get? Not sure those hot plates are heat proof. An indutrious person could order a Brinkmann electric burner and mount it through a hole in the side to keep from burning off the insulation for the wires etc. You can buy a Chicom controller for it for 15 bucks on ebay. Let me know if you need the link. Where is your grease headed? Will it have a water pan?

 

[bbquzz]

Very cool BS, I'll be anxious to see your first cook in it, you did a great job on it.

 

[barnstormer]

Thanks! Well the camp stove was a bust. I drilled a small hole in the back so the propane bottle was outside of the unit but that meant the stove had to be against the back wall instead of centered. When I was beginning to warm it up the back began to burn. I figured it should have enough air with the three inch inlet. So I swapped it out with the electric setup. It's a dual hot plate. One side is 1000 watts and the other is 650 watts. With both on all the way, I could only get it up to 200*. So I ended up smoking the pork loin for about an hour and then moved it in to our oven where we could boost the temp a little. BTW, I had a large pan with water on the first rack and was cooking above that.

Any ideas on how to get a little more heat out of it. Do I need to close either of my in/out dampers more. I was toying with the idea of using a charcoal tray in the bottom but I thought I would burn it down for sure!

 

[Max1]

Ditch the water, use a water bottle and spritz, much easier, and you dont have to heat the water.

 

[Vermin999]

Very cool smoker, hope you get the kinks worked out of it.

 

[bigwheel]

Hmmm..well would say that is more than plenty of air to run it on electricity. My Brinkmann dont get any intake except what leaks in a few places..so doubt that will be an issue. Me and pal clowned around with an old chest freezer and a hot plate not too long back..and it would get to 275 without any problem..but since it was an old freezer it came heavily insulated from the factory..which would make a person guess insulation would help on the heat production of your cooker. Betcha a blanket throwed over the top would do wonders. Betcha that would get you in cooking range and the water pan is there to catch the grease. Most of the similar gizmos to yours I have seen were designed for lower temps as in less than 200 for smoking jerky..sausage..carp and stuff like that. Just trying to cover all the bases here.

 

[barnstormer]

I just posted this in my other thread but I'll post here as well, since there has already been some great feedback here.

Well, the little camp stove turned out not to be the right option. To get the little propane line out the back it sat way to close to the rear wall and and ended up burning a little between the lid of the stove and the back wall. So I took the lid off for the next cook and was able to turn it a little so that one of the burners was in the center. That worked well but that little coleman propane tank lasted about 45 min. That is just not going to cut it.

Plan B: I am either going to insulate it a little better on the inside and just use the hot plate I have (I didn't want to go electric but if that's the only way I will) or I've been toying with the idea of a small wire basket to for charcoal. I have a pan that I could put in the bottom to catch the ash and hang the charcoal basket from the lowest rack that had the water pan on it. I wan't to try the charcoal option but I really don't want to start it on fire again. Do you guys think that the 3" inlet/outlet will be enough air to make this work or will charcoal get too hot in something like this.

Thanks for the help!

 

[oompappy]

It's a dual hot plate. One side is 1000 watts and the other is 650 watts. With both on all the way, I could only get it up to 200*. So I ended up smoking the pork loin for about an hour and then moved it in to our oven where we could boost the temp a little. BTW, I had a large pan with water on the first rack and was cooking above that.

Any ideas on how to get a little more heat out of it.

The smoker you have there is perfect for smoking sausage, bacon, pastrami, etc and other stuff calling for temps under 195*F. If you want to cook Pork Butts, Brisket, Ribs, Loins or Roasts etc, then you're gonna need a different cooker that can take the higher heat safely. (just my humble opinion, of course)

 

[barnstormer]

Well, For my last run I smoked some spare ribs. I made a fine mesh basket and used charcoal. I put a couple of old granite tiles in the bottom along with a pan to catch the ash and it seemed to work pretty well. I only used about 10 brickettes but the temp got to about 220 and stayed there pretty well. I was leary about it catching fire with the charcoal but I think as long as I don't get carried away with it I will be fine. I am going to do a brisket this weekend so I think I will use a little more charcoal initially and see if I can get a little more heat of it with out burning it to the ground.

Wish me luck!

 

[Max1]

Good luck man, try looking up the minion method, works great.

 

[barnstormer]

Thanks Max. That's' a great suggestion, I'm definitely going to give it a try next time.

 

[Max1]

Good idea, hope it solves your problem.