My Brinkmann Mods

jeffed76 · May 9, 2013

Just started smoking and have been scouring the site for good mods. My Brinkmann had more leaks than the titanic and couldn't get above 230 degrees! So far I have lowered the smoke stack, added two thermometers, and surrounded the grill with high temp foil tape. The temp still isn't getting where I want (SUGGESTIONS WELCOME), but It's pretty even now. Today I added some ceramic briquettes to help retain some heat (fingers crossed). Tomorrow I'll be smoking some chicken. We will see if that helps. Here are some mod pics:

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jeffed76
May 9, 2013

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jeffed76
May 9, 2013

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jeffed76
May 9, 2013

fwismoker · May 9, 2013

Maybe stove gasket rope you can get from a fire place and stove shop would help to seal the lid.. You're off to a good start, lump charcoal would be a good addition because it burns hotter than regular charcoal. Unfortunately it won't be very efficient for longer cooks but you'll get some great tasting foods out of it.

Sometimes smokers and grills you start out with you won't end up using later because you'll learn and upgrade little by little but they'll still be useful... i still use my charcoal gas combo especially for searing.

fwismoker · May 9, 2013

Jeff, also adding a convection plate/baffle will help even the heat out across the grill.

jeffed76 · May 9, 2013

FWIsmoker said:
Maybe stove gasket rope you can get from a fire place and stove shop would help to seal the lid.

So that's where I get that!!! I was at Home Depot and asked for it and they knew what it was but were going to have to special order it. Looks like I'll be visiting the fireplace shop this weekend :). THANKS!

JckDanls 07 · May 9, 2013

your best bet will be a charcoal basket.. do a search for it.. you'll find many...

jeffed76 · May 10, 2013

JckDanls 07 said:
your best bet will be a charcoal basket.. do a search for it.. you'll find many...

Just got the stuff for it @ Home Depot today. Can't wait to get started!

goinforbroke · May 10, 2013

yeah, make a charcoal basket out of expanded steel, maybe 9" x 9" x 2" height so it rides near the same height as the grate that comes with it. or whatever width the grate is in the firebox.

The other thing you might want to try, is to remove the top half and re-install using a 36" long stainless piano hinge (available from home depot), so that the top and bottom meet flush across the back of the cook chamber. Bringing these together will create an "overbite" along the front and sides, but I think what you'll find is that it seals the silly thing up really good, not to mention making it much more wind resistant.

I did both of these on mine and it works much better now. When I want to crank the temps up, I'll also layer a couple old beach towels across the cook chamber. It can hit 400 with a hearty stick fire if I want to... which is great for finishing up chicken.

btw, I like.. for the most part.. that it's NOT even from left to right. Lets me slow some things down or speed 'em up depending on the situation, but that's just me.

jeffed76 · May 10, 2013

Thanks for all the help guys!!!! I just finished up my charcoal basket and have it filled up and smoking right now. Here are a few pics of the build:

That's my little helper in the first pic. If you noticed, it only has the legs... bought one screw to short LOL. I'll fix it later.

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jeffed76
May 10, 2013

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jeffed76
May 10, 2013

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jeffed76
May 10, 2013

so ms smoker · May 10, 2013

I think you will find that the charcoal basket will really help to control temps. Let us know how it works for you.

Mike

jeffed76 · May 10, 2013

Some how I ended up messing it up. I tried the Minion method with a circle of charcoal around the outside of the basket and poured the hot coals in the center. It really never got going. Next time I'll put the new coal at the bottom with some wood and poor the hot coals on top.

goinforbroke · May 11, 2013

Keep experimenting and you'll get familiar with what level of fire/heat it takes to get/keep it going. I usually start with small load of lump charcoal from the chimney starter, and casually transition to a small wood fire. This will give that thin-blue-smoke that everyone talks about. Other times I'll use just charcoal with wood chunks, but it takes a pretty sizeable base of red coals to keep that smoker solid in the 200's. Burning small splits of wood is high maintanence, but I think you'll find that the Brinkmann starts getting down to serious business with a small, tight fire. You'll really get to play with the dampers here too.

goinforbroke · May 11, 2013

top tight against the bottom using hinge.. still need to add a couple more bolts in the middle. $8 mod.

img20130511122725.jpg

goinforbroke
May 11, 2013

The overlap keeps heat/smoke in.. wind out. overlapping about 1.5" at the front.

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goinforbroke
May 11, 2013

typical size of wood I use for a stick fire. pieces of seasoned orange tree here, I also split up oak to roughly the same width/length. Additions on 30 minute time frames. Pretty high maintanence but I'm a 'higher temp' 8-hour pork kind of guy, so it evens out in the end.

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goinforbroke
May 11, 2013

some 3 hour chicken from the BBQ Files.. That's the direct flow stick fire.

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goinforbroke
May 11, 2013

My Brinkmann Mods

Meat Mopper

Master of the Pit

Master of the Pit

Meat Mopper

Legendary Pitmaster

Meat Mopper

Smoke Blower

Meat Mopper

Master of the Pit

Meat Mopper

Smoke Blower

Smoke Blower

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