couple of questions

[raistlyn]

S!~ all

I'm not sure where I should post this so I'll just do it here...

I have a couple of questions. First off, I have a brinkman offset smoker, and I read that I should baffle the opening from the firebox so the heat is constant through the cooking area... I think that was in the 5 day course. I wanted to know if there were pics of this or an easy way to do it because I'm not a welder, but I do live across the street from a Holiday Inn Express. Next, I read that I should be using some kind of charcoal, not briquettes. Where do you get it? I'm on my 7 days off and I have leg quarters, a ham, and some ribs thawing in the fridge... Any help would be most appreciated.

Raist

 

[rivet]

Hmmmm....Holiday Inn Express. Not sure I understand where that comes in with welding, but anyway, here's a link to some of the mods that I have made and might be helpful.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=75087

On the charcoal part, usingbriquettes is fine. Just do not use the "instant light" or "quick lighting" kind. Any regular briquesttes are fine and I am particular to the grocery store brand hardwood briquettes.

I've used lump charcoal from the store and find it unreliable in the sense that sometimes there is a bunch of weird stuff in the bag, lots of dust and the burn rate varies. To me, briquettes are more consistent as far as store bought stuff is concerned.

Fire up that puppy and have a party! Post pics if you can!

 

[thestealth]

Great looking mods rivet!

Here's the mods I made on mine. http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...t=51326&page=4 Definitely more ghetto than rivets, but the seem to be working for me. Mine are at the end of the thread, but work your way through that thread and you'll see the common mods people do with their offset smokers. Happy Smoking.

 

[fire it up]

Hey Raist.
Rivet gave you some great advice and you might get more views on the post/info/help if you post your question over in the charcoal smokers section.

 

[raistlyn]

lol... everytime I get a reply I get 2 more questions...lol. I get the idea on the mods, and the wheels are already turning. But what are tuning plates? Is that to hold the heat? This is great guys... I'm loving the info. Thanx for the help!

 

[timleo]

I thought the Holiday Inn Express joke was funny...

 

[olewarthog]

I cooked on a Brinkman offset for years. I used disposable oven liners to form a baffle. They are cheap ($2-$3 for two) & you can bend & cut them easily. Sorry, don't have any pics. I get one lined up over the top bolts that hold the fire box on & punch a small hole. I then pressed them over the ends of the bolts. I kept the charcaol grates in the cooking chamber to support the bottom of the baffle. I used the other liner as a tuning plate laying on top of the grate. The portion I cut off the baffle over the SFB opening, I rolled up & inserted into the chimney to lower it nearer cooking grate level.

 

[smokerican]

I think we both have the same smoker and I did the following mods....

I went to Menards and bought an aluminum clothes dryer vent and I lowered the exhaust pipe all the way down to the grate.


I also picked up a fireplace/ stove heat rope to seal the sides of the smoker. I had at least a 1/4 inch gap all around where the lid met the body. I also picked up a 22 gauge 12"x24" steel sheet and bent one end to the contour of the inlet from firebox. There's a lip there of about 1/4" where the sheet can just rest there. No welding. No special tools needed. The sheet will extend well into the second grate, but it has regulated my temperatures accross my cooking surfaces and I don't have to use much aluminum foil anymore. I just use it now to make clean up a little easier.



If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

[raistlyn]

thanks for tips. much appreciated

 

[raistlyn]

guys thanx so much... you've all given me some great ideas. I went cheap and easy for now. I've used the oven liner idea. Made a baffle and an exhaust extension. I'll start with that and see where that gets me, and then mod from there. I've had rain here in East Texas for a couple of days, but tomorrow is clear and I'll be putting the meat down mid morning on Monday... I'll let you know how it turns out.

You've all probably read this a hundred times, but thank you very much for the help.

Raist

 

[bigsteve]

I knew it was a joke, but didn't "get it."

I still don't get it.

 

[thestealth]

The theory behind the tuning plates is to evenly disperse the smoke/heat throughout the cooking chamber...