My ECB

[orlenz]

Hi, I had a Brinkman for several years never did any mods to it, was unhappy with it and eventually threw it out,

recently I bought another one and did a little research and started doing mods to get it to work, first thing i did was added a thermometer and a homemade vent to the top, then i drilled a few holes in the fire pan, bought some 3/4" wood stove seal,

at this point I could cook low and slow no problem, then i decided to add a grate to the charcoal pan, while I was at it, I drilled several more holes in it. wow  that made a huge difference, I couldnt keep the temps down after that, so i decided I needed a way to control the air intake, we have aluminum sheets at work that are raw on one side and precoated black on the other side, so I cut a 6 1/2" strip and made a skirt and a sliding vent door and pop riveted it to the bottom of the ECB, now it is finaly working great, I can control the temp.

another thing i am doing, not really a mod, but I accidently let it run out of water after cooking a roast and burned the water pan really bad, can't get it clean, so I have been buying these disposable aluminum pans at the dollar store, they work great and if i mess one up I'm only out a buck.

I have been thinking about getting a cast iron grill for it since I will most likely have this for several years, it is just my wife and I now that the kids are grown and off on ther own so we wont need anything bigger than the ECB, here is a link to the grill I was looking at, kinda pricey though, also a link to a few pics of my ECB

http://www.fredsmusicandbbq.com/product_p/bge15ci.htm

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• orlenz
• Jul 16, 2014

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• orlenz
• Jul 16, 2014

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• orlenz
• Jul 16, 2014

 

[bobank03]

thanks for explaining your mods. Many of us here aren't really fabricators so the skirt is probably beyond most of our capabilities. I like what you have done! The ECB is a great little smoker after the mods. 

I was just thinking, that if Brinkmann made some of these changes to their line they would be a lot better, and probably double their prices. I would rather buy 'em cheap and make them mine! 

FYI, My dad had an ECB in the 70's and he was able to get some decent q out of it, once in a while. He didn't make any mods. Anyway in the mid late 1990s I bought one, used it once and it made me so mad I stuck it in the shed for about 10 years. I couldn't get anything decent out of it at all. But then I started tweaking on it and you know, they aren't so bad after all! 

 

[orlenz]

Yeah, I bet you're right, if brinkman ever got the idea to improve their product, prices would probably be higher, I like tinkering and modding stuff too,

if I have any more problems with mine I will get this one

http://www.lowes.com/pd_416522-4260...smoker&pl=1&currentURL=?Ntt=smoker&facetInfo=

it's a little bigger 20.25" dia.  the ECB is only 17" dia, and it has a bottom on it already.

 

[bobank03]

Yeah, it and the Brinkmann Gourmet are essentially the same thing. Have you checked out the mini wsm? If you like tinkering and such, this one would be a great project and a complement to the ECB. 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/3163/mini-wsm