Found this forum, lots of interesting stuff . . . . .
Let me start off with saying, I've never owned a smoker, but love going to BBQ restaurants. I decided earlier this summer that I wanted to build myself a smoker, in order to enjoy some "Q" at home - more so than the gas grill can provide. I am "farily" handy but have never tackled something like this exactly. I searched the net, and looked at several pictures - (I'm too "frugal" to actually buy some plans). I'd like to build a reverse flow smoker, similar to what I've seen on the Lang or similar webiste. Here is what I have so far . . . .
I had an old air compressor tank laying around, along with some various pieces of scrap. The air tank is ~16" diameter, by ~38" long. The wall thickness is 3/16". I bought some 5/16" plate and cut it up to form a fire box that is basically a 16" cube. I'm somewhat "stuck" now on how high to make the reverse flow plate off the bottom, but under the food grates. Also, how far down into the box should I put the chimney? I've seen some pics where the chimney is cut flat or flush with the food grate, and others where a fishmouth is cut into the side of the chimney just higher than the grate. Then, I read today, someone suggested a smallish smoker like this could not be made into a reverse flow, and should be left as a standard flow smoker - why is this? I assumed that the reverse flow was a superior design - at least it sounded better to my, albiet un-smoker-educated, way of thinking anyway? Any help would be appreciated, I'm going to try and get this thing finished over the next couple of weekends. I still need to get legs, wheels, and some thermometers for it too.
Thanks in advance for any insight, and wish me luck on my first "smoke"!
Let me start off with saying, I've never owned a smoker, but love going to BBQ restaurants. I decided earlier this summer that I wanted to build myself a smoker, in order to enjoy some "Q" at home - more so than the gas grill can provide. I am "farily" handy but have never tackled something like this exactly. I searched the net, and looked at several pictures - (I'm too "frugal" to actually buy some plans). I'd like to build a reverse flow smoker, similar to what I've seen on the Lang or similar webiste. Here is what I have so far . . . .
I had an old air compressor tank laying around, along with some various pieces of scrap. The air tank is ~16" diameter, by ~38" long. The wall thickness is 3/16". I bought some 5/16" plate and cut it up to form a fire box that is basically a 16" cube. I'm somewhat "stuck" now on how high to make the reverse flow plate off the bottom, but under the food grates. Also, how far down into the box should I put the chimney? I've seen some pics where the chimney is cut flat or flush with the food grate, and others where a fishmouth is cut into the side of the chimney just higher than the grate. Then, I read today, someone suggested a smallish smoker like this could not be made into a reverse flow, and should be left as a standard flow smoker - why is this? I assumed that the reverse flow was a superior design - at least it sounded better to my, albiet un-smoker-educated, way of thinking anyway? Any help would be appreciated, I'm going to try and get this thing finished over the next couple of weekends. I still need to get legs, wheels, and some thermometers for it too.
Thanks in advance for any insight, and wish me luck on my first "smoke"!
