New Mini Smoker - it works!!!

[fogducker]

im interested in your build,looks like a great unit to use at our deer camp....
looks like a great unit to make up that can be moved around easily

..
if you dont mind me picking your brain on your build

..can you give some details on stack size and height/about the size of opening to join the two tanks together?
thanks ahead for any help you can give me here

 

[dribron]

Man, I'd buy one of thouse baby's in a second..

 

[hounds51]

Nice build! Rewards for your labor looks delish.

 

[bullwinkle3006]

Really nice work! and I like the way you used the bung hole for the temp gauge.

BTW what size is your stack pipe?

 

[lintonkennels]

Great idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jjf2x]

looks great.

 

[ohiomountainman]

I Sure Do Like That One,nice Real Nice

 

[duck killer 1]

those mini reverse flows are becoming quite popular! i really love mine for sure. great job on the build and the qview!

 

[bikeman59]

Hey y'all - thanks again for the great compliments. If you don't have one of these yet, you've got to build one. All the same technique, just on a mini-scale.

Badfrog - I appreciate your kind words. I really enjoy the challenge of building something out of nothing. I've worked with wood and concrete in the past, but metal is a new media for me. Its had its frustrating points, but I'm really enjoying the heck out of it. Nothing like standing back and looking at a finished product that you created from scratch. I see it as theropy to my normal work day/office environment.

fogducker - I used the pit calculator for most of the measurements. The stack is a 3" OD and sits 10" above the smoke box and about 1.5" below the top surface of the smoke box. The connecting opening (if I remember correctly) is between 7-8" wide and 3-4" high. The calculator gave the hole size and I adjusted it accordingly to fit the 2 round surfaces, then made it a hair bigger. I can always use the damper to tone down the fire, I can't increase the connective hole size once it's done. (well, I could, but I'd rather not). Let me know if you've got more questions and good luck with your build.

 

[pantherfan83]

Nice build! It's small, but still big enough to be useful.

Not as small as this one, but I think it's more of a novelty. Probably can't fit even 1 butt in it: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...5&postcount=26

 

[fogducker]

bikeman..thanks for sharing the info

,as i tried to use that calculator,but this computer dummy kept messing it up

 

[amosis16]

Love your smoker!!! Getting ready to buid one of my own. One detail the I noticed was your reverse plate. Is that one piece spanning the whoe bottom of your smoke chamber, or is it two pieces spanning the corners?

 

[bikeman59]

The reverse flow plate actually ended up being 3 pieces. I installed an angle iron trough leading down to a drain near the fire box. I then installed 2 large plates (front & back) and one small plate (above the fire box opening). They all angle towards the drain trough.

I know there are some other reverse flow build posts on this site that show some very clear details of how that gets put together. Because of the small size of my build, it's hard to see good details in the pictures. You will probably have the same challenge, given the size of your tank.

Let me know if you have more questions. I'm more than glad to help.

 

[amosis16]

How adequate is the firebox on yours? When I ran the calculator for mine, it showed a 5# propane tank is about 1/4 the volume of the cooking chamber. Is that acceptable for this size smoker? or should I be looking for something bigger for my build?

Also, what type of fuel do you run in yours?

 

[bikeman59]

The size of the fire box is very adequate. It's 1/2 the size of the smoke box. The calc says use at least 1/3 size, so it's more than enough according to that. In actuality, it works very well. The basket in my fire box holds a fair amount of fuel. Using the Minion Method, I can get about 6 hours of good heat while only adding wood pieces here and there.

So far, all I've used is Stubb's briquettes for fuel and chunks of oak for smoke. I did 3 full chickens last weekend. They came out great, but I think maybe just a little too smokey. During my next smoke, I will cut back on the oak. I'm going to use 1 fist sized chunk per hour so see if that works better.

 

[dick foster]

Really nice. I like it.

 

[sawruff]

i like this one i made one of my own out of a 7.5gal cook 5gal fire box i would like to know what is the size of that 10gal is the 7.5 12x21  

 

 

[djpoirot]

This looks Awsome. Hope you dont mind it I copy your design.

Cant wait to build one.

Only thing I need more detail on is the bottom of the smoker chanber.

Looks like you overed the burn pot hole and left a slot on the bottom for the heat and smoke.

Also the pipe in the bottom looks  like a drain.

if you can let me know how you did that.

thanks

Don