$45 6ft. x 8ft. welding blanket.... works great and folds up small when not needed, and you can peal down the top while leaving the bottom wrapped to open the lid and what not.
$45 6ft. x 8ft. welding blanket.... works great and folds up small when not needed, and you can peal down the top while leaving the bottom wrapped to open the lid and what not.
Harbor Freight is a good choice if you have one near by.Where can I buy a welder blanket? At Home Depot or Lowes?
if you went thru all the trouble to build a house for a smoker, why not just build a dedicated smoke house. None the less it's pretty sweet!This is what I put together for my WSM to get it out of the wind, I have it bolted to a turntable so I can get to all the vents for adjustment. I have vents at the top that I open for relief and I crack the door during a smoke for draft.
Not sure if the big box stores carry the, but any welding supply shop will have them. Anothe option is to stop by a metal fab shop and see if they have any old ones thay might give you. Even with a few small holes burned in them they would still work really well.Where can I buy a welder blanket? At Home Depot or Lowes?
I will be smoking ribs tomorrow and I will try the welding blanket for the first time. The forecast is calling for a high of 9 degrees. Do you add water to the pan when using the welding blanket? Some people don't use any water in cold weather and one person posted on the forum that he uses a fire brick. Thanks!
I use a 6 ft. X 8 ft. welding blanket with my 22.5" WSM, works great for both wind and cold temps. Here is a link to one of my winter smokes - high temps. for the day were bellow 40°:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/115085/twas-the-night-before-christmas-and-all-through-the-smoke
Unless I am trying to get over 300° I always add water to the water pan - regardless of weather - it evens out any spikes/drops when you open up your smoker.
I will be smoking ribs tomorrow and I will try the welding blanket for the first time. The forecast is calling for a high of 9 degrees. Do you add water to the pan when using the welding blanket? Some people don't use any water in cold weather and one person posted on the forum that he uses a fire brick. Thanks!
Get yourself a welding blanket, you will be amazed at the differance in fuel consumption on cold windy days. I went from getting approx. 30 min. per lb. of charcoal (at 250°) to about 60 min. per lb. of charcoal, even on cold windy rainy days.
as others have said cold is not the issue. what does become and issue is in the cooler weather with wind you wind up going through a ton of fuel and on a long smoke the ash eventually builds up enough to choke the fire. what i do is, take the middle section (WITH the lid) and move it to the side for a moment. the temp will start to lower in the chamber but not that fast. i put handles on my fire grate so i can pick up the fire grate and shake the ash out. i then set the fire grate aside (on something that will not burn!!!) and with a small garden trowel and metal fireplace ash bucket, i remove as much ash as i can. i then put the fire grate back in reload more fuel let it get some heat and going then just pop the entire middle section with lid back on top and let it regulate temp again. has been working well for me lately on LONG smokes.
you know how they say every piece of meat has it's own time. well i had an 8 lb butt take 19 hours recently. the other 8 lb butt took 12. thank god i cooked both. one was ready in time for dinner and the other was good for the fridge and left overs.
Thanks! The welding blanket worked well!
Unless I am trying to get over 300° I always add water to the water pan - regardless of weather - it evens out any spikes/drops when you open up your smoker.
That does not seem to allow for actual smoking only covering for storage!