New to the site.

wezol · Jan 17, 2013

I've been a member of the site for a few months, mostly lurking around and reading. My name is Dylan, and I'm from Granbury, TX. I just bought a OK Joes Longhorn, upgrading from a little water smoker. Been smoking off and on for a few years but finally dove head first into a full time hobby. I posted with pictures in the Wood Smoking forum, I mistakenly posted there first, before here. My apologies.

Looking forward in trying to become a productive member of this site. Thanks for all the information here.

Dylan.

kathrynn · Jan 17, 2013

to SMF!! We are glad you joined us!

Would you please update your profile so the members will know where you are from? Thanks!

Also..have you signed up for Jeff's E-Course yet? Here is a link to get you pointed in that direction!

http://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-basics-ecourse.html

If you need any help roaming around here..let us know!

Ka

wezol · Jan 17, 2013

I will work on updating "about me" portion of the profile. For now I updated my location.

And yes, I took his course last week, very informative.

Edit: I misspoke, I have been lurking on this site for months, but didn't register until early this month I guess. My bad.

Here are some pictures of my smoker I grabbed a few days ago. I pulled off the RTV before it cured on the firebox when I realized it would just melt. The chamber door will be fine though.

temporary.jpg

wezol
Jan 17, 2013

Added a 3" downpipe so smoke exits at grate level, and some foil along the bottom and bent up to cover part of the hole from the firebox, per recommendations from this site. Night and day difference of temp levels and consistency.

temporary-4.jpg

wezol
Jan 17, 2013

Some Pork Chops I did last night.

WP_20130116_001.jpg

wezol
Jan 17, 2013

One possible concern, is the where the firebox has turned white on the bottom. I think the Lump coal maybe got too close to the bottom? I have since rotated the grates sideways so there is more air under.

WP_20130117_003.jpg

wezol
Jan 17, 2013

I got my Mavrick 732 in today, and I have a single probe Mavrick that I got for Christmas. Also ordered a Tel-Tru glow in the dark thermometer.

old sarge · Jan 17, 2013

Welcome from Arizona.

s2k9k · Jan 17, 2013

Hi Dylan!

to SMF!!! We're happy you joined us!

rgacat · Jan 17, 2013

Welcome to the group that is a fine looking smoker. Looking forward to many pictures.

anothermike · Jan 18, 2013

nice! you've got it set up almost the same as mine smoker - couldn;t see from the pictures what mods you'd done on the entrance from the firebox - could you elaborate a bit on that.

I also made a charcoal basket to help with containment of the coals and airflow and it works a treat! I had the miscoloring of the firebox when I burnt without the basket and I think its the effect of the coals being too close to the outside. I rubbed it down with wirewool and sprayed it with oil - the problem disappeared.

sunman76 · Jan 18, 2013

Hello and welcome to SMF

great looking smoker...

wezol · Jan 18, 2013

AnotherMike said:
nice! you've got it set up almost the same as mine smoker - couldn;t see from the pictures what mods you'd done on the entrance from the firebox - could you elaborate a bit on that.

I also made a charcoal basket to help with containment of the coals and airflow and it works a treat! I had the miscoloring of the firebox when I burnt without the basket and I think its the effect of the coals being too close to the outside. I rubbed it down with wirewool and sprayed it with oil - the problem disappeared.

Thanks!

I do want a basket but I do not want to buy one, they seem expensive. How did you do yours? I figured I could get some expanded metal, cut and fold it into a basket and just wire the sides together with bailing wire....for now.

I looked last night at the white on the firebox, it seems like some kind of ash, towel and some water brought it off. I'll spray it with some oil before I fire it up again though.

Here's a picture of the entrance from the firebox. I covered up about a 1/3 of the opening.

WP_20130117_002.jpg

wezol
Jan 18, 2013

anothermike · Jan 18, 2013

The hole on mine is lower down - its level with the rack for the charcoal so I use a large ally pan filled with water which almost covers the top of the hole - but the sides are at a slight angle which forces the heat and smoke down towards the bottom of the chamber. I also added four foil wrapped bricks to help with the regulation and retention of the heat. I'm sure I could do a better job with a bit more work but it seems to do the job and its more fun to be cooking stuff than to be doing more mods.

The charcoal basket - I used a 2ft by 2ft piece of expanded steel from Home Depot and used a hacksaw to cut it in half. Then bend each piece six inches from the ends at 90 degrees and put them across each other so that the bottom is double layered. I used some u bolts I had around to secure each corner and that seemed to work. Ended up with a 1ft by 1 ft by 6inch basket that fitted into the firebox just fine - sits on the original grate and allows the ash to fall freely, plenty of airflow for a consistent burn and the hot coals don't touch the side of the firebox. you can also stack a lot more charcoal in that way so a longer controlled fire is possible.

I'll try to get some pictures up before I fire it up this weekend.

wezol · Jan 18, 2013

AnotherMike said:
The hole on mine is lower down - its level with the rack for the charcoal so I use a large ally pan filled with water which almost covers the top of the hole - but the sides are at a slight angle which forces the heat and smoke down towards the bottom of the chamber. I also added four foil wrapped bricks to help with the regulation and retention of the heat. I'm sure I could do a better job with a bit more work but it seems to do the job and its more fun to be cooking stuff than to be doing more mods.

The charcoal basket - I used a 2ft by 2ft piece of expanded steel from Home Depot and used a hacksaw to cut it in half. Then bend each piece six inches from the ends at 90 degrees and put them across each other so that the bottom is double layered. I used some u bolts I had around to secure each corner and that seemed to work. Ended up with a 1ft by 1 ft by 6inch basket that fitted into the firebox just fine - sits on the original grate and allows the ash to fall freely, plenty of airflow for a consistent burn and the hot coals don't touch the side of the firebox. you can also stack a lot more charcoal in that way so a longer controlled fire is possible.

I'll try to get some pictures up before I fire it up this weekend.

That sounds extremely simple. Thank you.

I've been wanting to grab a few firebricks and I'm going to throw in a water pan to help regulate heat. I'm just not sure of the optimal place to set the firebricks. I'll read around on here about it. Good idea.

hambone1950 · Jan 18, 2013

I saw this video on YouTube a while back and it stuck in my mind....looks like a pretty easy way to make your own charcoal basket.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=I5poqrIboAE&desktop_uri=/watch?v=I5poqrIboAE

:welcome1: to the forum , by the way. Good luck , man,. Great looking smoker.:grilling_smilie:

wezol · Jan 18, 2013

Thanks man, too easy.

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