adventures in LA- brick smoker
- Thread starter pjnla
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thank you. i cant wait to start testing it out. i put in the racks, so now its really killing me. got a few odds and ends type of things i want to do to it that should keep me busy for a couple of weeks. i did some measuring the other day. i have about 11 square feet of cooking space. thats a big jump from my barrel smoker i have been using for years, which has about 6 square feet of space. here are a few shots of it with the racks
Looks awesome PJ. Sorry I've been away for a few weeks. Can't wait to see the TBS rolling out the top! Love the doors
hey brother. been wondering where you had gotten off to. pretty happy with the results. want to see it smoking myself. the neighbors have been poking around looking too. i do a big bbq once or twice a year, so they are already asking for the dates. gonna add the stone veneer at the base this weekend and that should be it.
Looks awesome! Funny thing about neighbors, they like to watch the build, but never offer to help until it comes time to eat. :-) True story...
bratrules
Smoking Fanatic
I'm adding the last touches. Putting on a stone veneer around the base. Put on the scratch coat yesterday. Will put on the stones today or tomorrow.
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Finished adding the veneer to the base looks good. Got the man-made stone instead of natural. Was a difference of about $6.00 a square foot versus $16.00 a square foot. So you can see why I went with the man-made. Everything is so expensive out here. Plus it's a lot lighter. That's all I really need for this project anyway. Came out pretty good I think. I left about 2 1/2 inches at the bottom to be safe from moisture coming up. It only rains out here about 1 or 2 months per year anyway, so that is probably overkill. As you can see, it really made a difference in the look.
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You can't wait to see it in action??? Not half as much as me!!! LOL Waiting for this thing to cure properly is killing me! But seriously thanks. Much appreciated.
Lol how long do you have to wait for it to be properly cured?? I've never built anything out of block.
About 45 days or so. Wes gave me a pretty good warning about not rushing the process. The mortar has to cure properly or it will crack. This thing is going to be around for years, so may as well TRY to be patient. But you know I'm dying to put a nice big brisket right in the center rack. Think I'm gonna start building a rack for my wood now. Gotta do something! LOL
Thanks Wes. Can't tell you how much your advice has helped. Question for you- how long did it take you to master cooking with yours. I been using my barrel for so many years now, I know it like the back of my hand. Using this new smoker is gonna be a lot of trial and error I think. I thought about giving the barrel away, but don't think I could ever part with it.
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After about 30 days you can build a couple small paper fires to help cure it out some. Once a day won't hurt. Leave the doors open as much as possible to let the air circulate through it. When your gut tells you its cured, build a small kindling fire. Bring the smoker up to temp very slow to drive out any moisture that might be in the masonary.
I did a dry run the first time I fired mine up full bore. Get a feel for how it wants to be feed. Warning, when you do your first smoke it will react totally different then the dry run. Cold mass changes everything. Bring it up to temp and just stay with it. If it gets hot, open the doors, and close the dampers. For me, once I get going with a stable temp, I add about 5 brickettes to hold my fire, add wood for heat and smoke. I use the brickettes (kingsford) to keep my fire from going out. You'll just have to get a feel for how big of sticks you need. I use about 1in. X 1in. splits. Toward the end of a smoke you will have little fire and a few brickettes. Bricks are hot, meat is hot.
It took me about 4 or 5 smokes before I felt confident enough to leave it for a period of time. Its probably not going to hold a steady temp for more then 30-45 min. at a time. I started with a butt. Hard to mess up. I usually wrap at 160 and unwrap at 190. Thats just me. I'm not a huge fan of bark. I have never done a butt without wrapping. For me smoking at 250 it takes about 10 hrs. One thing about brick smokers. You will produce BBQ no one else can match.
If you have anymore questions just ask. I'm just glad to be able to help. Now you need to start that brick oven to go beside that awesome smoker... :-)
Hey Wes.
How are ya? I been away from a while. I started a new job in January and just now coming up to breathe. Doing my first real smoke of the year today as a matter of fact. How are things on your end?
How are ya? I been away from a while. I started a new job in January and just now coming up to breathe. Doing my first real smoke of the year today as a matter of fact. How are things on your end?
Good evening PJ! Good to hear your job is going well. Man, you got to take time to smoke!! :-)
Hope your smoke turned out awesome!
Doing ok here. Told the wife the other day we needed to start using out of the freezer. Been smoking almost every week-end. I do pork smokes about once a month to sell. Friend gave me some beef ribs to try on the smoker in a week or so.
Been a rough couple weeks with Memorial Day, but we will get through it.
I wish I could travel to the left coast. I hear it awesome over there. Not sure I would fit in with the city life though. I like life slow. :-)
Good to hear from you again. I'd love to see some picture of your smoking awesomeness!
Hope you have a great week my friend!!
Hope your smoke turned out awesome!
Doing ok here. Told the wife the other day we needed to start using out of the freezer. Been smoking almost every week-end. I do pork smokes about once a month to sell. Friend gave me some beef ribs to try on the smoker in a week or so.
Been a rough couple weeks with Memorial Day, but we will get through it.
I wish I could travel to the left coast. I hear it awesome over there. Not sure I would fit in with the city life though. I like life slow. :-)
Good to hear from you again. I'd love to see some picture of your smoking awesomeness!
Hope you have a great week my friend!!
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