Smoker finished and "smokin"

meathound3006 said:

Hey wazoo, i was wondering if you used a special thin set to adhere your tiles and did you grout them in or just butt them against each other? BTW it's a nice looking set up!!

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Thank you for the nice comment.

I did not use any thin set.  I was concerned with the expansion and contraction that would take place because of the heat swings especially during the winter - 30s up to 250 - 300.  The tiles are free standing butted up to each other.  The tiles on floor hold the bottom of the side tiles and I have a piece of aluminum with a lip on it that holds the top of the side tiles.  I think there is a picture of the aluminum lip in the build pictures of this post or the first post on the build.

It has been in use for several months now and I am totally pleased with the performance.  I have done fish, ribs, chicken, jerky, bacon, and several other things that have turned out great.  

Meathound, I forgot to give you the information about the initial build post for my smoke house. Here is the link

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/136296/finally-started-a-hardie-backer-smoker

I learned something about the burner last weekend.  I am using the Northern tools burner and I had it hooked up with a regulator and flex hose from my turkey fryer.  It worked great until I tried to do some ribs when the temperature was in the 20's.  I couldn't get the temperature above 210 degrees.  Typically I do sausage that does not require temps above 180 degrees or cold smoking.  I knew the burner was rated to 35,000 BTUs and I wasn't getting even close to that.

I looked at the specs on the burner and it said that a regulator was not required since the burner had independent valves.  I put a union in place of the regulator and fired it up.  Now heat is no problem now.  It just rocks.   I am sure most everyone else already knew this but I wanted to share.  If you are using this burner in cold climates either use a high pressure regulator or skip the regulator completely.  I still have a needle valve in the line to help control the heat from outside the smoker.

I am still planning on installing a pilot light set up for safety later this summer.  I will post pictures when that happens.