Tinkering with the Potbelly Smoker

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fwismoker

Master of the Pit
Original poster
Dec 31, 2012
4,279
1,033
North East Indiana
This smoker can run both propane and charcoal but i've been lazy and have been going propane especially through the winter and on long smokes because it holds temps so well.

  I decided to try to come up with a charcoal basket that would fit inside the stove to stabilize the burn so i wouldn't have to mess with it as much when i go charcoal.  Today was the first day tinkering with a basket... i took a stove pipe and drilled holes through it. I put some charcoal around the outside of the basket on the bottom so when it burnt down it would light that up.  

So far so good, the temp wants to hold in the 240's, not bad for cold day in the low 40's.  The weather was so crappy here today instead of doing a cook i thought i'd work on some mods.   Tomorrow will be a rump roast w/ Q View. 
grilling_smilie.gif

 
Is the stove pipe galvanized?  That would be my main concern.

I know a lot of people say a smoker does not hit temps high enough to liberate zinc from the galvanization and cause zinc poisoning, but a fire ring in direct contact with fully lit coals is another story.
 
Is the stove pipe galvanized?  That would be my main concern.

I know a lot of people say a smoker does not hit temps high enough to liberate zinc from the galvanization and cause zinc poisoning, but a fire ring in direct contact with fully lit coals is another story.
Any zinc has been long since been burned off... heck this piece that connects my stove and smoke box is furnace duct work.  

I ran super high heat through that many many times while testing it and burned off anything that was there.  Many many cooks on it with zero problems...works like a champ.
 
You know I totally missed the silver coating on the outside of the stove.  I was referring to the vent being used as a fire ring.  Sounds like it's burned off either way though.
 
Oh yea Dave...it doesn't take a whole lot to burn anything off of those pipes.   I remember when i first tested this smoker and seeing the smoke that rolled off of the connecting pipe.  After a couple of high heat burns it stopped. 
 
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