Introduction

Hello allI'm John from Mississippi. I've been grilling and smoking on a cheapo Brinkman smoker for years. I've recently been bitten with the "real" smoker bug so I've been lurking around and have modified my Brinkman. It is now a double deck unit using an old smoker body missing the pans. This allowed me to move the water pan up and actually gain access to the fire box (those who know about this smoker know the issue there). This is a crude setup but I can maintain temp within 10 degrees or so and I've been able to make some pretty darn good ribs on it. What I want though is the next step for my backyard. Thus after reading and playing in CAD some I have a start for a vertical insulated cabinet reverse flow design in the works. I'll post some basic info in a bit to see where I'm messing up or maybe where I'm ok (fingers crossed). I'm a manufacturing engineer so metal design isn't new though I don't claim to be an expert. I'm looking forward to meshing my experiences and knowledge with the experts here to hopefully build a decent first DIY smoker and then continue to learn how to be a real cook :)