Vertical Reverse Flow Advice

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mountbaldy

Fire Starter
Original poster
Dec 4, 2014
38
11
Townsend, MT
Howdy!  I just got serious in smokers and am in the process of building a vertical offset smoke house.  I was planning on integrating a reverse flow baffle/plate in it but I have a few questions...  I'm planning on getting a 1/4 - 1/2" steel plate to put in the bottom of the smokehouse. 

Where is the best location for the smoke stack / baffle hole when you do a vertical reverse flow?

How do you calculate the size of the smoke inlet on the reverse flow plate?  

My smokehouse is 32"L x 47"H x 35.5"W.  My firebox is 30"L x 24"W x 25"H.  

The opening from my firebox to my smokehouse is 5"W x 29.5"L.

I'm planning to put my reverse plate 2" above my inlet.  As for hole placement for reverse flow... I haven't a clue other than opposite my smoke inlet from my firebox. I'm planning on using a 10" x 6" wall register for my fresh air intake on the firebox.  I was going to mount that center of my firebox.  

I'm planning on firing my smoker with charcoal and or wood.

Any advice is appreciated! 
 
Is that like one of those energy efficient fireplaces where the flue goes up but then splits left and right and curls back down and then up like a trophy rams horns would curl around? Neat idea if so. I see most of them with center inlet and a baffle plate. The more mass you have though, the more you burn fuel wise to heat it, so thinner may be better. 1/4 steel lasts a long long time.
 
Last edited:
 A design I have come up with... haven't built it yet.... I would use the 1/2" plate between the FB and CC....
Dave, I really like that design! Is there any way you could post a picture of the CC with higher resolution? It only came in as a 4k file and gets blurry when I try to blow it up for details.

Thanks!

Len
 
I lost all my stuff 2 months ago when my puter died.... Let me see what I can do.... That's a copy of a copy of a copy...
 
Thanks guys!  I'll post some updates real soon!  I'm still gathering intel for my project.  The only thing I know so far is I have my box smoke box built.  I have to put construct my fire box yet.  

Dave, I like the idea on the fire box.  Also, thanks for posting the link and the drawings!  I'll post some drawings of my idea here shortly.

Merry Christmas!
 
Basic concept.....

Air holes in the FB.... Lower adjust air flow to fuel and adjust the heat... Upper adjust the air flow through the CC and adjust the temp of the CC.... The exhaust channel should be equal to or larger than the sum of the 2 inlet channels....




The basic design of the smoke channels.... At least 2" deep to reduce friction vs flow....


Cut out of the Thermal Mass Separator plate....

 
Last edited:
Dave, 

Thanks for the pics! I like the design!  I may just have to incorporate a version of it in my plan.  It'll be made out of wood (accept the steel baffle and the firebox) but it should still work!  I'll post pics here as time goes.  I just found out I am inheriting an old dehydrating cabinet so it shouldn't long until I get this thing up and running.  I just need to decide on how I want to do my firebox and to figure out how to incorporate the reverse flow into the existing box.  It shouldn't be tough though.  I can insulate it and then build a smoke channel on the back of the smoker. 

Merry Christmas!
 
Do you need to put any flame arresters (screening) on your exhaust from your FB going to your CC when you build a wooden box CC?
 
I was thinking I would build it out of 16 gauge hot rolled sheet... steel.... Never thought about wood.... I've seen too many wood smokers turned to ashes... even block smokers with wood roofs lose their roofs to fire...
 
Thanks, it was a fun and also a PITA build,  It smoked really well, the only tweaks we did was enlarge the holes in the CC to the smoke stack. Uses very little fuel and when it's up to temp cooking away you can lay your hand on the side of the cabinet. We ended up doing 3 test smokes before it left, to make sure it worked properly.

Gary
 
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