- Jul 24, 2017
- 1
- 10
Long time viewer on here, but this is my first post.
I'm fairly new to the smoking scene, but always been very interested and came across what I thought was too good of a deal to pass up the other day. I picked up this charcoal/wood smoker off of craigslist for $300, and can't wait to give it a run. Definitely took the shoot first ask questions later approach here, but I'm excited about the new cooker, and think that with a little work I will have more smoking power than I could have ever asked for. Wanted to get some initial reactions about what I bought, what you think I could do to it to spruce it up, and and how cooking with it will go.
The previous owner smoked with indirect heat by pushing the fire to one side, but I think that I can probably make some changes and do a little better than that. With a single chamber cooker like this, what changes/ modifications can be done to keep direct heat away from meat? Is it common to somehow have an internal firebox, as opposed to an external one, and how would that work?
My first two projects will be sanding out a little bit of rust on the bottom, giving it a fresh coat of paint, and then trying to seal up some openings in a few places. The long gap in the back will be the primary issue. I have read a good bit on here about some of the RTV sealants that I can use to close the gap on the back, but am curious if there is another approach for an opening that large. Any advice on sanding and what paint to use?
Next I would like to install a few thermometers on it. Thinking one over near the fire door where my fires will be when I am smoking, and one or two over where the meat will be so that I can really get a good idea of the internal temperatures in various places. I feel like temperature control will become a bit of a science with this thing until I iron out the kinks. Any advice on good ones to buy, and how to install them?
At the end of the day, I'm just looking for some all around advice and ideas about where you think I could take this from here, and whether or not you think I made a good buy.
Thanks for taking a minute to read, and fire away!
Sam
I'm fairly new to the smoking scene, but always been very interested and came across what I thought was too good of a deal to pass up the other day. I picked up this charcoal/wood smoker off of craigslist for $300, and can't wait to give it a run. Definitely took the shoot first ask questions later approach here, but I'm excited about the new cooker, and think that with a little work I will have more smoking power than I could have ever asked for. Wanted to get some initial reactions about what I bought, what you think I could do to it to spruce it up, and and how cooking with it will go.
The previous owner smoked with indirect heat by pushing the fire to one side, but I think that I can probably make some changes and do a little better than that. With a single chamber cooker like this, what changes/ modifications can be done to keep direct heat away from meat? Is it common to somehow have an internal firebox, as opposed to an external one, and how would that work?
My first two projects will be sanding out a little bit of rust on the bottom, giving it a fresh coat of paint, and then trying to seal up some openings in a few places. The long gap in the back will be the primary issue. I have read a good bit on here about some of the RTV sealants that I can use to close the gap on the back, but am curious if there is another approach for an opening that large. Any advice on sanding and what paint to use?
Next I would like to install a few thermometers on it. Thinking one over near the fire door where my fires will be when I am smoking, and one or two over where the meat will be so that I can really get a good idea of the internal temperatures in various places. I feel like temperature control will become a bit of a science with this thing until I iron out the kinks. Any advice on good ones to buy, and how to install them?
At the end of the day, I'm just looking for some all around advice and ideas about where you think I could take this from here, and whether or not you think I made a good buy.
Thanks for taking a minute to read, and fire away!
Sam
