It's Official!

pinkmeat · Jul 23, 2008

Well, I am a newbie once again on a forum. Have been smoking chicken/ribs for a year or so. Today I am actually doing my second Boston Butt. Just having a hard time regulating the temp on my pos Brinkmann vertical smoker. Kind of humid and overcast and warming up today. That has to be causing problems....

richtee · Jul 23, 2008

Welcome to SMF Pink... You got a charcoal basket yet?

erain · Jul 23, 2008

welcome to smf, cant wiat to share some smokes!!!

kratzx4 · Jul 23, 2008

Welcome to SMF. You found the right place

pinkmeat · Jul 23, 2008

I guess not b/c I am not quite sure what you are referring to, insert newbi-ness...

dingle · Jul 23, 2008

Welcome to the SMF Meat!

pinkmeat · Jul 23, 2008

Well, I will let you guys know a little about myself. I just lost my job due to an "organizational restructure" within the old company. I am now a true beleiver in corporate America. Seven years down the drain.

Anyhow, with all this free time eating away, I went and bought 3 racks of ribs and a couple Boston Butts, hoping to get the BB routine ready for this Saturday. I usually do baby backs, but decided to slice them up st louis style for this weekend and try it that way. The first BB I did never really got the way I wanted it. In hindsight, I think the temperature never got high enough inside. It was still pretty damn good though and I am hoping with my recent time studying BB techniques I can pull out a great one today and easily replicate it again this weekend.

richtee · Jul 23, 2008

It's a basket made of expanded metal. Allows much better burns due to increased airflow thru the charcoal pile. Now..I'm not familiar with the firebox setup on that model...but some here are... can ya post a pict? Or...members? Know of a thread about this?

bb53chevpro · Jul 23, 2008

Welcome to the forum. It's a great place to learn the art of smokin. May all your smoke be thin and blue.

pinkmeat · Jul 23, 2008

Well, inside the firebox (lower portion of vertical smoker) they supplied a non vented bowl for charcoal. The first time I used it I couldn't really get enough coal in it to maintain 225 for 4 hrs. I felt like the issue was airflow, so I used an older, bigger bowl and drilled some holes around the sides to promote airflow. There are two vents on each side of the bottom of the firebox, and two more at the very top of the cooking section. I also lowered the coals away from the water pan because with a full bowl the coals were getting smashed as you inserted the pan (slide out trays for both coals and water bowls).

If post a pic, do I need to have it hosted somewhere, or will SMF host it for me....?

cowgirl · Jul 23, 2008

Dang, sorry about your job!

I have a vertical smoker too... I made a charcoal basket to use instead of the pan that comes with the unit, It helps keep the temperature up where ya need it.
It's just made out of expanded metal and held together with nuts and bolts, but it works.

pinkmeat · Jul 23, 2008

Yeah, judging by the dimensions of that thing we very well may be using the same smoker. $59 Home Depot? That's probably taboo to say on SMF, but so far it has been okay. If my old barrel smoker hadn't gone up in flames I wouldn't have bought this one for a replacement.

How do you handle cleanup with that thing in the bottom of the smoker? That would be my biggest concern using something like that. Ash would accumulate like crazy in the bottom....Now I have minimal with the bowl setup.

cowgirl · Jul 23, 2008

I think it was a home depot one...can't remember for sure. lol I set a square pan in the bottom of mine, it catches most of the ash.

I have used this basket in my UDS with good luck too.

pinkmeat · Jul 23, 2008

You have two vents in the top, and two in the bottom, on either side, correct? How do you best control the temperature with that setup? It seems kind futile at this point for me....I just clamp down the top ones when I apply smoke, and usually leave the bottoms half open for airflow to the coals.

Any hints?

seboke · Jul 23, 2008

Hey pinkmeat, try one of these grillin' baskets for your charcoal pan. I use one, as several other in here do. This one I found on Amazon just for teh pic, but you can buy them anywhere that has a decent BBQ section for $10 - $15.

And mine after some use..

Ashes, well you're gonna get em. I use a tiny dustpan to scoop it up. Welcome to the forum by the way!

pinkmeat · Jul 23, 2008

Here's what I am using today.....actually most other days as well:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...606045#reviews

cowgirl · Jul 23, 2008

Yep, two vents on top and two on bottom.
I have so much wind here that every smoke I do is different. It really effects the way I need to vent. I do like to start out with both bottom and tops full open, then start closing it down when I'm up to temp.

vlap · Jul 23, 2008

I have the same smoker you mentioned. Mine is the single door model. Temperature was the biggest problem I had until I got that square wok posted a bit ago. Use that as your charcoal basket and you will have more heat then you know what to do with.
I always leave the top vents wide open and close the bottom ones bit by bit until I get the temp I want. Closing the top ones can actually have a negative effect on your finished product as this can cause creosote. Its a bad tasting chemical that develops in a very smoky environment. Leaving the top vents open will prevent that from forming. Others here know the more scientific definition for it.

There is info for your smoker here:
http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...ad.php?t=18025
http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...ad.php?t=18482
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=15710

mrsb · Jul 23, 2008

I also have the vertical Brinkman and just got one of those grill woks ($9.97 at Lowe's) and it made a huge difference on my temperature.

bertjo44 · Jul 23, 2008

Well, sounds like your well on your way getting the info you need. Welcome aboard and share the Q-View. There is a thread on posting pics. I use photobucket as it seems many here do.

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