OK Joe mod help

jjmrascal

Smoke Blower

Original poster

Mar 17, 2009

103

10

Rincon, Ga

• Oct 22, 2009

• #1

I'm finally getting around to having the essential mods done to my OK Joe Longhorn. I am tired of rotating meat to cook evenly.

I scored a large piece of 1/4" steel plate and will have a welder make a heat deflector and tuning plates.
1. How low below the grate is best for tuning plates? I want to maximize airflow through the chamber so I don't want them too low.

2. Since I will have to go to a welder to have this done, I am thinking of having him lower the stack too. Is grate level or below grate level best? If placed below, I would think the heat would bypass the meat altogether...right?

3. Lastly, would increasing the diameter stack from 3" to 4" help and would I need to lengthen it for better chimney effect (draw)?

Thanks for the help.

 

rickw

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Sep 1, 2008

2,369

14

The Peoples Republic of IL.

• Oct 22, 2009

• #2

Personally I wouldn't mes with the stack at all. The convection plate is a different story, it's a must.

This should help ya.

 

jjmrascal

Smoke Blower

Original poster

Thread starter

Mar 17, 2009

103

10

Rincon, Ga

• Oct 22, 2009

• #3

Thanks Rick.

So you get good results without lowering the stack? Makes sense to me. I had just read a lot on this forum about doing that for some reason. I won't bother with it, then. I'll just get the tuning plates made.

I am going to get some pneumatic wheels from Harbor Freight and get the welder to put some larger axles on that thing too (unless I can find some wheels that fit the existing ones). Hopefully that will make it easier to move that crazy thing. Thanks for the help.

 

pignit

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Nov 3, 2008

1,928

28

Lookin at the Great Smoky Mountains

• Oct 22, 2009

• #4

I put this baffle in my OK Joe to even out the temps from one end to the other. It works great doing that but I seem to have a problem getting temps up when I want to smoke chicken and poultry. I'm going to drill some 2 inch holes at the bottom of the baffle to allow more air flow. I'm also going to make a convection plate. It is still hot right above the opening of the firebox.

 

rickw

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Sep 1, 2008

2,369

14

The Peoples Republic of IL.

• Oct 22, 2009

• #5

The convection plates can be bought from Horizon that is an exact match for the OK Joes. It might be just as cheap as hiring a welder to fab one.

 

jjmrascal

Smoke Blower

Original poster

Thread starter

Mar 17, 2009

103

10

Rincon, Ga

• Oct 22, 2009

• #6

Cool, I'll reasearch that. Thanks for all the help.

 

rickw

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Sep 1, 2008

2,369

14

The Peoples Republic of IL.

• Oct 22, 2009

• #7

Try here , if this is not like what you want call and Roger (the owner) will fix you up. They are great folks to work with.

 

phillipwd

Newbie

Feb 16, 2015

10

11

Mechanicsville, Virginia

• Mar 9, 2015

• #8

OK got a COS as a present from my wife, Oklahoma Joe, first smoke after seasoning were ribs and it went sort of well but took constant monitoring of temp. due to all the leaks.  After much research on this site and others I spent the weekend sealing up all the leaks with High temp RTV. Please note this should be done before you season the grill.  Gave RTV 24 hrs. to cure but found out the next day that it didn't stick. Peeled it all off and found some aerosol brake cleaner and steel wool scrubbed the area where I wanted the caulk to go and this worked as second application of RTV stuck like a charm.  It is so sealed now that if I shut the vents all down it will put out the fire almost instantly. Did a six hour trial smoke on one load and temp. held throughout.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help keep them coming.