Smoking Meat....... Worst idea ever ! ( with Qview to prove it )

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finch12

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 14, 2010
23
11
Left of Centre
Well.... I have been smoking meat for a couple years using a no name small wood fired smoker. I had trouble locking in the temperature where I wanted it. Generally it was too hot. I looked in to getting a gas fired unit but could not find one that would do all that I wanted for what I wanted to spend. From there I thought that I would build and design one on my own. Everything went as expected with the exception of the burner. I got a little advise from the veterans on here and bought another burner and all is good now.... you would think

When ever I used to cook on the BBQ I always made sure I made more then we could eat so there were leftovers for my lunch or at least a snack later. Since this build I cannot keep meat in the house. In the last two weeks I have smoked a pork loin for pulled pork.... gone, smoked a pork but for pulled pork... gone, done 10 lbs of back ribs twice..... gone, loads of chicken drum sticks and ABT's all gone. Where does this all stop?

The ribs I have made in this machine have been hands down the best I have ever tasted, pulled pork to die for and the ABT's from yesterday... well I made 50 and could not even get a picture of them they were gone so fast. I have had so many compliments on the smoked meat since making this monster I cannot believe it. I am just wondering how much I have to cook so I can have a little lunch for work these days?

Here are a few pictures of my build from start to finish. It is made from 1 x 1 .100 wall tubing and 16 gauge hot rolled plate. All the walls are totally seal welded so nothing can get in to the insulated area Should not blow away, fall apart or get worn out anytime soon. The finished product weighs about 250 lbs

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smoker with initial burner installed. As you see it here, the box is 48" x 23 x 24. The actual usable area is 41" x 23 x 21. This gives me 11.46 cu ft inside

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another view with first burner installed. Unfortunately this was a mistake. The venturi needs to be outside the box for proper air mixture. I bought a 2 piece burner and used a 12 inch 3/4" npt nipple to join them. It works great. I can get temps to 150 F very easy and I have had it at 350 F with more to go on that end I am sure

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slide in shelves installed. I have provisions for 7 racks for future use

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installing the insulation. 1" industrial insulation

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more insulation with the chimney installed

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all insulated and door now operational. I had set the water pan inside. I bought a sst serving tray for this purpose as it fits very nice. I also bought 2 more half this size but 3 times as deep. When I want to wrap the meat I use these and cover them with tin foil. The wrap around lip seals great and it saves on tin foil big time. They are easy to clean and make a nice serving dish after as well

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Wheels on and door latches installed. regulator and sst braided gas line can be seen on the back right

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All painted up, push handle installed, water tray inside and 4 shelves I made from 316 sst bar. Maverick ET-7 thermometer also installed in top right. Door seal also in place

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closer view of inside with original chip pan in bottom with adjustable height and before 2 piece removable floor was installed

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yesterdays back ribs going in... new burner installed in bottom as well as floor. You can also see the ignighter on the right side of the burner. Great option to have and it worked fine. The top rack of ribs is loaded with minced garlic. Both racks have my secret dry rub I put on the night before

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my new proto-type chip box. I made one quick to try. It is a steel box with hinged lid and no holes. There is no seals involved and basically the smoke just leaks out all over it. The chips only smoke and do not burn due to the lack of oxygen. I loaded it with mesquite and hickory this time. This little box full will last about almost 2 hours with great smoke if the wood is soaked for a few hours first

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The ribs coming out of the smoke to be wrapped. This is after 3 hours total. I also hit them with apple juice every 45 minutes

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Here are the ribs, sauced up and just out of the foil... ready to cook at a low heat for a little on the BBQ

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Here are the 24 chicken legs going in just after the ribs came out. The legs on the right have a little of my special seasoning loaded on

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Here is the dirty bird after the smoke

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Just keeping warm in the smoker waiting for the corn to be done, readying the salads and beating the crowd back that wants a taste

All in all it has been a fun project and I have already gotten more use out of this smoker in the last few weeks than I ever thought I would. I am looking forward to trying a few other meats in time... I have two very nice prime rib roasts I want to pop in there soon !

The only thing I am disappointed on so far on this build is the thermometer in picture  number 8. It is supposed to work as a base unit and a remote unit for up to 100 feet apart. So far it keeps losing the signal in time only 20 feet apart and I end up going back to the smoker to check the temperature which is not what I bought a wireless unit for. If anyone has good experience with a similar type unit please let me know because I think this one is going back. The manufacturer has already replaced it once ( they were outstanding about this I might add ) but I still do not have what I paid for in the end .... a dependable wireless thermometer. Oh and yes, I did replace the batteries !

Anyway, that's my story... no left overs.... worst idea ever
 
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That is one fine smoker from what I can See...
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That is awesome!!  Got smoke coming out my ears now 'cause the gears are spinning.  Just a heads up - my wife may not like you this winter!
 
I cannot remember where I got the leg racks from. That is the best way to cook chicken legs on the BBQ that I have ever found. The juice gets caught between the skin and meat and cooks so nice. I was at Lowes the other day and thought I did see some there. I could be wrong but I was not looking for these either so....

Thanks for all the compliments everyone. It was alot of work went into this machine. With all the cutting and welding I likely put at least 20 hours into it minimum.
 
Fine looking rig you have there. Glad to hear its running good for ya. I have to agree the leg/wing racks are great, mine came from westlake hardware for around 10 bucks each.

You may look in to the wiki section for a mod to your wireless therm, I did the transmitter mode to mine and now I can take it in my basement and it works quite well. If I run across the link I will post it up here for ya.

Nice job and the food looks great.
 
Awesome stuff! I love those leg racks, I want them! I like doing lots of legs for the kids. Great job on the build.

edit: I googled it and found it at Amazon

 
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real nice build, and great looking food

As far as the remote transmitter troubles there's a couple posts on here detailing how to add a antenna to the 73 for better range. It's easy and it works.

If I can find it I'll post the link.

here's one thread http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/92098/et-73-mod-finished-works-great  

try typing "antenna" in the search line. there's a few pages of post about increasing the range
 
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