Several Questions about "Mod's" to offset Smoker?

[JackBNimble]

A couple of weeks ago I was prowling around for information of different smokers. I ended up talking to member GaryS who asked how much I wanted to spend, etc. He gave me some good advice....."Prowl around on Craig's List, sometimes you can find a good smoker at a good price". Well, I followed his advice and saw an offset smoker that the seller said weighed 300 pounds. It did not look that big in the pic so I surmised that it must be built out of some thicker steel. There was a metal mfg. plate that had been painted out but he did not know what brand it was since that was the way he purchased it.

So, I called to look at it. It needed to be cleaned inside and out. They did not level to allow grease to exit far end so there was grease in fire box and bottom of smoker. Indeed it was heavy enough to weigh 300 pounds even without the grease build up. No rust and the smoking chamber, 30 inches long x 16 inch diameter, was built out of 1/4 inch steel. Fire box was 1/8 inch steel, 16 inches x 16 inch diameter. Looked like an older Oklahoma Joe's smoker, I think. I know it is not the best smoker in the world but the price was right so I did not think I would get hurt should I decide that smoking is not for me. I might even make a profit if I clean it up good before selling. At least it will let me get my feet wet and try to smoke some meat. Cleaned it up yesterday and fired it up. Thermometer still works but misplaced at top of lid...reads 12 degrees less than thermal probe placed just about grill level which does not make sense. I would think it would be hotter at the top of chamber than around the grill level. Measuring far right side of smoker. Lots of leaks around smoker lid and exhaust vent connection to smoker. I will use high temp gasket material around lid and high temp sealant around to exhaust to seal off leaks.

So, that brings me to a question or two based on some "YouTube"...sorry... ;-) videos concerning Mod's to Oklahoma Joe's offset smokers.

1. Bringing the exhaust chimney down to grill level with aluminum drier vent. To maintain heat and smoke in the smoke chamber

2. Using steel plate 3/16" thick x 6" wide by 16-18" wide, depending on distance across smoker barrel, spaced progressively farther apart below the grates to help distribute the heat evenly. They call these tuning plates to even out the heat in the smoker. Function is same as baffle plate with holes in it to even out heat distribution.

3. Reducing the height of the opening between the fire box and cooking/smoking area to reduce amount of heat moving from fire box to smoker.

Being "New" to smoking, I don't know whether these YouTube videos are blowing smoke or whether these Mod's will actually be worth my time and money to improve the smokers performance. Bottom line...are they worth doing to improve smoking?

Please feel free to comment on any or all of these that you may have encountered, experienced or just understand better than I do. Looking forward to some good advice and guidance.

Thanks..JackBNimble

 

[daveomak]

Jack, evening... First.... make the smoker air tight... no air leaks anywhere... then check how it operates.. temps etc... The exhaust stack should be fine where it is... for now....
The therm in the door is only an indicator... if you have a therm on the meat grate, and the therm in the door are 20 deg. different... figure that in when cooking... also the therm in the door, you might check the calibration... put it in boiling water and see how close it reads... if it's off, make a mental note....

 

[JackBNimble]

Evening, Dave. Had planned on get things air tight but had not thought about calibration with boiling water. Thanks for the tip. Jack

 

[mowin]

My offset is a reverse flow, so a little different than your standard offset. The few times I've played with one like yours, the tuning plates were a big help in getting temps relatively close from end to end.

Plates were different sizes and spaces between them varied from one end to the next.

 

[ammaturesmoker]

Hey man....a little history on that smoker you have. I have the exact same one as you. Ok one of mine as I have a few. The smoker you have is the Brinkmann Cimerron. It was made in the same plant that once made the original Oklahoma Joe Smoker crew minus Joe Davidson. These were made when Charbroiled moved the manufacturing to China. Roger Davidson then built these and contracted for Brinkmann. They don't make them like this anymore. Yes it's true new OKJ units are trash. But not yours as it's a great unit. You don't have to do anything to it.....just call up Horizon Smokers (same guys that built your smoker) and they sell a 16 inch baffle tuning plate. I have one and it works perfectly. It's only like 69 plus shipping. You do not have to bring down the chimney at all either. Just get this plat and that's it. Do not lower the opening Between the firebox and cook chamber either...the plate they make is all you need as it is flush against it and the flow is perfect. Don't overthink this. Just do what I did and you are set. One mod that's it. Simple purchase.

 

[yankee2bbq]

LOL!

 

[JackBNimble]

Hey man....a little history on that smoker you have. I have the exact same one as you. Ok one of mine as I have a few. The smoker you have is the Brinkmann Cimerron. It was made in the same plant that once made the original Oklahoma Joe Smoker crew minus Joe Davidson. These were made when Charbroiled moved the manufacturing to China. Roger Davidson then built these and contracted for Brinkmann. They don't make them like this anymore. Yes it's true new OKJ units are trash. But not yours as it's a great unit. You don't have to do anything to it.....just call up Horizon Smokers (same guys that built your smoker) and they sell a 16 inch baffle tuning plate. I have one and it works perfectly. It's only like 69 plus shipping. You do not have to bring down the chimney at all either. Just get this plat and that's it. Do not lower the opening Between the firebox and cook chamber either...the plate they make is all you need as it is flush against it and the flow is perfect. Don't overthink this. Just do what I did and you are set. One mod that's it. Simple purchase.

Hey thanks for your comments. I began to clean it up a little more last week on the outside and remove rust to repaint and as I cleaned the paint from the plate above the front handle I saw Brinkmann. What attracted me to the smoker when I saw it up close was the 1/4" metal used for the cooking chamber. I did not know it was the Cimmaron model. As I looked around and researched other mods on the web I came across one that had purchased the baffle plate from OKJ. I took a chance not knowing the dimensions and when it arrived it worked perfectly. So, I was about one week ahead of your post. So far all I have done is used some gasket material around the cooking box lid to seal it up. High heat silicon around the chimney to seal it up. Added a thermometer installed at meat to grilling grate level and added the baffle. Additionally, I decided to do only one or two things at a time, use it and see how it comes along. You are right...don't over think it. Thanks again for your comments. What I need to learn now is how to control the fire and temperature of the cooking box.

 

[JackBNimble]

LOL!

I see you modified your OKJ. Success? Failure? Disappointment? I am interested if you have time. I sure from all I have read about WSM, that the WSM is your favorite.

 

[old sarge]

Looks a lot like my old Brinkmann Smoke-N-Pit Pro, but larger. Many a memorable meat feast came off that smoker. Age and laziness set in and I went electric. A friend of my son has it and is putting it to good use. You have a keeper there. Congratulations!

 

[yankee2bbq]

Yes, I modified my ok joe. I did the baffle, lowered the smoke stack to the cooking grate, insulated the firebox with fireplace brick and put a gasket around the cooking chamber. Leak free smoker! It works good. I enjoy using it. Also, I made it better myself, using the materials I had around.

 

[ammaturesmoker]

Hey thanks for your comments. I began to clean it up a little more last week on the outside and remove rust to repaint and as I cleaned the paint from the plate above the front handle I saw Brinkmann. What attracted me to the smoker when I saw it up close was the 1/4" metal used for the cooking chamber. I did not know it was the Cimmaron model. As I looked around and researched other mods on the web I came across one that had purchased the baffle plate from OKJ. I took a chance not knowing the dimensions and when it arrived it worked perfectly. So, I was about one week ahead of your post. So far all I have done is used some gasket material around the cooking box lid to seal it up. High heat silicon around the chimney to seal it up. Added a thermometer installed at meat to grilling grate level and added the baffle. Additionally, I decided to do only one or two things at a time, use it and see how it comes along. You are right...don't over think it. Thanks again for your comments. What I need to learn now is how to control the fire and temperature of the cooking box.

No need to sealing it up with any gasket or substance like RTV....it will do that naturally with carbon buildup. Just leave it be man. You ordered a plate from OKJ? I did not know they supported the 16 inch. As for the fire, I keep mine to a system. I start with lump coal in the main chamber as it burns out and cleans whatever was left for the cook and heats up the metal nicely and I clean the grill this way as well. I then move the coals over the edge to the firebox where I then put cut logs to a size every 45 minutes. I use a miter saw with these larger than normal wood chunks. Works great!