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No offense taken here, it is easier to gently remind folks now than potentially waste time and valuable ammunition later. Sounds like you have a plan. Now...if your buddy can be "influenced" (think promises of tender hog and cow parts kissed in smoke and slathered in sauce, being washed down...
Is the channel strong enough? Depends on how thick the channel wall is (sometimes expressed in lbs/ft). I would not recommend building a trailer until you have locked down the firebox design and dimensions.
Making the tank safe to cut and getting rid of stink are two different things. Given...
If you can get the smoker into a warmer area out of the wind, it will perform better. Alternatively, you can also put them on smoke for 6-7 hours and then pull them off and plop them in an aluminum turkey pan (I use disposable chaffing pans) and then into a 275-300 degree oven until finished...
Could see any or all of following if fire box is too large:
Poor/inconsistent drafting
Excessive moisture
Creosote build-ups
Excessive cc temps
Wide cc temp swings
Incomplete fuel burn
There are so many other variables in a build related to airflow and draft, it is hard to predict what might...
Don't forget the bottom of the fb will fill with ash during the cook. Which effectively reduces the available volume..the logic some builders use for figuring only the volume above the grate.
Steel prices aside, I would not shrink he box just yet. Do some cooks with the larger box. If it turns...
If everything everything else is on size, 55% is pushing the limits of my comfort zone. Is the CC oversized as well? I hav found It is better to be a bit oversized on the fb, but be sure you oversize the air intakes as well. Also might want to go a bit over on exhaust as well. I like to use...
Looking good. I have not yet found a "magic" spot for gauges. They will only read the temp at the spot in which they sit. My failure wasn't for a lack of trying.......I have gone so far as to use thermocouples to measure temps in 10 different locations between fb and cc exhaust (would have...
A couple thoughts, from the school of past builds (and rebuilds).
First, consider expanding the plenum down to a point about 2.5cm above the bottom grate.
I have discovered the best drafting occurs when the plenum is built about 5-10cm wider and deeper than the exhaust pipe diameter.
Second...
Yes, you need to keep that space. Without it you will have excessive grease dripping off the end of your grate down into the bottom of the cc. The extra 12cm is simply not worth the problems it will cause. If you need more grate area, install a second (removable) grate above the first one.
Yes, you absolutely will want that extra space to catch grease that may drip off the end of the cooking grates. If it is flush with the end of your cooking grate, you will always have a mess in the bottom of your CC. I can't really tell from your drawing if you are planning to have a lip...
Dave,
What are your thoughts on plenum design? Some guys swear by short and wide (franklin), others are tall and relatively narrow. My attempts at using the short and wide worked great...so long as I only used the bottom rack. When I added product on the top rack(s), things would go south...
Green question: given you are indicating a flush mount, either position will work. If you end up notching the cc to accept the fb, this question will need to be readdressed.
Brown question: without modeling and testing, installing any curve may actually decrease the airflow performance. Go...
Good question! When the temp is set at 230, I can count on about 18 hours. I generously salt and pepper the refrigerated butts , then let them set on a cooling rack covered under a clean cheese cloth for 4-6 hours before placing in the MES. That brings the temps up to just under 40F before I...
Larger diameter, shorter stack is always my preference. By placing a baffle at the top of the stack, I can tune the exhaust and close it off to keep rain and critters out. Wouldn't recommend you use galvanized tube, it is nasty to weld. Go with a mild steel tube at least as thick as the...
Whenever I am doing less than a full smoker (8 butts in 40"MES) I use seperate racks, and position the butts on opposite sides of the smoker. Allows for good air circulation and faster cook.
Considering you can find a gen2.5 at your local SAMs club for about $230.00, I would say $200.00 is a bit steep for a used gen2 model. The MES cold smoke attachment runs about $75.00 new. Personally, if the unit is in excellent, almost never used condition, I would not give more than $120.
Looks pretty darn good to me! However, serious builders always need more details! Did it hold temps? What kind of fuel, wood, lump, both? What would/will you change? Any more pics of the finished cooker you can share?
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