1st Smoker Build - 300 gallon Reverse Flow

[daveomak]

If I may suggest... An air adjuster directly across the FB/CC opening... That will allow you to adjust the air flow through the smoker without having to add more air to the fire... Many folks have found the 2nd air inlet very helpful... It should be about 4-5 sq. in. opening with a slide plate or some type of adjuster....

Dave

 

[mschilling57]

That was in my plans to do and I just didn't get the time to do it at the moment but I do think I will try to create something down the road for that, thanks Dave! That should probably help maintain a more consistent temperature. That and some practice of course.

 

[william3355]

Well I pulled the smoker about 4 hours down the road and completed my first smoke over Thanksgiving weekend. The smoker pulled great behind the pickup and seemed to smoke pretty well. I used quite a little wood, but it was a real windy day so that didn't help anything. I smoked about 50 pounds of pork butts and tried to maintain an even 275 degrees throughout the cook. I still need to work on maintaining my temperature better as my smoker was generally bouncing between 250 and 300 instead of staying steady at 275. Overall, very happy with my first smoke. Surprisingly, the 10 pound butts only took about 7.5 hours to smoke which was much faster than I had expected but I know this can vary greatly with each piece of meat. My thermometers aren't the highest quality so maybe I was smoking hotter than I thought, but they still turned out really good and didn't dry out. I hope to get a digital thermometer soon such as a Maverick for more consistent smoking. Anyways, looking forward to the next cook; hoping to smoke a bunch of venison jerky on it in a couple of months after I have filled all of my deer tags.

Thanks for following this thread and I hope I have helped anyone that is building, has built, or is planning to build a similar smoker! Seems like it was just yesterday when I picked up the trailer and fuel barrel, but I'm already planning my next build!

Pictures from my first smoke:
View attachment 345869 View attachment 345870 View attachment 345871

May I make a suggestion for your temps. I have been smoking butts for several years I have found that temps around 225-230 degrees works best Low-n-Slow. I cook skin side down for 8 hours then turn cook 4 more hours then wrap in butcher paper for 4 more hours total cook time 16 hours or until internal temp is 165-170 pull leave wrapped for atleast 20 minutes they will continue to cook as it rests. After rest period the internal temp should be around 180-190 and still be very moist.
Good way to regulate that temp is using the damper on the stack and don’t load the box to full more coals means more heat if the wood is to moist could be a factor no more than 10% moisture in the wood is great. Just a little help hope it’s usefull

 

[slavikborisov]

May I make a suggestion for your temps. I have been smoking butts for several years I have found that temps around 225-230 degrees works best Low-n-Slow. I cook skin side down for 8 hours then turn cook 4 more hours then wrap in butcher paper for 4 more hours total cook time 16 hours or until internal temp is 165-170 pull leave wrapped for atleast 20 minutes they will continue to cook as it rests. After rest period the internal temp should be around 180-190 and still be very moist.
Good way to regulate that temp is using the damper on the stack and don’t load the box to full more coals means more heat if the wood is to moist could be a factor no more than 10% moisture in the wood is great. Just a little help hope it’s usefull

Just an FYI your response is to a 6 year old
Post

 

[william3355]

Just an FYI your response is to a 6 year old
Post

Sorry I saw the date after I replyed

 

[slavikborisov]

Sorry I saw the date after I replyed

No apology needed lol just letting you know in case you don’t get a response lol