A major Brazos modification , need your opinion.

[Smokin Okie]

Lot of experience with offset stick burners on this forum, so I'm asking for help thinking this out.

This video is a mod of Yoder Wichita. They add a collector and a small baffle. I'm thinking about doing this to my Brazos. I'm in contact with a couple welders now, trying to get some cost estimate. But I'd like opinions from here on whether there's value in this or if so, how to do it , and any possible pitfalls. I don't want to ruin my Brazos.

Another note, Franklin BBQ Pits has sent me an email saying I can buy a pit from them, total cost at close to $4,500. I'm thinking I can mod this Brazos for a lot less money and have a smoker that cooks almost as well. Am I wrong ?

Here's what I want to do ..........

 

[Chasdev]

You can leave the exhaust stack alone with the exceptions of 1; getting rid of the ridge inside the exhaust stack where it's welded to the end place, probably 1/2 to 3/8 inch ledge in there that has to go.
2; extend the stack two or three feet, it's too short to create a proper draw.
On mine, I found that running the fire without a grate under it helps fire management.
Standing the sticks on end (more or less) helps reduce temp runaway too.
Moving the coals toward and away from the cook chamber is required to keep the temps you desire, so buy a shovel or scoop of some type that does the job.
I thought a tuning plate would solve the hot at one end problem and while it does slow down the firebox ends hot spot for a while, once the metal heats up it makes it worse because the plate itself is too close to the cook surface and once heated fully, it makes the problem worse.
There's also a minimum distance from the bottom of the barrel to the underside of the meat (6 inchs maybe?) and below that you have too much oven effect and not enough smoker effect so another knock on the tuner plate.
I think the exhaust stack length, the removal of the fire grate and using smaller sticks are the key to driving your Old Country.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I extended the stack about a year and a half ago. It does improve the draw. I've posted about that here.

But here's what happens. If you increase air flow , which is done by either improving the draw or opening the FB door, on this smoker the stack end is going to heat up. Because the air can not exhaust as fast as it goes in. So after improving the draw with the stack extension, I have to cut down air flow with the damper on the FB door, to even out the cooker.

So why improve the draw with the extension if I have to cut down the air flow ?

The air can only flow through the cooker so fast. A collector is the way to move air out.

The only way to gain anything is to open up the stack and FB end . Franklin, Mill Scale, Workhorse all have their cook chamber wide open on both ends. That is how to get even convection cooking from one end to the other.

I'm cautious about opening up the exhaust port. There's a reason Old Country made the port 4.5" and the stack 6" . I think the weight of that 1/4" stack needs that support. That's just my opinion.

An LSG Fire basket I bought this time last year, dealt with the fire box issues. I'm good with the FB. Its the baffle that has to be reduced in size or either taken out completely.

I asked for opinions, and I appreciate yours and all other opinions. This is not an easy thing for me to do. And when I get cost estimates from welders, it may all be a moot point.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Here's a pic I've borrowed from a post at the BBQ Brethren. Look at his temp gauges, its hotter on the stack end and the FB door is wide open. If he closes the door, and cuts down air flow, those temp gauges are gonna even out.

 

[Chasdev]

I have to add that the reason I sold my Old Country is that it took too much of my time to balance the cook chamber temps on a razor's edge.
Last thing I tried was to manufacture "mini splits" out of normal larger splits, about 12in long by 4 or 5 in diameter.
Sitting next to the firebox door for 10+ hours adding small amounts of wood right before the coal base died out and opening the cook chamber door for a moment or three when the temps ran too hot.
The briskets tasted fantastic but in Austin in the summer I had to surrender.
Hence the Masterbuilt gravity feed in the back yard.
Meat's not as good woodsmoke flavor wise but temps are rock steady hour after hour after hour, meat tastes almost as good and I can make sure my La-Z-boy chair ( placed directly under an A/C vent ) does not float up to the ceiling.
It's a hard job but someone has to do it, and drink beer of course.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I'm not that particular about end - to -end balance, as much as I want more air flow. Actually, I could live with temp diff in that pic, depending upon how much meat I had on the smoker. If its one brisket that's left of center on the cooking grate, that diff is not a big deal. I just have to rotate the meats. But Im a believer in air flow.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I need to clarify something, I said Franklin, Mill Scale, and Workhorse run their pits wide open, well not really. I meant they're wide open between the FB and cook chamber and have a large exhaust. From what I can tell, they still cook with the FB door mostly closed, best I can tell. And that's something I would like to know more about.

 

[Chasdev]

Watch Franklin's videos and/or buy his excellent book.
He says and shows how he cooks with the firebox door wide open and he moderates cook chamber temps with the amount of fuel he adds and where he places the coal bed relative to the passage from the burn box to the cook chamber.
There's one video where he cooks a single brisket in his back yard on a very early version of a small Old Country offset.
In preparing the smoker, one of the first things he does is cut and saw oak splits into smaller splits.
When adding a stick he stands it upright so it burns from the bottom to the top rather than laying it in the coal bed which would make it catch along it's length as opposed to just one end.

 

[Smokin Okie]

If anyone in the OKC area is interested, the Brazos is for sale.

1/4" steel
Tuning plates,
2 - Tel Tru gauges at grate level
1 - Old Country gauge in dome of lid
Cook chamber perfectly sealed from leaks with RTV Sealant and clamps
Probe Port
Stack extension
Ball valve on grease drain with grease bucket

This smoker has the bugs worked out and ready to go. It was almost new when I bought it 3 years ago.

$650

 

[Smokin Okie]

The Brazos sold today. Was a little sad to see it driving off. I've learned a lot from that smoker.

I listed it on Facebook Marketplace in the morning, it sold in the afternoon. I think the demand for smokers must be high.

I also sold a Weber Spirit E-310 gasser in one day.

Gonna sell my Weber 26 Kettle next.

 

[elsos]

Whoa, I saw a post of yours on another bbq site the other day and you extended the stack on your Brazos! I didn't see any communication about that afterwards, and now it's rolled on to another family?! Such a short story from my reference

But, I'm looking at trying my hand to stick burning and Im aiming at the Brazos right now. Thoughts?
Are you upgrading from the Brazos?
Eric

 

[Smokin Okie]

Brazos is a good quality smoker. I'm upgrading to another stick burner. Brazos would be an excellent stick burner to learn on because its 1/4" steel and that gives you a big leg up over the cheaper offsets.

 

[elsos]

I wish I could see the smoker in the store, heard some scary stories about transport.
What are you going to get? How exciting.

I've been texting meat porn pictures to my wife and telling her that for Mother's day I could get this offset to her (if she'd let me).

Been using a Reqtec 700 now for a year and a half, and it's great, but I've sort of learned that now. Have you used pellet smokers yet? Not getting the big bark I'm expecting to get with an offset, but have cooked some terrific foods on it.

Eric

 

[Smokin Okie]

From what I see on the Old Country Facebook group, Old Country has been more than fair in compensating for shipping damage. The counter weight on the Brazos would be a good thing, its needed.

I've never smoked with a pellet cooker nor have I tasted food from a pellet cooker.

I think there's gonna be a Franklin delivered tomorrow, I'm just waiting for the call from the freight company.

 

[Messenger]

If anyone in the OKC area is interested, the Brazos is for sale.

1/4" steel
Tuning plates,
2 - Tel Tru gauges at grate level
1 - Old Country gauge in dome of lid
Cook chamber perfectly sealed from leaks with RTV Sealant and clamps
Probe Port
Stack extension
Ball valve on grease drain with grease bucket

This smoker has the bugs worked out and ready to go. It was almost new when I bought it 3 years ago.

$650

I have a Brazo's too and I'm trying to figure out what ball valve fits on the threaded drain pipe that comes with it. Any help would be great. Would love to hang a bucket off of it as well. So you could could share your setup from when you had it that would be awesome.

 

[Displaced Texan]

Watch Franklin's videos and/or buy his excellent book.
He says and shows how he cooks with the firebox door wide open and he moderates cook chamber temps with the amount of fuel he adds and where he places the coal bed relative to the passage from the burn box to the cook chamber.
There's one video where he cooks a single brisket in his back yard on a very early version of a small Old Country offset.
In preparing the smoker, one of the first things he does is cut and saw oak splits into smaller splits.
When adding a stick he stands it upright so it burns from the bottom to the top rather than laying it in the coal bed which would make it catch along it's length as opposed to just one end.

Is this video from his Master Class? I have watched all of the "Barbecue with Franklin" videos he did for a PBS video. I have only seen a very quick, like a second or two, snippet of him using a miter saw to cut down splits. I do that as well. I have not seen the videos where he stands splits upright on the coals.

As far as moving the coal bed, I find it hard to believe that in small backyard offsets that would make a big difference on controlling temps. Not saying it doesn't, just seems a bit hard to believe. Now, his beats at his restaurant, sure, that sounds feasible, and I have seen the videos of his pit masters doing that with shovels.

On my Bell Fab, I tried that. It made a negligible difference.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I have a Brazo's too and I'm trying to figure out what ball valve fits on the threaded drain pipe that comes with it. Any help would be great. Would love to hang a bucket off of it as well. So you could could share your setup from when you had it that would be awesome.

Its a 1 1/4 " ball valve, you can find them cheaper on Amazon. When I bought mine, it was $8 . Ya don't need a high pressure valve that could run 20 to 30 dollars.

On the bottom of that ball valve, I put a coupling. I forget whether it was male/female or female/female. But the bottom of it was female. then I got my Dremel and cut slots in the coupling so a bucket would hang.

You can see it in this pic, and I found a better pic