Davo4543
Newbie
- Nov 24, 2025
- 10
- 8
6 yrs ago, while living in northern Fl I got hooked on a new hobby- low and slow BBQ with an offset. Learning to manage a fire on a big box offset almost made me give up. I got better and and started smoking some great BBQ and was hooked. That was in 2020.
Fast forward to Feb 2023 we moved back home to northern Ohio, smoker in tow. Living in Fl even in northern Fl you can fire up your smoker anytime of year ,coldest time in Feb about 45 just took a little more wood and more time managing the fire but doable. In Northern Ohio, not so much especially with a thin gauge BigBox offset, even if I dressed like an eskimo to constantly tend the fire I would probably burn through a face-cord of not so cheap hardwood doing it. So I patiently waited for spring and to be in search for a much better smoker with thicker gauge steel that will hopefully hold the heat well enough for next winter.
In the spring I was happy to fire it up and and produce some great brisket, Ribs and pork butts and made some new neighbor friends. In the middle of the summer I bit the bullet and went and picked up a TMG 130 gallon volunteer smoker. I swear after learning to manage the fire on the Old Country pecos the TMG was like working a pellet grill lol.
Fast forward to first winter with big boy smoker. OK I got addicted to offset smoking barbecue because I consider managing the fire, almost therapy. Sitting next to it, throwing back some beers with friends or neighbors watching the fire toss ,in a split here or there sift the coal bed. well outside next to a smoker in northern Ohio takes all of the fun out of that. And even though the smoker gauge metal is five times as thick and holds temperatures so much better it is still not efficient. It makes managing the fire very difficult and some really high and low spikes trying to manage it with the frigid ambient temperature around the smoker. In addition in Fl I had a rolling stainless steel prep table where I did all my trimming cleaning seasoning so the mess was contained to the outside and not in my wife’s kitchen. This cannot be done in northern Ohio late fall sometimes until late spring.
So now what, why can’t I come up with a cook shack and make it safe enough ,ember and fire resistant, well vented enough ,climate controlled, electricity, hot, running water, to BBQ all yr around. I searched high and low YouTube videos, smoking forums anywhere where I could find an idea of kind of what I was looking for and found nothing. I found bits and pieces of some sheds that had exhaust fans. But they were plenty of comments on how dangerous it could be ,fire, carbon monoxide, etc.. I almost gave up on that idea and then I thought what the heck I am going to give it a try and I am going to have either a super smoke shack, or a hell of a Harley holder.
In November of last year 2025 I purchased and had delivered a 10 x 20 gable shed picture attached. I had closed Cell foam blown underneath the floor wall walls doors ceiling. I laid half inch porcelain tile on the floor to make it ember and fire resistant. The entire ceiling has three three-quarter inch fire rated drywall with 4x10 24ga stainless steel sheets to basically create a vent hood. I had them leave out the gable vents and no roof vent. It has three sets of 6 foot wide swing doors, one in the front and one on each end leaving the back wall. All of the drywall on the walls is half inch mold, resistant fire rated. The back wall will be covered probably by this weekend with full pieces of metal siding. That runs all the way up to the stainless steel the two end walls the doors and the front wall will be the drywall finished and painted with intumescent paint. Baseboards will be 4 inch porcelain tile. The venting is going to be done with a 12 inch industrial gas and smoke rated exhaust fan at the far end of the shack about 40” above the offset stack. At the opposite end of the shack in line with the smoker are going to be 4 - 4” adjustable air intake vents from the outside spaced evenly from fire box height to about 6’ . I also have a ceiling fan centered in the center of the shack that I will use to draw air up toward the ceiling if needed.
This weekend I am just starting the metal siding on the back wall, so I am probably a month away from trying this out. I am eager, but nervous about draft and how the smoker will react with the exhaust, pulling air up and out and through the cross ventilation vents. I’m hoping with the amount of adjustable vents I will be able to tweak them enough to make it work. If not, I also have an ugly drum smoker a Kamado, and a griddle all going in there. Ok ok, and a pellet grill lol- all against the back metal wall when in use. My idea is that if the airflow idea on the offset smoker is a bust , that the 6 foot swing doors next to the smoker I will just roll the smoker 10 inches out the door to get the stack out and still be undercover from the elements, climate control in the winter may not be so bad because of the heat of the smoker at the opposite end of the smoker. I am installing an 18,000 BTU mini split my hope was that if the exhausted draft works, I will be able to cool it enough to not be miserable in the summer and maybe not even need it in the winter.
So I have attached a couple pictures of the outside and a couple inside when it is completed I will post some more. I might even make a short video for my first fire in the smoker ,lol of course only if it is successful.
If anyone has any additional ideas or thoughts, whether or not they think this will work. Let me know. As for safety and fire rating I generally don’t go any higher than 250 in the smoker for a low and slow at times it may spike to 325 when adding too big of a split or something but it’s always backed down to around 225 pretty quick.
Let me know your thoughts.
Fast forward to Feb 2023 we moved back home to northern Ohio, smoker in tow. Living in Fl even in northern Fl you can fire up your smoker anytime of year ,coldest time in Feb about 45 just took a little more wood and more time managing the fire but doable. In Northern Ohio, not so much especially with a thin gauge BigBox offset, even if I dressed like an eskimo to constantly tend the fire I would probably burn through a face-cord of not so cheap hardwood doing it. So I patiently waited for spring and to be in search for a much better smoker with thicker gauge steel that will hopefully hold the heat well enough for next winter.
In the spring I was happy to fire it up and and produce some great brisket, Ribs and pork butts and made some new neighbor friends. In the middle of the summer I bit the bullet and went and picked up a TMG 130 gallon volunteer smoker. I swear after learning to manage the fire on the Old Country pecos the TMG was like working a pellet grill lol.
Fast forward to first winter with big boy smoker. OK I got addicted to offset smoking barbecue because I consider managing the fire, almost therapy. Sitting next to it, throwing back some beers with friends or neighbors watching the fire toss ,in a split here or there sift the coal bed. well outside next to a smoker in northern Ohio takes all of the fun out of that. And even though the smoker gauge metal is five times as thick and holds temperatures so much better it is still not efficient. It makes managing the fire very difficult and some really high and low spikes trying to manage it with the frigid ambient temperature around the smoker. In addition in Fl I had a rolling stainless steel prep table where I did all my trimming cleaning seasoning so the mess was contained to the outside and not in my wife’s kitchen. This cannot be done in northern Ohio late fall sometimes until late spring.
So now what, why can’t I come up with a cook shack and make it safe enough ,ember and fire resistant, well vented enough ,climate controlled, electricity, hot, running water, to BBQ all yr around. I searched high and low YouTube videos, smoking forums anywhere where I could find an idea of kind of what I was looking for and found nothing. I found bits and pieces of some sheds that had exhaust fans. But they were plenty of comments on how dangerous it could be ,fire, carbon monoxide, etc.. I almost gave up on that idea and then I thought what the heck I am going to give it a try and I am going to have either a super smoke shack, or a hell of a Harley holder.
In November of last year 2025 I purchased and had delivered a 10 x 20 gable shed picture attached. I had closed Cell foam blown underneath the floor wall walls doors ceiling. I laid half inch porcelain tile on the floor to make it ember and fire resistant. The entire ceiling has three three-quarter inch fire rated drywall with 4x10 24ga stainless steel sheets to basically create a vent hood. I had them leave out the gable vents and no roof vent. It has three sets of 6 foot wide swing doors, one in the front and one on each end leaving the back wall. All of the drywall on the walls is half inch mold, resistant fire rated. The back wall will be covered probably by this weekend with full pieces of metal siding. That runs all the way up to the stainless steel the two end walls the doors and the front wall will be the drywall finished and painted with intumescent paint. Baseboards will be 4 inch porcelain tile. The venting is going to be done with a 12 inch industrial gas and smoke rated exhaust fan at the far end of the shack about 40” above the offset stack. At the opposite end of the shack in line with the smoker are going to be 4 - 4” adjustable air intake vents from the outside spaced evenly from fire box height to about 6’ . I also have a ceiling fan centered in the center of the shack that I will use to draw air up toward the ceiling if needed.
This weekend I am just starting the metal siding on the back wall, so I am probably a month away from trying this out. I am eager, but nervous about draft and how the smoker will react with the exhaust, pulling air up and out and through the cross ventilation vents. I’m hoping with the amount of adjustable vents I will be able to tweak them enough to make it work. If not, I also have an ugly drum smoker a Kamado, and a griddle all going in there. Ok ok, and a pellet grill lol- all against the back metal wall when in use. My idea is that if the airflow idea on the offset smoker is a bust , that the 6 foot swing doors next to the smoker I will just roll the smoker 10 inches out the door to get the stack out and still be undercover from the elements, climate control in the winter may not be so bad because of the heat of the smoker at the opposite end of the smoker. I am installing an 18,000 BTU mini split my hope was that if the exhausted draft works, I will be able to cool it enough to not be miserable in the summer and maybe not even need it in the winter.
So I have attached a couple pictures of the outside and a couple inside when it is completed I will post some more. I might even make a short video for my first fire in the smoker ,lol of course only if it is successful.
If anyone has any additional ideas or thoughts, whether or not they think this will work. Let me know. As for safety and fire rating I generally don’t go any higher than 250 in the smoker for a low and slow at times it may spike to 325 when adding too big of a split or something but it’s always backed down to around 225 pretty quick.
Let me know your thoughts.
