I found this site after my son pointed me here. I tried giving away a very heavy older Brinkman horizontal to him. I got it for next to nothing from a customers house. It was unused for years. I think I discovered why. I had been banging my head over this unit. I had made several attempts at cooking ribs chicken etc. All had been not a disaster but took forever or had to be finished in the oven. A brisket took hours and hours and was done on one end and raw on the other etc. My wife was giving me a hard time about my cooking skills which had always been pretty good on the inside appliances. My sister in-law the excellent cook had to chime in too. You gotta hate that.
As a backyard engineer I was certain there had to be design flaws as I showed my son that the firebox opening was 3" higher than the food surface and the stack and thermometer was at the top of the unit. Heat had to race right over and out the stack. I couldn't get an IT over 135 -140 which doesn't work for pork chicken etc. But the temp on the hood would read 180-220.
Then I read and searched. I discovered I was not alone. So I immediately started doing the general mods I found here. I installed a baffle and tuning plates. Then extended the flue. Also added a raised basket for lump charcoal. I did a test burn to burn off the new paint and check temps. The temp on the surface was 5 degrees less than the hood and within 10 degrees from end to end! I can't wait to try some recipes in it!
Thanks for all the help already.
As a backyard engineer I was certain there had to be design flaws as I showed my son that the firebox opening was 3" higher than the food surface and the stack and thermometer was at the top of the unit. Heat had to race right over and out the stack. I couldn't get an IT over 135 -140 which doesn't work for pork chicken etc. But the temp on the hood would read 180-220.
Then I read and searched. I discovered I was not alone. So I immediately started doing the general mods I found here. I installed a baffle and tuning plates. Then extended the flue. Also added a raised basket for lump charcoal. I did a test burn to burn off the new paint and check temps. The temp on the surface was 5 degrees less than the hood and within 10 degrees from end to end! I can't wait to try some recipes in it!
Thanks for all the help already.
