BBQ/Smoker

[slevin]

How does this crude drawing look to you guys for a pig roaster / BBQ / smoker combo? I'm adding in a mailbox mod for my pellet tray underneath on the left hand side with the stack on the right hand side. Do you think that that will be adequate for smoke? It's going to be heated by three long propane burners. The size of this is 5ft long by 2 ft wide. My only question is if I can get temps low enough to smoke pepperoni. I guess I won't know till I'm at that stage. Any feedback or help would be great! Thanks.

Edit... Forgot pic...

 

[old sarge]

Looks pretty good to me. But as you say, getting the temp low for a long low smoke. Separate controls for each burner? What type shield are you going to use over the burners? Too large and smoke may not reach some of the meat. You may be in for some serious trial and error testing but I am sure you will get it done! Good luck.

 

[slevin]

Thanks for the response. Yes I'm going with three separate needle valves to control the gas flow. I planned on using like a angle iron heat shield maybe a about 6" in width. Over each burner. Do you think that would work?

 

[old sarge]

Sounds viable. But I don't have any experience in fabricating such items. But, trial and error.

 

[SonnyE]

A few considerations for you to consider....

Electric spit. Let them Piggies roll. But you may prefer a slow hand approach. o_O

I like the incorporated mailbox mode. I however, would put a long lead in to cool the smoke. Not that such a large pit would be used much for cold smoking, but who knows? You get to makin bacon, you might find cooled smoke an advantage. ;)

Big Pit = Big gas. Is Natural gas available? Especially if you want to do a whole hog. Your plan is beyond tote bottles of propane. ;)

Have fun with the build!

My current gas barby has 4 burners in it. I rarely use all 4, but once it a while it's nice to have all 4 on low to get an even heat. I don't usually use my barby for smoking, I use a Smoker/Oven for that.
I do love a Pork Roast spit roasted with about a dozen and a half cloves of garlic stabbed into it.
The only whole hog Bar-B-Que I've ever been to was a Luau in Hawaii. But it's a long... slow... process.

 

[slevin]

I'm going to have the electric motor gear down so it turns at almost hand speed. I've done about 4 whole pig roast and normally it takes about 8 to 10 hours so I don't want to be standing there turning for that long.

As far as the gas sadly no natural gas available but I plan on putting this on a trailer so I'll have a spot for 2 propane cylinders. I sell 100lbs tanks at work so I can get them at cost.

I will be doing cold smoking of cheeses and bacon so I like that long stack approach. I was thinking about maybe putting a burner underneath in a small box with a chimney up for trying to do my beef jerky and pepperoni. I think the burners would be too hot to try and keep it at 150F. What are your thoughts on that?