Brinkman Smoke King Deluxe

[cajunsmoker]

The water in your pan has nothing to do with keeping the meat moist. It is only there as a thermal buffer/sink to help control the temp. Since boiling water is putting off 200+* vapor, it helps keep the temp stable. It also helps to keep the temp from swinging as much when you add fuel or open the door.

There is a thread somewhere about doing your pan this way. I'll try to find it and post it or bump it back up. It is a variation of what is known as the "Piedmont Method" where you put two pans together leaving a void between them. I haven't used water in my pan now for about 2 months and I love it. No more nasty water to dispose of and the foil just goes in the trash and no clean up at all

 

[smokeyroad]

I feel like I should change my name to "grasshoppa". Thanks for the info. I am doing the e-course now, so maybe I'll stop coming up with these questions. Is the foiled pan covered in the e-course? Guess I'll find out w/in the next 4 days huh

. If not, how thick of a layer of foil do you use? Cool info, thanks again!

 

[cajunsmoker]

I just use one layer of heavy duty foil. Push it down in the pan until it's about an inch from the bottom and form a bowl. Seal the edges by wrapping them under the edges of the pan so when it gets juices dripped down in it, it won't settle down and touch the pan. This catches the drippings but by it being above the pan it prevents flare ups. I went thru my pictures to see if I had one showing the pan but I don't. If I use the BSKD this weekend I will try to get a pic of it for you.

 

[brett_s]

I love my BSKD....after I modded it.

I got it assembled from Menards as a floor model for $99. I thought that was a pretty good deal.

When I brought it home and fired it up I noticed the following things:
1. It used a LOT of fuel
2. I had a hard time getting the smoker box up to temp on cool days.
3. It wasted a lot of energy by allowing heat to be lost right through the thin walls of the fire box.
4. The temperature was very uneven in the smoker box.

Here's my mods (I can post pictures later).

#1. Made a baffel to bring the heat from the fire box directly under the water pan. Very similar to the one earlier in the post, just a little longer. And I made mine of 3/16" steel plate....because that's what i had. Anything would work. This helped even out the temp a large amount.

#2. I made a drop in, double walled steel plate that replaces the "grilling" grate on the fire box. What happened, is the heat would go straight up into the cover area, and transfer into the surroundings instead of going into the smoker box. Basically, it's a 3/16 plate of steel a 1/2" air gap, and another 3/16 piece of steel. I put some handles on top so I could take it in and out easy. I now can actually touch the top of the fire box when in use with my bare hand.

#3. In the quest of making it more efficient, I double walled the sides and front (the area directly under the opening to smoking chamber) of the firebox. I used some 1/8" steel plate and spaced it amount 1/4-1/2" off the existing walls. This made an incredible difference in the efficency of the unit.

#4. This is kind of hack, but I needed to do something quick, and it worked. I made a plywood frame around the smoker box. used some scrap 5/8" plywood and just gave it a wooden "coat". This evened out the temperature in the smoker box. It's ugly looking, but it was probably the best thing I ever did with it.

5. made a charcoal pan similar to the one earlier. This also helped

The first time I used it, I probably used 20 lbs of coal to make a rack of ribs. Now 20 lbs of charcoal will last long enought to cook for 14-16 hours at a crack (I did 80 lbs of pork shoulders at once in it for a party).

Brett

 

[cheech]

I added fire bricks to the bottom of my smoke box and that also seems to help quite a bit

 

[cheech]

Brett any chance we can talk you into posting those pictures?

Would love to see how yours looks.

 

[cheech]

I mean PLEASE ......Brett any chance we can talk you into posting those pictures?

Would love to see how yours looks.

 

[smoke on the water]

Cheech, I am curious to see the pictures also.

 

[cheech]

Has anyone else had problems with the firebox door hinge not keeping the door closed?

Looks like they placed the part that the handle locks into, in upside down and does not work well.

Any suggestions on any mods?

 

[cheech]

One other thing that has helped a ton was that Theresa mentioned in her Lang that she needed to build a large fire at first and then control the heat once it turned to coals. I duplicated that in the BSKD and it has been a great help.

 

[_timmay]

Hey guys, this is some great info. I am in St Augustine FL and would love to pick one of these bad boys up. Any ideas where I can get one? Cheepest I can find them online is $350 + shipping. Lowes/ACE/HomeDepot are not carrying them locally.

Thanks
Tim