char-broil side smoker

[bg93245]

hello, First time post I used to have a vertical water smoker that some one threw out and i rescued well it finally died and i decided to "move up" I bought this smoker with the sde fire box and i used it a couple of times but it just is not what i was wanting went looking for a " how to " book and no joy the darn box had one sheet to assemble and that was it and char broil's web site is a waste of a click SSSSSSSSSSo anyway any one have a direction for me to look not only would you be helping me but you would be saving the kids from eating my experiments :) thanks BOB

 

[undertaker2401]

I just got agreat deal on a charbroil smokinpit smoker only cost me $35.00 at Walmart they were trying to make room and I offered the manager that much and he said its yours normaly run about $150.00 its also the offset smoker so ive got a few modifications to do like a baffle for one then going to give her a try this weekend.

 

[Dutch]

bg (Bob),

Welcome to the Smoking Meat Forums. If you could give us some more info on which Charbroil unit you have and what fuel souce (wood or charcoal) and what kind of problems you are having, we could point you in the right direction.

 

[bob-bqn]

Howdy bg93245.

I love to experiment, some turn out better than others.

Also give us an idea of what you'd like to cook so we can offer pointers that will help. :D

undertaker2401 what a DEAL! 8)

 

[bg93245]

All here is a picture odf the patient, a "2005 charbroil quickset" just wanting to figure this thing out. Like why does it come with a grill in the firebox that is directly obove the coals/wood and in a striaght line with the next compartment ? Undertaker what is a baffle and what are the pro's and con's I plan to try the carolina pulled pork off of the main page this weekend. thanks for the reply's keep em coming one day i to will become a JediSmoker :)

 

[undertaker2401]

bg the baffle is just a piece of sheet metal to cut some of the heat down in the chamber

 

[sundaysmoker]

the grill in the fire box is there in case you want to cook over it - like to make hamburgers or something small. You can take it out if you are smoking so you can get to the coals easier. You should probably put your meat more in the middle of the cooking chamber, away from the side fire box. The side that is close to the fire box will be hotter than the other side - use a couple meat thermo's to gauge the temp inside the grill in diff places.

Hope this helps...
Patrick

 

[dave11]

:) Ok, I dont know where to start with this one,and later in the post youll see why. When I first started bbqing,I was so green, that I used to put the meat on the fire as soon as I lit the fire. I thought I was "char-broiling"everything. I never had a mentor to show me anything about BBQing. Many years later,I bought a charcoal water smoker"up-right".The one with that stupid heat gauge on it that read "warm,HOT, Ideal" Well needless to say, I runined many a peice of meat in that one too.I decied that the charcoal thing,just wasent my bag.And I couldnt bbq a chicken wing,if my life depened on it. A couple of more years went by,and. I watched a lot of TV cooking shows, I bought a gas grill. This thing was awsome! It had a real gauge on it! And I could acutally set it to 350! AND COOK! WOW! This is great! That lasted about 6 months. And I got pretty darn good! But I needed something else...A smoker!! Yeah, ..thats the ticket! But,It has to be a gas smoker,Im no good with charcoal! So I got the "big block"! Man this is great! I can set my temp to just the right degree,and look out! With a little luck,and a big bag of wood chips, were gonna eat tonight baby! Then,I was introduced to the Internet! WOW! Now I can find out all I need to know about the wonderful world of smoking! Hummmm,smoking meat....a lot of porno sites...wait! Heres one!smoking meat .com. Lets try it. Ive been here for about 2 years. And Ive read a lot of post. And now Im getting tired of my gas smoker. Well...I think now I know enough about charcoal smoking now that ill give it a try. Besides,anyone can smoke in a gas smoker...wheres the challange in that? So, Santa Clause brought me a new side burning char-broil smoker for Christmas! And boy am I having fun! Have I make mistakes? You bet! But at least, thanks to this website, I can control the temp pretty darn good! And Im sure with a little pratice, Ill be cooking like a pro in no time!Thanks to ALL the people who post on this message board.I hope that my post can inspire all nebeies to contunie to try,and dont give up. Ask questions,and dont feel stupid for doing so.Ill bet there aint a person on this board who hasent given a few slab of ribs to his dogs.( the dogs love it when you mess up!) And if the wife ask.....you were hungry and ate them!!!! happy smoking!

 

[Dutch]

Dave, that is what makes this site so rewarding, seeing what other have smoked especailly knowing that they started out struggling. Nice pictures and nice looking pup.

I know your words will inspire other "newbies" not to give up and that practice is the only way we can improve our skill. Thanks for sharing.

 

[dsrt_dwllr]

dave11,
I recently bought that same smoker at my local hardware store, my first also, still have the weber kettle, and charbroil gasser, but rain or shine, (fortunately here in Cal, is mostly shine) the smoker is my first choice, bought it this summer, and already feel ready for the next big smoker (after joining this site and reading posts) and adventure, just not sure where to go next.

Enjoy and Happy New Year
DJ

 

[Dutch]

DJ, that's the curse of this forum and this art, always wanting something bigger and better!

 

[gsdressler]

Hi. Just curious if you are referring to ordinary meat thermometers. How would you secure them in the lid?

 

[domapoi]

Hi. Just curious if you are referring to ordinary meat thermometers. How would you secure them in the lid?

If you go here you will find 52 pages with over 500 threads with instructions on installing just about every kind of thermometer you can think of on just about any unit you can think of.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/search.php?search=installing+thermometers

Hope this helps!

 

[mneeley490]

I bought a Char Broil side smoker last fall, and have had many great smoked meats from it. But there are some important things you need to know about it.

First, it is not really ready to go out-of-the-box. It will need the following modifications:

The metal is fairly thin, and unless you live in a very warm climate, you will notice that it does not retain or distribute heat or smoke well. You will need to cut and mount a baffle of sorts inside the larger smokebox to direct the heat downward towards the bottom. From there, you will need "tuning plates" placed along the smokebox a few inches from the bottom to help distribute the heat and smoke evenly throughout. I used 3 cheap cookie sheets with holes drilled in them that get progressively larger as you get farther away from the firebox end. The baffle should direct the heat & smoke under these. I also used a piece of sheet metal to cover the larger hole on the far side.

The chimney is set in the wrong place and allows too much heat to escape too quickly. You can fix this by attaching aluminum hose to the inside of the chimney and bringing the other side down along the side until it sets near the grate. That forces the heat down to the meat before it can escape. Or, instead of hose, you can do what I did. Buy a large can of Sapporo beer. Drink the beer and then remove both ends. Wedge the smaller end up into the chimney from inside. Presto, you're done, and you got some beer out of it.

Many of the lids on the fireboxes will leak. You can fix this by making a gasket out of "big green egg" felt gasket, or get some high-temp gasket seal at you local auto parts store and run a thick bead around the edge of the lid. Spray some Pam cooking spray on a piece of plastic wrap and layer this over the seal, oily side touching the bead. Then press the lid closed so it squishes the gasket bead into a good seal. Open the lid, remove the plastic wrap, and let cure 24 hours or more.

Now you have the problem of heat retention. I added thin ceramic bricks along the bottom and sides of mine. Some people use foil wrapped clay bricks. When I'm smoking, I throw a folded welding blanket on top of the smokebox to keep heat inside. For the firebox, I made a basket of expanded sheet metal to hold the charcoal in, so the coals stay above the ashes and don't smother. You need good airflow to keep the temps steady.

Lastly, put in a thermometer on both ends of the smokebox, just above the grate, so you can get a better idea of what's going on inside.

Hope this helps.

 

[gsdressler]

I bought a Char Broil side smoker last fall, and have had many great smoked meats from it. But there are some important things you need to know about it.

First, it is not really ready to go out-of-the-box. It will need the following modifications:

The metal is fairly thin, and unless you live in a very warm climate, you will notice that it does not retain or distribute heat or smoke well. You will need to cut and mount a baffle of sorts inside the larger smokebox to direct the heat downward towards the bottom. From there, you will need "tuning plates" placed along the smokebox a few inches from the bottom to help distribute the heat and smoke evenly throughout. I used 3 cheap cookie sheets with holes drilled in them that get progressively larger as you get farther away from the firebox end. The baffle should direct the heat & smoke under these. I also used a piece of sheet metal to cover the larger hole on the far side.

The chimney is set in the wrong place and allows too much heat to escape too quickly. You can fix this by attaching aluminum hose to the inside of the chimney and bringing the other side down along the side until it sets near the grate. That forces the heat down to the meat before it can escape. Or, instead of hose, you can do what I did. Buy a large can of Sapporo beer. Drink the beer and then remove both ends. Wedge the smaller end up into the chimney from inside. Presto, you're done, and you got some beer out of it.

Many of the lids on the fireboxes will leak. You can fix this by making a gasket out of "big green egg" felt gasket, or get some high-temp gasket seal at you local auto parts store and run a thick bead around the edge of the lid. Spray some Pam cooking spray on a piece of plastic wrap and layer this over the seal, oily side touching the bead. Then press the lid closed so it squishes the gasket bead into a good seal. Open the lid, remove the plastic wrap, and let cure 24 hours or more.

Now you have the problem of heat retention. I added thin ceramic bricks along the bottom and sides of mine. Some people use foil wrapped clay bricks. When I'm smoking, I throw a folded welding blanket on top of the smokebox to keep heat inside. For the firebox, I made a basket of expanded sheet metal to hold the charcoal in, so the coals stay above the ashes and don't smother. You need good airflow to keep the temps steady.

Lastly, put in a thermometer on both ends of the smokebox, just above the grate, so you can get a better idea of what's going on inside.

Hope this helps.

I will give this a try and see how this turns out. Thanks for the info.

Greg

 

[theory]

Since this came up, I used to have one of these, and here's the baffle I made that helped push the heat under and around the meat instead of rolling out over the top and out the chimney. This made a nice difference, and I agree with others on the chimney mod too!

adjust this all the way across....down about an inch perhaps.  Just adjusting for the next step.

Notice the "side angled" part? This keeps even more heat flowing across/under the grate, instead of escaping out the sides.

Not to "engineering specs", but it's a quick, effective adjustment.

Made a difference! 

 

[gsdressler]

Thanks for posting the baffle pics Theory. Very nice job!!

Greg