Considering a mod for the Brinkman Vertical Smoker

[jared101]

that looks pretty cool

 

[jefflisa828]

my grillpro is exactly like the single door brinkman but my fire box has 2 inverted handles that I discovered the wok sits on perfectly and works great

 

[Fife]

Looking good

 

[sebbie18]

So it sounds like I am not the only one having this problem with the vertical  Brickman smoker....I can't seem to get the smoker hot enough.  I am adding charcoal briquettes, cowboy lump charcoal and smoking wood pieces.  However, I think my fires are getting ashed out.

So, my question is...what is the purpose of the water tray, can I remove it, or some have covered with tinfoil...not sure why...

Also, from looking at this forum, using a modified veggie basket for the fire, seems to be a good option.  Anything I need to worry about?

How much charcoal does it take to smoke an 8lb brisket?  also, I think a brisket should basically be falling apart when I go to cut it, is that correct?  I got a nice smoke ring on my 1st one, but it wasn't very tender.

Any advice is welcomed...

Thanks guys.

Seb 

 

[jared101]

I will answer part of your question, the experts can pick up the rest.  The water pan is important when using a vertical type smoker.  If you don't use a water pan, then you are cooking over direct heat and in turn grilling.  The veggie wok is a great way to make a "breathable" coal pan, mine is expanded metal.  Hope that helps some.

 

[nysmoke]

Seb,

I haven't used the veggie wok, I used a small circular grill and replaced the legs with bolts so it would fit in my smoker. I got about six hrs  by adding a couple hands full of charcoal lumps to do two racks of ribs using the 3-2-1 method. Watch out if you leave out the water pan. Without the water pan grease will drip directly on the fire and you can have big flare ups. I wrecked one rack of ribs that way.

 

[vbot]

I have a Brinkman vertical two door smoker and use a veggie wok for my coals.  It works pretty good.  Before I had just drilled tons of holes in the provided pan, but it didn't work that well.  As for how much charcoal, I'm sure it depends on many factors.  As I type I have an 8.48 lb brisket in my smoker that I started about 9 AM (MT).  I have added coals once and it is now 1:24 PM.  Still have a little of over 200 degrees.  As for time, everyone says at least an hour per pound or so.  I'm planning on at least 10 hours total.  My last brisket turned out great and it was in for 10.  Might have been around the same size.  One thing I did was spray it with water every 45 mins or so.  I seasoned mine with Brown Sugar, Garlic Salt, Onion Powder, Paprika, Cracked Black Pepper, Kosher Salt (because it's coarse) and a lot of love lol.  I wanted to put it in Coca Cola because I understand it helps tenderize, but I'll try that another time.  Maybe inject it or marinade it.  This is my third brisket and it takes time, but it's well worth it.  One thing to do is make sure you don't panic as it gets that charred look, you must check the internal temp.  I'm thinking 180 or so will be good.  We'll see at about 7PM.  And be sure to cut it right, it makes a huge difference.  I'm no pro, but I'm learning from the guys here.  I'm originally from Texas and live in Idaho.  We have a few (2) BBQ restaurants here, including a Famous Dave's.  I still prefer my brisket to theirs.  Whatever that's worth.  And I don't need BBQ sauce on my brisket.  Good luck.  Thanks again to the folks here for helping me make one hell of a brisket. 

 

[bomccorkle]

johnyd im quite intrigued by this charcoal you speak of..... where did you aquire it???

 

[sebbie18]

thanks folks...going to take it for another spin this weekend.  i'll use the water as that jared 101 says, without it, I'm not really smoking...

 

[sebbie18]

sounds like a tasty rub!

 

[thegrillmonster]

I have a cnc plasma cutter. I was thinking of making my own vertical smoker using this one as a basis. The problems that i have with this brinkmann is that well one i let it catch on fire and it warped all crazy. Two i have a hard time keeping temp up. So i am going to do same measurements but with 1/8" steel and a minnion method charcoal basket made out of expanded metal and metal rings. Can anyone give me some info on this.

 

[smoke_chef]

Hey GrillMonster... I don't really have any input. Just encouragement. Can't wait to see this build. I like my ECB. With some mods I get some good grub from it. I just wish it was bigger. Sometimes I have racks of ribs or briskets that don't fit. That's annoying! But, overall like it. I have thought about building a beefier one like you are talking about. Good luck. Don't forget to post pics. 

 

[sprky]

Interesting, very interesting indeed.

 

[jesse624]

I don't think the aluminum will hold up to the elevated temperatures of the hot charcoal.

 

[bud1955]

Crusty Old Salt    -    Are the rails on the bottom of your wok steel, iron or galvanized (to me they look gal).  If Galvanized, won't that out gas and put harmful gasses in the  cooker and make you sick or is there something I do not understand?  Just one of my dumb questions, I guess.

 

[bones style]

Sebbie 18, I had the same problem when I first tried my charcoal Brinkman, the charcoal put the fire out. I went online and check on mods and this is what I came up with.

       I kept on practicing and eating. It is great fun!

 

[yakdaddy42]

I use the original pan in my vertical brinkmann and drilled some holes and added a grate to keep the coals up and mine works nicely.

I don't use water anymore. I put foil over the water pan (aka piedmont method) which acts simply as a heat break. It's a lot neater this way and I get better temps.

p.s. replace the la gloria with a rocky patel decade and you'll be in business!

I did the same thing with expanded metal 

 

[johnyd]

I made some mods to my Brinkman, cant recall if I posted them  on the forum before though

So I added a foot to the height of the box to enable sausages to be slung up out of the way and smoke other items at the same time.

Now that it was heavier i added some wheels to make it easier to move about.

And then I got an electric grill that I can control the temp on. The last item is for at the end of a smoke when I want to ramp the temps up for a while to ensure its all cooked thru.

I really like the wok basket mods you guys have done and will be on the lookout for one here.

 

[pigeyex]

Switching to the wire mesh veggie basket instead of the supplied charcoal tray really did the trick for me.  Before that, my coals would always get "ashed out" too, despite drilling lots and lots -- and bigger and BIGGER -- holes in the charcoal pan.  Now there's plenty of air that gets to the coals, and I just have to "shimmy" it every half-hour or so and let the ashes fall into the tray that I keep beneath my smoker.

Pigeye

 

[jason luedtka]

I gotta say, I had one of these for about 4 months and after the first smoke I replaced the charcoal pan with a veggi tray/wok like a lot of the guys here are saying and it made a  huge difference.  However, now I have a Kamado Joe and there is NO comparison.  Worth every penny.