Designing My Build - Opinions Appreciated

[mizskeet]

Hi all,

I just designed my build and I was wondering what anybody thought before I spent a lot of money on steel.  The whole oven will be 1/4 inch dual walled with insulation and skinned with 16 gauge sheet.  The cook chamber will be 46 inches long, 36 inches deep and 26 inches high.  The smoke stack will be centered on the top of the CC 6X33 and removable.

There will be a 1/4 inch baffle plate five inches above the bottom of the CC and 5 inches below the bottom cooking grate.  The baffle plate will run the distance of the length and have a 2.5 inch opening along the front and rear walls 46 inches long.  The dimensions of the baffle plate are 46x31

The fire box will be directly below and centered on the CC and will measure 40 inches long, 30 inches deep and 24 inches tall.  The fire grate will be 8 inches above the bottom of the FB.  The FB to CC opening will be 36 inches long and 5 inches wide centered on the bottom of the CC.  There will be two adjustable air intakes, one on either side of the FB just below the grate measuring 3x12, one additional air intake will be located at the top of the FB centered on the door 1.5x6, just incase it is needed.

I need to cook at temperatures between 225 - 350 depending on the food, therefore I am going for maximum efficiency and using the air intakes to control the temps.  

My biggest concern is whether the FB to CC opening and the baffle pate are sized correctly and if the baffle plate is too high in the CC.  Any thoughts on this are appreciated. 

 

[daveomak]

Check out the tutorial....

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/reverse-flow-smoker-how-to-calculate-build-tutorial

Due to the FB being in the Center of the CC, the RF plate can be about 70% of it's calculated height above the bottom of the CC...   based on area in sq. in....    NOT on actual stick measure...   eg...  If the calc. says...  140 sq. in. area,...  0.7 X 140 = 98 +/- sq. in. area...

Now, the opening between the FB and CC must still remain the same as calculated..

The exhaust stack must remain the same as calculated.. 

The FB air inlet must remain the same and the 20% - 80% should remain the same...+/- ...

 

[mizskeet]

Thanks Dave ill adjust the plate height and leave everything else the same.  Looks like I might a third cooking grate in with this adjustment.

 

[daveomak]

Is your RF plate height based on the tutorial ???

 

[mizskeet]

The dimensions are yes. The only thing I know about the height is that it's supposed to match the openings.

 

[daveomak]

The dimensions are yes. The only thing I know about the height is that it's supposed to match the openings.

The square inches of the openings are to match...    end of the RF plate....  under the RF plate....   FB/CC openings.....