Hey guys, wanted to post my experiences with my new vertical smoker so far. I've made quite a few modifications to help out. Here is my new smoker:
After reading through this forum, I didn't even fire it up until I got gaskets on the doors and sealed every bolt and hole on it with food grade high temp silicone.
My first run on the smoker was kind of a bust, this thing has two large vents, that don't shut completely. I have no idea why there were two, but during my smoke, I taped one off with high temp duct tape and that got my temps down to under 300. Even with the other vent completely closed, I couldn't get it below 250. I also had some leaking around the hinges, so it was a productive test run
Here you can see where I doubled up the gasket tape since you can see the first layer wasn't enough, the smoke got through.
Next, I went to work sealing this thing up. I made a block off plate for the left vent
And I used some sealant tape to form a better seal around the other vent and it seals completely now
I also blocked off the drain hole, since most drippings will end up in the firebox
My second smoke, I was able to run it to 300, and then bring it back down to 200 no problem. On half a basket at 225, I was able to run for 4 hours without touching the smoker. The smoke stack leaves a lot to be desired, it can't close completely, so that will probably be my next project so I can kill the fire after a short smoke.
Here are some action shots
I tested it out by smoking some eggs at about 125-150 degrees, the difference in color is half an hour compared to an hour they turned out really good!
I plan on disassembling the smoke stack at some point and building a new baffle that will close off completely, but that will require drilling all the rivets out, and might be simpler to build my own. Hopefully this helps the next person. I am pretty impressed with this smoker, and with the gasket material and all my mods, I'm in it for about 160 dollars. I am taking it camping next week, and will have more pictures soon. Thanks for reading!
After reading through this forum, I didn't even fire it up until I got gaskets on the doors and sealed every bolt and hole on it with food grade high temp silicone.
My first run on the smoker was kind of a bust, this thing has two large vents, that don't shut completely. I have no idea why there were two, but during my smoke, I taped one off with high temp duct tape and that got my temps down to under 300. Even with the other vent completely closed, I couldn't get it below 250. I also had some leaking around the hinges, so it was a productive test run
Here you can see where I doubled up the gasket tape since you can see the first layer wasn't enough, the smoke got through.
Next, I went to work sealing this thing up. I made a block off plate for the left vent
And I used some sealant tape to form a better seal around the other vent and it seals completely now
I also blocked off the drain hole, since most drippings will end up in the firebox
My second smoke, I was able to run it to 300, and then bring it back down to 200 no problem. On half a basket at 225, I was able to run for 4 hours without touching the smoker. The smoke stack leaves a lot to be desired, it can't close completely, so that will probably be my next project so I can kill the fire after a short smoke.
Here are some action shots
I tested it out by smoking some eggs at about 125-150 degrees, the difference in color is half an hour compared to an hour they turned out really good!
I plan on disassembling the smoke stack at some point and building a new baffle that will close off completely, but that will require drilling all the rivets out, and might be simpler to build my own. Hopefully this helps the next person. I am pretty impressed with this smoker, and with the gasket material and all my mods, I'm in it for about 160 dollars. I am taking it camping next week, and will have more pictures soon. Thanks for reading!