Hello. Looking for some pit temp help

[jvanderr]

Hello all. I'm in northeast Indiana and have been smoking for the last handful of years. I have a barrel charcoal grill, electric masterbuilt, and just did a whole hog with a concrete block pit I made in my backyard.

I'm looking for some help with the concrete block pit and how to best monitor the pit temp. I am open to ideas.

The pit is made with 8x16 blocks. Cooking area is 24" wide x 48" long.

Thanks in advance.

 

[noboundaries]

Jvanderr, welcome to SMF!  Glad you are here and looking for answers.  I'd be interested in the answers myself for those who have built a block pit. 

Enjoy the forum!

Ray

 

[smokedcaveman]

some boys at Texas A&M ag built their own pit, and used some sheet steel for the top with a couple holes drilled for dial thermometers, but apparently they just use one

reference - Texas Pig Pit

pretty nice thing. wish I had room in my backyard for one... (and enough people to justify having a whole pig to cook. I might be hungry, but I'm not that hungry.. yet)

 

[noboundaries]

SC, thanks for that link. 

 My wife is an Aggie.  She's crimson and white through and through.  We read a bunch of the sites from that link.  She's already saying, "We're going to brisket camp!"  Unfortunately we missed this year's lottery for tickets on August 3d, but there's always 2019!

 

[smokedcaveman]

nice. glad it was helpful!

hehehe.. glad your wife's a q fan too (as well as her being red and white to the bone!). Yeah here's hoping you can get in for the next one. I was poking around looking at similar topics and just happened to have that one on hand.

 

[jvanderr]

Thank you all for the info. So I think I'm going to get a couple dial thermometers and put them through beer cans on the top grate. That should give a good indication of the pit temp. I'll post picks soon. Already love this forum.

 

[jvanderr]

Here's a few pics of my setup.  

Yard Smoker 1.jpg

• jvanderr
• Aug 21, 2017

Yard Smoker.jpg

• jvanderr
• Aug 21, 2017