I am new to the forum and new to smoking meats. We are building a firebrick smoker and have the concrete slab finished- 40" long x 32" wide. We need some expert advice on how to best do this so please help. What we plan to do: Have a metal door in the center front at the bottom for clean out. On the second round of bricks on the left side have an adjustable vent the size of one brick. Up a few rounds higher have another adjustable vent (same size) on the right side. Up 18" from the floor run 3 rebar the lenght of the oven that an oven rack can be set on to hold the meat. The charcoal would be placed on the bottom left and then tapered off across the floor for the Minion method. The meat would be placed oh the rack to the far right. A dial thermometer would be mortared into the brick in the front at the height of the meat rack so as not to have to open the oven to check temperature. The top would be fitted with a tight fitted piece of metal with handles. Now we are certainly open for suggestions for improvements. Also some questions- Should we also make some holes in the morter up a few inches higher so rebars could slide in to raise the cooking rack to give us more control? Is 18" abut right for the height of the cooking rack? We want to place a water pan in the oven over the heat but I think the 18" high rack would be too high. What height should it be? Will we need a grate on the concrete to put charcoal on or can we just put it directly on the concrete? Are the size and placement of the vents okay? We were planning to make in 34" high. Does that seem about right? It might need to be aslightly higher if we fix it for another higher cooking shelf. Please do help with info. I understand there are some very knowledgable experts in the forum and we really want to do this right but don't have a clue as to the best way to do this. Thanks.
