Help with smoker build

[Ivanbbq]

Hello, I'm from southamerica and a couple of months ago I made a bbq roadtrip across Texas and fell in love so much that I decided to smoke meat here and I need help with some details of my first offset smoker.
I have, for the main chamber, a cilinder of 3/8'', 24'' diameter, 47'' lenght and 16'' long for the firebox.

What would you recommend?:

The first idea was to have one big grate at the center, to use the whole diameter and lenght of capacity. Then I realize that having 2 levels would increase that capacity a lot. So the first grate level would be at 8'' from the bottom and the second at 16''.

Having 2 levels makes the cooking too uneven?

Thank you! Please help! I have more questions, please help!

 

[gmc2003]

Hi Ivan, sorry I'm not a builder but I wanted to welcome you to the site. Someone will chime in soon with some help/advice.

Chris

 

[SonnyE]

Hi Ivan, Welcome to

You sound like you have the materials for a lifetime smoker there!
I would suggest you look at the various builds here, and the commercially built stick burners.
There are some really innovative ideas to pluck for your smoker. Slide out grate surfaces to make it easy to work with your meats, top and bottom. Deflector plates and ways to zone your pit.
I'd make it as big as you can, 47" long, with a 16" firebox, all 24" diameter. And unless you plan on traveling, build it in for stability. Because something that heavy will be hard to move around unless on a trailer. And if it ever toppled, hard to set back up. But if wheeled, use steel wheels for the weight.
Keep in mind that slide out racks affect the center of gravity, especially with half a steer on them. And 1,000 pounds of hot BBQ is not something you want to fall over on you. What a horrible way to die.
I hope you post as you progress with it. ;)

 

[rob g]

Mods please correct/forgive me if this is against the rules.

The forum below tends to be geared more to the design and manufacture of various smokers where this forum tends to be weighted more towards the process of smoking meats. They have calculators to ensure your firebox is sized correctly to your cook chamber.
https://smokerbuilder.com/forums/index.php

 

[Ivanbbq]

Hi Ivan, sorry I'm not a builder but I wanted to welcome you to the site. Someone will chime in soon with some help/advice.

Chris

Thank you!

 

[Ivanbbq]

Hi Ivan, Welcome to

You sound like you have the materials for a lifetime smoker there!
I would suggest you look at the various builds here, and the commercially built stick burners.
There are some really innovative ideas to pluck for your smoker. Slide out grate surfaces to make it easy to work with your meats, top and bottom. Deflector plates and ways to zone your pit.
I'd make it as big as you can, 47" long, with a 16" firebox, all 24" diameter. And unless you plan on traveling, build it in for stability. Because something that heavy will be hard to move around unless on a trailer. And if it ever toppled, hard to set back up. But if wheeled, use steel wheels for the weight.
Keep in mind that slide out racks affect the center of gravity, especially with half a steer on them. And 1,000 pounds of hot BBQ is not something you want to fall over on you. What a horrible way to die.
I hope you post as you progress with it. ;)

Thanks for the advice! I'm posting some photos, check them out.

 

[Ivanbbq]

 

[SonnyE]

Looks great so far. Later on you will probably want to consider a counter balance for the lid.

Woo-Hoo! Big Bertha!