I just got a huge smoker , I cant afford to fill it up

[krusher]

I have been talking to the owner at a little bbq spot down here where I live and he has replaced his old smoker, and bought a couple more, I asked him what he was going to do with his old one and he said I could work out a deal with him on it. I thought kool, hadnt even seen it till yesterday when I went to get.. when I got there I started wondering if I had brought a big enough trailer!!

this thing is huge, I looked at cookshacks website and they have a 300 series and that is what this is, but it's a 307 and they have a different model # but it looks pretty much the same,, says it will hold 500 lbs. of butts, and I cant remember how many ribs and stuff. I dont know what to do with it, It runs on 220 and thats not in my garage, and the control panel fried on it, they had an electrician wire a new thermostat to it and it is adjustable, but all of the other features it has are disabled, but I can replace the control panell for $350.00, not bad considering the smoker is 9,000 dollars new.

Here are some pics of it, and by the way ,, the guy standing in it is 6-4, and 425 lbs. he's my brother in law.

 

[solar]

Holy giant smoker Batman!!

Nice find there, do you plan on using it commercaily or is it just another toy?

 

[gnubee]

Sorry I just can't resist this........ How did He turn out????

Ditto on the giant holy smokers Batman.

I sure hope you have a restaurant or a giant park to hold BBQ's in.

Sounds like you stole it congrats.

 

[kratzx4]

Now that is what I call a smoker. Great find you will have fun with it I'm sure

 

[m1tanker78]

Holy crud! When life throws lemons at you, make lemonade. Translation: build a catering business around your new smoker!

Nice find man, if you don't mind disclosing, what is/was the asking price on it?

Tom

 

[wutang]

You need to increase your meat budget for sure. I would hate to see qview of that big ol' smoker with a slab of ribs and a dozen abts in it. Of course I would also hate to have to roll 50 fatties just so it looked kinda full. Good luck with it!

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Krusher,

OK, just my opinion here. I'm guessing it has been out of service for a little while judging by the internal rust. Restaruant got a good run out her at 20 years old, not bad there. Hmmm....electrical consumption will probably bankrupt the average smoker for just personal use. If I'm reading right, it use 6050 watts. That's like running my 55 gallon electric water heater non-stop.

Two things I would consider here:

If you have no 240VAC supply to run it you've got a bit of wiring to do, and don't forget, with that much juice you better have 200 amp service (not 100) from your electric meter to your house/garage. Getting the 200 amp service run if not already there will prbably run several hundred. Just wiring in the the 240VAC will be a few hundred more.

At 6050 watts, with a duty cycle of, lets say for example, 40%, for a 10 hour smoke will take this much power: 6050 x 0.40 x 10 = 24.2 KWh. That's quite a bit. Cost @ $0.14/KWh is (24.2 x 0.14 =) $3.388 for that smoke, so well it's not as bad as it first seemed, is it?

Great score no matter what!!!!!!!!

Eric

 

[pinkmeat]

That's probably the same cost as using lump charcoal, but if it was packed down with cold meat, it my require a little more juice to cooke everything, I dunno.

I'm always wanting something bigger and better, but it would be funny to cook for as many people as I entertain on that thing. 1 butt, 3 racks of ribs, maybe a chicken, LOL...

 

[forluvofsmoke]

I think you're right on the needing even more juice to get her hot enough. It would be like throwing 1000 lbs of ice into a 18 ft dia x 4 ft deep pool and expecting the sunshine to rewarm the pool. Not gonna happen.

The earlier calculations I posted were just for a reference to give an idea what the bills to set her up and run her might look like. Still, I think if you really wanted a great smoker, I mean something easy to run with a really smooth and accurate temperature...wow just imagine the possibilities.

Krusher, you could definately have a large gathering of kin and never run otta grub! WOW!!!

You may not think of yourself as being lucky, but I do! If you can't handle the electrical wiring budget, then maybe consider a conversion to charcoal or LGP. That would be a really reasonable budget to deal with.

Again great score. Keep us posted on where you go with set-up. Can't what to her first smoke, either!

Eric

 

[krusher]

Thats kinda what I'm leaning towards doing, converting it that is. I've got a small wood stove that I have been looking for a good drum to hack up and make a horizontal, but now I'm thinking that I might put a hole in the back of it and hook up a woodstove to it and see how that works out.

 

[packplantpath]

Why not mod it to run charcoal? That way, save the electrical work/costs, and be ready to go. Maybe a stick burner??

Or, even gas may be easier than wood, I don't know.

Course, don't ask me how to do either, I'm just sayin.....

EDIT: Heh, it helps to refresh before posting if you walk away for a while.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

I think you're gonna love that, sounds like a great way to go. Also, sounds like you've already tossed a few ideas around and have thought about getting it going, so, I'll anxiously await you're next post on this bad girl! (in good sense, of course)

Have fun with it!

Eric

 

[1894]

Sounds like a plan with the wood stove

, wonder if you can get it up and running before Richtee finishes his never ending project "The Beast "

 

[krusher]

just another toy ....for now?

if we cooked him , he would taste like crap, cause thats what he's full of.

deal was ,, if I came and got it out of his restaraunt, I could have it.

 

[pops6927]

I'd partition it off into two chambers, put the wood stove into one side for hot smoke, run the top vent open or hook up a vent pipe from the top of the hot side to the bottom of the cold side for cold smoking. Best of both worlds in one unit!

 

[richtee]

Possibly...sigh. But hey...on the other hand I do OK with a WSM ;{)

 

[t-roy]

HOLY OFFENSIVE LINEMAN!!!

**look at that poor floor now**!!!

 

[christhompson]

A large gathering of kin, or a gathering of large kin?

I'd look at Walleye1's build here http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=23653

A decent electrical heating coil and a convection fan should be able to get something like that to temp and hold it without having to run a Mr. Fusion to get to 1.21 Gigawatts. You have to assume that it's decently insulated and either has, or could have, decent door seals.

 

[pinkmeat]

Yea, if you run out of food, you have to answer to him...FILL ER UP!!!

 

[christhompson]

What was that in the first post about it holding 500lb of butts?