I need one of these, correct?

[hennypen]

Brand new to smoking. Just said hello through roll call. My huaband and I live in Garland, TX (Dallas). We received a little dry smoker for a wedding gift a few weeks ago. I'm assuming we need a firebox...? It's a very small smoker so there's no way we could cook on one side and have the heat on the other. And having low, indirect heat and smoke is what makes smoking, smoking correct? If we put the heat source in the chamber it will just be grilling? I'm attaching some pictures. Can we just buy a firebox and attach it?

20170616_115722.jpg

• hennypen
• Jun 16, 2017

 

[brnhornt]

I'm no expert...but if I had to guess I would say that is not a smoker but is in fact a grill.  Perhaps that access port on the left is just ash clean out...?

 

[crankybuzzard]

:welcome1: to SMF!

You could have a firebox fabricated for that unit for sure.

In the Garland area there are several welding shops, or if you have a friend that's handy with metal, they could do one for you.

 

[joe black]

Jenni, in my opinion, adding a fire box to this cooker would be more trouble than it's worth. There may be others that have another idea. But, you can build your fire in the door of the cooker that is opposite of the exhaust. The heat and smoke will travel over and through the meat. This is not perfect, but it will do the job until you want to buy a larger stick burner that is designed with a fire box. At that time you can use this original one for a nice grill, like it was designed for.

Good luck, Joe.

 

[kam59]

What are the dimensions of the grill?

 

[sundown farms]

I agree with Joe Black. I had one that looked like that and used a sheet metal partition between a small area for the charcoal with wood chunk and the meat. I could not do a large brisket but that is what knives are for. You can make it work, learn a lot as you go and the only worry will be not gaining weight. If you try the sheet metal partition idea be sure to not use a zinc plated one from the hardware stores. Think about trying a cheapo cast iron skillet standing on edge and braced using the grate.