If you build it they will come

[matthaias]

Hi smokers,

I am in the process of building a backyard kitchen consisting of a Argentinian Adobo style grill, a pizza oven, a vertical smoker, a sink, and 6 taps of draft homebrew beer.

Kind of at a bit of a loss on the smoker portion as I keep going in circles on what to do.

My initial thought was to line the entire smoker with firebrick, build a steel door frame, and insulated doors. But seeing some builds with only concrete blocks in the smoking chamber has me Day dreaming about the extra space that would provide for the racks.

It’s a small smoker so maximizing the space would be nice. My plan is to shovel coals from the fire pit into the fire chamber.

 

[pit of despair]

Matthaias,
Looks very adventurous, but well made. Keep us posted!
Teddy

 

[SmokinAl]

Boy that is going to be quite a nice outdoor kitchen!
You have some talents for sure!
Al

 

[oldsmokerdude]

Looks awesome. I don't think you need to worry about lining the smoking chamber with fire bricks, assuming they will be concrete blocks as you suggested. The temp in the smoking chamber wouldn't go much over 300 or 325 during a spike. The concrete blocks should handle that just fine.

I don't see where you are located, but unless you're up north and plan on using your smoker in the winter, you probably don't need to insulate the door, especially if use a larger gauge steel.

But then everyone has two cents, that is just mine.

 

[kingdamo]

Looks great so far, I am doing something similar but building the standalone pizza oven first and then next year start with a large grill and stand up smoker.
Cant wait to see further progress

 

[matthaias]

Wulp a pallet of 500 firebrick came on Friday! Got to work on the smoker and pulling forms off the countertop.

Made a fire mortar mix with 10 parts silica sand, 6 fire clay, 3 lime, 2 cement. There was a learning curve on laying brick, glad I started there instead of the grill as the smoker will be enclosed.

 

[mike5051]

Looks like a great set up!

Mike

 

[matthaias]

Well I’ve been working on this project trying to get ready for my daughters 1st birthday party for which I am smoking 50 lbs of butts.

I realized that stucco was just cement mortar so I whipped some up and gave it a go. Looks good and saved a ton versus a stone veneer. The wife bought off on it so that works for me!

I built some insulated doors and slapped stuff together to do a trial cook he weekend before the party. Turned out great! I will need to finish working out the details after the party (better hinge placement, better door latches, air inlet control, etc).

Still have 300 fire bricks left for the pizza oven, but fall fishing is here now so this might be it until next summer when it is too hot and Smokey to go camping.

Cheers,

Kyle

 

[mike5051]

Looks great Kyle! The stucco works, especially if the wife agrees! :D Looks like you're ready to tackle them butts!

Mike

 

[matthaias]

Well I’m almost done with the brick oven, we cooked our first pizzas last Thursday night. The smoker has been awesome, I am smoking about 50lbs when I fire it up. The taps are a bit too. I had a IPA, IIPA, IIIPA, IIIIPA, and two sparkling waters on tap for a party.

 

[chopsaw]

Very nice work . Enjoy !

 

[Hawging It]

Your project looks great. Many Many happy times ahead. Good job!!

 

[indaswamp]

Awesome outdoor kitchen! I see many many fun parties in your future!

 

[Winterrider]

Fantastic job, wish I had the talent.

 

[Palermo79]

Wow, that is incredible!

 

[Jabiru]

One word - awesome - You did a super job on that setup, love the kegerator and the taps.

Cant wait to see the Birthday Cook.

 

[matthaias]

Thanks for the kind words! It is a slow process with two toddlers and two jobs, but I have made some more progress. I quit drinking so the chest freezer is now filled with meat to smoke (next to the same chest freezer in my garage). My wife and I grouted a mosaic on the pizza oven with leftover tiles from our house.

The smoker is fun, but the temperature control is very difficult. This isn’t such a big deal for ribs or butts, but big briskets mean I am not sleeping all night. I am getting into sausage making other cured meats and realize that I need to hold more precise temperatures. I am curious if anyone knows if an electric element and PID controller would heat this much thermal mass on 120? I was looking at something like:

with a Smoke Daddy cold smoke generator.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!