- May 31, 2016
- 19
- 10
hey guys,
I just moved 3000 miles from home for work. Back home, I had an Aldon Brown flower pot smoker with an electric hot plate that I extensively modded to suit my needs. It worked really well and I got pretty good at cooking 14 lbs of meat at a time. Direct heat remained a problem for the vertical design.
Fast forward to my move. I live in a very expensive area of California now and money is extremely tight. My friends had an old smoker collecting weeds in their backyard that they said I could have for free if I got it out of their sight. So I jumped at that chance.
I ended up inheriting this:
It’s basically an oil drum on its side with a door cut in it and handles on the door. This wasn’t a true offset because there is no firebox.
Inside was an ancient rusty grill grate and extremely sketchy deflector plate setup running horizontally across the bottom above some rusty metal basket mesh that was literally turning to dust with age. I couldn’t really figure out how the person used this smoker previously.
So what was I to do? Start from scratch.
I threw out all the old innards and cleaned the thing like crazy (found a nifty spider nest in the exhaust).
I needed new innards. I found 2 grill grates made of ceramic coated metal that fit perfectly side by side in my setup while still leaving enough room for a fire.
What’s more, I found that the grate had a metal extender bar that worked PERFECTLY to mount a ceramic deflector plate in place.
So I wound up with this design
And this execution.
Total mod supply cost: 55 dollars
Thoughts on how this setup will perform? I’m concerned I won’t be able to load enough coals in the pan to heat the space, but then again I’ve read that on board fires make low temp less of an issue.
I am also aware of heat loss through opening to load more fuel with my design (had that previously with the flower pot).
For scale, that cast iron pan is 9.5”x5.5”
I should add that I intend to get a charcoal fire going in the cast iron pan then put wood on it.
I really could use an experienced set of eyes. Thanks in advance. -Erik
I just moved 3000 miles from home for work. Back home, I had an Aldon Brown flower pot smoker with an electric hot plate that I extensively modded to suit my needs. It worked really well and I got pretty good at cooking 14 lbs of meat at a time. Direct heat remained a problem for the vertical design.
Fast forward to my move. I live in a very expensive area of California now and money is extremely tight. My friends had an old smoker collecting weeds in their backyard that they said I could have for free if I got it out of their sight. So I jumped at that chance.
I ended up inheriting this:
It’s basically an oil drum on its side with a door cut in it and handles on the door. This wasn’t a true offset because there is no firebox.
Inside was an ancient rusty grill grate and extremely sketchy deflector plate setup running horizontally across the bottom above some rusty metal basket mesh that was literally turning to dust with age. I couldn’t really figure out how the person used this smoker previously.
So what was I to do? Start from scratch.
I threw out all the old innards and cleaned the thing like crazy (found a nifty spider nest in the exhaust).
I needed new innards. I found 2 grill grates made of ceramic coated metal that fit perfectly side by side in my setup while still leaving enough room for a fire.
What’s more, I found that the grate had a metal extender bar that worked PERFECTLY to mount a ceramic deflector plate in place.
So I wound up with this design
And this execution.
Total mod supply cost: 55 dollars
Thoughts on how this setup will perform? I’m concerned I won’t be able to load enough coals in the pan to heat the space, but then again I’ve read that on board fires make low temp less of an issue.
I am also aware of heat loss through opening to load more fuel with my design (had that previously with the flower pot).
For scale, that cast iron pan is 9.5”x5.5”
I should add that I intend to get a charcoal fire going in the cast iron pan then put wood on it.
I really could use an experienced set of eyes. Thanks in advance. -Erik
Last edited:
