maze bars for basket

[PassTheFlux]

Hello all,

I was considering getting the lavarock maze bars for my basket to help slow down the charcoal burn rate in my dyna-glow wide body. One thing i noticed in them is there is a open space between sides (see here: https://bbqsmokersupply.com/grates-baskets/minion-method-maze-bars-charcoal-basket-insert.html). This seems like a waist of space to me, and in fact maybe just a piece of sheet metal i can get from a hardware store will do the job just as good. What do you guys think of the lavarock design? do you think it is better just to get one, or pick up some sheet metal and put it there myself?

As always, thanks for the advice, and keep smoking!

 

[jmtyndall]

Hey, I realize you posted this a month ago but I just found it while doing some research myself. Sheet metal is an incredible conductor of heat. The metal will pass the heat from the lit charcoal on one side straight through to the unlit charcoal on the other side causing your burn to "jump" the maze. If you'd like a cheap alternative check out your local Tractor Supply Hardware. They sell single fire bricks for like $4 each. I threw 2 of them in my charcoal box. Fire bricks are a great heat insulator, and they have the added bonus of adding thermal-mass to your firebox (a good thing for those of us with thin-metal smokers like the Dyna-glo).

I have a Dyna-glo vertical and 2 bricks fit right into the smoker basket long ways leaving about a 2.5" path snaking all the way around the basket. After I get a few test smokes in I'll see if I need to adjust the width at all and then try to figure out a way to secure them into the basket. For now they're just set in. Hope it isn't too late and you find this helpful.

 

[PassTheFlux]

I have already bought a maze set up but have not used it enough to honestly judge it here. Once I get a few more cooks with it in I will.

Do you mind posting a pic of your set up?

 

[jmtyndall]

I'll fire off a pic when I get home tonight. What did you end up buying? The lava-lock set-up looks very nice, but the small fire-box area of my smoker wouldn't fit it. Shouldn't have any issues with jumping with those maze bars.

 

[jmtyndall]

Snapped a couple quick pics of my charcoal basket and attached them to this post. Obvious from how clean they are that I haven't run them yet (been raining). Not a question of if they'll work, just whether the spacing is far enough to keep the temps up. I suspect they will be fine, but I'll need to open the dampers a bit more to keep the burn rate up. That's a good thing, because as it is now I run with them nearly all the way closed.

 

[PassTheFlux]

I bought a set of maze bars from a great welder odd eBay. He actually customized them for me to give it more room inside the small box. I am actually insulating my whole dyna-glow this week to help hold temps so I can use them more efficiently. I will take pics this evening to show you them, they are really nice.

I like yours, they are a bit more wide than mine but they seem like they will do the job if you can keep the temps up.

 

[jmtyndall]

Wouldn't mind some info about where you got yours from too. I'd prefer to run bars about 6" long and 1.25" wide (same width as the bricks) across the short dimension of the charcoal box. Would give about a 3" wide path all the way around.

 

[PassTheFlux]

Wouldn't mind some info about where you got yours from too. I'd prefer to run bars about 6" long and 1.25" wide (same width as the bricks) across the short dimension of the charcoal box. Would give about a 3" wide path all the way around.

Sorry it took me so long to respond, life got in the way.

So I got the snake bars from a welder on eBay named “top notch welds.” I bought the pair and then messaged him with the specific size and width. With the dynamic-glow firebox being a bit small I wanted the width smaller and there to be more room to snake around. Honestly I can not recommend him enough. There is the link to his bars.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Minion-Sna...708131?hash=item4203823ba3:g:QDsAAOSw8PJcCvrq