Mods for Ok Joe longhorn triple burner smoker

[pigfeet33]

Has anyone made any mods to their OK Joe Longhorn Triple Burner smoker? I saw a post about the original longhorn smoker mods but curious if anyone is doing anything different for the triple burner. Thanks!

 

[mikep68]

Good Afternoon!

I got the same smoker a couple months ago and am curious as well.   So far I sealed both doors, and used gasket and sealant when putting it together and where the smoke stack meets the smoke chamber.  I also did the lowered stack mod and built a basket.  I don't leak much smoke and opposite of the others my temps run too high and cant get them to come down, even with the intake closed.  There is quite a large gap around the firebox door though, that may be my next target to seal up; or could just be I used too much fuel.  Will experiment.

Mike

 

[pigfeet33]

Thanks for the reply Mike. Mike too has been running a little hotter than what I would like. I usually try to keep my temp at 230 but could not get it lower than 250 with any consistency. I have only had it for a few weeks and haven't done any sealing so that may be the ticket. What did you use for the lowered stack mod? And what sealant?

 

[mikep68]

Good morning! I got the seals, sealant, and gaskets from amazon from a place called island outdoor, lots to choose from. I got some high temp and some regular. The stack mod is some 3" ducting that i cut to fit.

Sealing the gaps around the firebox door seal helped keep the temperatures down, I'll look for more intake leaks next.

 

[pigfeet33]

Mike, did you seal around the door to the firebox? Did this help with fuel consumption? I feel like I have been burning through a crazy amount of charcoal when I smoke and I wonder if it is because there is too much airflow coming into the firebox causing the charcoal to burn up faster. How much charcoal do you use and how often do you add more?

 

[mikep68]

Good morning!

I used foil all the way around the firebox door and its working; I am able to shut the intake and exhausts and get the coals to extinguish, hooray!   Did my first pork butt yesterday and easily maintained 250 for most of the duration, however had to reload more coals a couple times.  I try a more permanent fix for the door later but the foil is working fine.

Mike

 

[pigfeet33]

Sounds awesome Mike! When you get a chance would you mind posting a pic of how the foil is around the firebox door? Really appreciate the help!

 

[mikep68]

20160412_175703.jpg

• mikep68
• Apr 12, 2016

Here are a couple pics, ill do something more permanent later.

Mike

Also bougbt a deflector plate, will see how that works.

 

[mikep68]

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• mikep68
• Apr 12, 2016

Another

 

[pigfeet33]

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• pigfeet33
• Apr 12, 2016

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• pigfeet33
• Apr 12, 2016

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• pigfeet33
• Apr 12, 2016

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• pigfeet33
• Apr 12, 2016

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• pigfeet33
• Apr 12, 2016

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• pigfeet33
• Apr 12, 2016

So here are all the mods I made - extended the chimney to grate level, put gasket around the door of the smoker, sealed around the firebox and the CC, put tuning plates in. The one over the opening to the firebox is about a 45* angle. I also used a charcoal basket from my old weber, I'll probably build an actual charcoal box in the next few weeks. I was able to maintain steady temps for 3 hrs between 220-230* so I think I am getting it dialed in! Put on some ABTs just for the hell of it for the test run. Also, Mike, I took your advice and put foil around the firebox door which helped. I also put my pecan wood chips above the lump charcoal and it gave me a long lasting TBS which was awesome

 

[pigfeet33]

Finished the ABTs on the grill side to crisp up the bacon, turned out awesome!

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• pigfeet33
• Apr 12, 2016

 

[mikep68]

Looks Awesome!!  

Not impressed with the baffle I got from BBQ smoker mods; did a test run with it and with a roaring fire in the box barely got the CC temps up to 225....and could touch the grate with a bare hand. 

Looks like most of the heat goes under the baffle to the end then straight up the stack.  May need to drill more holes in it or return it for a refund.  Also butts up against the bolts holding the firebox on so still leaves a gap between the baffle and the wall.  Not much heat coming out of the stack as well so may be a draft problem.   we will see.

Again, very nice work.

mike

 

[pigfeet33]

Thanks Mike,
How long is your baffle plate? I got 3 6x18" steel plates from lowes and they fit perfectly as tuner plates. One of them I use as the baffle over the firebox opening in between the top set of bolts and middle set that connect the firebox to the CC so you may be able to do the same. One of my thermometers went down on me so I couldn't really see what the temp difference was from one end to the other but I was able to keep it pretty warm on relatively low fuel. I started with about 6-7 pieces of lump charcoal and added a chimney of 12 or so briquettes to get the thing going. I only added 3 pieces of lump charcoal once and a few wood chunks and it was good to go. The tuner plates seemed to really hold the heat well. I may actually get one more tuner plate and cut it in half to make 3x18" and give me less gaps/more plate across the CC. Something for you to try maybe?

 

[mikep68]

I got this one....Fits pretty good.  Heavy as well.   may have to modify it to my liking.

http://www.bbqsmokermods.com/product-p/ok-tune-31.htm

mike

 

[etncaver]

I just got this setup and was wondering if the baffle plate from bbqsmokermods worked out for anyone. I am thinking of making my own but wondered if anyone had a picture with that one installed. Curious if the heat transfer issue got any better?

 

[james669]

I was wondering if this worked as well. Looking to do some sort of heat deflection mod.

 

[pigfeet33]

I did not buy the baffle plate from bbqsmoker mods but I did buy some 6x18" steel plates from lowes and laid them underneath the cooking grate. My temps have evened out to within 1 degree. Cheap mod that has worked awesome. I no longer have to worry about moving whatever I'm cooking around the CC or rotate it. The pics below show the steel plates and then also the two thermometers show one current temp at 115* and one current temp at 116* (when I was bringing the smoker up to temp)

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• pigfeet33
• Jul 7, 2016

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• pigfeet33
• Jul 7, 2016

 

[okiegentleman]

I know this is an old thread, but I just got my Okie Joe the first of October 2016 (early Xmas)

If you look at my gallery under OkieGentleman you can see what I have done to my unit since I got it.