My first backyard smoker build, 250 Gallon offset for Arizona

[buildstuff]

Hello all. I keep seeing this forum in my google results so I figure I can start a build thread to show it off and get some Q&A when needed and suggestions. Feel free to be brutally honest on things.

Standard flow cooker. Not a reverse. Hopefully this turns into a gloriously overkill backyard smoker.

I acquired a couple propane tanks. The 120 gallon is a vertical and has 1/8th wall, so my plans to use it as a firebox are scrapped. Might reuse it as a direct heat cooker instead.

The 250 gallon tank I was a little bummed to get home and clean it off and see the shell thickness on the ID tag showing only .199" and not 1/4". Hopefully I don't regret this and keep wishing I sought out another tank, but I found these two cheap cheap. Was an underground tank from 1995. Might be able to reuse the spout thing as my cleaning shoot. Was thinking of making a metal bathtub stopper thing I can uncork and scrape all the crap after a cook down and out into a bucket. Then stop it back up and it might drip some grease into the bucket while cooking but it won't give me a giant hole there either. I think its smart?

Currently getting pricing on the firebox round tubing. That will be 1/4" and be 32-36" deep depending on the diameter. Not sure if I should go a full 30" diameter or do more 24 - 28" and deeper. Please suggest. Thats my next purchase. Used the Feldon calculator but I am thinking since I am in AZ if I am even close I don't imaging getting enough BTU will be my issue most of the year.

On the firebox topic, I seen how Goldies does the elbow into the chamber. (i would try that but I don't even feel like finding a 14"+ elbow) I see some have that movable baffle plate to block radiant heat from the direct line of sight. I definitely want to incorporate that. Infact I was thinking when I slide the tubing into the the main tank I could remove the material around the top of the tubing so that the heat and smoke comes upwards into the cooking chamber. Basically the tubing would be capped off pipping it straight up. That would remove the radiate aspect I would think. I haven't seen this done so would that pose a thermal flow issue?

Have a good night. Its gonna be fun.

 

[tridiot]

.199 is absolutely fine for your cook chamber - ESPECIALLY in AZ. Don't even give it another thought.

Firebox, yes you want as reasonably thick as you can find, 1/4" is the perfect balance between thickness for durability and not being ridiculously heavy - especially for a backyard pit, they get heavy quick.

I've built a couple of 250s on ATV wheels to pull around. They're heavy. I have done square fireboxes for those, one out of 3/16 (doubled on the bottom), one out of 1/4", also doubled on the bottom.

This is looking at the bottom, where the 2nd plate is plug welded to the first.

Baffle plates - abso-freaking-lutely. I have tried several ways, cooked on a bunch of pits, I have started doing the vertical baffle and absolutely love it. I've done measurements with no baffle and then changing nothing but adding a vertical baffle plate, the difference was stunning. This was on a small 60-gallon smoker I built.

Small cooker baffle plate:

^^^^I actually cut a couple inches off of that one because it was 40ºF cooler directly in front of the throat opening, in the 'shadow' of the baffle plate.

Then I have worked on the design and now usually incorporate a vertical baffle made from the cutout piece of my firebox, welded onto the front of the firebox itself to create a 'scoop/baffle'. It works great.

Then, I even added some holes cut into the baffle plate, about 10 or so, I think, about ~1" in diameter (cutting torch). It was stellar - 2-5ºF temp differences from one end of the cook chamber to the other, every square inch of grate space was very usable.

As you can see, I am a big fan of a vertical baffle. Directs everything immediately to the top, you get high-flow, top-down convective cooking and every bit of the lower grates is usable and even. Top racks, as always are hotter, but I like this, this is where I cook things like chikkins and pork belly, etc.

My last one I did last fall.

 

[buildstuff]

Nice builds. I was watching a video from M&Ms new pit and their vertical baffle has flutes to run some heat to the sides also, and then a little out the lower front with flutes to also hit the lower sides.

I just picked up another 250 gallon tank today. This one is .25” on both the shell and heads. Will probably use it as the firebox then but it’s way cleaner looking and elliptical. Tough choices. And found a 150 gallon tank with 9/32 walls I picked up.

 

[tridiot]

I watched that too, the Texas Smoke King. Personally, I'm not super impressed with it, I think it's overly complicated and doesn't need to be. Those louvers and things in the collectors and vents, meh, I don't see a need for it. The exhaust damper 'set points' - another solution looking for a problem, to me. And the firebox door, while it looks cool, I don't really think an air inlet needs to be complicated, either.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing WRONG with it, I'm sure it runs just fine - but all of those things add complexity to the build, and of course, complexity adds time and cost. I mean, if you're paying $4,000 for a backyard/patio-sized pit, maybe you want special wingdings that make it 'fancy'. I'm not so much into that, but I get that some people are. Just like some people are willing to pay $5k for Aaron Franklin's pit, which is... well, it's a pretty straightforward simple design. I like that aspect of it, it's a quality pit, but nothing 'special' - certainly not worth $5k, in my opinion. Unless you want Aaron's name and a serial number on yours. lol The Smoke King is kinda the same way, in my opinion - I am sure it runs fine, just I don't see a need to be that complicated and subsequently expensive.
To each their own, though! I like 'em simple and affordable, if I can - at least for ME! As for SELLING pits, well, you build what the customer and the market wants, and you charge accordingly! lol