New Brinkmann Trailmaster Vertical Smoker

[bama70]

I sure will, it is supposed to deliver on Tuesday. I will try and post some pics as well.

 

[bama70]

I bought this smoker last spring after using the cheap Brinkman vertical for a couple years. My door did not close tight, but I filled the gap with some metal putty and then some hi temp black RTV silicone, and worked great. I also sealed all of the joints when assembling it as well. I made the expanded metal charcoal box and it really worked out great. This year I am adding a digital thermometer to monitor temps as the one on the door seems way off. Other than that, I ablsolutely love this smoker. It is exactly what I had been looking for. I use it a couple times a week, and if you need any advice or just want to share experiences with it, just let me know.

 

[mekiosan]

I've had this pit for over a year now, and can finally tell you how to get the temp above 250/275.  Toss the charcoal and use wood only.  The firebox will glow, but I've gotten the internal temp to around 350 in this way.  The charcoal just doesn't produce the heat that using straight wood will.  The cost of fuel goes up, but the end result is great.  I typically use pecan apple and sometimes oak since they are easy to get in Houston, particularly pecan!

 

[lionel47]

 
Toss the charcoal and use wood only.  

I will second that sentiment. I had a friend who is very experienced stop by on my first smoke with this rig and he advised me to just use charcoal to start and then wood for the rest of the cook.

My second smoke came out with a better flavor and just more of the taste and smell that says BBQ.

Oh, and I will say that I have since compared a pecan smoke to a hickory smoke. I lean toward the hickory now. The pecan tastes great with my brisket. But the hickory has been really awesome with the pork butts.

 

[bootsnpearls]

Waywardswede, how do you like the full sized charcoal basket? has it benefited you, or would you recommend sticking with a smaller size? Also-   "I put a couple of plates in the charcoal basket so that I can burn in an 'S' pattern, I'm thinking that will increase my burn time. I'll take a couple pictures this weekend so people can see what I did."  I never saw you come back to this- Can you show us what you did here? I don't quite understand. 

Smokering90- you have an opinion on the size of the charcoal basket? how big did you make yours?

 

[smokering90]

i got a 24 in square piece of expended steel at home depot and made it a square with 6 in high sides, so its measurements are 12x12x6. i have had very succesful long smokes with it so far no issues

 

[bootsnpearls]

Thanks! Does this size allow you to remove it for clean-up? 

 

[smokering90]

yeah i can slide it in and out as i please, it sits about 4 inches off the bottom so there is plenty of room for the ash to fall and still plenty of airflow

 

[firemedic5586]

thanks for this post... I pulled the trigger on a Brinkmann today, and will be using these mods to get it spun up to speed...

 

[smokering90]

So how's everyone's smoker treating them

 

[firemedic5586]

Well, When I ordered the Brinkman vertical, it was on back order,,, Its in the mail and should be here the 23rd..

 The Brinkman Trailmaster Vertical Gasket & Latch Mod Kit, and a Fire Box Charcoal Wood Basket, 12 x 10 x 6 should be here on  the 24th..

I also ordered a CyberQ WiFi running a K25-003, 1 Pit Bull- 1 Bulkhead and 10ft probes. and also some fancy Food Handling Gloves PVC        and that will be here on the 27th.

From there its finding time to put it all together... Then I'll be cooking...

 

[smokering90]

Definitely keep us posted on the buildup and the first cook and everything that follows

 

[firemedic5586]

I got the Smoker cover yesterday.

today the UPS guy, dropped off the Brinkmann vertical smoker.... I sure miss the UPS gal, she sure made brown look good, not to mention she would divert stuff from home delivery to me at work when she saw I was working,,,,The Joys of a small town.. I opened the box and did a quick VI, no dents or dings noted... 

Fedex also dropped off the expanded steel firebox, about 15 minutes before UPS showed up. So I'm waiting on the gasket seals (USPS says tomorrow)  and the CyberQ WiFi.... Sense I'm working tomorrow I'm hopping I can get the build in on Sunday...

 

[smokering90]

nice, again just keep us posted, im excited to see how the guru works with this smoker

 

[firemedic5586]

 
nice, again just keep us posted, im excited to see how the guru works with this smoker

I have a darned good feeling that the 1st smoke I do with this will be fish... I have about 10 suckers I got today, and am going out with the kids Sunday morning to try and get a but load more...

 

[smokering90]

i have yet to smoke fish yet, im not a huge fish guy so its not a normal thing for me, who knows maybe one day ill get the itch to do it

 

[mulletman]

Got my brinkmann vertical today. Upon looking up reviews I stumbled upon this thread and I intend to do some mods mentioned here. I'll keep you guys posted as I go!

 

[smokering90]

Alright welcome, you will find pretty much anything you need to know about smoking on this forum, why don't you head over to roll call and introduce yourself to everyone

 

[lionel47]

Just thought I'd share a pic of the smoker in action. My friends call it "The Boss".

This past Sunday we smoked 9 racks of ribs and a pork butt.

IMG_20140525_103108.jpg

• lionel47
• May 27, 2014

Started the fire with some hickory and then did cherry for the first three hours. Removed and wrapped the ribs and put them back in for two hours with more cherry.

Finally, unwrapped them and finished them off with apple wood.

The 5 pound butt went through the who thing and stayed in an hour longer than the ribs. Pulled it at 175 and had a nice bark to it and very juicy and tender.

Will try to get pics of the finished product from my friends. My phone had been playing music all day through a bluetooth speaker and was dead by the time we pulled them out.

All told, we fed about 25 people with sides and still had leftovers.

This is my third smoke with this rig and I am loving it.  Just for comparison, here is a pic from the second smoke earlier this spring.

IMG_20140308_122316.jpg

• lionel47
• May 27, 2014

 

[white]

Just got the brinkmann trailmaster vertical in the mail last weekend. Put it together and had a lot of trouble getting the door to shut. Kicked the hell out of it, jumped on it and finally got the latch the catch and get the thing to shut (although sometimes I do have to basically bear hug the cooking chamber to get it to shut. the hinges are way off). Other than that, seems like it will be great for the price. This is my first smoker and I have no idea what I'm doing, but excited to start using this. I did a quick test run and was able to get the temps briefly to around 350 with no mods (measured using a redi check digital thermometer sitting on the top rack. the built in thermometer came broken). I was burning charcoal and some wood chips that I already had just to see where the smoke leaked out... and leak out it did. Basically everywhere, especially around the CC door and water pan access door.

I came across a few things online talking about mods for this and purchased some grey nomex self stick and the red RTV from bbq gaskets. I wont be able to work on it for another week or two, but I'll post an update once I get going. 

I noticed that most of the previous posted pictures put the gasket for the CC door on the cooking chamber, not the door itself. But for the water pan door, put the gasket on the door. Any reason for the difference? Does it matter? Same question for the firebox door. 

I don't have a charcoal basket and the HomeDepot and Lowes around where I live (Boston) don't seem to cary the heavier gauge expanded metal so I'll probably have to order that too to make one. I would have liked to see it before ordering it though. Can I make a decent basket without having to weld it? Is it easy enough to work with? Any particular tools needed?