New - Oklahoma Joe's Highland Smoker

[MNholla]

This has been a very informative thread to say the least! I am looking to move away from my Chargiller 5050 and get a dedicated smoker and think that the OK Joe Highland is going to be the one

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

I love my OKJ Highland but my view is a bit skewed by the ridiculously low price I paid. Mine was only $75 at Walmart on closeout near Christmas time. At 200lbs, I figure the materials and shipping would have to warrant a price higher than that. I am not going to complain. She has never let me down yet. Sure there are a lot better offset smokers out there but not for $75. Eventually, I do want to buy a real deal offset made from 1/4" steel but for now, I am more than happy to smoke my barbecue on my OKJ. Now if I could just afford some meat to put in the thing that would be awesome!

G

 

[BadJewBBQ]

Hey folks,

Thanks to everyone who has shared their tips and tricks so far. I have really enjoyed the process of optimizing this hunk of metal. Most of the mods have been from BBQSmokerMods (lava lock). The comprehensive list so far includes (in the order listed):

1. Baffle/Deflector with the matching water pan
2. Drilled two ports for temp probes and fitted with a probe gasket thing for each
3. Gaskets and latches on the cook chamber
4. Gaskets and silicone sealant on the firebox
5. Replacement steel grates (I wish I had found expanded metal but I have these now and they do just fine)
6. Installed BBQ guru bulkhead adapter on the far side of the firebox (which will be used with the billows by Thermoworks with their universal adapter)
7. Fiberglass high temp "tadpole" gasket to seal the side door of the firebox

Given items 1-5 are more or less plug and play I'll skip ahead to 6/7. I wanted to be able to automate at least a portion of the cook without blocking the native intake. To provide this flexibility I chose to put the fan opposite the intake -- I had come across a few videos with this fan positioning and while theoretical, I can convince myself it MIGHT lessen the chances of ash being blown into the CC by the fan. I purchased the BBQ guru bulkhead adapter because it comes with a silicone "kill plug" that is positioned a small distance away from the firebox. I contemplated drilling the hole to directly attach the billows and use an appropriately sized silicone plug, but I would have been concerned that the high temperatures might melt the plug. Probably overkill to do it this way but I think it looks pretty clean and in theory should work.

I sealed the side door because I didn't want a crosswind effect with the fan on that might result in air pointlessly blowing across the bottom of the firebox. Again probably overthinking it but it was an itch I needed to scratch. I have zero welding abilities and I am by no means a handyman, so basically if I can do this so can you. I bought some 22 gauge sheet metal at Home Depot and a cheap pair of aviation or tin snips and measured and cut some strips. I then drilled through the firebox and sheet metal as pictured and used the metal strips to pin the tadpole gasket in place. Probably not as clean looking as welding but I'm happy with it. As other posters have mentioned I rotated the grate 90 degrees and now there is about 4 inches of clearance beneath to help with air flow as well.

Thanks and hopefully this is of use to someone.

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

I like those steel cooking grates. Where did you pick those up from? I could be interested in those.

G

 

[BadJewBBQ]

LavaLock® Highland Cooking Grates - Heavy Duty Steel Replacement Set

LavaLock® heavy duty steel cooking grates are a great replacement for your Ok Joe Highland cooking grates. Set includes 2 grates. These are 10 gauge and weigh almost 15 lbs! 2 identical grates. 16-5/8" x 17-1/4" for a perfect fit.How to season your new grill grate:♨️Wash with soap and water...

bbqsmokermods.com

probably cheaper ways to accomplish this but I’m not a big fan of the ones that came with it