Newbie needs help

[NateB]

I bought a nice reverse flow smoker. It was home-made but looks real nice. However, being fairly new maybe I got in a little over my head. The problem is, it just flat out doesn't get hot in the cooking chamber. I can get the firebox blistering hot, and my temp gauge reads hot, but it obviously doesn't work very good because at 450° on the gauge you can barely burn a hot dog. Seems like it should be fine, good smoke flow, etc. But I can't figure it out. Anybody feel like helping a newbie?? Point me in the right direction....

 

[pineywoods]

Nate welcome to SMF. If you take some pictures of the smoker and the firebox, firebox looking in through the door, vents, stack, etc it would help us help you

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

We are going to assume that you have the dampers/vents/exhaust all open, baffle plate positioning is good, etc, etc.
With that said, and since you mention it is home made, there is no way of knowing if the builder calculated everything correctly without taking measurements and plugging those into a calculator to determine if that is causing the chamber to not heat. You should also try to verify the actual chamber temp by using a digital thermometer with a separate probe set at grate level.
Also, if you could post several pics including the firebox, baffle plate, etc we all might be able to spot something. Just off the top of my head, there could be issues with firebox height and size, or the fire box to chamber opening may not be sized correctly.
Did you ask for demonstration before bringing the smoker home?

Feldon's BBQ Pit Builder Calculator

www.feldoncentral.com

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Nate welcome to SMF. If you take some pictures of the smoker and the firebox, firebox looking in through the door, vents, stack, etc it would help us help you

HA! You beat me to it.

 

[fowldarr]

waiting for those pictures before I say anything.....

 

[mike243]

They host pictures here so no need to try to find another site, also inkbird has a special running on a great blue tooth therm ,great price and being able to look at your phone instead of walking outside is awesome .

 

[fivetricks]

Either the firebox is way undersized or it needs upper air inlets or even the fb to cc inlet is too small. But as mentioned above only pics and measurements will tell for sure :-)

 

[sawhorseray]

I'm wondering if Nate is aware it takes time to smoke meat on a offset. I agree pictures will be critical in helping Nate, as will a independent gauge to verify the temp in his cooking chamber. He states he's got red hot fire in the box, a 450º read at the CC with good smoke flow. In addition to pictures of his smoker maybe some YouTube videos regarding heat control are in order, along with knowing what Nate plans to cook on his smoker. Be interesting to see where this goes. RAY

 

[NateB]

Thanks for quick responses!!! I will post pics later today!!! I'm fairly new as stated before but have done some cooking, so I do know time required to smoke correctly. I've seen one website in regards to calculations of building a smoker. I have not ran the numbers yet. I'll get you experienced fellas some pics and measurements. I feel confident from your responses that you'll spot the issue fast!! Thanks!!!

 

[daveomak]

Standard Reverse Flow Smoker Calculator... by DaveOmak and others... Ready to use.. rev5.. 6/19/15.

Here's to "Alien BBQ" and the folks that first put the calculator together and "1728 Software Systems" for this great "Circle Calculator" and all the folks at "SmokingMeatForums", with a special shout out to Ribwizzard, that contributed their ideas and feedback while this thing was coming...

www.smokingmeatforums.com