Oklahoma Joe Highland

[whtsmoke]

I got it done except for my grease plug which i have to turn but i am seasoning it now that the mods are finished.    

 

[SmokinAl]

Nice job on the mods!

Here is a tutorial on uploading photo's into your post.

This way the photo will show up instead of a jpeg link.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/125263/how-to-upload-a-photo-q-view-to-your-post

Al

 

[whtsmoke]

Thank you SmokinAl, I appreciate that.

 

[xray]

Nice looking smoker whtsmoke. What were all your mods besides what is pictured? I'm still in the process of modding mine. I have the smoker sealed up with rtv sealant and I will make a charcoal basket today. Door gaskets are in the mail.

Here is mine so far:

IMG_0388.JPG

• xray
• Jun 19, 2017

Let us know how the seasoning goes. I'm still up in the air about extending the exhaust to grate level...or maybe after I season it.

 

[whtsmoke]

Thanks Iv'e had fun doing this. First off to get it out of the way the seasoning went great i burnt a 18 pound bag of charcoal through out the day along with a few splits of oak, this morning I went out to clean it up and put it back together and the right twmp gauge was reading 125 degrees and the baffle and fire box were still warm to the touch.

Mods were the normal ones from what I read on here, seal the cook chamber and fire box along with the toggles on the cook chamber lid. I added another thermometer to the right side which was nice as you could watch how the both sides  were doing. I sealed everything that could possibly leak smoke and heat with silicone and put it on heavy between the fire box and cook chamber so it would squeeze out when tif=ghtened down, of course thw stack was sealed inside and out as well. The grease drain needed to be sealed some how as smoke was pouring out of it at the start so I had took measurements and turned a aluminum plug on the lathe to just drop it place, I am going to rub some silicone to the outside of it and let it cure so when its in it will be somewhat of a tight fit. The baffle when snugged up to the wall wanted to raise up even with it raised up so instead of using the bolts and nuts that came with it I used self tapping screws for the straps from the top and I pushed it down and put a screw on each side on the plate at the end to keep it down. this can all be reoved for cleaning very easily. Today I raised the fire grate using 4 inch bolts, one at each corner, saw that on here and for a couple of bucks thought I would try it. That's all that's been done so far now i need to get a charcoal basket for it and it will be done. I will try to post some picks here also if i can LOL, sometimes I have the darndest luck with pictures.

Thanks for asking and I want to thank all on here that have put up with me so far and for all of the good info that I have found on here, it's been a real pleasure and the next time it will be pics of my first Q, haven't decided what it will be yet. I have been smoking on my Weber kettle the old way and stuff has been great especially those darn smoked hotdogs and hamburgers.  

 

[whtsmoke]

Look at the baffle they make for it and you don't need to extend the stack at all, more money I know but is nice. Good luck I am having fun with mine just working on it.

 

[xray]

First, I think I am going to wrap the included firebox grates in aluminum foil and use them as a baffle before I put out more money for mods. There's a video on youtube on how to set it up. I'll see how that works and go from there.

This smoker was a pure impulse buy, so I'm trying to slowly incorporate more mods...that way the wife is less likely to notice lol.

I made the basket today. You could also turn the fire grate 90 degrees to raise it up...and if you're using a basket, you don't have to worry about coals falling through the gap.

I'm looking forward to seasoning mine this weekend...if it ever stops raining.