Old Country Wrangler- Owners Thread

[Retired Spook]

A pipe-extension is definitely in my future and I am about 95% there on removing the baffle. I wish I had a way to weld it in as a shelf for a water pan similar to Franklin smokers.

 

[Newglide]

A pipe-extension is definitely in my future and I am about 95% there on removing the baffle. I wish I had a way to weld it in as a shelf for a water pan similar to Franklin smokers.

You don't necessary need to weld it in. you can set it above the opening on the grate...That's my plan at least

 

[Drum&Que]

D&Q do you have tuning plates? If so did you add them before or after you cut the baffle. I am guessing that the reason I have no issue with the baffle is because I use tuning plates to move the smoke and heat further down the cooking chamber.

Jason

Nope! No tuning plates. Didn’t want anything impeding the flow.

 

[Drum&Que]

A pipe-extension is definitely in my future and I am about 95% there on removing the baffle. I wish I had a way to weld it in as a shelf for a water pan similar to Franklin smokers.

That’s what I did. It ain’t pretty but it works. I had a buddy from work hook me up.

 

[Retired Spook]

24" Chimney pipe is here and as soon as I get the chance (weather) I will connect it and burn some wood and see what happens! From what I have been able to find on the internet it seems the ideal length overall of the chimney should be pretty close to the length of the cook chamber - if that turns out to be true I will need to trim it back some but I am going to test first with fire and thermometers.

And I'll need to find a cap for it so that the rain doesn't get in when not in use.

 

[Retired Spook]

I am reading Aaron Franklin's Barbecue book and just read this:

A baffle is a device (such as a wall or screen) that is used to control the flow of something (such as a fluid, light, or sound). In a cooker, it’s a plate used to redirect heat and smoke as they enter the cook chamber from the firebox. It’s often welded right above the opening between these two spaces, so it redirects the heat from the fire down and disperses it into the cooker, instead of letting it rise up and out through the top. It also adds to that chaotic effect, getting heat and air bouncing around, reducing unevenness in the cooking. I think it’s important to have one of these in pretty much every offset smoker design.

Franklin, Aaron. Franklin Barbecue (p. 99). Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed. Kindle Edition.

 

[millerbuilds]

I can't answer for Drum&Que but I am also on the fence with cutting out the baffle and go for a free flow in the cook chamber. I have a Pecos so a little different but almost the same, it has the baffle and I put in tuning plates to even out the temps. That worked it also magnified the issue of cooking from the bottom up. The smoke/heat gets pushed down by the baffle then held down by the tuning plates causing it to cook from the bottom up. It's not a big deal on shorter smokes but when you get into longer smokes you can char or burn the bottom. I have to flip and spin the meat on longer cooks.
Cutting the baffle and removing the tuning plates helps the heat and smoke flow much better.
There's a you tube video from Raleigh Smoke where he explains it very well.

I had issues with heat distribution until I added the tuning plates, I no longer have any issues and am not planning on removing the baffle, for me that would be starting over. I also use a water pan that sits on top of my tuning plates.

- Jason

 

[millerbuilds]

Nope! No tuning plates. Didn’t want anything impeding the flow.

I believe that if you use tuning plates there is not a need to remove the baffle, mine works perfectly and has for 5+ years. So I am not going to fix something that IMHO is not broke. I do think that since the Wrangler is mass produced there are variances in each unit. I returned my first one because it leaked so bad, the second one (which I kept) I sealed up the small amount of leaks with wood stove rope insulation. I also use a pit viper fan which may also be the difference.

- Jason

 

[Retired Spook]

I am going to leave the baffle in there for now and experiment with chimney pipe length.

 

[millerbuilds]

I am going to leave the baffle in there for now and experiment with chimney pipe length.

Very interested to find out how that works for you.

- Jason

 

[Retired Spook]

I have a 24" extension and I have a 12" extension on order - I don't want to mess with cutting the 24" pipe in half and having ragged edges so I will experiment between the two and see what happens.

 

[Retired Spook]

Drum&Que how long of a pipe extension did you add to your smoker?

 

[Retired Spook]

It definitely draws better with the chimney extension. Will have to adjust size of fire down because it burns hotter. I could get very good smoke before but it was much easier to get very good smoke with the chimney extension, and no smoke came out of the firebox as it has since the day I bought it.

This is similar to fires I've built before the chimney extension - much too hot with the chimney extension. A smaller fire is in order. These splits burst into flames.

I'm going to cook a slab of ribs that I have in the fridge as a cook test (maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday) - but with a smaller fire obviously.

When the 12" extension is delivered I will experiment with that.

 

[Drum&Que]

I believe that if you use tuning plates there is not a need to remove the baffle, mine works perfectly and has for 5+ years. So I am not going to fix something that IMHO is not broke. I do think that since the Wrangler is mass produced there are variances in each unit. I returned my first one because it leaked so bad, the second one (which I kept) I sealed up the small amount of leaks with wood stove rope insulation. I also use a pit viper fan which may also be the difference. - Jason

I I do have a “baffle” of sorts but it doesn’t deflect heat down. It sticks straight up so the heat has to flow UP into the cook chamber. Then I have the water pan sitting on top of a grate my buddy welded in the gap that was created by cutting out the original baffle. Heat and smoke flows WAY better and I actually have no need for a stack extension because it was way too hot lol. I used 8” of stack extension originally. It draws really well without the baffle and with no stack extension.

 

[Drum&Que]

It definitely draws better with the chimney extension. Will have to adjust size of fire down because it burns hotter. I could get very good smoke before but it was much easier to get very good smoke with the chimney extension, and no smoke came out of the firebox as it has since the day I bought it.
View attachment 641472

This is similar to fires I've built before the chimney extension - much too hot with the chimney extension. A smaller fire is in order. These splits burst into flames.
View attachment 641473

View attachment 641474
I'm going to cook a slab of ribs that I have in the fridge as a cook test (maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday) - but with a smaller fire obviously.

When the 12" extension is delivered I will experiment with that.

This was exactly my experience. My fires (and my splits) are way smaller now and way more efficient. I can almost cook with the firebox door closed sometimes.

 

[Retired Spook]

I started a smaller fire today - half a chimney of lump oak and 1-split - perfect smoke and perfect temperature with the firebox door closed and damper open.

Baffle is still in the cooker and ribs are about to go in.

 

[Retired Spook]

Alright... I followed Arron Franklin's recipe for ribs, to the letter.

Franklin's recipe calls for wrapping the ribs tightly in foil after 3-hours. Also, he sauces his ribs with thinned sauce in the wrap (whatever one prefers - I used KC Masterpiece hickory cut 50/50 with water), and then returns the ribs to the cooker for 2-additional hours. He also calls for smoking the ribs at 275 to 300-degrees, all of which I did.

The ribs came out way over-cooked, and I will never sauce ribs in foil again as the sauce burned. While the ribs were, in fact, overcooked, they would not have burned and would have been edible without the sauce.

The fire/smoke was much easier to manage with the stack extension (recall I still have the factory baffle in place), and I used much less wood (one stick approximately every 40-minutes ~). The temperatures indicated on the thermometers were perfect, as was the smoke - most perfect smoke so far, in fact, HOWEVER, as the fellow in this video experienced: Old Country chimney extension the left side of the cook chamber got noticeably hotter with the 24" extension - thus the overcooked ribs - and the YouTube guy shortened his stack extension to compensate (I will be adding another Tel-True thermometer on the left side of the cook chamber). The 12" extension I had on order would take 2-weeks to get here so I cancelled the order - I will shorten my 24" extension to 12" and go from there.

I think the chimney extension is a worthwhile modification but for my cooker, it needs to be shorter. I will definitely save money on wood so for that alone it seems worth it to me.

 

[Retired Spook]

millerbuilds I am working my way through all mods to boil down what works and what doesn't! I think the shorter stack extension is a worthwhile addition, and I think your Pit Viper does what a stack extension does, but in a different way! Drum&Que seems like he achieved the same result by removing the baffle!

 

[millerbuilds]

millerbuilds I am working my way through all mods to boil down what works and what doesn't! I think the shorter stack extension is a worthwhile addition, and I think your Pit Viper does what a stack extension does, but in a different way! Drum&Que seems like he achieved the same result by removing the baffle!

Agreed. I will leave my baffle and stack the way they are. I do want to add a larger table/shelf/work surface to mine. I have it in a space away from our main cooking area that has a large counter, so for the gasser and PBC, I have the surface. But with the Wrangler I have been carrying out a folding table each time I use it... which is a pain in the arse.

- Jason

 

[Newglide]

I will shorten my 24" extension to 12" and go from there.

Good idea to shorten it. I wouldn't go as much as cutting it in half.
Take a few inches at a time. You can always take it off, it's hard to put back on. When you're done you can do a biscuit test for a few hours and see how she feels. I have the feeling you're going to find you'll be able to dial in the airflow but you'll amplify the cooking from the bottom up.