? on Reverse flow design, Center Feed vs End, Horizontal vs vertical

[mag1]

The more I try to figure out which style I want to build, the more confused I get.  Ok, here is what I have, along with my experiance and what I want to smoke.

- No smoking experiance so far, I have made Summer Sausauge in my oven, with (ugh, liquid smoke)  Wife hated the smell in the house from this.

- I want to be able to make summer sausauge, along with all the other good stuff.  I have a family of 4, so it dosn't need to be a huge smoker.

- I have a tank that is Ø19 x 53.  (a buddy and I are going to make 2 when we do this)

- I live in Wisconsin, so lots of cold in the winter, I would like to be able to use this in the cold also.  Anything I need to think about for that?

I started out with trying to design a vertical RF setup with this.  While I think it would work, it would be very tippy depending on how you set up the base.  I would like to be able to move it around.  So, after comtiplating this, it looks like we would be better served going back to a horizontal unit, but would still like to keep the footprint as small as possible.  With that in mind, I've seen some of the horizontal center feed units.  Do these work well?  any good/bad about them?

With a Ø19 tank, would it be best to only put in one grate, or one main grate with a 1/2 grate up higher?

Here is one of the links that I was looking at.  I would just need to make mine approprietly.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/101769/reverse-flow-build-just-getting-started

Any other suggestions?   Have I missed anything that I should be thinking of?

Thanks for any info/input that you can give.

 

[mag1]

couple more questions,

- On the door of the CC, what thickness of steel do you use for the flange?  1/8, 3/16, 1/4"?

- Baffel Plate?  1/4"

thanks

 

[daveomak]

Cook chamber door.... make it big enough to get the grates out... probably seam to seam or close.... About the 12-3.... the top cut can be closer to 1.... leave room to remove food from the top grate.... If you cut the door below 3, install a drip edge on the inside of the door so liquid doesn't drip down the outside of the Cook Chamber....

Draw up the entire smoker.... look for flaws that won't allow things to work as they should... door hinges, sliding/removable food grates, ash storage under the fire grate, RF plate drain, loading wood, access to food grates, cleaning food grates.....

That will get you closer to the perfect smoker......

Dave

 

[mag1]

After an number of different designs, my buddie and I decided to do a Center Feed, RF, Horizontal tank design.  The build is about 1/2 way there, hopefully by the end of July, they will be all welded up.  Here's a couple of pictures if they work.

Ok, can't seem to get the picture thing to work.  Go to this website, and you will get the build thread.  Sorry, diffent forum.

http://smokerbuilder.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3370

Not sure if it will allow you to look if you are not a member.   If someone can dirrect me to how this forum allows you to upload a jpg file, I can post the pics.

thanks

 

[mag1]

Here is the latest.  1st cook, short, but was good.  I fired up the propane burner in the bottom of the fire box, heated up to 350° in about 15 min.  put some apple wood on, 4 sticks, about 1.5"x2.5"x14", got them started, then turned off the propane.  temps came down to about 325°, and held pretty good for 1hr.  chicken turned out great.  I did some tenderloin the following night, heated up to 250°, then got some apple wood and 1 stick of hickory from the neighbors wood pile.  she held 225° for about 45min, and the tenderloin was done.  Will start on some longer, lower heat cooks sometime in the future. 

finished_smoker.jpg

• mag1
• Dec 19, 2014

 

[daveomak]

Looks good...... Glad the smoker works so well......

 

[dragons breath]

Your smoker came out good. It cooks the way you want and that's what is is important. Center fired is the only way I have built a smoker so far.

Dave

 

[mag1]

Been using it for some 1-2 hr cooks, mostly steaks, chicken, pork.  Here is the results off my latest cook last week, 2hrs at about 225° - 250°.  11lb pork tenderloin cut in 2, with 2 different recipes.  Also did a slab of salmon at the same time.  It was unbelievably good.

smoker-1.jpg

• mag1
• Jan 13, 2015

smoker-2.jpg

• mag1
• Jan 13, 2015

smoker-3.jpg

• mag1
• Jan 13, 2015

smoker-4.jpg

• mag1
• Jan 13, 2015

smoker-5.jpg

• mag1
• Jan 13, 2015

smoke-6.jpg

• mag1
• Jan 13, 2015