Red's 24x46 Reverse Flow Patio Build
- Thread starter seenred
- Start date
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Yup, that is coming along nicely ..
Thanks Mike! I’m getting excited about finishing it!
Red
Thanks brother! Good point on the need to keep re-applying oil to parts…that’s just the kind of input I need.
Red
Thank you FritzHlzr - for the kind words about the smoker, and about my shop! It's fairly modest - just a plain, uninsulated little 20x20 metal building, but I'm pretty proud of it!
Red
Happy Tuesday, Friends!
Well, like much of the south and southwest, the heat in Oklahoma the last few weeks has been beyond oppressive...so I didn't work on the build for a while - just too hot in the shop for this soft old man to do it.
We got a break in the heat, so I got back in the shop the last couple mornings...and finished up most of the little jobs I had left on my list.
Fabricated a simple pull handle from sq. tubing.
Got a hole drilled and installed a thermometer in the door.
I mounted 2 heat-proof knobs on the sliding FB dampers.
So at this point, other than a couple of minor items, plus paint or coating, it's basically done!
I'm still gonna fabricate a cap/damper for the stack, and maybe drill a hole for a probe port in the side...but those little chores won't keep me from firing this sucker up, which I hope to do tomorrow. Gotta restock my wood supply, and I'll go buy some cheap cooking spray, so I can coat the interior surfaces and season it while I'm doing the first test-burn.
After a test-burn, if I'm happy with how it handles and holds temps, I'll make up my mind what my exterior coating is gonna be. I've been waffling back and forth between high heat black paint and boiled linseeed oil. And just this morning, I called a local powder coater to ask for an estimate on sand blasting and powder coating it. Haven't heard back from that guy yet - that's only an option if it's pretty affordable. Otherwise, I'm beginning to lean towards the paint.
Anyway, that's all for now! Next up is building a fire...stay tuned!
Thanks for following along!
Red
Well, like much of the south and southwest, the heat in Oklahoma the last few weeks has been beyond oppressive...so I didn't work on the build for a while - just too hot in the shop for this soft old man to do it.
We got a break in the heat, so I got back in the shop the last couple mornings...and finished up most of the little jobs I had left on my list.
Fabricated a simple pull handle from sq. tubing.
Got a hole drilled and installed a thermometer in the door.
I mounted 2 heat-proof knobs on the sliding FB dampers.
So at this point, other than a couple of minor items, plus paint or coating, it's basically done!
I'm still gonna fabricate a cap/damper for the stack, and maybe drill a hole for a probe port in the side...but those little chores won't keep me from firing this sucker up, which I hope to do tomorrow. Gotta restock my wood supply, and I'll go buy some cheap cooking spray, so I can coat the interior surfaces and season it while I'm doing the first test-burn.
After a test-burn, if I'm happy with how it handles and holds temps, I'll make up my mind what my exterior coating is gonna be. I've been waffling back and forth between high heat black paint and boiled linseeed oil. And just this morning, I called a local powder coater to ask for an estimate on sand blasting and powder coating it. Haven't heard back from that guy yet - that's only an option if it's pretty affordable. Otherwise, I'm beginning to lean towards the paint.
Anyway, that's all for now! Next up is building a fire...stay tuned!
Thanks for following along!
Red
Appreciate it Jim! So far I'm happy with how it's turning out - it's been a fun build!
Red
Looking good red! Just looking at the details and layout its going to work really well! Congrates and enjoy it! I would love to see it powdered coated!
Thanks man! I'd love to see it powder coated too - just don't have a clue what it costs. I suspect it's gonna be more than I can spend...but that'd sure be nice!
Red
- Jan 28, 2019
- 789
- 802
Well I had some trouble finding some wood - my usual guy is gone on vacation, and the guy I've used as a backup a couple times has raised his prices to the point I said no thanks. So it didn't find any wood until Friday.
In the meantime, I got a stack damper/cap fabricated and installed.
And this morning, I cleaned the interior real good to get all the fabrication crud out, then sprayed every interior surface with cooking spray. Finally, I drug it out of the shop and built a fire in it!
The first Thin Blue Smoke!
I ran it real hot for about 2 1/2 hours. I set up probes in lower left (zone 1), lower right (z-2), and upper middle (z-3). Looks like the cool spot is gonna be lower rack left side. Makes sense - that's the lowest and the farthest from the firebox.
After a good, hot burn-in, I started playing with the dampers to try to dial the temps back to a consistent cook temp.
After experimenting for a couple hours, here's about where she settled in. I like to cook in the 250-275* range...so this is just about right.
The door therm is just about exactly in the center between upper and lower racks.
I didn't put any meat in it this time - today was only a burn-in and an experiment to test temp control. Didn't want to ruin an expensive piece of meat if I ended up with runaway temp spikes. But it went pretty well, so the next time there's a fire in it, there's gonna be something cooking!
Overall, I'm very happy with today's test run. It looks like it's gonna be pretty fuel efficient. 1 or 2 small splits every 30-45 minutes was all it took to keep the fire maintained.
So...I'm about ready to call this build complete! I'll still probably install a probe port in the end of the cook chamber...and I do still have to prep and paint it - which I'll probably get started on next. But that's gonna officially wrap this project up!
For those of you who've followed along since the beginning - many thanks for hanging in til the end!
Red
In the meantime, I got a stack damper/cap fabricated and installed.
And this morning, I cleaned the interior real good to get all the fabrication crud out, then sprayed every interior surface with cooking spray. Finally, I drug it out of the shop and built a fire in it!
The first Thin Blue Smoke!
I ran it real hot for about 2 1/2 hours. I set up probes in lower left (zone 1), lower right (z-2), and upper middle (z-3). Looks like the cool spot is gonna be lower rack left side. Makes sense - that's the lowest and the farthest from the firebox.
After a good, hot burn-in, I started playing with the dampers to try to dial the temps back to a consistent cook temp.
After experimenting for a couple hours, here's about where she settled in. I like to cook in the 250-275* range...so this is just about right.
The door therm is just about exactly in the center between upper and lower racks.
I didn't put any meat in it this time - today was only a burn-in and an experiment to test temp control. Didn't want to ruin an expensive piece of meat if I ended up with runaway temp spikes. But it went pretty well, so the next time there's a fire in it, there's gonna be something cooking!
Overall, I'm very happy with today's test run. It looks like it's gonna be pretty fuel efficient. 1 or 2 small splits every 30-45 minutes was all it took to keep the fire maintained.
So...I'm about ready to call this build complete! I'll still probably install a probe port in the end of the cook chamber...and I do still have to prep and paint it - which I'll probably get started on next. But that's gonna officially wrap this project up!
For those of you who've followed along since the beginning - many thanks for hanging in til the end!
Red
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